Feel It In My Gut: Belly's First Amazing Album in 23 Years

Belly - now

One winter day in early 1993, I stopped by Graywhale CD on the way home from work, as I was likely to do.  Some people go to bars; I went to the record shops.  As I browsed through the music selection, I listened to the music drifting over the speakers.  I didn't recognize it, but it was sweet and haunting and edgy all at once.  I went up to the record store clerk and asked, "What is this playing?  It sounds kind of like Throwing Muses."

The clerk looked at me like I was stupid, as record store employees are wont to do and said, "This is Belly."

In spite of my wounded pride, I bought their debut CD "Star" in silence.  I was no stranger to the music of Tanya Donelly, after all.  I may have been 23 and married, but I had a musical history.  I had owned "Chains Changed" on vinyl, the first Throwing Muses release on 4AD, at age 17, when I was the only person I knew who had heard their music.  I had seen Throwing Muses open up for New Order in 1989.  New Order pushed buttons; Throwing Muses was three girls and one guy, none of them barely over 5 feet, and they rocked the amphitheater.  I had met Tanya Donelly at Zia Records in Tempe, Arizona earlier that day.

I took "Star" home and gave it a listen with my wife.  Little did I know that this record would become one of my favorite records of all time, but definitely in my Top 10 for the whole decade of the '90s.  It seemed to define the '90s.

Tanya Donelly had always been a powerhouse in Throwing Muses.  Her stepsister, Kristin Hersh, had always written songs that were angry and ironic, eschewing traditional songwriting, while Donelly had written towering pop songs laden with hooks, as in the song "Not Too Soon".  This provided an integral balance to the band.

Belly - then

In 1990, Donelly formed the band The Breeders with Pixies' alumna and fellow New England rocker, Kim Deal.  Their debut release, "Pod", was a masterpiece of simple yet driven pop.  As the story goes, "Pod" was material written for the band by Deal.  The second album was to feature material written by Donelly.  For whatever reason, this did not work out, and Donelly left The Breeders, and the material she had written for the second album became the source for Belly's first album.

"Star" was an instant hit.  Anyone who was alive and paid attention saw that the singles "Feed the Tree" and "Gepetto" got regular airplay on MTV and alternative radio.  But the album - especially in retrospect - was much more than that.  It was dark and unsettling at the same time as it was sweet and saccharine.  Droney guitar riffs were offset by Donelly's Snow White voice, sounding like music that might be written by the creepy twins in "The Shining".  In other words, this album is beautiful, manifested in songs like "Angel", "Dusted", and "Low Red Moon", songs that still get heavy rotation in my collection.

Belly's second effort was a 1995 release called "King".  My wife and I loved it.  At the end of 1995, we moved off-grid, and this was one of the few CDs we took with us.  Not as brooding as "Star", it still contained the same effervescent pop riffs and catchy hooks that the previous album did.  It's still one of our favorite records, songs like "Red", "Silverfish", "Super-Connected", and "Now They'll Sleep" still have deep meaning to us, and some of our kids grew up listening to this music.  I guess not everyone felt the same way about it.  In the epoch of grunge, ironically, Belly was not mainstream enough, and Belly broke up soon after.  Not that my wife and I knew.  We were in our bubble in the desert and heard nothing about that until years later. In the interim, Donelly has been prolific and has released a whole collection of solo material, but that body of work is unfamiliar to me.

With revival of all things '90s, it was high time that Belly come together again - after all, their sound is again the "in sound".  Words can't express how excited I was to find out that a new album was coming.  The first thing I did last Friday morning, when I woke up, was the download the new release, "Dove".  And I have been listening ever since!

First of all, for people who are expecting "Star", don't get your hopes up.  Almost three decades have passed between the first album and the latest album.  It has been 23 years since "King".  With so much time gone by, of course Donelly will have changes as an artist.  She has had a lifetime of experiences since then, and she has always been a very honest artist.  Perhaps that is the strength of this band - they refuse to churn out a rehash of the same material.  Every album is a different beast, and that is a good thing.

"Dove" shows a tempered Donelly, not quite so angst-driven or moody.  The songs here scintillate, showing that she has not diminished as a song-writer.  "Mine" starts off the collection with as many hooks as anything she has ever written.  Other favorites include the infectious "Shiny One", as well as "Human Child" with a celestial bridge that separates this song from the others.  Some of Throwing Muses' strongest points where their occasional forays into country music, and "Artifact" doe's just that with amazing aplomb.  My favorite track is "Army of Clay"with its frantic intensity.  The album finishes off with an acoustic hidden tack called "Starryeyed" which demonstrates how Donelly uses her vocal range to create a wave of nostalgia.  And for a moment, I am swept through the decades since I was 17 years-old and have been on a musical journey with this woman since then.  And I am grateful for the ride.

