Moroni's Review of Gotye's "Making Mirrors"

My friend Tyler sent me a link yesterday to the video for Gotye's "Someone That I Used To Know", and he gave me the idea for doing a review of the album.

For me, it is a rare thing - and a pleasant one - to find an song that gets under your skin and no amount of scratching will get it out. You have it on replay on your music player, in your car, in your head when you wake up - over and over and over until you get sick of it. It is even better - and less common - to find an album like that.

Gotye's single "Someone That I Used to Know" is such a song. Sadly, the whole album - "Making Mirrors" - is not quite as invasive.

Last month, I was browsing Amazon, and the top download was by Australian artist Gotye (aka Walter de Backer). I got curious as to why this song would be the top song, so I gave it a listen. Then I went over to YouTube and watched the video, which was a modern art masterpiece. (My family knows of this video as the one with "the guy with the big mouth".)

I loved the song immediately. It is subtle - all of the instruments played softly, accented by a xylophone (which my ten year-old daughter says sounds like a cat). When his strong voice crashes in the chorus, I was hooked. The song is offset by the wonderful voice of Kiwi artist, Kimbra. (My wife Martha loves her voice, and makes sure that she says so EVERY TIME the song plays.) The song finishes out the emotive layering of both Gotye's and Kimbra's voices.

I played this song over and over and over for about three weeks. This song and I - we had an intense love affair. The song was ubiquitous. Everyone was posting it on Facebook afterwards. I guess it has already been a #1 hit in several countries. Other artists - like Walk Off the Earth and Ingrid Michaelson - have done covers of this song. But, as my wife Temple pointed out, none of them have the emotion of the original song by Gotye.

This song was so good that I downloaded the whole album, "Making Mirrors". Sadly, the whole album is not as good as the one song. It does have it's shining moments, but none of them grab you the way the first single does.

The first time Temple listened to Gotye, she immediately compared him to Sting. (Comparisons are inevitable.) I think that his music sounds more like Tears For Fears. There are some bland '80s-style anthems found on "In Your Light" and "Save Me".

The album has a few light, dreamy pieces on the title track of "Making Mirrors", "Smoke and Mirrors", "Giving Me a Chance", and "Bronte".

It also has an annoying Motown-inspired song called "I Feel Better". (I can't stand Motown.) But this is redeemed by the rocking "Easy Way Out", the catchy "Eyes Wide Open, and the robotic reggae in "State of the Art". (This last song has AutoTune, but we will forgive Gotye, because he has already proved that he has a great singing voice.)

So the album is pretty good. But "Someone That I Used to Know" is the jewel on this album. No other song seizes you like this one. Once you listen to this song, you will know that it has "Gotye"... ahem...

A Pain in the Balls - My Love Affair With Cocteau Twins

Since my favorite band of all time is Cocteau Twins, it is only fit that I talk about them in my first post.

If you haven't heard of them, I would advise checking them out. They started out in the early '80s in Scotland as a gothic band. Then they evolved into something that could not be defined or classified. Their most distinguishing point was their vocalist - Elizabeth Fraser. She rarely sang in words, but rather non-phonetic sounds. And if she did sing actual words - good luck in trying to make sense of them. Her vocals would flit and flutter like a bird on a wing. For me, what always set Cocteau Twins apart was the guitar played by Robin Guthrie. His music would swirl and eddy like liquid, the guitar never sounding like an actual guitar.

Their music was ambient, ethereal and magical. I loved it from the first time I heard it (back in 1985). From that point on, I devoted my time and hard-earned money to collecting their back catalog.

The problem with this - Cocteau Twins were featured on the elite British record label - 4AD. And I was a teen boy growing up in the small, desert town of Casa Grande, Arizona. And this was in the days before internet. Yes, sure, their were record stores in more urban areas like Stinkweeds or Zia Records in the Phoenix area that carried alternative records. But those were an hour away, and I didn't have a driver's license.

My solution was J.P.'s. This was the only record store in Casa Grande, and J.P. soon came to know me as the kid who only ordered import records. I got to know his thick catalogs by heart, and little by little, as I saved enough money, I ordered every EP or album put out by Cocteau Twins since 1981 - on vinyl, of course.

I was very excited at the end of the summer of 1988. I had just graduated high school and spent time in Belgium as an exchange student. I had just started classes at the local community college. Cocteau Twins was coming out with a new album, and it was their first record to be marketed by a major label.

It was still going to be hard to get this in a small town, so I made sure I ordered the new album on cassette from J.P. When it arrived, he called my house, and I set out on a hot summer day to pick it up.

J.P.'s was in the mall all the way across town. It was a hot day, so I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I carried my trusty walkman with me, and walked a few miles to the record store to pick it up.

My heart was beating with anticipation as I unwrapped my new copy of Cocteau Twins' "Blue Bell Knoll". I popped it into the walkman and pressed play. The first dulcid sounds started... I walked out of the store, listening intently. I stepped out into the hot sun and stepped off of the curb onto the parking lot.

As I stepped off of the curb, my tighty-whities got caught on one of my testicles and twisted. A pain that no one should ever experience radiated through my whole nether-regions.

I stood there in public, unraveling this killer wedgie within my shorts and waited for the pain to subside. When I was okay and coherent, I resumed my walk towards home, enjoying the new Cocteau Twins album.

For some reason, I never forgot this episode. I never forgot that my first experience hearing the new Cocteau Twins album was marred by excruciating pain in my nutsack.

I was devestated when Cocteau Twins broke up in 1998.

In the year 2000, they came out with a greatest hits collection called "Stars & Topsoil". I was using CDs by then. When I bought the CD, I read the liner notes written by Alan Warner. There was a peculiar line:

"I remember I missed Blue Bell Knolls for ages. What was the pain the balls again? Oh yes, I was mucking around in Spain and none the wiser for it..."

I had chills go up and down my spine (and other places) when he talked about "Blue Bell Knolls" and "pain in the balls". Was this some sort of universal experience? Anima mundi? Did anyone else experience pain in the balls when they listened to this album? Should the album have been called "Blue Balls Knoll"?

I look forward to the day when Cocteau Twins reunites and makes another album. But rest assured - when they do, I will be wearing protection. A cup... something...

Moroni's Music

Hi, welcome to Moroni's Music!

My name is Moroni, and I am a polygamist who lives in rural Arizona with my two wives and children.

Music has always been an important part of my life. People are always surprised to find out that a polygamist has the kind of musical tastes that I do. My musical preferences have always been eclectic.

I have blogged for years about my lifestyle choice. But I decided to create a forum where I could discuss music and what it means to me. I intend on reviewing new music I come across, but also music that has been a part of my life for years.

I hope that you enjoy, and feel free to discuss!