-
neumu
Friday, March 29, 2024 
-
-
--archival-captured-cinematronic-continuity error-daily report-datastream-depth of field--
-
--drama-44.1 khz-gramophone-inquisitive-needle drops-picture book-twinklepop--
-
Neumu = Art + Music + Words
Search Neumu:  

illustration



edited by michael goldbergcontact


Destroyer Gets Mellow For Your Blues

"I've always wanted to try doing a messed-up crooning record with orchestrated sounds," confesses Canadian conceptualist Daniel Bejar, referring to the artistic motivations behind Your Blues, his latest outing under the Destroyer banner. Inspiration for this, Bejar says, came not just from the likely messed-up-crooning likes of Scott Walker and Richard Harris — guys he describes as being "grandiose in their attack" — but even from, like, Ol' Blue Eyes; "I was listening to Sinatra records, too, just out of curiosity, to see his approach to instrumentation."

The motivations for making Your Blues in this fashion also came, to a degree, in response to the album that preceded it in the Destroyer discography. Bejar's fifth longplayer, This Night, was an epic sprawl, a long collection of even longer tunes strewn with all manner of dissonant electric guitars, with the songwriter's Bowie-esque vocals perched atop of the squall. And, so, with that done, Bejar wanted to shift Destroyer's direction again. "I think I wanted to work in a way that was different to the way we made [This Night]. I knew I wanted to try my hand at composition, instead of trying to whip up a murky rock 'n' roll noise."

Even though he'd "never really arranged anything before," Bejar set out composing Your Blues as a set of stripped-down songs. Whilst, initially, he was inspired by the idea of making a grand orchestral disc, soon logistical realities killed such dreaming. "To actually bring in musicians and feed them charts, that would've demanded a lot of [recording] know-how we didn't have, and a lot of money that we didn't have."

So, Bejar first played his collection of songs on acoustic guitar, and then arranged around that base. Rather than commanding string-sections and horn sections, he took his scores and charts and played the orchestral accompaniment entirely on synthesizers, using those ersatz faux-horns type presets that no one ever uses. In such, he's made a synthesized pseudo-opulent orchestral record on par with English duo the Montgolfier Brothers, in terms of making twee synth tones sound lush.

Still, Bejar's not sure how people are gonna accept such a sound. "Some of it might be seen as sounding in really poor taste, those really hokey fake-trumpet sounds. This 'old-world dramatic' feel we were going for, I think a lot of people in the world of American indie-rock could reject that," he forwards. Even more so, indie-rock fans could easily be scared off by the record's lack of anything remotely rockin'; it ditches the sprawling psychedelia of the last disc, its pared-down palette featuring many synth presets, but no electric guitars, no bass, and no drums.

"The one thing we knew for sure going into it was there wasn't going to be any electric guitars, and there wasn't going to be any rhythm section, although we did break down and added some MIDI drums at one point. But, for the most part, for rhythm, all you hear is tambourines and shakers, maybe a handclap or two. And the bass is always absent," Bejar offers. "As well as making an orchestral record, I wanted to make something that was quite minimal, and a good way of doing that is to eliminate any idea of the rock 'n' roll rhythm section whatsoever."

He continues: "When I first pictured the album happening, I was kind of aiming for a more stark, severe record. I really wanted to try and do something that was borderline unlistenable, but the songs that I brought to the plate were too melodious to do that."

The starkness of Your Blues actually harkens back to Destroyer's early days. Before Bejar and his intermittent "band" went on to author albums of lurid glam strut (1999's Thief), Bowie-esque over-the-top anthemicism (2001's Streethawk: A Seduction), and tangled-up drug-rock (2002's This Night), Destroyer was pretty much a solo songwriter's vehicle, with his 1996 debut We Will Build Them a Golden Bridge and its 1998 follow-up City of Daughters setting Bejar's surrealist lyricism largely to just an acoustic guitar.

For the songsmith, Your Blues was also a way to find more flexibility for his occasional live performances. After This Night, Bejar had to employ the band from the record whenever he played, but, with Your Blues' sparse sound, he figures both band and just a couple pairs of hands can offer some sort of translation in the live realm. Of course, the caveat is that Bejar rarely plays live, and has long been on record for his lack of interest in indulging in any sort of "touring."

"Back in the mid-'90s when I first started doing it, I would play the occasional show, and it'd be a disaster," he recalls. "It'd be really noisy, on purpose. But, at the beginning, Destroyer was mostly a recording affair, and it wasn't until after the second record came out that it seemed like it'd be a good idea to actually assemble a band that could practice and play shows if the opportunity came up."

In particular, Bejar has deliberately kept local audiences from getting too friendly with him. Rarely granting interviews for Canadian publications, and trying to make his live appearances in his Vancouver, B.C. hometown rare, it seems like he's pretty happy in obscurity. Whilst he details the shows he has played of recent — like those in the States with The Clientele and Smog — you get the feeling that Bejar's more happy about all the shows he didn't. "I've never been super at-home with performance in general; it just seems a bit problematic," he states. In reply to the simple inquisition of "why?", he responds: "Why is it that I don't want to get up on stage and have a bunch of people look at me? I don't know, to me it just seems like a strange thing for someone to want to do."