The twenty-three year wait was worth it.  This whole album will be with me for a long time.  I recommend that you get caught up in this swoon with me as well.

Infinite Music: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Soundtrack

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

About a year ago, I rented "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" from the public library.  I liked it so much that I picked up a copy out of the Walmart bin.  Such a great movie.  It is based on a teen novel written by Stephen Chbosky (who also wrote the screenplay and directed, also produced by the same company that did "Ghost World" and "Juno").  My daughter had actually read the novel and loved it.

There are many reasons I love this movie.  First of all, it takes place in Pittsburgh, a city that is beloved to me.  Part of the plot involves the excitement of emerging from the Tunnel into the city.  I have done it many times, and it was exhilerating every time.  Next, it takes place in the time of my youth - the early '90s.  Even though it takes place back then, this is not quite a period piece.  It is kind of timeless.  It could take place at any time.  It is about being a misfit, not really fitting in, and finding friends who give your life some meaning - a theme that many, including me, find resonant.

But what I found most compelling in the movie was the music.  Music was an important part of the book as well.  Charlie (played by Logan Lerman) makes mix tapes for his friends.  I was the music geek who handed  mix tapes to all of my friends, so I can relate.  The book mentions several of these artists like Ride, The Smiths, Nick Drake, and many more artists that I grew up with in the late '80s and early '90s.

I liked the soundtrack so much that I went out to buy it.  Many of these songs play an important part of the story like "Asleep" by The Smiths, "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners, and, my favorite, "Pearly Dew Drops" by Cocteau Twins.  The Tunnel scene uses "Heroes" by David Bowie in that the song comes on the radio, and they set out on a quest to find out who sings it.  The other songs are a drape over an exquisite movie that creates a sense of nostalgia in me.  "Teenage Riot" by Sonic Youth, which was an anthem in my younger years,   "Temptation" by New Order, one of their earlier pieces, and, also, one of their best, dominated by its electronic beat and Peter Hook's high-end bass, a sound that he created and is much imitated.  Cracker, The Innocence Mission, XTC, and Galaxie 500.  It really is a great soundtrack.

There are additional songs that didn't make it from the movie onto the playlist of the soundtrack that compliment the movie as well - "Counting Backwards" by Throwing Muses, "Araby" by my favorite Austin band, The Reivers, L7, Bongwater...

It is nice to see my era eulogized so nicely, and with some of the better music from my day.  The sense of nostalgia takes me back to those moments.  But that's kind of the poetic point of this picture.

Moroni's Retro-Review of "Lonely Is An Eyesore"

It was 1987, and, in my 17 year-old opinion, the best record label in the universe was 4AD.

This was the label that had given us such great acts in the early '80s as Bauhaus, Modern English, the Birthday Party, and Lydia Lunch.  Today, they continue to amaze with acts such as Iron & Wine, TV On the Radio, Bon Iver, and Purity Ring.

In 1987, it was Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Dead Can Dance, as well as new acts, the Pixies and Throwing Muses (both out of Boston).

As a promotion of their music, the British label put out a compilation that showcased their best bands.  I think I made a special trip to Tower Records in Tempe, Arizona to buy it.  The LP came in a really nice case complete with a booklet with photographs and articles of each band, produced by 23 Envelope - 4AD's visual department.  I treasured this LP.  They also released the album on VHS, also produced by 23 Envelope, with each video shot in grainy black and white - very artsy.  I no longer have the LP, but I still have the VHS cassette.  I wanted to add it to my collection, and so I decided to download this treasure digitally. Of course, I decided to review it.

Now that many years have passed since I first bought this album (26!), it is easy to see how much influence that Ivo Watts-Russel, the iconoclastic founder of the 4AD label, had over his musicians.  Just like the videos, the music all has common aspects.  This makes for a great concept album, envisioned by each of the different artists.

The first song is a a rowdy tune by Colourbox, an electronic outfit.  The song, "Hot Doggie", has a dance beat and rocking guitar layered beneath a barrage of samples - most of them from movies like "Evil Dead" and "The Last Starfighter".  Colourbox created a hit that same year under the name M/A/R/S called "Pump Up the Volume".  You may have heard of it.  (It was also a 4AD release.)

