tim. (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} o_song) wrote,@ 2007-01-20 18:41:00 |
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Top 10 of 2006. #06. Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir!
Augie March. Moo, You Bloody Choir!
Sony BMG Records (AU).
"Bottle Baby"
(4:28, 4.72mb)
Track 9.
"Bolte And Dunstan Talk Youth"
(4:59, 6.18mb)
Track 12.
I knew "One Crowded Hour" was one of the most fantastic things I'd ever heard when I first heard it in 2003, Glenn Richards performing it solo at an afternoon show at the Hopetoun. What I didn't know was that Australia would agree with me. The song catapulted my favourite little indie band into the big leagues - now they're headlining festivals here in Australia, and "One Crowded Hour" is certain to be at least top 10 in JJJ's Hottest 100. And what was immediately clear upon hearing the album, which I excitedly bought on the day it came out, was that they were no longer mine. For better or worse, Moo, You Bloody Choir! is an album of compromise, Augie March doing a pop album. Robert Forster's lengthy review in The Monthly of the album suggested that it didn't go far enough in becoming a pop album - he was frustrated by the songwriting idiosyncrasies of Richards; my own thoughts were that it went too far in becoming a pop album, and that too many songwriting idiosyncrasies had been erased. I think the general view was that it wasn't quite a pop album and wasn't quite an art album, and thus sat half-way in between, pleasing nobody. Except all those people who bought the album, of course.
When the album got it right, it was superb - "Cold Acre" and, of course, "One Crowded Hour", are perfect. Glenn Richards can spit out good lines and write good melodies in his sleep. "Just Passing Through" has fire in its belly, and "Bottle Baby" is a stark, lovely, ballad that scares me to the point of rapture. There's plenty of pretty songs like "Bolte And Dunstan Talk Youth". The production is a little unfriendly to the more idiosyncratic songs, though. Someone told me that someone had told them that Sony had remixed the album without the band's knowledge to make the album more radio-friendly. I don't know if it's true, but it's definitely true that the album is Augie March done all shiny and radio-friendly. I liked listening to bootlegs of these songs much more, with all the grit and imperfections you get in live performances.
But still, Glenn Richards' songwriting is a step above almost anybody else in Australia, and as much as my feelings about this album are mixed, it's still arresting in most of the right ways.
Augie March. Moo, You Bloody Choir!
Sony BMG Records (AU).
"Bottle Baby"
(4:28, 4.72mb)
Track 9.
"Bolte And Dunstan Talk Youth"
(4:59, 6.18mb)
Track 12.
I knew "One Crowded Hour" was one of the most fantastic things I'd ever heard when I first heard it in 2003, Glenn Richards performing it solo at an afternoon show at the Hopetoun. What I didn't know was that Australia would agree with me. The song catapulted my favourite little indie band into the big leagues - now they're headlining festivals here in Australia, and "One Crowded Hour" is certain to be at least top 10 in JJJ's Hottest 100. And what was immediately clear upon hearing the album, which I excitedly bought on the day it came out, was that they were no longer mine. For better or worse, Moo, You Bloody Choir! is an album of compromise, Augie March doing a pop album. Robert Forster's lengthy review in The Monthly of the album suggested that it didn't go far enough in becoming a pop album - he was frustrated by the songwriting idiosyncrasies of Richards; my own thoughts were that it went too far in becoming a pop album, and that too many songwriting idiosyncrasies had been erased. I think the general view was that it wasn't quite a pop album and wasn't quite an art album, and thus sat half-way in between, pleasing nobody. Except all those people who bought the album, of course.
When the album got it right, it was superb - "Cold Acre" and, of course, "One Crowded Hour", are perfect. Glenn Richards can spit out good lines and write good melodies in his sleep. "Just Passing Through" has fire in its belly, and "Bottle Baby" is a stark, lovely, ballad that scares me to the point of rapture. There's plenty of pretty songs like "Bolte And Dunstan Talk Youth". The production is a little unfriendly to the more idiosyncratic songs, though. Someone told me that someone had told them that Sony had remixed the album without the band's knowledge to make the album more radio-friendly. I don't know if it's true, but it's definitely true that the album is Augie March done all shiny and radio-friendly. I liked listening to bootlegs of these songs much more, with all the grit and imperfections you get in live performances.
But still, Glenn Richards' songwriting is a step above almost anybody else in Australia, and as much as my feelings about this album are mixed, it's still arresting in most of the right ways.
