Customer Reviews

Here Comes That Weird Chill

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here Comes That Weird Chill (subtitled Methamphetamine Blues, Extras & Oddities)is a taster for Lanegan's upcoming album Bubblegum (2004) & is another example of the return of the e.p. (see also John Cale's 5 Tracks; Ryan Adams' Love Is Hell). It also represents a change in Lanegan's career- this is released by 'Mark Lanegan Band' & is moves away from the gothic blend of country and folk common to his previous five solo albums (it's his first release without Mike Johnson, a union from The Winding Sheet to Field Songs).

Lanegan, now officially free of Screaming Trees, takes a variety of influences, notably those collaborations with such artists as Queens of the Stone Age, Masters of Reality, Desert Sessions,Twilight Singers, Martina Topley Bird & Mondo Generator & applies that to his solo career. Methamphetamine Blues is notably more rocky than Lanegan's solo career, but not the type of psychedelic-grunge rock common to Screaming Trees either. Joshua Homme (Kyuss, QOTSA etc) is the star here- playing most of the instruments throughout & Meth Blues is an industrial grind that sounds like the missing link between Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones & Desert Sessions. Like many an artist, Lanegan & co are getting down with pro-tools- which might be shocking for those used to more conventional rock. On this track alone there are a wealth of guests: Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers), Natasha Schneider (Eleven/Chris Cornell's Euphoria Morning), Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Mondo Generator) etc. Lanegan's career, even in Screaming Trees, centred around collaboration & its nice this is continued into different sonic climes here. On the Steps of the Cathedral is a strange sonic interlude from Lanegan, Chris Goss (Masters of Reality) & Tracy Chisholm and takes us towards a sterling cover of Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band's Clear Spot. This is different to the blues/folk/acoustic inflected covers found on 1999's I'll Take Care of You (which as an album was only a few minutes longer than this e.p.). This has more in common with acts like Beck and Folk Implosion than anything remotely grunge...

Message to Mine is closer to the Lanegan familiar to many, building from a lone-organ to a fairly conventional rock song (delivered in a pro-tool manner) featuring Oliveri, Homme, Dean Ween, Greg Dulli et al again- Ween's guitar is particularly great; the sound of this e.p. is very internal, which is why it sounds great on headphones! The highlight of this e.p. is Lexington Slow Down, which advances on piano-inflected material found on Scraps at Midnight & Field Songs (e.g. Last One in the World, Bell Black Ocean, Don't Forget About Me). Lanegan hasn't done anything quite this brilliant- if this is not good enough to make the album proper, Bubblegum will surely be one of the highlights of 2004! Lanegan's brilliant voice fuses with the piano and some wonderful Morriconeesque harmonies- this urintaes over anything by Nick Cave and is worthy of the frequent comparisons to Tom Waits. Worth buying for this track alone...

Skeletal History is co-written by Lanegan with Homme and Oliveri, though is closer to the Desert Sessions material than QOTSA- Hangin'Tree (originally on Desert Sessions) offerred hints of drum'n'bass in the rhythmic sense- so does this, though with the odd guitar interlude that recalls stuff like Calexico, Cooder & Morricone. Wish You Well sounds how The Jesus & Mary Chain (& thus Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) should have sounded, a perfect Velvets-inflected drone that also reminds me a little of Suicide- a wonderful stoney drone...

The final tracks are Sleep with Me and a dub 'version'- the latter showing that the Martina Topley Bird collaboration was influential, or maybe Lanegan & co have been listening to Lee'Scratch'Perry? Sleep with Me is another brilliant song, demonstrating that this e.p is pretty consistent stuff and not just filler chucked out to support a tour. Here Comes That Weird Chill offers an interesting new direction for Lanegan and makes one look forward to the full-length album that will follow next year; Lexington Slow Down will blow your mind: BUY!!!!

I've always been a fan of the lyrics and poems of Jim Morrison; however, Mark Lanegan redefines the meaning of "darkness"; I must admit, I hated this album at first, but there is something inside that makes you play it again and again, until you can almost smell the stale cigarettes and whiskey...

Extraordinary...well worth every penny!
(if you're looking for articulation, read the review below...DEAD ON) I especially liked "Message to mine"...just amazing stuff!

I bought this after falling in love with, and overplaying Bubblegum. At first it didn't compare, but soon after Message to mine absolutely floored me!!! I can't stop listening to this song! absolutley incredible! I wish i had discovered Lanegan long ago, though I am glad I have some new (old) releases to catch up on.