Bejar's feeling particularly sensitive about this because, at the time of this conversation, he's about to head out for his most extensive dose of touring yet. Meaning, he's feeling nervous, anxious, and very much pessimistic about his forthcoming on-the-road action. "If we could play the West Coast, and then the East Coast, with maybe one or two shows in between, that'd be ideal," he sighs. "But, to try and cover the whole continent on our own, that means playing a whole bunch of those potentially demoralizing events. You have to get from point A to point B somehow, and that usually means stopping off in a town where no one's heard of you, or where there's just no one there, period." — Anthony Carew [Wednesday, May 5, 2004]


Alejandro Escovedo's Joyous Rebirth

John Vanderslice Kicks Genre

Paul Duncan's Elusive Pop

Stephen Yerkey's Wandering Songs

French Kicks Complete 'Two Thousand'

Spazzy Romanticism: Love Story In Blood Red

Brain Surgeons NYC Rock The Big Questions

Jarboe's 'Men' Charts Turbulent Emotions

Delta 5's Edgy Post-Punk Resurrected

Blitzen Trapper Spiff Things Up

Minus Five: Booze, Betrayal, Bibles and Guns

New Compilation Spotlights Forgotten Folk Guitar Heroes

Chris Brokaw's Experiment In Pop

Old And New With Death Vessel

Silver Jews: Salvation And Redemption

Jana Hunter's Beautiful Doom

Vashti Bunyan Finds Her Voice Again

Nick Castro's Turkish Folk Delight

Katrina Hits New Orleans Musicians Hard

Paula Frazer's Eerie Beauty

The National Find Emotional Balance

Death Cab For Cutie's New Album, Tour

Heavy Trash's Rockabilly Rampage

Help The Wrens Get Their Albums Released!

Devendra Banhart, Andy Cabic Launch Label

Lydia Lunch's Noir Seductions

Bosque Brown's The Real Deal

PDX Pop Now! Fest Announces Lineup

Sarah Dougher Starts Women-Focused Label

Jennifer Gentle's Joyful Psyche

Mountain Goat Darnielle Gets Autobiographical With 'Sunset Tree'

Mia Doi Todd's Beautiful Collaboration

Return of the Gang of Four

Martha Wainwright Finds Her Voice

Brian Jonestown Massacre's Acid Joyride

Solo Disc Due From Pixies' Frank Black

Heartless Bastards' Big-Hearted Rock

Mike Watt's Midlife Journey

The Black Swans Balance Old And New

Nicolai Dunger's Swedish Blues

The Insomniacs' Hard-Edged Pop

Yo La Tengo Collection Due

Juana Molina's 'Homemade' Sound

Beans Evolves

Earlimart's Songs Of Loss

Devendra Banhart's 'Mosquito Drawings'

Negativland Rerelease 'Helter Stupid'

Alina Simone Transforms The Ordinary

Sounds From Nature: Laura Veirs

Octet's Fractured Electric Pop

Sleater-Kinney Working With Lips Producer

The Cult Of Silkworm

The Evolution Of The Concretes

Devendra Banhart's Exuberant New Songs

Catching Up With The Incredible String Band

Gram Rabbit's Desert Visions

Three Indie-Rock Stars Unite As Maritime

Remembering Johnny Ramone

Jarboe's Many Voices

Phil Elvrum's Long Hard Winter

First U.S. Release For Vashti Bunyan Album

Incredible String Band To Tour U.S.

New Music From Lydia Lunch

Le Tigre Protest The Bush War Presidency

Joel RL Phelps: Bleak Songs Rock Hard

Time Tripping With Galaxie 500

Patti Smith Wants Bush Out!

Sharron Kraus: A New Kind Of Folk Music

The Fiery Furnaces' Psychedelic Theater

Harder, Heavier Burning Brides

Sonic Youth's Ongoing Experiment

The Dt's Do It Their Way

Poster Children Cover Political Rock

Rare Thelonious Monk Recordings Due

Uneasy Pop From dios

Beck, Lips, Waits Cover Daniel Johnston

Understanding Franz Ferdinand

The Truly Amazing Joanna Newsom

Mylab's Boundary-Crossing Experiments In Sound

Have You Heard Jolie Holland Whistle?

The 'Magical Realism' Of Vetiver

The Restless, Rootsy Songs Of Eszter Balint

The Sun Sets On The Blasters

Devendra Banhart To Tour U.S.

The East/West Fusion Sounds Of Macha

Destroyer Gets Mellow For Your Blues

TV On The Radio Get Political

Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse To Play Lollapalooza 2004

New Music From The Fall

Apocalyptic Sound From The Intelligence

Fast And Rude With The Casual Dots

'Rejoicing' With Devendra Banhart

New Album, Tour From The Polyphonic Spree

Shearwater Take Wing

Sleater-Kinney To Tour East/West Coasts

Resurrecting Rocket From The Tombs

Visqueen Want To Get A Riot Goin' On

Lloyd Cole Makes A Commotion

Funkstörung's 'Cut-Up' Theory

Waiting For Mirah's C'mon Miracle

Electrelane Find Their Voice

The Television Is Still On!

