Labels: Fat Cat Records
Review by: Hari Ashurst
I am in heaven this time. Or somewhere in-between. A limbo that promises heaven shortly. That leaked Pentagon document had me thinking about death recently. Is this a magical universe or are we a freak evolutionary accident doomed to live our lives and then nothing forever? Think about that. Forever. I’m not even sure I want to live through the next 20 years if radical climate change, nuclear war and food shortages are all certainties. So here I am; I have committed suicide by way of Hara-Kari* (Suicide, by slashing the abdomen, formerly practiced in Japan). I’m doomed to forever. I’m having a conversation with the strange vocals from “Two, Three, Fall” on Obrigado Saudade. They are strange, ethereal and in tongues.
“He ah woo hee as hu,” They say.
Confronted, I can at this point take one of two directions. Allow myself to be drawn into its threatening beauty or vanquish this psychosis-ridden demon of the heavens.
“Mmm, this is quite beautiful. You crazy demonic angel”.
I chose both and played it out. Non-committal to the end.
It leads me down a strange and awkward path. The path to brilliance, meandering brilliantly but never quite reaching greatness. Mice Parade is the epitome of a brilliant artist for whom a great album has eluded them. I’ve decided that the best place to listen to this would be from a hole in the ground. I dig all night. People with backpacks walk past, lost. The hole is finished at 4 AM. I lie down and quickly become sodden and I’m aware of worms crawling about my person. I press play and it begins.
Of course the worms are my imagination, so is this song and the hole is a metaphorical hole of the self. The music is the tool for filling it and that is why it’s best to listen to this from inside a hole.
“He ah woo he as hu”, they say. It crackles, strums and fades.
I smile. Once again they haven’t managed a great album, just another brilliant one. Maybe if they vanquish the pyschosis-ridden demon who sends his vocals in on 7″ records from the heavens then greatness will be there for the recording.
*Hara-Kari is often (wrongly) spelt Hari-Kari.