So. CrazyTalk. It still exists. It's been a while, but now I feel "back." Seems like all I've done recently is follow Pearl Jam around the globe with a side of Radiohead and haven't had much of interest to say to CrazyTalkers. But now I do, and I'm really excited about it. No terrible youtube videos or dates with underaged rap singers tho... just a record.
Here I sit in RJ Gator's after having ordered one beer too many. Dollar pints are amazing... especially when it's Bass on draft, but having 4 during lunch is probably one too many. And I left my earphones at home, so I sit here writing this without the benefit of actually hearing this thing about which I'm so excited. But here goes...
It's been almost two years since I've seen Dustin Edge perform live. Two years and counting. But now, finally, some new shit has come to light, man. Just shy of three weeks until the two year anniversary of the break-up (*ahem* I mean "hiatus") of Cast Iron Filter, Dustin's first solo effort hit the virtual shelves... on CD AND limited edition Vinyl. :)
With 10 tracks clocking in at just under 27 minutes, this new record (A Forest Through the Trees) blows by in a flurry of electronica, punk rock and a touch of emo hanging around an opaque backdrop of alt-country or Americana or whatever the hell people are calling it these days. And hopefully that's as much as I'll sound like a real music review.
I'm trying to remain unbiased about this, but, to be honest, it's really really difficult. I was lucky enough to see this go from a few random tracks recorded in the living room to 18 nearly complete songs and finally pared back to the 10 that made the cut. So I'm not completely unbiased. But I like to think I can tell if something sucks. One thing that sucked is that there was one song that was pretty good... save for this little guitar lick that, when I heard it, ALWAYS caused me to start singing Shania Twain... "Whose bed have your boots been under?" That sucked. Aside from that, no sucking.
As for what actually made it on the record... The opening still confuses me a bit with the pseudo-tribal drums, but that soon passes, the song sucks me in, and I'm there to stay. It takes a quick look at the lyrics to realize that the album opens with a love song... The next two songs have the dubious rotating honor of being my favorite song on the album. "Videomotion" when I'm sober and "The Ideal Citizen" when I'm not. These two ramp up the energy and tempo of the record considerably and lead into the most raw of the ten tracks... Once you blast through "Shrieks of Apathy" (everything in its place!) you realize you're driving 25 over and your throat hurts from trying to sing along. Even though you don't know the words. All three songs make me want to turn the volume up... even tho I know it doesn't go any louder by the time I finish "Videomotion."
Almost as a response to my irresponsibility, the album segues into a trio of introspective mood songs giving you the chance to come back down and chill a bit. While the first of the three is definitely my third favorite song on the record and the instrumental is the perfect length for a nice break, the third of these three songs is the only song on the album that I don't particularly care for. It's not bad, but if there's one I was going to skip, it'd be this one. So we've got a 90 second instrumental that's bookended by this pair of take-it-easy songs and the whole thing together seems to serve as a bridge between two halves of the album. Like, remember Cooleyhighharmony and how it had Allegro and Allegretto or something? mmmm....
This time, instead of that heavy-handed division, A Forest... cranks back up with another 2.5 minute screamer. Screamer as in that's what I try to do in my car since I can't actually sing. Even though I don't really know the words. After the screaming, we're out with another "nice" song taking us into the album closer and the longest song on the record. With a Velvet Underground or Sonic Youth-ish outro, "Symmetry Pursuit X" lulls you out and lets you down easy. All-in-all, a very very satisfying trip and one that I'm very happy and even proud to have been a minor part of.
Oh. If you check out the May 16 entry on Dusin's journal page, there's an early version of a track that didn't quite make the cut... I like tagging that one on the end of the record in iTunes... (speaking of, I hear rumours that the album will soon be available on iTunes...)
So now that I've said my inaccurate words and tried to convey some of my excitement... albeit very poorly... I should say that I feel like I've been around this record for too long ton convery my real sense of exciement about it. There were several delays with artwork and other production issues, so it seems like forever since the thing was actually finished. I've had it in my hands for months, so I find myself fighting with myself to not sound like I'm writing an advertisement. This is just a really damned good [first] record, and I hope other people give it a list. I've missed the atmosphere surrounding Cast Iron Filter, and I've missed the music, but Dustin makes no attempt here to cash in on what he helped create during the CIF stint. Nor does he make any apologies for going his own direction. I don't think this is the best Dustin Edge record that will be released, but it's exciting to see someone who's really talented find their own footing and their own voice without, necessarily, being constrained by the "what do my bandmates/fans/potential fans think?" question.
While my excitement for the newness of this record has certainly faded, I still think it's really good music. And my excitement to see/hear what other people think is at its absolute peak.
I've littered this post with some links... mostly to some places where you can listen for free... here they are one more time if you'd like. Enjoy!
http://www.myspace.com/dustinedge
http://www.dustinedge.com/listen.htm
http://www.dustinedge.com/read.htm (find the May 16 entry)
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