Experimental Sounds From Hannah Marcus

The Ponys Play With Rayguns

Ex-Mono Men Leader Returns With The Dt's

Mountain Goats' Darnielle Adopts A More Hi-Fi Sound

Sun Kil Moon To Tour U.S., Europe

Nothin' But The Truth From The Von Bondies

Sultans Survive 'Shipwreck'

Sebadoh Reunite For Spring Tour

Xiu Xiu's 'Reality' Rock

Meet The Patients

Beth Orton, M. Ward Make Sadness Taste Sweet

Oneida's Pathway To Ecstasy

Radiohead, Pixies, Dizzee Rascal To Play Coachella

Young People Tour Behind War Prayers

Pixies Tour Dates Announced

Ani DiFranco Tells It Like It Is

Deerhoof Back For 2004 With Milkman

McLusky Set To 'Bring On The Big Guitars' Again

Pixies Reunite For U.S., European Tours

American Music Club, Decemberists To Play NoisePop 2004

Damien Rice Set To Tour U.S.

The Frames Accept Your Love

Punk Rock's A-Frames To Re-Record Third Album

Finally! Mission Of Burma Record New Album

A Solo Detour For Ladybug Transistor's Sasha Bell

Return Of The Old 97's

Spending The Night With Damien Rice

Tindersticks Reissues Due This Spring

The Evolution Of 'A Silver Mt. Zion'

Neil Young Rocks Australia With 'Greendale'

Poster Children Back In Action

'The Great Cat Power Disaster Of 2003'

Chicks On Speed's Subversive Strategies

Oranger At A Crossroad

Peaches On Tour And In Control

Jawbreaker's Complete Dear You Sessions To Be Released

Belle & Sebastian + Trevor Horn = Sunny Pop Nirvana

Von Bondies' Pawn Shoppe Heart

Descendents Are Back!

Modest Mouse Touring; Album Due in 2004

London Suede Take A (Permanent?) Break

Saul Williams Wants You To Think For Yourself

The 'Zen' Sound Of Calexico

Elliott Smith Dead AT 34

Debut Due From Mark Kozelek's Sun Kil Moon

The Hunches: Music That'll 'Fucking Live Forever'

Vic Chesnutt Speaks His Mind

90 Day Men Cancel Tour

Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor Highlight SF Jazz Festival

For My Morning Jacket, It's The Music That Matters

EP Due From The Polyphonic Spree

Bright Eyes, Neva Dinova Collaborate On EP

The Rise & Fall & Rise Of Ben Lee

Catching Up With Cheerfully Defiant Tricky

Hanging Around With The Polyphonic Spree

Sophomore Album Due From The Shins

Noise Rock From Iceland's Singapore Sling

Death Cab To Tour U.S.

Rufus Wainwright's Want One Is 'Family Affair'

Death Cab's Transatlanticism On The Way

Heartfelt Rock From Sweden's Last Days Of April

The Minus 5 Get Down With Wilco

Tywanna Jo Baskette's Southern-Gothic Rock

Xiu Xiu's Stewart Takes On 'Gay-bashing'

Portishead Producer Resurfaces Behind New Diva

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wire, Primal Scream On Buddyhead Comp

Yeah Yeah Yeahs To Tour West Coast

Sonic Youth, Erase Errata Kick Off 'Buddy Series'

The Locust Are One Scary Band

Damien Rice In The 'Here And Now'

Remembering Karp's Scott Jernigan

ATP-NY Postponed 'Til At Least 2004

The Soul Of Chris Lee

Gits' Frenching The Bully To See Re-Release

Stephen Malkmus Is In Control

Superchunk To Release Rarities Set; Teenage Girls To Swoon As A Result

Summer Touring For The Gossip

Babbling On About Deerhoof

Irish Song Poet Damien Rice's O Released In U.S.

Chatting With ATP's Barry Hogan

Former Digable Planets Frontman Surfaces With Cherrywine

ATP L.A. Festival Rescheduled For Fall

Freakwater's Janet Bean Takes A Solo Turn

Lee's 'Cool Rock'

Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Highlight YES NEW YORK

Mark Romanek's 'Hurt' Revives Johnny Cash's Career

The Rapture's Post-Punk, Post-Dance Sound

R.E.M., Wilco, Modest Mouse Highlight Bumbershoot Fest

Set Fires To Flames' Sleep-Deprivation Sound

Southern Gothic Past Shadows Verbena's La Musica Negra

The Subtle Evolution Of Yo La Tengo

Spring Tour For Jolie Holland (Plus A Live Album)

Liz Phair Still Pushing The Limits

Gold Chains Wants You To Dance And Think

Young People's War Prayers On The Way



peruse archival
 



-
-snippetcontactsnippetcontributorssnippetvisionsnippethelpsnippetcopyrightsnippetlegalsnippetterms of usesnippetThis site is Copyright © 2003 Insider One LLC
-