A Sobering Lesson for Anyone Intent on Mixing Electronica and Country & Western
Today, in the name of musical equality where by I give every band a fair shout, I subjected myself to Clay & Electronic Cowboys (their grammar is the least of their problems believe me). They are a wacky bunch from Dallas fronted and produced by Clay Pendergrass and are available on some label that I didn’t bother looking up because I really didn’t care what it was called. After an excruciating two songs I was relieved to be able to return to hitting my head against a brick wall because that seemed to be a more profitable use of my time.
The first cut available on their website is called “Summertime Blues” and although I’m not someone with a lot of patience its seems to me a tad unfair to leave the only remotely bluesy riff until the song’s cadenza and for it to comprise only one edgy blues 7th. Furthermore the repetitive guitar riff sounded thin and dull and for next time I would recommend they choose a slightly harder variety of cheese to press against the strings if they want a richer tone. To make the entire malaise even more confusing the song is littered with an assortment of random electronic noises and for at least the first half of the track I was under the impression that the noise created by the backing singers was courtesy of a bunch of rowdy drunks communing outside my window.
Not to be disheartened and manfully suppressing the urge to set about the traumatic process of erasing these guys from my brain I soldiered on to “2 or 3 chord punk”. Now although it would be too much to expect Wagneresque ornamentation from a song made up of “2 or 3 chord(s)” I would have expected some mild attempt at modulation. All they had to do was switch to a relative minor or something else equally basic and it would have made it all alright, because, you see, I’m just that easy to please. Furthermore returning to my favourite subject of backing vocals, the atonal moaning sound which can be heard made me think that at any moment they were going to burst in to a cover of “Ghost Town” by The Specials.
Now the cold weather must be addling my brain because even after two wild swings and misses during this kindergarten softball game I did them the good grace of moving on to ”Front Porch”. From the moment I heard rhyming couplets along the lines of: “Phone/home” and ”Plate/great” my heart sank, but then out of the mire emerged something quite clever; they began a nice little vocal cannon which continually clashed and then smoothly resolved itself quite beautifully. I’m quite sure that on the strength of this one song Clay & Electronic Cowboys will have every elevator company in the States trying to buy the rights to their latest material.
Before the band dismisses my comments about elevator music out of hand, just remember what a success Kenny G made out of it.
Today, in the name of musical equality where by I give every band a fair shout, I subjected myself to Clay & Electronic Cowboys (their grammar is the least of their problems believe me). They are a wacky bunch from Dallas fronted and produced by Clay Pendergrass and are available on some label that I didn’t bother looking up because I really didn’t care what it was called. After an excruciating two songs I was relieved to be able to return to hitting my head against a brick wall because that seemed to be a more profitable use of my time.
The first cut available on their website is called “Summertime Blues” and although I’m not someone with a lot of patience its seems to me a tad unfair to leave the only remotely bluesy riff until the song’s cadenza and for it to comprise only one edgy blues 7th. Furthermore the repetitive guitar riff sounded thin and dull and for next time I would recommend they choose a slightly harder variety of cheese to press against the strings if they want a richer tone. To make the entire malaise even more confusing the song is littered with an assortment of random electronic noises and for at least the first half of the track I was under the impression that the noise created by the backing singers was courtesy of a bunch of rowdy drunks communing outside my window.
Not to be disheartened and manfully suppressing the urge to set about the traumatic process of erasing these guys from my brain I soldiered on to “2 or 3 chord punk”. Now although it would be too much to expect Wagneresque ornamentation from a song made up of “2 or 3 chord(s)” I would have expected some mild attempt at modulation. All they had to do was switch to a relative minor or something else equally basic and it would have made it all alright, because, you see, I’m just that easy to please. Furthermore returning to my favourite subject of backing vocals, the atonal moaning sound which can be heard made me think that at any moment they were going to burst in to a cover of “Ghost Town” by The Specials.
Now the cold weather must be addling my brain because even after two wild swings and misses during this kindergarten softball game I did them the good grace of moving on to ”Front Porch”. From the moment I heard rhyming couplets along the lines of: “Phone/home” and ”Plate/great” my heart sank, but then out of the mire emerged something quite clever; they began a nice little vocal cannon which continually clashed and then smoothly resolved itself quite beautifully. I’m quite sure that on the strength of this one song Clay & Electronic Cowboys will have every elevator company in the States trying to buy the rights to their latest material.
Before the band dismisses my comments about elevator music out of hand, just remember what a success Kenny G made out of it.
posted by Ryan Fender at 16:28
11 Comments:
Hi Blondie its ryan again and I promise to not be annoying this time but I would like to comment on how sweet it is of Clay and electronic cowboys because it is wholesome bands such as these that make our job soo easy and fun. Now if you dont mind I'm going to go and totally rape them on my blog. You said you weren't too cool with bitching bands but when they hand themselves to you on a plate lame and ready for the slaughter its just soo easy-enjoy!!!
