"Meth of a Rockette's Kick" - Mercury Rev
Ba ba ba bap...ba! Ba ba baba ba!
One of my favorite opening tracks of all time comes from Mercury Rev's fractured 1993 messterpiece "Boces". I'm a sucker for good "ba ba ba" harmonies, and the way this harmony-laden hazy stew fades in just kills me. There's a flute in there, somewhere. I wish I had a flute. The beginning of 10 minute song is just a blurry mess of melody and fuzz, a brilliant fader. Original singer David Baker mumbles song stuff I can't quite make out, but I suppose it's better if you just view the voice as another instrument. And what an instrument it is!
Swirl. Fuzz. Mush. Repeat.
Submerge me in the water `till I'm free of all crime..." (I understand that much.)
At almost 2 minutes, the stunning guitar noise makes an entry, as Baker mumbles about holes in his head. Any fan of early-90's Flaming Lips is familiar with that classic Jonathon Donahue guitar tone - not quite noise, not quite music. It's fuzzy, dreamy reverb-drenched...mesmerizing and terrifying textures.
"I'm free!"
But wait, we're back to the opening slime! The harps and horns coexist in stunning harmony, like marshmallows on a green ocean. The second verse brings us one step closer to psychedelic moksha.
"Make it connect! Make it connect! Make it come true!"
And there's a second chorus, of course. It's not all that different from the first, is it? But it's bigger, bolder and sublime. It serves as a gateway drug into the guitar solo of sorst, as Jonathon Donahue bleeds his noise all over the place, right on top of that gorgeous horn flute solo. But at about 4:47 the noisy absolutely consumes the track, the "ba ba ba ba!"s come back! It's god, ween, and satan all in one!
I'm free!
The flutes break saves us from the madness, but at 7:00 everything comes together in a jazzy freak-out mess. Who the fuck invited the school choir? And the ghost of Coltrane? What the hell are they chanting? Why are my boxers what?
The song ends with noise. The type of noise that makes one think they can breathe underwater.
At some point, David Baker went mad (I assume?) and Mr. Donahue went on to lead the group to their true album masterpiece, 1995's "See You On The Other Side". However, they never topped this wondrous song. I am a better person for hearing it, and so are you.
One of my favorite opening tracks of all time comes from Mercury Rev's fractured 1993 messterpiece "Boces". I'm a sucker for good "ba ba ba" harmonies, and the way this harmony-laden hazy stew fades in just kills me. There's a flute in there, somewhere. I wish I had a flute. The beginning of 10 minute song is just a blurry mess of melody and fuzz, a brilliant fader. Original singer David Baker mumbles song stuff I can't quite make out, but I suppose it's better if you just view the voice as another instrument. And what an instrument it is!
Swirl. Fuzz. Mush. Repeat.
Submerge me in the water `till I'm free of all crime..." (I understand that much.)
At almost 2 minutes, the stunning guitar noise makes an entry, as Baker mumbles about holes in his head. Any fan of early-90's Flaming Lips is familiar with that classic Jonathon Donahue guitar tone - not quite noise, not quite music. It's fuzzy, dreamy reverb-drenched...mesmerizing and terrifying textures.
"I'm free!"
But wait, we're back to the opening slime! The harps and horns coexist in stunning harmony, like marshmallows on a green ocean. The second verse brings us one step closer to psychedelic moksha.
"Make it connect! Make it connect! Make it come true!"
And there's a second chorus, of course. It's not all that different from the first, is it? But it's bigger, bolder and sublime. It serves as a gateway drug into the guitar solo of sorst, as Jonathon Donahue bleeds his noise all over the place, right on top of that gorgeous horn flute solo. But at about 4:47 the noisy absolutely consumes the track, the "ba ba ba ba!"s come back! It's god, ween, and satan all in one!
I'm free!
The flutes break saves us from the madness, but at 7:00 everything comes together in a jazzy freak-out mess. Who the fuck invited the school choir? And the ghost of Coltrane? What the hell are they chanting? Why are my boxers what?
The song ends with noise. The type of noise that makes one think they can breathe underwater.
At some point, David Baker went mad (I assume?) and Mr. Donahue went on to lead the group to their true album masterpiece, 1995's "See You On The Other Side". However, they never topped this wondrous song. I am a better person for hearing it, and so are you.
Labels: Mercury Rev
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