LISTED: 30 Best Albums of the Last Decade (2000 - 2009)
*As the year 2010 is about to draw its curtain close, it is the time of the year (of any year) for many music sites and blogs to come up with a top list of albums of the year. Yes indeed the year 2010 has seen many interesting releases worthy of at least a top 20 list. But here at The Genuine Mind Zine we decided to do things a bit different and take a look at some of the best (of the best) releases throughout the last decade. This may not be the most comprehensive list around, lack of hip hop records for one, but all the albums listed here are indeed the most precious of last decade's precious gems.
9. Tim DeLaughter & the Polyphonic Spree - Thumbsucker OST (2005)
The really nice thing about being a writer (irregardless of the medium) is that you get to be frank honest with yourself, or about yourself, and still enjoy the anonymity that would spare you of the embarrassment, or fury, of others. That of course is only applicable if your readership consists of people who don't know you, or if you write using a pen name or by taking on an entirely different persona, or if nobody reads your writing. But still, sometimes even if the reader recognizes the article with the writer, the impact of the embarrassment, or fury, is soften by about as much because of the lag in time between you making the statement and the ensuing reaction by the latter.
But then again, of course, if you're not posting things on your Facebook wall, which by the look of things the reaction time is pretty swift.
Sounds like I'm about to make a frank confession and perhaps I will, somewhere, but let's focus on this album of last decade that has made it to number 9. First of all, let's be honest, soundtracks are usually an abomination, made by recording companies to either help push ticket sales up by promoting it with a song by a popular band through compiling songs that has hardly any connection at all with the movie, or make profit by using the branding from the movie through compiling songs that has hardly any connection at all with the movie. In other words, soundtracks are naturally rubbish. But Mike Mills, who wrote and directed the movie, has made it a point that he wanted the accompanying soundtrack to complement, or complete, people's experience of watching the movie, a statement made based on the sleeve note I read, written by Mills himself.
Originally, the songwriting and performing duty for the soundtrack was entrusted on the hand (or should I say, shoulder) of Elliot Smith. But after recording two covers ("Thirteen" and "Trouble") and one own composition ("Let's Get Lost"), the singer-songwriter surprised everyone by shifting off this mortal coil, leaving behind a legacy of a wounded soul troubadour. This event then left Mills in deep grief; not just for the fact that both of them were close friends, but because the songs that Smith had recorded and sang spoke greatly of the heart and soul, the very core, the essence of the movie. In fact, it is in a way true to say that the movie was actually about Elliot Smith - or about being Elliot Smith; about being fragile and delicate.
The movie revolves around a 17 year old character named Justin who is facing problems with himself and his family pertaining to his habit of sucking his thumb, which is the central issue to the whole movie. The act of sucking one's thumb has always been associated with a psychological issue, mostly about the insecurities that a person felt within him/herself. And the theme of self-insecurity has always been central in many (if not all) of Smith's songs. Thus, when you have a movie that focuses on such issue, Smith is obviously the natural choice to be the spokesperson because by the way of how delicate the subject matter of his songs were, one would think and expect that he has such an in-depth grasp and understanding of it.
His brittle but amiable voice resonates perfectly with Justin, a startling yet captivating projection of what being fragile means. The way he daintily pluck the guitar string and, almost out of breath, exhales the words was amazing in helping listener to visualize what it feels like to be insecure. Thus, his lost had initially greatly affected the project because there could never be another Elliot Smith to be the voice and the music of Thumbsucker; there could never be another voice so brittle and innocent it perfectly symbolizes what self-insecurity is. Well, not before Mills met DeLaughter...
Tim DeLaughter is the band leader of the poppish-cum-spiritual choral group The Polyphonic Spree. They were well-known for their brand of summery pop choral sing-alongs and their matching white robe overall, which made them look like a cult group, or the choir section of the Scientology. At first look, it may seem like an odd fit, whatnot with Smith's material being on the darker side of the day whereas DeLaughter and co. sings on something that sounds like a party at the garden of Eden. However, upon close and careful listen, one can sense the overlying message of fragility in the Spree's overjoyed delivery. It's like seeing someone smiling and laughing after being declared the loser in the final round of a contest - it is the smile and the laughter of contentment and acceptance of defeat. There is a hint of bittersweet admission in their singing - they sounded happy not because of ending up the champion, but happy of being almost there.
When you see someone broke down into tears, and that tears is of a specific 'lonely sorrow' type, what people would usually do is to gently coax the person to calm down and come into sense. The tone of the voice and the delivery of it would be of a calming one. If you can already imagine that voice, you have come close to understanding the real voice of The Polyphonic Spree, and why they are the perfect candidate to continue what Smith has been doing for all this years - being the voice of the delicate, of the fragile, of the self-insecure, of the down-trodden, of the rejected. That voice perfectly lent and expressed the emotion that is contained within the movie, and that had made this soundtrack one of the finest ever produced. In a completely different list (perhaps something like 30 Best Soundtrack Ever Conceived), this album would have been number 1.
