The Most Lamentable Tragedy Of – Titus Andronicus – Whatever doubts you may have about this 29 song rock opera song cycle detailing the ebb and flow of manic depression, if only for its sheer audacity you will hear nothing more important this year. Plus, cmon, what price “Dimed Out”? It dimes out and then some.
It is a real achievement, an artistic highlight of the 2010s. It repays close attention with strange insights. Really, it is the musical “Pale Fire” -an extended mind game but with a steely and real purpose behind it. +@ are playing with you but for a real reason. I mean, I love it. It’s fun.
“I like people who dream or talk to themselves interminably; I like them, for they are doubles. They are here and elsewhere.” – Albert Camus
Auld Lang Syne – Performed by Eric Harm, Matt Miller, Carrie-Anne Murphy, Julian Veronesi (vocals) and Patrick Stickles (ostrich guitar and MXR Pitch Transposer) and the ringing in the new year sounds like a death knell
Lennon and Ono put silence to even better use than all of the above on their best experimental album, Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With the Lions. The track before was the heartbeat of their baby in the last five minutes before Ono miscarried John Lennon Ono II at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in London. What followed was two minutes of silence
On we go,and though we are only on the fourth song, it sure feels like there is a lot of throat clearing going on. I guess if you’re going deep into the consciousness of a manic depressive you might as well keep into on the down low
“Patrick knows exactly what he wants. He’ll have a spoken word piece to be edited in down to the second and he tells me exactly what it wants it to sound like. When XL (the British indie) came around to make suggestions he completely ignored them.”
It sounds great but it sounds too much, it overloads you and not in a great way (though certainly in a good way). But I may be wrong, the move between the two parts of the album, from “More Perfect Unions” extended instrumental coda to “Sun Salutations” a capella and then the classic rock thump of “(S)HE SAID/(S)HE SAID” is kinda major stuff… Nobody else can do it.
Fatal Flaw – Titus Andronicus – As we get closer to the release of The Most Lamentable Tragedy, it becomes clear there is a whole lot of baggage to go along with Patrick Stickles epic disaster disaster, sort of “Inside Outside” for solipsistic egomaniacs. And with songs as great as this, a flat out masterpiece and one of his greatest Stickles’ songs of all time, I could care less.
‘WATCH “Our Hero” awake to a world of wonder! GASP at the shocking secret of “The Lookalike!” MARVEL at the mysterious transformative powers of the Vernal Equinox! DANCE to those which are already being called Titus Andronicus’s Greatest Hits Yet!” UNDERSTAND the underlying themes and motifs that elevate TMLT far beyond the petty constraints of a mere “rock album” and into the realm of that which the German philosopher K. F. E. Trahndorff first called, in 1827, Gesamtkunstwerk (“total art”—look it up)!!!’
Unlike most months you can think of, June belonged to two songs, Dawes “All Your Favorite Bands” and Titus Andronicus’ “Fatal Flaw”. The former is easily their best song, a genius benediction to a former love and the latter was so good it made the brilliant “Dimed Out” sound like an also ran. If these don’t end up in the top five singles of the year, I assure they will be in the top ten.
The James Taylor song, that may be really major, same with most of the others, including the not remotely easy going AraabMuzik even though he sounds like it. But when the self-loathing Patrick Stickles follows a typical piece of self immolation “Let me show you my fatal flaw” he asks but pays it off with “it’s the best thing you never saw.” While Dawes benediction saves cliches like ” I hope your brother’s El Camino runs forever” with “and may all your favorite bands stay together. A line so great it has become an instantaneous cliche.
Playing catch up after three days of music and music and music, this is very late but it is nevertoolte for a song as great as “Fatal Flaw” -it is the sort of song that makes some of Titus fanatics. nd as for “All Of Your favorite bands”? Reminds you how crappy their other songs are.
loved the first single “Dimed Out” and this could actually be better, the organ solo is riveting and thrilling at the punch line a real beauty, “let me show you my fatal flaw, it’s the best thing you ever saw” Patrick Stickles sings on the sort of messed up come on that greats seem to drop effortlessly, “waiting on some drug deal all day…” he claims.
There are at least four songs here that sound major to me, Jason Isbell and Titus Andronicus at the top of the list and A$AP Rocky and ZZ Ward not far behind, so if this doesn’t feel like big time pop moment month, it isn’t because of the best, it is because of everything else. Two of my favorite songs this year, by Daytripper and Charlie Funk, aint even out yet. For Daytripper, God knows when she’ll get around to it
For one thing, as The Monitor producer Kevin McMahon, once told me, Stickles makes every decision about the sound: it will be his new testament. For another thing, the new single, “Dimed Out” is great, a melodic anthem, a myth of Patrick specialty, as Alyson noted a couple of days. It doesn’t feel like a move forward, but if it is treading water, it is standing on the shoulders of giant songs and maintaining its balance
In the beginning of March, 2010, I sat down with Titus Andronicus leader Patrick Stickles for would be my only interview with the indie rock superstar. One more than I’ve had with Kurt Vile, of course, so there is that. I was never very happy with the resulting story, and yes, absolutely blame me.
‘Dimed Out’ is a punch in your face, a punk explosion that will make you either jump of joy till you reach the moon, or climb the Mount Everest while yelling at the top of your lungs – and it’s gonna be difficult when the oxygen becomes rare…but when I hear such a song everything becomes possible
My Eating Disorder – Titus Andronicus – Better live than on record, it is a strange unruly thing on record, an eight minute whirligig of tempo switches and self diagnosis central to the last album yet essentially flawed, so close to perfection and yet so far away – B
Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus paid his respect as well, “a great honor and privilege to be here in support of the Buzzcocks” he claimed, and Patrick doesn’t say what he doesn’t mean, then he launched into “Upon Viewing Brueghel’s ‘Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus'”.
The song is great of course. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to put the soundcloud recorded version up so here is a live one. And I added “Fatal Flaw” -another new one that sounds pretty good. Meanwhile, I can’t wait to catch em opening for the Buzzcocks on September 6th at Webster Hall.
Tokyo Storm Warning – Elvis Costello And The Attractions – An astounding achievement, the words pull on and out and on and on till he has a dream of that revolver in her pure and but what dow e care of the world is just a joke? Now they’re hanging protest singers – A+
One thing I promise: Patrick won’t have to give the Buzzcocks the dressing down he gave the Pogues at the infamous St, Patrick’s day gig. I interviewed Pete around the time of Homosapien and he was a great guy and Steve Diggle has a great reputation.
I wear tee shirts all the time but I only get stopped when I wear either Stevie Wonder or Titus Andronicus. And with Titus only two sorts of people stop me. 1. Shakespeare fans. 2. New Jersey denizens.
TA’s problem is they needed to follow up Local Business in a hurry and they didn’t and that took them from having the best live set in the business to, well, not the best live set in the city. Local Business isn’t a bad album, I called it the second best album of 2012 and while I overestimated for sure, it had moments as great as you will ever hear. Just not enough of them
Titus and Los Camp was the honest roar of teenage (well collegiate) angst personified -I was at the side of the stage, completely trashed and banging my fist till it bruised screaming along to Titus: “No more cigarettes, no more having sex, no more drinking till you fall on the floor….” .
When Keith Richards was young, guitars were the answers of everything, but it is not that way anymore’… ‘So many people were competing for the perfect rock song,… Now you get a computer.’
New Year’s Eve At The Gates Of Hell – Ray Wylie Hubbard – Back in the day, young Steve Crawford bonded over this instantaneous classic as Ray wonders what he did to deserve this before noting that God outsources to the devil -Amen, I say – A
