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ing, existential statement of purpose( both in fleeting life and post-life)“ I Am This Thing.” As the first song’ s opening salvo, the provocative line“ I owe a lot to a dead man’ s cock” may render the album inappropriate for traditional holiday gatherings, but one aspect of its double meaning is actually a reference to the comical 1969 novel Percy written by Hitchcock’ s late father Raymond( himself the target of the other meaning vis-à-vis the son’ s very being). The Kinks also released a soundtrack album with the same name, recorded for the 1971 British film. Anyhow, as strange as The Confuser may be, it’ s otherwise suitable for all ages. Alongside the familiar echoes of early Pink Floyd, The Beatles and The Byrds, hints of War’ s Latin-rock“ Low Rider” inform the groovy portrait of fleeting glory“ My Dead Astronaut.” John Lennon-styled psychrock a la“ Tomorrow Never Knows” meets the slashing, thunderous mod-rock of the Who’ s“ I Can See for Miles,” with a generous dollop of R. E. M.’ s chime and jangle during“ Yesterday’ s Rain.”“ Yesterday’ s rain falls on tomorrow’ s parade,” sings Hitchcock in the chorus. Though often inscrutable at first blush, Hitchcock offers hints of his thoughtful designs in his liner notes. His surrealist text suggests that The Confuser celebrates collapse and the counterintuitive potential for expansion and growth to spring from oblivion. He also suggests that songs like the tremulous, shuffling“ The Vanishing Kind” and the beatific waltz“ Monday for Me” celebrate the kind of love that endures when everything else crumbles. The fragile“ Ghost in Sunlight” seems to trace that process of decay in a delicate arrangement that floats atop Jordan Lehning’ s electric piano. Hitchcock’ s haunted vocals rise and fall in harmony with guest Gillian Welch. The baggy funk of the wry“ Building from the Ruins” finds Hitchcock skirting perilously close to political commentary.“ Demolition is nine tenths of the law,” he sings. East Wing, anyone? Later, he describes people willing to benefit at the expense of those
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around them.“ Human nature has some horrible flaws, and one of them has got me right between its jaws,” Hitchcock laments as the band unspools an alluringly danceable rhythm. Old Soft Boys bandmate Kimberley Rew turns up to lend his guitar to several songs, most conspicuously during“ How to Feel Alright,” propelled by Slick’ s Bo Diddley beat.“ You’ re my lover, and I miss you like a train,” sings Hitchcock en route to dispensing bliss. The album closes with the Bakersfieldmeets-surfside ramble“ Wasted.” Hitchcock continues to craft thoughtful musings on existence and non-existence, obscured by seeming non-sequiturs and absurdities. One imagines his principal influences as a wordsmith: Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan, William S. Burroughs, and Salvador Dali. On closer inspection, the work is clearly meticulous, but the words roll like the effortless pronouncements of a madhouse sage. Whether you’ re drawn to the quizzical, thought-provoking prose or the psychedelic jangle-rock, The Confuser will be a paradoxically welcome guest and the life of any party.( tinyghost. com)
– Jeff Elbel
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CLIFTON CHENIER King of Louisiana Blues & Zydeco( Arhoolie / Smithsonian Folkways)
Zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier is celebrated in this four-CD box set timed to arrive on what would have been his 100th birthday. Fans of the genre will recognize the truth in the title, King of Louisiana Blues & Zydeco. Since Chenier passed away at 62
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Apostrophe(‘) Whisky a Go Go, 1968
Rough Mix Empty Glass
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