*As the year 2010 is about to draw its curtain close, it is the time of the year (of any year) for many music sites and blogs to come up with a top list of albums of the year. Yes indeed the year 2010 has seen many interesting releases worthy of at least a top 20 list. But here at The Genuine Mind Zine we decided to do things a bit different and take a look at some of the best (of the best) releases throughout the last decade. This may not be the most comprehensive list around, lack of hip hop records for one, but all the albums listed here are indeed the most precious of last decade's precious gems.
9. Tim DeLaughter & the Polyphonic Spree - Thumbsucker OST (2005)
The really nice thing about being a writer (irregardless of the medium) is that you get to be frank honest with yourself, or about yourself, and still enjoy the anonymity that would spare you of the embarrassment, or fury, of others. That of course is only applicable if your readership consists of people who don't know you, or if you write using a pen name or by taking on an entirely different persona, or if nobody reads your writing. But still, sometimes even if the reader recognizes the article with the writer, the impact of the embarrassment, or fury, is soften by about as much because of the lag in time between you making the statement and the ensuing reaction by the latter.
But then again, of course, if you're not posting things on your Facebook wall, which by the look of things the reaction time is pretty swift.
Sounds like I'm about to make a frank confession and perhaps I will, somewhere, but let's focus on this album of last decade that has made it to number 9. First of all, let's be honest, soundtracks are usually an abomination, made by recording companies to either help push ticket sales up by promoting it with a song by a popular band through compiling songs that has hardly any connection at all with the movie, or make profit by using the branding from the movie through compiling songs that has hardly any connection at all with the movie. In other words, soundtracks are naturally rubbish. But Mike Mills, who wrote and directed the movie, has made it a point that he wanted the accompanying soundtrack to complement, or complete, people's experience of watching the movie, a statement made based on the sleeve note I read, written by Mills himself.
Originally, the songwriting and performing duty for the soundtrack was entrusted on the hand (or should I say, shoulder) of Elliot Smith. But after recording two covers ("Thirteen" and "Trouble") and one own composition ("Let's Get Lost"), the singer-songwriter surprised everyone by shifting off this mortal coil, leaving behind a legacy of a wounded soul troubadour. This event then left Mills in deep grief; not just for the fact that both of them were close friends, but because the songs that Smith had recorded and sang spoke greatly of the heart and soul, the very core, the essence of the movie. In fact, it is in a way true to say that the movie was actually about Elliot Smith - or about being Elliot Smith; about being fragile and delicate.
The movie revolves around a 17 year old character named Justin who is facing problems with himself and his family pertaining to his habit of sucking his thumb, which is the central issue to the whole movie. The act of sucking one's thumb has always been associated with a psychological issue, mostly about the insecurities that a person felt within him/herself. And the theme of self-insecurity has always been central in many (if not all) of Smith's songs. Thus, when you have a movie that focuses on such issue, Smith is obviously the natural choice to be the spokesperson because by the way of how delicate the subject matter of his songs were, one would think and expect that he has such an in-depth grasp and understanding of it.
His brittle but amiable voice resonates perfectly with Justin, a startling yet captivating projection of what being fragile means. The way he daintily pluck the guitar string and, almost out of breath, exhales the words was amazing in helping listener to visualize what it feels like to be insecure. Thus, his lost had initially greatly affected the project because there could never be another Elliot Smith to be the voice and the music of Thumbsucker; there could never be another voice so brittle and innocent it perfectly symbolizes what self-insecurity is. Well, not before Mills met DeLaughter...
Tim DeLaughter is the band leader of the poppish-cum-spiritual choral group The Polyphonic Spree. They were well-known for their brand of summery pop choral sing-alongs and their matching white robe overall, which made them look like a cult group, or the choir section of the Scientology. At first look, it may seem like an odd fit, whatnot with Smith's material being on the darker side of the day whereas DeLaughter and co. sings on something that sounds like a party at the garden of Eden. However, upon close and careful listen, one can sense the overlying message of fragility in the Spree's overjoyed delivery. It's like seeing someone smiling and laughing after being declared the loser in the final round of a contest - it is the smile and the laughter of contentment and acceptance of defeat. There is a hint of bittersweet admission in their singing - they sounded happy not because of ending up the champion, but happy of being almost there.
When you see someone broke down into tears, and that tears is of a specific 'lonely sorrow' type, what people would usually do is to gently coax the person to calm down and come into sense. The tone of the voice and the delivery of it would be of a calming one. If you can already imagine that voice, you have come close to understanding the real voice of The Polyphonic Spree, and why they are the perfect candidate to continue what Smith has been doing for all this years - being the voice of the delicate, of the fragile, of the self-insecure, of the down-trodden, of the rejected. That voice perfectly lent and expressed the emotion that is contained within the movie, and that had made this soundtrack one of the finest ever produced. In a completely different list (perhaps something like 30 Best Soundtrack Ever Conceived), this album would have been number 1.
Labels: 30 Best Albums of the Last Decade (2000 - 2009), the polyphonic spree
posted by Hafeez at 2:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home