So, you've been dumped. Now what? I bet most of your friends, family and people that care about your well being are telling you to chin up and dust yourself off. Reminding you that there are a lot of fish in various bodies of water. Well not me. I think that is crap. What you need is some good old fashioned moping and, luckily, my record collection is here to help.
Music was practically born out of frustration between the two sexes. Two million years ago, after a troglodyte was told by his mate that she was done getting clubbed in the head and dragged around the village by her hair, he solemnly went back to his cave, pounded on a drum and groaned inaudibly. Ironically, this inaugural example of music probably sounded similar to a lot of the early Bob Dylan demos. I kid, I worship Dylan.
So when your girlfriend tells you she is through with you because she could almost certainly do better, nod your head, scrape your dignity off the floor, and reach for those earbuds as soon as she leaves the room. Now, of course these tunes will shred every single emotion in your body to ribbons, but at the same time will help suture those wounds. Its a strange process, and one I don't pretend to understand. Stand up and announce to the world, "I am a shriveling mess, but so was this guy and he was able to not only survive, but bottle up our common emotions into a time capsule that will bum out future generations." Its weirdly empowering, in a organ eviscerating fashion.
Listed below are some of the best modern records that will pour some salt in your wounds. But maybe that's just what you need. From the breaking of hearts comes some pretty decent art, and these five records are no exception.
Beck - Sea Change
The quintessential break up album of the 21st century came from Beck Hansen in 2002. Perhaps a record has never been as aptly named as Sea Change. It provided a total 180 degree transformation for Beck, who until this point in time was widely known as the quirky guy with two turn tables and a microphone. Suddenly, as autumn crept up on summer like a mugger at a bus stop, record stores across the country began stocking their shelves with Sea Change. Just a glance at the cover art, featuring a stark, vulnerable Beck over a pink backdrop, and a quick run down of the track list gave the world a pretty good summation of what they were in for. "Already Dead", "Lonesome Tears", "Lost Cause". Yup, this dude was sad, and your riding shotgun. For an artist whose first lyric from his biggest previous hit was "in the world of chimpanzees / I was a monkey", this was a pretty big departure. The record was a critical and commercial hit for Beck, with Rolling Stone awarding the album its coveted 5 star rating.
The bummer of a lyric: "It's nothing that I haven't seen before, but it still kills me, just like it did before." Ooof.
Fun fact: The record features a full string section, with composition arranged and applied by Becks' own Dad.
Blur - 13
Blur's Damon Albarn and his longtime girlfriend, Justine Frischmann of both Suede and Elastica, were the undisputed King and Queen of 90's Britpop, so it was only fitting that their breakup produced some of the greatest lovesick tunes of all time. While 13 can't be considered a full blown breakup record, there were certainly multiple moments of vast sorrow. "Tender" opens the record with a sad blues riff under a full choir chanting "come on, come on, come on, get through it", as if Albarn himself hired them for his own personal motivation. At seven minutes long, the track provides more than enough space for Albarn to sigh one liners like "I'm screwing up my life", and repeating "oh my baby, oh my baby" sixteen times like a man who cannot believe his misfortune. Other tracks give no mention to Albarn's mangled heart, and still others seem innocuous and unrelated until you see the lyrics in print. "Coffee & TV" seems like an upbeat pop number, until the 37th time you've listened to it and realize Albarn is endlessly pleading "Oh, cant we start over again?". Throw in a couple mildly obvious, "Hey everyone, my ex was totally into heroin" shout outs and you've got a break up record for the ages.
The bummer of a lyric: "No Distance Left To Run" is in the running for most depressing pop song of the last 20 years. "It's over / you don't need to tell me / I hope your with someone who makes you feel safe while your sleeping tonight / I wont kill myself trying to stay in your life / I got no distance left to run". And that's just the first 30 seconds of the song. Ouch!
Albarn has said this is one song he has written that he could barely manage to record and listen to saying, "It upset me, that song. It upset me singing it. Doing that vocal upset me greatly. To sing that lyric I really had to accept that that was the end of something in my life. It's amazing when you do have the guts to do that with your work, because it don't half help you."
Fun fact: The exceptional cover art, depicting a emaciated young man, shirtless and scared with with a slanty haircut that would be emo if it didn't pre-date emo, was taken from an oil painting by lead guitarist Graham Coxon.
