MARK LANEGAN - "whiskey for the holy ghost"

album of the day 5/7/03 written by math

SCORE: 7/10 (GREAT/INNOVATIVE)

"Remember folks: you can make an alternative rock rekkerd that sounds nothing lke alternative rock," Mark Lanegan seemingly says over and over and over again throughout this album. The Screming Trees don't sound like this so don't get flustered when I say, this album is practically the coolest rock I have found in the past year. "Whiskey For The Holy Ghost" is very spooky and airy, despite how many instruments Mike Johnson is playing on top of Mark Lanegan's perfect blues voice. Instruments include: piano, standup bass, organ, violin, and saxophone played by such notables as J Mascis, Tad Doyle, Joe Pickle and Dan Peters, relying on acoustic sound which leads to an album which feels like country blues, but all 90'sed up. The flow of this, Lanegan's sophomore effort, is the first notable thing about the rekkerd. Upon first listen, songs are hard to distinguish and the piece functions as a whole, with harder spots, but mostly dark and soulful. If he hadn't before, Lanegan makes a case for himself as one of the great vocalists in rock in this laid back setting, and exploding in several key places. The sons here don't necessarily depend on choruses, as vocals take the front seat and every word seems like it's been said before, even if it's just the first time. Despite the flow, two songs of the greatest rock calibur tower above everything here. "Borracho" begins soulful, but with an electric guitar's strings being tapped to produce what is actually the main riff, a squeaky bit of blues. Mark Lanegan begins to build, and the music follows. "It fights and it bleeds, and this desert turns to ocean over me/ Here comes the devil prowlin' round/ One whiskey for every ghost/ And I'm sorry for what I said/ I said, 'I just don't care anymore," Lanegan hollers until a strange noise rock solo busts out of his guitar. Then, it dies down and recreates this climax, only more powerfully and with insightful lyric twists. The album dies down for a couple songs before unleashing the greatest rock songs here. "Carnival" is a three chord pattern, with Lahenagan singing over and over about sad hypnotized girls (which progress to dead hypnotized girls) and freak shows, throughout the songs as a violin, alternately harshly and mournfully played, carries the song. The guitar never ceases, Lahenegan countinues to pull out lyrics for what seems like all too short of a time as the violin punctuates the most intense passages. "Whiskey For The Holy ghost" is absolutely desolate, but somehow never deviates much too far from a rock structure. This must be precisely what makes this album feel so incredibly ingenious in introverted inscriptions. Or just so darn good. RECOMMENDED CUTS: "Carnival", "Borracho"

QUIERES UN BURRITO?

NO THANKS THEY GIVE ME GAS