The Benja-man Is Verbose

First Two Pages Of Frankenstein opens with a sparse song built around a repeating piano riff because, well, of course it does, they always do that.  As I was listening to "Once Upon A Poolside" I found myself wondering if during the inevitable second half shift of the song (of course there's a complementary second half, they always do that) would have the whole band come in, or whether they'd show a little restraint.  I was digging the simpler song and was hoping it wouldn't get washed out in a flood of atmospheric synths and guitars.  And it didn't!  Given that the National have added all of the elements and have gotten to the point where even other singers randomly popping in is pretty business as usual, is restraint their next bold frontier?  Going out of their way not to add extra ideas to a song?  To make that work, obviously the songwriting has to be there - and I do recall that the National, early in their career, did more often try for minimalist tr...

For now, this is the end of my Eluveitie project.  I'm going to resist the urge to make vague summary statements beyond the fact that I like Eluveitie and have enjoyed listening to them, in part because they're still an active band; I'm just caught up now.  Here are some theoretically quick thoughts on the material they've released since their last record. Part One:  Live At Monsters Of Rock 2019 I kind of want to put this part later in the post since I doubt many would read past it.  I am, however, a stickler for chronology.  So!  Eluveitie put out another official live record, their second or third depending on whether one counts Slania (Tour Edition) , and it's the first standalone live release to make it to the streaming services.  The setlist is: 1)  Ategnatos 2)  King 3)  The Call Of The Mountains 4)  Deathwalker 5)  Worship 6)  Artio 7)  Epona 8)  A Rose For Epona 9)  Thousandfold 10)  Ambiramus ...

 I have returned from Sweden after a visit for the specific purpose of seeing two Fish shows - one in Gothenburg on 10/28/24, one in Stockholm on 10/29/24 - from his farewell tour (the "Road To The Isles" tour).  No special reason for picking those two cities.  But there aren't any North American gigs, these worked with my schedule, Sweden seemed like a fun country to which I'd never been, and a place where they understand English and understand vegetarians.  So, here's a kind of walk through what I saw.   The players/cast of this little play were Robin Boult (guitar), Steve Vantsis (bass), Mickey Simmonds (keys), Gavin Griffiths (drums), and Elisabeth Troy Antwii (backing vocals).  And also I think some guy called Derek William Dick, AKA "FIsh" (lead vocals). Each gig opened with the milling around period in front of a big display with a way too hypnotic graphic of a fish swimming in front of the "Road To The Isles" logo, while the PA very ...

(I'm not sure exactly which number listen this was.) I know I recognized about five records ago that I'd be a lot happier if I spent less brain power trying to decipher National bullshit word salad lyrics.  Sometimes I can't help it.  I'm a lyrics guy; it's not an absolute but I really do prefer if songs are about something.  I Am Easy has a lot of quiet songs that allow the singing to be prominent, plus all of my time listening to and writing about Fish has my mind primed to dive into the words.  Basically, there are some songwriters who can directly explain what's on their mind and make the listener care, often with some clever turns of phrase, like, for example, certain singer-songwriters whose stage name rhymes with "ish." *   We've established that, for one reason or another, direct isn't the style of Matt Berninger et al , for the most part.  Except that there are exceptions.  He has the ability to write a very evocative and easy to under...