To paraphrase the inimitable Susanna Clarke, is it true that while melancholy belongs to all the world, it's individual extractions are made up according to different recipes? Are there distinct and tangible differences between Jewish sadness, gentile sadness, white sadness, black sadness, etc...? If so, The Midnight Organ Fight seems to be a pure distillation of Scottish sadness. Scott Hutchison allows his honey on sandpaper burr run to roughshod through his pained lyrics, while the band only makes fleeting attempts to push their sound past the Lowlands and Northern Isles. So what keeps this record from being some Thistle & Shamrock-style cultural artifact? Grant Hutchison's drumming is the key musical element; for despite the singer/songwriter feel of the material, this is really a drummer's record. Like any good sibling Grant is inclined to kick his brother's ass when he's feeling too sorry for himself, and the drum work on this record has an electric effect on the material. The other key is the sad sack in the middle. Scott Hutchinson paints his demons exquisite and lovely detail but keeps it relatable throughout - drawing the audience in instead of pushing them away. After all, everyone is alike under the skin, right?
Saturday, December 20, 2008
2008 Favorites: Frightened Rabbit/The Midnight Organ Fight
To paraphrase the inimitable Susanna Clarke, is it true that while melancholy belongs to all the world, it's individual extractions are made up according to different recipes? Are there distinct and tangible differences between Jewish sadness, gentile sadness, white sadness, black sadness, etc...? If so, The Midnight Organ Fight seems to be a pure distillation of Scottish sadness. Scott Hutchison allows his honey on sandpaper burr run to roughshod through his pained lyrics, while the band only makes fleeting attempts to push their sound past the Lowlands and Northern Isles. So what keeps this record from being some Thistle & Shamrock-style cultural artifact? Grant Hutchison's drumming is the key musical element; for despite the singer/songwriter feel of the material, this is really a drummer's record. Like any good sibling Grant is inclined to kick his brother's ass when he's feeling too sorry for himself, and the drum work on this record has an electric effect on the material. The other key is the sad sack in the middle. Scott Hutchinson paints his demons exquisite and lovely detail but keeps it relatable throughout - drawing the audience in instead of pushing them away. After all, everyone is alike under the skin, right?
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