Customer Reviews

Mother of All Saints

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

 

 

Wow, what a price for this classic! In case you DON'T know, the Thinking Fellers were among the best indie ROCK bands of the 90's and have the distinction of probably being the WEIRDEST. Among all the straightfaced cynicism and insular coolness of that era, the Fellers were quite refreshing with their electric banjos, goofy vocals and all around absurdism. Plus they were an incredible live band. Mother All Of Saints is a great introduction to the Fellers completely unique sound. Highlights include "Hive", "Hornet's Heart", "Cistern" and many more. Also, it's a very long listen; I believe it was a double LP, so it's well worth the investment for the price of one CD. It starts of with a string of great songs, and although 3/4 of the way through there's alot of goofy, home recorded filler, it picks up again with some very "heavy" space rock instrumentals towards the end. If you're curious at all, pick this oddball classic up, especially since the price is right. They've been described as "Sonic Youth playing bluegress" before, but any other stupid "Zappa meets the Pixies" tag could apply as well. It's stylistically all over the place, so even if you don't like the WHOLE thing, there's sure to be a couple songs that you'll love, trust me!

the record the best I've heard in the post-rock, noise-sound genre. Their lyrics range from quirky and tongue-in-cheek to darker themes. In all, their obvious compositional sophistication makes for a superb album. If it hurts your ears, you're not listening correctly.

Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Meat Puppets, early lo-fi Guided By Voices, Faust, Can, 80's Butthole Surfers, Captain Beefheart, Pixies, John Zorn, The Boredoms, Olivia Tremor Control (or other lo-fi Elephant 6 stuff), and even a little That Dog (think violins in grungy emotional alt. rock, not too many others apply)...this band sounds like all of these bands sometimes all rolled into one, othertimes seperate. Elements of shoegazer, arty post-punk, German krautrock, cowpunk, freeform noise/sound collage, and other forms of avante-garde experimentation spread out over an hour's worth of wonderful beautiful druggy messy psychadelic music. definitely give this one a listen next time mr. lysergic comes to town, and venture further into their other albums too (I know I will be). the entire album, to me, is the equivalent of some kind of mindbend out in a vast rural field inhabited by strange creatures and otherwordly shifts of color and shadow. Somebody said "Sonic Youth playing bluegrass". Sounds about right. what are you waitng for?

Scores of arty twentysomethings who swoon over the Animal Collective have never heard this dark surreal head trip that may some day find its due recognition. The Thinking Fellers indulge in odd harmonies, fractured rhythms, sewer guitar noise, alien melody and song structures that unpredictably veer without succumbing to math rock/prog rock cliches. Oddball instruments, at least for an American band, such as the erhu are integral to the mix without seeming like flashy attention-grabbing ornaments. Multiple male and female vocalists share duties, keeping listeners off guard and constantly offering a different distorted prismatic view of their themes of disease, ecstasy, mental illness and surreal experience. And while the lyrics of a band like Sonic Youth are often best not paid too much attention to, the Fellers deliver coups such as

"Excuse me sir, I'd like to buy a spike /

for planting hornets into the heart of my wife /

she's had conversations with my darker side /

and now she's left me with a poison mind."

This sprawling double album runs the gamut from odd beauty to near-unlistenable moments, a true trip to outreland. I usually wince at formless indugences, but here they add fangs to the disorienting tenor of the album. The Fellers have made more accessible albums and more favorably reviewed albums, but very few acts have ever made an album like this, where you just sit back, shake your head and say what the f*** was that. One of the very great, truly unique 1990s albums. [P.S. The "Brownest Hour" review is spot-on].

That this band isn't rated more highly is criminal. They ARE my favorite band of the nineties. All of their releases should be readily available, but if you're on a budget, you should grab this one. I guess they were considered too 'eccentric' to be one of the more popular indie groups, but that's not fair. I think all of their albums are gigantic hits, at least in my house.

"I've been giving colonics for 5 years and never get bored," replies Ann with a cheerfulness which rather belies the reifiacal (reifecal?) nature of her work. "I like the one-on-one counseling and the gloves; and I am continually surprised by the various objects that present themselves in the lighted viewing tube of the machine: undigested red meat, old boots, billowing pewter ingots of real sadness from the days of yore when dashing privateers sailed the seven seas, and sometimes even a baby's arm. Yes, you can watch everything come out, and see what you're really made of, or what you've been holding onto for days, months, or years! ... You can let go into a completely enclosed system -- no smell -- no mess. You will likely experience a sense of well being and warmth like an internal Chinese Checkers tournament. The pressure gauge lets me see how you feel, smell how you taste, hear how you moisten, and moisten how you multi-task -- when the man said "ribbed for HER pleasure" he meant "YOURS" as well, I promise -- he was just having a bad day -- you ran off in tears to invert and soak your head in a hot-tub laced with epsom salts and rosemary -- as soon as you got sick of being upside down you came running back to me, to the chamber, to this sterile machine humming in this brown hour, and yet -- and yet as always you are completely in control. You are completely in control. You are completely in control."

The music on this CD is very strange. At first much of it sounds like random noise, but after careful listening one can find a method to the madness. It's an enjoyable process. I would advise a first time TFUL 282 listener to try Strangers to the Universe first, though.

If you don't have this CD, you must have AIDS!!