Brian Eno’s Small Craft On A Milk Sea starts out somewhere between a fairytale and a nightmare, and it stays that way for the duration of the album.
Fans of Eno’s work with artists such as Talking Heads and Paul Simon will continue to recognize the legendary producer’s extreme prowess over (seemingly) everything that he touches, and the album, Small Craft On A Milk Sea has not a note, not even a crescendo, out of place.
But as any Eno fan knows, this does not even begin to describe the way that he interacts with music.
Songs like “Complex Heaven” feel as familiar and primal as the sound of running water; the electric buzz of “Horse” and “Flint March” take it one step further, into the downright primordial.
In fact, the only song that doesn’t operate this way is “Bone Jump,” and I’m inclined to blame that one on the Jon Hopkins* collab.
But it is the exception that proves the rule. These pieces (one can hardly even call them “songs”) are so expertly crafted that, to a listener, they feel intuitive.
Eno isn’t just a musician-slash-producer-slash-artist—he’s a creation myth.
He screws with nature and yet manages to produce something more tidy than is humanly possible.
Forget that—we don’t know what he is, but he’s definitely worth another listen.
*No relation.
YOUNG THE GIANT
We’re going to be honest here — Young The Giant came to us out of nowhere.
Effectively, they’re nobodies, so much so, in fact, that they’re not on Wikipedia, so we can’t even tell you where on earth they suddenly showed up from.
We’re not going to say that this obscurity is part of their charm, but c’mon, maybe we should give them a little credit for dropping a premiere, self-titled album that merits learning their name. IMMEDIATELY.
The opening chords of “Apartment” would certainly worry even those who are only marginally aware of most rock-pop-acoustic-indie groups.
In fact, we were almost ready to write them off from the 20 second mark, but we didn’t, and we were handsomely rewarded for it.
“Apartment”’s hook only gets more appealing with every repetition, and the lyrics mercifully allow you to feel like a 20-something living in a city without feeling like you’re 15 minutes away from becoming a Matchbox 20 fan.
Our favorite track is “Cough Syrup” — with a title like that, how couldn’t you? — because it teases you with lyrics that should be clichéd (“Life’s to short to even care at all”) but somehow don’t make you feel like a complete and utter a-hole.
And, let’s give credit where credit is due: The band knows how to pull off a “Whoa-oa” or two. Which they do — frequently, but not lazily.
So if you’re willing to give one more rock-pop-acoustic-indie band a shot this fall, you might as well bit the bullet and make it a band you’re never heard of.
It’s better than listening to Matchbox 20 all winter, anyway.
