Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Bodies Of Water

Bodies of Water started in David and Meredith’s closet. They were newly married and lived in a very small house. The closet was the only place to put the computer that they used to record songs. They were content doing this for a while but eventually decided to send these songs out into the world. The first step was to form a musical group. Meredith had never played a piano before but she was willing to give it a shot. She had known Kyle for a decade or so and he decided to try playing the bass. Jessie was a new friend from Arizona who was making a big splash in LA. They all thought that since she was a gifted dancer she would make a good drummer, and so Jessie learned to drum.

‘Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink’ is their first record (and the first release from their Thousand Tongues label). The songs draw on an admixture of traditions; the transcendent intensity of gospel, brutish gusto of punk rocking, earnest idiosyncrasy of American folk, sonic inclusiveness of tropicalia, planned jamming of prog, and the sincere bombast of musical theatre. These songs can be likened to a sort of emotional topiary; an unruly living mess lent its shape by the psychic framework around which it grows.

The language of these songs obliquely references what is the overarching concern of the record; the irreconcilable tension between the physical and metaphysical worlds and the human creature that stands precariously astride the two, being pulled by forces indistinguishable from desire and pushed by compulsions masquerading as emotions.

Since its inception Bodies of Water have added an auxiliary corps of musicians and when playing in L.A. their ranks can swell to as many as 10; hitting, blaring, strumming and bowing away. The four core members’ vocal synchronicity remains the group’s hallmark. Their calls, responses, shouts and harmonies ride above and around a retaining wall of sound in a fleeting burst of neo-tent revival immediacy.

Bodies of Water aren’t providing a soundtrack for catharsis, surrounding the listener with “good feelings” or “bad feelings.” They only hope to give encouragement in the lone struggle against adversity, to proffer up a thing to be internalized (and evolve therein) or die. Comfort engenders complacency and neglect, while dissatisfaction/ingratitude begets cruelty and self-absorption.

Their second full-length, A Certain Feeling, and first release for Secretly Canadian, features instantly familiar melodies, rich harmonic color, expansively deft arrangements, and compositions that ebb, flow, and double back on themselves in cathartic synchronicity. It comes out feeling like the anthemic prog/gospel/psychedelic/kraut-tribal movie score that Ennio Morricone and Phil Spector never got around to collaborating on. Highly Recommended!

Bodies Of Water - Water Here
Bodies Of Water - Gold, Tan, Peach And Gray
Bodies Of Water @ MySpace

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9 Comments:

Blogger Ziggy said...

The Tough Alliance - New Chance (2008) !!!
Grand Archives - Grand Archives (2008) !!!
Tv On The Radio - Dear Science (2008) !!!
No Age - Nouns (2008) !!!
Blitzen Trapper - Furr (2008)
Elf Power - In A Cave (2008)
Black Kids - Partie Traumatic (2008)
Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair (2008)
+ Beluah, The Posies, At The Drive In, The Beta Band,
Cut Copy, Hard-Fi, Oasis, Caribou, Death In Vegas, Burial,
Wolfmother, Orange Juice, Nick Cave, Hexstatic, Lambchop,
Justice, Husker Du, MSTRKRFT, Jens Lekman, Yeasayer, Fugazi,
Black Lips, Sigur Ros, The Go! Team, Boris, The Hives, etc.
[CODE]http://tinyurl.com/67w9my

Ali Farka Toure - Savane
Bill Evans - Village Vanguard
Norah Jones - Not Too Late
[CODE]http://tinyurl.com/65apxv

Bright Eyes - Fevers And Mirrors
[CODE]http://tinyurl.com/5qfjdv

The Mountain Goats - Live At Will's Pub In Orlando 04-09-03
Johnny Cash - At Madison Square Garden
The Blow - Paper Television
+ Regina Spektor. Mountain Goats, Outlawz, El-P,
Architecture In Helsinki, James Brown, Mirah, etc.
[CODE]http://tinyurl.com/6a8w4h

Soilwork - Sworn To A Great Divide
[CODE]http://tinyurl.com/5c77dx

Juana Molina - Son
[CODE]http://tinyurl.com/6zpqs6

11:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks, ziggy!

3:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You. Rock.

5:39 PM  
Blogger limbocolectivo said...

A thousand millions thanks for THE POSIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THATS THE BAND!
Where are they now!
Serius, really that record make back to my youthfull years and almost make me cry!
Sorry for the corny time but I F.love this album!
Thanks 100000000000000000000000 , Ziggy Rules!!!!!!!!!!

5:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love your releases, there are always great surprises in them, releases I wasn't aware of...

8:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

where is the new filter album ?

3:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks for all the links, ziggy. do you know where i could find the cage the elephant album by any chance? they're such a great new band imo!

6:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ziggy for president

8:29 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

thank you kind sir . . . .

12:11 PM  

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