Album: Excellent Italian Greyhound
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:05 am
sunlore wrote:nihil39 wrote:What has that text in Italian to do with EIG (maybe it's related to the "song about the hooker")?
Yes, it is.
I am going to be a total EA forum nerd right now and point out that this phrase almost instantly reminded me of a post that Steve Albini wrote about Daniel Smith, which sits here, and leave it at that.
That is an illuminating clarification and a canny comparison, Sunlore. Thank you.
The record was waiting for me when I returned late last night from an exhausting weekend. Before listening to it, I spent a while just marveling at the art encasing it, such a gorgeous treat. My favourite components of it are currently the close-up photo of the greyhound's face with its wide bright eyes and serious expression on the back of the inner sleeve, and Jay Ryan's depiction of the army of greyhounds sleeping on the plain after a long day's charging. The detail drawn is simple and instantly memorable.
Pardon my uber-nerding out here, but I love this exciting record.
Today, I like Excellent Italian Greyhound more than any other Shellac record. This might change with mood and repeated listenings, but I doubt that I will ever think it anything other than superb.
I agree with most of the comments above: the record does seem to have more poetry, more playful rock-pop moments, and a beguiling sense of humour (lyrically, but also with the musical slapstick - Be Prepared - non-sequitur, and the aforementioned DUM-DUM finale theme). To me, this has the cute effect of it sounding less harsh, but both more accessible and innovative, surprising.
Listening to it for the first time on headphones, my immediate impression was that the vocals sounded incredibly intimate, the bass and drums packed an unbeatable wallop, and the guitar playing has less high end and distortion than on previous records, but with greater intricacy and perhaps a wider range of timbre. I can't tell if the Harmonic Percolator is used at all on the record.
The layering of voices on Genuine Lulabelle is very effective, as is what they are saying: it is a laudable feat to be funny, mean, wistful, sympathetic and poetic over the same song.
The only Shellac instrumental that I like as much as Paco is Pull the Cup, and I think that Paco's position in the record is stronger.
I admire the way each Shellac record sounds distinct and of a part whilst staying consistent in approach and aesthetic with the other records. So, more of the different, indeed, excellent.