The second song is "Acid, Bitter, and Sad" by This Mortal Coil - one of my favorite bands of all time.  This Mortal Coil, however, is not really a band.  It is a project concocted by  4AD executives Ivo Watts-Russel and John Fryer, who both serve as musicians.  This Mortal Coil would typically do cover songs from late '60s and early '70s acts like Tim Buckley, and each song would consist of a series of guest musicians, most of them from the 4AD catalog.  They released three albums, and I would highly recommend them to anyone.  "Acid, Bitter, and Sad" is a typical example of This Mortal Coil's music - dreamy and ethereal.  It starts out with wind chimes and soft electronic music with vocals provided by '90s house music artist Alison Limerick, her voice run through an early equivalent of AutoTune.  Then the song build up to an orchestral crescendo.  A very nice song.

Track #3 is  "Cut the Tree" by Wolfgang Press, also one of my favorite '80s bands.  The song is very slow-paced and was always reminiscent of "Wrapped Around Your Finger" by the Police.  Except that the vocals provided by Michael Allen (who sport white dreadlocks in the video) are deep, typical of most gothic bands of this era, and sets the song apart, along with its stark lyrics.

The next song is "Fish" by Throwing Muses, and the title "Lonely is an Eyesore" comes from the lyrics of this Boston quartet.  They were fresh and young at the time they were signed to 4AD, formed by step-sisters Kirstin Hersh and Tanya Donelly (who went on to co-found the Breeders with Pixies' bassist Kim Deal, also a 4AD act.)  I had the chance of meeting and seeing Throwing Muses live in 1989.  They opened up for New Order, and the thing that struck me - this band was fronted by three women that scarcely stood above five feet, and they rocked.  This song - driven by its staccato drum beat and Hersh's wailing vocals - is no different.  The album contains a studio version of this song, but the video is a messier impromptu version of the song that captures some of their live energy.

This is followed by "Frontier" by Dead Can Dance.  Many may not know that this legendary set of musicians started out in the punk communes of Melbourne, Australia in the late '70s.  They would assemble and make music on whatever implement they could find - pots or pans.  On their self-titled debut album released in 1984, Dead Can Dance released a studio version of this song.  But on this compilation, it's the version of this song from their demo, which was made in one take with Lisa Gerrard making up her nonsensical lyrics on the spot.  The interesting thing about this song - the instrumentation consists of them banging on metal drums filled with water, true to their roots.

Cocteau Twins - anyone who know me knows that this band (whom I was fortunate to see live in 1994, shortly before their breakup) is one of my favorite bands.  This is a band that has gone through many phases - from spooky gothic in the early '80s, to the ancient Greek of "Treasure" to the liquidy chimes of "Victorialand".  This song - "Crushed" - was from their "Love's Easy Tears" phase.  It is scintillating jangle pop.  Liz Fraser's vocals are resplendent.  The best description that I have ever heard of Robin Guthrie's guitars is "feather-light guitars that sound like anything but guitars".  Their music is so unique and has always withstood classification.  This song is a jeweel.

Dij Juz is a band that I still know little about, but I always enjoyed their song "No Motion", which is an instrumental that seems to have strong jazz roots.  A guitar driven song, it starts out with a strong bass line and a watery guitar, and they it splashes into its climax.

Clan of Xymox was one of my favorite bands.  Their first few albums still are favorites of mine.  I used to describe them to people in the '80s as "dance goth".  Eventually, they became a parody of the gothic image people have of them.  I look at their live videos now and laugh at the black lace and poofy hair.  But at their core, they were really good songwriters, especially on this catchy tune "Muscoviet Mosquito".  At the time, it was rare to combine acoustic guitar with electronic dance music, but that was Xymox's signature.  The infectious rhythm is carried by Anke Wolbert's rapid fire guitar strumming, and Ronny Moorings wailing vocals.  In fact, now that I think of it, I only liked Xymox as long as Anke Wolbert and Pieter Nooten were involved.  Once they left, I lost interest.

This compilation is completed with "The Protagonist" by Dead Can Dance.  At the time, DCD always stated that they wished to write soundtracks, and, since then, their music has graced several soundtracks (Heat, The Myst, ect.), and Lisa Gerrard has gone on to score several films (Gladiator, Whale Rider, etc.)  This piece feels like it could be from a movie - grandiose and epic.  It is an instrumental complete with a full orchestra.  The brass section is particularly moving, along with an excellent oboe solo halfway through the song.  The song ends with a crashing finale, and diminishes away with chimes.

This album is a must-have for aficianados of 4AD's music, and it is a good intro to those curious about the artsy side of music in the '80s.