Novena on a Nocturn

The Good Life | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 10, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Better Looking
• ASIN: B000050825
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,696 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Essentially a solo project for Cursive's Tim Kasher, albeit with plenty of instrumental help from a variety of friends, the debut album from the Good Life is the culmination of 12 years of songwriting outside his full-time gig. Those 12 years must have been filled with some great bygone LPs and a fair helping of woe, because instead of the '90s indie pop of Cursive, Kasher explores stark and angular ground on Novena on a Nocturn that recalls no one more so than the Brit-pop icons of the 1980s. The dour and miserable sentiment of the Smiths and the Cure ("The Competition" would have fit perfectly on Disintegration) bleeds into the detached and alien sound of synth-pop combos like Human League and Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, with the lush, melodramatic theatricality of new romantics Soft Cell and Ultravox draping over each song like a wet blanket. These are pure coffeehouse and cabaret tunes with a sustained atmosphere of haunting, world-weary ache. In addition to their '80s forebears, the songs explore the timeless songcraft and painfully honest life-lessons of artists such as Jacques Brel, Kurt Weill, and Scott Walker. The music is minimalistic but also cleverly layered with intriguing sounds, particularly eerie keyboards and bits of electronics. It is sweeping, intense music with volumes of emotional resonance and a tragic undercurrent. Kasher's songs are inconsolable prayers of lament and resignation, intimate and almost painfully introspective without exactly being overtly insular. And yet there is an overwhelming sense that you are eavesdropping on a two-way conversation with Job-like epic proportions. As the title suggests, the album has nearly religious connotations, and its nine 'novenas' delve into all the shadows and blue hues of nighttime. Dark and icy imagery spots nearly every tune, and even when a subject like the sun is referenced, as on the final "Golden Exit," there is something cold and insidious and wintry about its appearance, as if nothing can thaw Kasher's anguish, nothing can break through the bleakness of his worldview. Novena on a Nocturn, after all, is not about the light; despite the cleverly ironic band name, its purpose is to exorcise all those personal demons that seem to travel in the darkness -- listeners' own individual darknesses. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm music for cold harsh nights, August 15, 2001

By 

Joshua Bryan Hammack (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Novena on a Nocturn (Audio CD)

I got to see these guys back in feburary touring with spoon. I felt they stole the show. This is deep mellow dark rock, along the lines of cure, or the smiths, sometimes musically but there in the emotionally, potentionally embarassing, honest lyrics. (The influences show, but take it on a unique direction of sonic sacrifice.) The lyrics are embarassing because they are so stark and vulnerable. The fact that this band is basically one man, makes it known of the genius that is Tim Kasher. Perfect for a generation that did not grow up with the 80's emotional soft supple rock. It is the clever retort one could never think of, when their ex-lover dumped them. The man behind Good Life is in Cursive, which is a completely different, but wonderful band.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My thoughts exactly, May 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Novena on a Nocturn (Audio CD)

To make a long story short...This cd has not seen the sleeve of my cd case since I borrowed it from my ex about 3 months ago...I was swallowed from begining to end. Track 6 successfully shook the tears right out of me...Tim Kasher's words hit me like a runaway train..."Your son is a glorious mess, who wrecks anything he adores". Wow...This is a magnificent cd...I would highly recommend this to anyone who eats, breathes, feels, has skin, blood, a brain and somewhat of a thought process...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so pretty..., February 9, 2001

By 

schmettajames (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Novena on a Nocturn (Audio CD)

This is one of the prettiest albums I've heard in ages, and it's perfect music to fall asleep to. Tracks 2 and 3 are standouts, but the whole CD is shimmering and sad and lovely. I've been listening to it over and over for weeks, and I'm not bored yet. The singer's voice has an invasive quality; it stays with you long after you've turned the stereo off. Buy this CD; you won't regret it.