diumenge, 20 de juliol del 2008

The Polyphonic Spree: Musical Artivism Meets American Epics

Time flies, and 2009 will mark the 6th year of the ongoing invasion of Iraq by an international coalition led by the United States of America. For some, it will have been over half a decade of war; for others, nearly twenty years of a more or less undercover armed conflict in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Now, those who believe the Iraq War is ultimately about oil, are also likely to think that two successive Texan oil tycoons and US presidents, George Bush Sr. & Jr., have embarked the country in a more or less calamitous military adventure, probably including terrorist attacks and selective murders by central intelligence to create the mindset conducive to the ongoing state of exception & war.

Thus, in the light of such an arguably worrysome record, it is just a thing of beauty how in Dallas, Texas, an original and gleeful pocket of resistance has managed to resist the roughest spot of the Bush administration, stirring local awareness and bearing witness that another Texas is possible. Which is why you will have probably never heard about The Polyphonic Spree, an hedonistic orchestral ensemble somewhere in between a college graduation ceremony, a church gospel and an Ibiza white party.

For some reason, the spree, created in 2000, was experiencing a discreet surge of popularity when it suddenly started facing problems as war drums in Washington grew louder: their records company, 679 (property of Warner Bros.), deserted them in early 2003, and the review Entertainment Weekly (belonging to Times Magazine) branded them ‘fake’ and ‘artificially happy’ in 2004, and listed Together We’re Heavy as the second-worst album of the year, despite its success in the indie scene both at home and abroad, in particular in Great Britain. What is more, the ensemble sports a terrific eclecticism encompassing a broad range of techniques, such as American marching band, classical music, gospel vocals, political cabaret, pop, rock & electronic music, as well as mighty theatrical renditions.

And then, there is the band’s song-writer and alma mater, Tim DeLaughter, an eccentric artist acquainted with the Bible, American classics (Witman, Kerouac, etc.) and Far Eastern literatures, as reflected in many lyrics: Light and Day, It’s the Sun, The Fragile Army or Soldier Girl. The diversity and consistency of sources bestow upon him an interesting profile as a literary guru, not the least due to a certain sense for moral commitment and modern epics (he is father to 4 children). In any case, you won’t find nowadays so many streamlined & beautiful lyrics admitting double, triple and even quadruple-entendres, allitterations, homophonies and all sort of classical resorts showing a complex work of language engineering as DeLaughter's.

Light and Day is a particularly inspiring theme on the solar pannel epic ahead in the upcoming century to replace all non-renewables, scil. both fossile fuels and nuclear power. Now, Boynamedsue will be tempted to erase a post of what appears to be the apology of a green welly American delivering a messianic message as the impersonation of planet Earth during one of his trances. However, it only takes a bit of cosmovision to urge your fellow Texans to reach for the sun -and, possibly, get rich as well- forever.


"Just follow the day"

4 comentaris:

boynamedsue ha dit...

Good first contribution bete.

I wouldn't have had you down as a Shia-hugging hippy peacenik, but there we go, the reality based community is a broad church.

la bête ha dit...

Ssh, BNS, for God’s sake –do you want to fan speculations that Je joue au babyfoot dukla Prague FC covertly supports the Shia militia in Iraq's Civil War?

That, my dear, could ultimately make the United States of Ishotthemosso & Capitol downhillsince92 liable for damages, and it's in nobody's interest here to face multi-billion war reparations for lavish Persian-style turquoise mosques and Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar's Treasure out of our meager wages.

So, if you want to rock your boat go ahead, but let's be clear that I'll declare myself one of your (precarious, insolvent...) minions before the ICC.

la bête

"je ne regrette rien"

Tom ha dit...

I really don't much like the Spree. I always felt like they're a fairground version of the Flaming Lips whose Soft Bulletin reads like a blueprint for everything the Spree have done since.

Admittedly, the Flaming Lips don't have that sinister pseudo-religious edge but they do use a photo of a guy outside an Acid Test party in the 60s as an album cover. Which I like.

Anònim ha dit...

love is death, an escort called Hannah Allum (boy named sue) killed it
I must warn all men that she flirts with to be aware that she is a pathetic heroin addict who cannot injekt herself without help after years of consumption and a half degree from cambridge university(intentionally spelled without capitals)