Here Comes That Weird Chill is the complementary Extended Play for the so far latest Mark Lanegan solo effort Bubblegum wich was great due to the variety of guest musicians (Josh Homme, Chris Goss, Duff Mckagan, PJ. Harvey and the Conner bros from Screaming Trees), as a not official full lenght album "Here Comes That Weird Chill" was for Lanegan the perfect excuse to go even beyond he went with Bubblegum wich its itself more expanded on directions, such as acid rock, punk and his well known traditional folk, This EP includes electronic rithms, Industrial percussions, vocal distortion, environtmental atmospheres and dark introspection, Lanegan walks nowadays the most diverse scenarios with a bunch of projects incredibly diverse, (Soulsavers, Gutter Twins, Twilight singers and a duet with Isobel Campbell), Here Comes That Weird Chill
is a must have.

HM

but so good, every song on HERE COMES THAT WEIRD CHILL could've been included on that fantastic album, itself pretty weird at times.

My impressions:

"Methamphetaime Blues" - a heavenly rock dirge. Industrial percussion sounds like it was recorded at a rail yard. Seems to be portraying the harrowing experience of being strung out. *****

"On the Steps of the Cathedral" - a slow motion rock euphoria. *****

"Clear Spot" - a blurred, hazy rocker, also a Captain Beefheart cover. Unfortunately, I can't say I'm much of a fan of what little I've heard from Beefheart - mostly some blues/pop numbers and TROUT MASK REPLICA which is too out there for even me with my taste for avant-garde. But I love this one. *****

"Message to Mine" - Lanegan's gravely high-register harmonies manage to sound gorgeous and I love the wailing guitar. Resembles some of the best music from the 60s but sounds completely original. *****

"Lexington Slow Down" - This piano-driven ballad is intensely moving. A haunted gem. ****3/4

"Skeletal History" - angular walking guitar riffs and various creepy touches hang on Lanegan's anguished tales of woe. A stunner. ****1/2

"Wish You Well" - not exactly comforting, but a strangely soothing rock dirge. ****

"Sleep with Me/ Version" - intoxicatingly hypnotic. My vote for best of the bunch. *****

With all the commercial formulaic junk that passes for music these days, and gets shoved down our throats by the industry, its easy to miss some true gems out there. One being the great Mark Lanegan. He is the white man's vocal answer to Barry White and then some. That voice is soo deep and raspy, it makes any accompaning music sound good. He incorporates a variety and instruments and musicians as well. There's just too much to rave about. I have all of his releases. If you can find it on vinyl, then even better. Its perfect when you just want to chill out and have a little something on the rocks, or when you are down and out perhaps. I've seen him live a few times and its just mesmerizing. Raw, deep, primal, earthy, bluesy etc. The sound transends labels.

I was really surprised to find that this would become one of my favorites from Lanegan. It is really great. You must get it.

Many had said that Mark Lanegan had painted himself into a stylistic corner with his previous albums, that folky bluesy thing he was in danger of doing over and over again.... so, although on its own this EP isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread, it represents a decided leap out of that corner, slathering Lanegan's considerable pipes with sludgy production and dirty drums/bass/guitars.

I'll just start out by saying SKELETAL HISTORY is a TOTAL captain beefheart ripoff. It's cool, though, to hear such an obvious tribute to an artist who doesn't get tributes paid to him much. Cooler to hear, even, than the game MLB cover of "Clear Spot" elsewhere on this EP. If anyone likes these tracks they owe it to themselves to seek out the Captain's music, spotlight kid/clear spot and the 3 early-'80s albums especially. And onward.

There are a couple of tracks that feel like filler, especially "Sleep With Me", and the 1st track which was repeated on Bubblegum, for some reason, despite its being a generic slab of bluesy indie rock. It is almost transformed into something fascinating by the oddball kitchen-sink production. "Lexington Slow Down" evokes Tom Waits spoken-word tracks like "9th and Hennipen" (sp?).

If you've already got "Bubblegum" and need more, DEFINITELY get this EP. If you don't have either, DEFINITELY start with "Bubblegum", a more solid outing by Mr. Lanegan and his compatriats.

This guy is the owner of one of the great deep voices in rock music today.

For my money, this is a stronger piece as a whole than the full-length album that followed, "Bubblegum." Where both of them are experimental, spiking Lanegan's preexisting folk and roots solo material with sonic experiments and more overtly "rock" offerings, it is in the E.P. format that this restless genre wandering works best, presenting new ideas in a more focused light.