Tall Dwarfs / Sky Above the Mud Below, the
Album: Sky Above the Mud Below, the   Collection:General
Artist:Tall Dwarfs   Added:Mar 2003
Label:Carrot Top Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2003-09-22 Pull Date: 2003-11-24
Week Ending: Nov 16 Nov 2 Oct 19 Oct 12 Oct 5 Sep 28
Airplays: 1 1 1 2 3 1

Recent Airplay
1. Dec 07, 2004: All This and Mor: Going Down Under
Meet the Beatle
4. Oct 12, 2003: the rust belt
Michael Hillbilly
2. Nov 12, 2003: In the Leaves
Meet the Beatle
5. Oct 08, 2003: press and release
You Want Me Shimmy
3. Oct 26, 2003: the rust belt
Meet the Beatle
6. Oct 06, 2003: Fly By Night
Michael Hillbilly

Album Review
Kareem Ghanem
Reviewed 2003-09-30
An important New Zealand group associated with the well-known Flying Nun (which also brought the world the Chills) label, Tall Dwarves have been around for nearly 20 years. They’re known for their lo-fi recordings and this album reflects that past, though it’s a bit of a stretch to call this lo-fi. While the first two-thirds of the album is more traditional, the last 8 songs are more experimental and worth checking out if that’s yo thang. The most immediate point of reference here would be Robyn Hitchcock. All in all, a thoroughly charming album chockfull of marvelous songs!

My picks: All, but these in particular!
1 Great quirky song about a visit George Harrison made to New Zealand.
3 Cool, hip rocker.
4 Slow, old-timey instrumentation with bells and whistles.
5 Wonderful Beatles-y/Hitchcock-ish charm.
6 FCC! There’s a lyric sheet though, so it might be worth playing. Neat vocal and instrumental distortion going on.
8 Melancholy keyboard drone. Terrific!
9 Bowie/Freddie Mercury doing lo-fi synth pop?
14 Funny as hell. Fake bad ass blues-y rock ‘n’ roll dude.
18 Abrasive, keyboard forms the background for a disjointed vocal sample. Cool.

Track Listing
1. Meet the Beatle   13. Big Brain of the World
2. Beached Boy   14. You Want Me Shimmy
3. Deodorant   15. How the West Was Won
4. Michael Hillbilly   16. Ok Forever
5. Room to Breathe   17. Your Unmade Eye
6. Right at Home   18. Seduced By Rock and Roll
7. Time to Wait   19. Amniotic Love
8. Melancholy   20. Carsick
9. We Are the Chosen Few   21. Wax
10. Baby It's Over   22. Open Wide Your Pretty Mouths
11. Cascade   23. Possum Born
12. The Beautiful Invader   24. Over the Waves
  25. The Runout Groove