Hi Blondie its ryan again and I promise to not be annoying this time but I would like to comment on how sweet it is of Clay and electronic cowboys because it is wholesome bands such as these that make our job soo easy and fun. Now if you dont mind I'm going to go and totally rape them on my blog. You said you weren't too cool with bitching bands but when they hand themselves to you on a plate lame and ready for the slaughter its just soo easy-enjoy!!!
it warms the heart
to see a 20 year old from theNetherlands
"totally rape" a band
while also
dishing out the type of criticism that the
under-inflated egos of the poor and
(according to you)
justafiably not famous deserve.
at least you dig Sonny Rollins
bully for you
cheers&HappyHolidays
As I sit listening to this disc for the third time now I can't help but notice how much it has grown on me. The first time through I actually pre-empted a few cuts, hitting the skip button to travel to the next a bit quicker. But now, with the earphones on, I am hearing things that didn't translate to me that first time. Grooves and percussive noodling, moments of sheer musical goodness. Gemlike. Shiny and attractive. It's like Elvis Costello had grown up right here in the metroplex during the eighties and early nineties. You want to handle this disc carefully as it's full of so many hooks. This is a collection of songs that is sure to fuel a lot of local song writers for a while to come. For one thing it plays like a pick-and-choose single where you choose the A-side and then marvel at the B-side. Just pop it in and try it. Randomly pick a track and follow it with another picked at random as well. You'll quickly see what I mean. And the production... well, it's so lush and verdant. If you don't have a first rate sound system in the housing or transport arenas of your day-to-day existence then be sure that you experience this collection of songs via the straight-to-heart via headphones route. It's a narcotic. Clay Pendergrass has unleashed his pop demon and we are all invited to the sacrifice. There are alt-country inflected ditties like "Contracting" and "Front Porch", two tracks that evoke some of that good old Byrd's vibe. You've also got tracks like "Spanish Style Guitars" and "At 29" that have a very modern Bowie tint to them. There are even hints of funk and reggae. It"s all here spicing up this song stew. One of my very favorite numbers would have to be "Ever 2 Old", reminding me that Mark E. Smith sounded best when he was happy and that the first three Fall albums will always be this reviewers favorite. East Dallas Mix Tape is an amusement park of audio murals. It tells one musician's story in song. Clay goes a long way to preserve his histories within the matrix of this work having, himself, been a part of the musical happenings in D/FW over the last few years. I hope every record he puts out in the future is as 'all over the place' as this one. It*s like Joe Jackson and Bryan Ferry had started Guided By Voices over a few beers at some dive bar in Deep Ellum while listening to Stevie Wonder. At several points the disc feels a bit like a paean to tavern life in Dallas, which is completely understandable to anyone who's ever lifted glass to lip in the big D. All said this is by no means a work without flaws. Depending on your musical leanings the number of missteps you find may be far greater than those few I personally encountered. It is, after all, a pop record. It suffers from lightweight lyricism on a few songs, but those are the kind of songs that get stuck in your head and the ones you sing to yourself when you*re alone at night. This is the kind of disc that both you and your significant other will agree on and, if I'm not mistaken, there's quite a bit of 'make out' tunage on this record. So if you grew up listening to 80s pop (the good, mostly overseas, stuff - not that FM radio shit) or if you'd like to experience a fresh take on music from the metroplex then you must acquire this record, give it three spins, close your eyes and watch the story unfold.
Thank you annonymous that is a fascinating view point. For the time being I'm going to let Clay and Co. simmer in my mind and I shall by no means disregard them for eternity, if I pick them up again and suddenly see the light then I shall be the first to admit it but I cant make any promises.
Ok and clay...Seriously dude this is about the music, its not about how old I am or where Im from, all I do is express MY opinion. This is what ALL music journalists do and the ones who are the professionals are simply the ones who most people agree with. I'm not going to tell you to stick your snotty response because the solution from your point of view is simple. Clearly people love your stuff so for every critical word i'm sure their are positive ones for you so take it in perspective.
Furthermore-who do you even think reads this? Its not like anyone is cancel tickets to your gig because of me.
Lastly I must profess I was somewhat trying to encorage blonde music review to play devils advocate. She says herself she cant "band bash" and if she is seriously offering reviews for sale then she needs to bash it if it needs bashing not just ignore it. (If you read this blondie, im sorry for talking about you in the third person)
some hormonally charged ranting ?
hhhmm yes incitful addition to the prevailing discussion there anonymous-what did you want, a translation or is there a problem with my spelling?
I guess you hit a nerve with this one, Ryan. I wish I could add something to the debate, but I've never listened to the disc. What I can say is that I hope you will post again soon.
Hey Carly-ann I'm glad you had a moment to read my review. I trust you received the comments I left on your blog regarding Jimmy Eat World? At present I am writting a long article about Radiohead which will not be soo controversial. I shall find the link to this band's website and send it over so you can make up your own mind.
You know what? I don't know if I read comments from you about JEW. I'm going to have to go back and check. I'll do that at the same time I check out that link you sent (when I can find some time, that is!)
Post a Comment
<< Home