Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark

Tim Kinsella (of Owls and Cap'n Jazz among other projects) presents some more indie pop/art rock that some of you might find overly pretentious, but I happen to enjoy immensely. Take some interesting song-writing, critique on society's conformism, throw in some quirky instrumentation, some experimental effects, and get some awesome results. There's something a
little creepy sounding about these songs, usually driven by spastic acoustic instrumentation. As their press info states, "Eccentric yet accessible." I know that sounds a little cheesy, but ends up being fairly accurate. Lots of great stuff to choose from. Feeling really weird, play 3, 9, 15, 17. A little more conventional, but still weird in its own way – 1, 7, 11 are great.

** 1 – quirky piano medley over interesting drums and cello with strange philosophical lyrics. great
2 – just acoustic guitars and singing, sorta pretty, more modest mouse-like lyrics about the universe
3 – tripped out electronic noises with really creepy mechanical-like repetition of "joan of arc, dick cheney, mark twain" in bland voices over and over. bizarre.
* 4 – great instrumentation featuring vibes, viola, ebow guitar, sorta dark and creepy sounding
5 – a little exotic sounding, a motorcycle gas tank is used as percussion to cool effect
6 – just piano and voice. simple, quiet, slightly haunting
*7 – starts with simple scattered instruments, layers develop gradually, very cool percussion, chant-like chorus works really well, fades out with organ at end
8 – more cowbell! strange tune featuring a male voice listing random stuff like "friendster" and "interstate rest stops" and a female voice chiming back "conspiracy" for each one.
9 – weird, weird, weird. electronic glitches and buzzes, sorta a trip, especially on headphones. end blends into next track.
10 – slow laid back with some pretty cello. very cool textures here
**11 – I love this song. clever lyrics, voice gets frustrated to cool
effect, neat accordion among other things (spoons feature prominently)
*12 – some weird whispered-like singing that works quite well, faster tempo, somewhat creepy. FCC (horseshit).
13 – more weird computer-y glitches. play if you wanna leave listeners scratching their heads
14 – slow piano driven tune, lingers for a little after song finishes
*15 – slow, starts with just piano, horns and other odd noises creep in as song builds, voice gains strength into a climax, then drops back to just piano
16 – an odd little instrumental, stays pretty simple, ends with drum machine that bleeds into next track
17 – more name reading. this times, lotsa weird voices reading famous names. gradually "clear channel" begins to be read over and over taking over the variety. pretty cool effect, pretty obvious message. play when particularly pissed with mainstream radio
-nate jones