The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
When news broke that John Darnielle, the lyrical genius behind the Mountain Goats, was prepping a break up album you knew it was going to be bad. The New Yorker has called Darnielle "America's best non hip-hop lyricist", and he brought the goods on this record. In fact, some may argue that he actually did too good of a job in conveying the epic loneliness he was feeling. Pitchfork Media noted that their reviewer "didn't quite get" this record and he "hoped he never did". Three years later, Get Lonely will still put a lump in your throat and make it rain on your face in short order. The remarkable thing about the twelve songs is the eeerie authenticity of it all. The devil has always lied in the details with Darnielles lyrics and Get Lonely is no exception. Darnielle's experiences are translated with such clarity that the whole thing radiates with a rare sense of spookiness.
The bummer of a lyric: All five minutes of "Moon Over Goldsboro" is a titanic gut punch for the ages, as Darnielle dreams of falling asleep with her, only to wake up and realize he is utterly alone. "You were almost asleep / halfway undressed /I laid right down next to you / held your head against my chest...Spend all night in the company of ghosts / always wake up alone". As he finishes the verse, Darnielle's voice cracks with sadness as he pulls away from the microphone and presumably fights off tears.
Fun fact: After eleven sparse tracks about remembering the day they moved into their home, running into her on public transportation, and seeing her ghost around town, Darnielle decides to hypothetically drown himself in the ocean for the albums finale. Good times all around!
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Frightened Rabbit, a ever expanding indie troupe from Scotland, released the horribly titled yet brilliantly crafted "The Midnight Organ Fight" last year. Led by the shaky, thickly brogued voice of Scott Hutchison, Frightened Rabbit showed a remarkable ability to convey the relationship troubles of their front man with every disperaging detail. He gets off the starting line fast with the album opener "The Modern Leper", in which he compares himself to a cripple losing his last essential limb in a Scottish rainstorm. He goes on about his recently ceased relationship in nearly all the 14 tracks with varying degrees of optimism.
The common theme on this record is infidelity. "Keep Yourself Warm" is a bitter kiss off and outcry against casual sex, with Hutchison using a scathing metaphor in the chorus that I'm pretty sure I can't even print here. Good Arms vs. Bad Arms extends that suspicion with Hutchison yelping, "I might not want you back / but I want to kill him!", and getting off a LOL-worthy warning shot of "I'm armed to the teeth and I'm heavyset".
The bummer of a lyric: "I'm working on erasing you / I just don't have the proper tools...I'm working hard on walking out / My shoes keep sticking to the ground." Hutchison whines over the groan of lonely organs on "Backwards Walk".
Fun fact: In speaking of his work on his upcoming album, Hutchison has told e-zine Qmunicate, "Hopefully it'll just be less obviously personal and brutal than the last record. Less oppressive.". Wait a second, these sound like all the reasons that made the last record great. Somebody, quick, break his heart again before its too late!
Cursive - The Ugly Organ
Saddle Creek Records has the market share on loneliness, it's practically their founding brand. Bright Eyes has built a career on vulnerability and label mates Cursive's tunes have always rode the fence between anxious and psychotic. The Ugly Organ is a loosely based concept album centered on the twisted sex life of the the protagonist, who is almost certainly just front man Tim Kasher. The album title is also a conveniently phrased pun that should warn you what you're getting yourself into (get it, the "Ugly Organ"...cough cough).
While not a break up album, this record explores themes of empty sex, ill advised lust and waking up in the bedrooms of people you don't even know. The Ugly Organ is full of thinly veiled double entendres, and when Kasher says that what comes out of his ugly organ is a horrible mess, you know pretty much exactly what he means. On "Butcher The Song" he claims he has been "screaming for years and it gets him nowhere", and then decides it is finally time to sever his ugly extremety (his words, not mine), literally reasoning that its a great day to cut off his, um, yeah. It is a bizarre collection of ideas that always falls on the delightful side of the obscene fence. It is also an incredibly great rock album from back to front, probably in my personal top 20 of all time.
The effectiveness of the record is wholly tied to the wild eyed screams and twisted ideas of vocalist Tim Kasher, selling the story of a creep that is almost certainly just Kasher himself, over the juxtaposition of a sad cello fills and screeching punk guitars.
The bummer of a lyric: The entire record is full of self deprecating gems, with none better than the back to back daggers of self realization from The Recluse, "Christ, I'm not that desperate...oh no...oh god...I am." and "My ego is like my stomach, it keeps sh*ting what I feed it." Hows that for some self awareness. On another track, Kasher turns the finger of blame onto the listener, stuttering as he delivers " I'm writing songs to entertain / But these people! These people! They-they just want pain!"
Fun fact: Listen closely on tracks 4, 10, and 11 for back up vocals from indie darling Jenny Lewis, who seems far too wholesome to be involved in such a project.
0 comments:
Post a Comment