Tag Archives: Alternative

Hozier’s Introduction to the World

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I struggled writing this post on Hozier’s first album. As I sat writing, deleting, and rewriting, I was reminded why I originally decided not to review new music. I listen to this beautiful album and like many reviewers I want to tear it apart and analyze it, but that approach would be inconsistent with my original intent. My goal is to experience the music, not destroy it. In the short time of owning this album I have experienced it deeply.

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I was first introduced to the song Take Me To Church. Immediately I fell in love with the simple sound, and complicated words. Watching the video I was transported to past protests and rallies. The video tells the story of two men who love each other, one is murdered for it. The video and the song work together perfectly, we are confronted with struggles of the LGBT community and the isolation experienced by conservative religion. The refrain “Take me to church” isolates the dichotomy of religion that preaches love and acts differently.

hozierRecord

Of course the marriage of this song and that video tell a different story than listening to the song alone. The song by itself draws parallels to love and the institution of religion. This song thrives in the heart of the teenager that lives inside of me. A boy who struggles to understand his feeling while still being enveloped by them. What I love about this song is that it works on multiple levels, it works as a scathing commentary faith and as a love song describing someone lost in an emotional tsunami.

My Church offers no absolution
She tells me, ‘Worship in the bedroom.’
The only heaven I’ll be sent to
Is when I’m alone with you—

It connects religion and love, faith and lust, hope and loss. I don’t know if you have ever been lost in love, especially a love that is not balanced but the author seems to understand this carnal desire.

Take me to church
I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I’ll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife
Offer me my deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

MoonMaybe you’ve never had this feeling or maybe it’s just easier to lie about it, but Hozier’s rock, blues, gospel, pop mix brings to light the love we often leave hidden in the darkness, the love that we don’t admit. Or the feeling of losing ourselves to love. If you have never had this issue you may get bored but if you have, prepare to bring that darkness to the surface.

The album revolves around relational themes, generally about love, lust, sex, and loss. I played the song In A Week for my wife, she listened openly in the beginning appreciating the music, but she didn’t feel the full weight of the song until she heard the refrain:

And they’d find us in a week
When the weather get’s hot
After the insects have made their claim
I’d be home with you

Immediately she wondered whether we should continue listening to this album. But this is not an album one can simply pull one song out and expect to understand the full depth, some albums are just full of great songs that don’t connect with each other, this was not one of them. The order of the songs and the fullness of the album creates a context, and it would be hard to understand any one song without first beginning to understand the whole of the album. That is why I love vinyl, it helps me find that context.

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So, If you are looking for simple, look somewhere else, this album is not for you. We have to think about this album, we comb over it, and always listen for something new. So far I hear love songs, joyful and tragic. He delves into love, he embraces it, massages it, and even mangles it.

I look forward to hearing his future albums. This album was very thematic, and I look forward hearing different themes. Love is important but I’d love to hear him pour this much work into other issues. Now, whether he will we don’t really know, but I do know I will blindly buy his next album in the hope that he continues to grow as a musician and commentator.

All About Fish and Feelings, Whatever Nevermind

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My first experience was Nirvana was not from their ground breaking album Nevermind, nor was it from MTV over playing the video Smells Like Teen Spirit, no my first experience with Nirvana was through Weird Al Yankovic’s song Smells Like Nirvana. I was, at the time, a classic rock fan, I had never been too impressed with modern music so I encountered most of it through satire. I would sit and wait for hours for the video of Smells Like Nirvana to air on MTV. Of course during that time I heard songs, like Come As You Are, In Bloom, and Smells Like Teen Spirit.

www.heptide.com

www.heptide.com

I was just leaving Middle School when Nirvana hit the airwaves and I missed it. Of course when I found them, finally, they were the first band since Led Zeppelin or Queen to make any sense. Much of my music taste comes from hindsight, in fact, I missed most of it the first time, except the grunge. Once I found that style I never let go, even today I listen to 90’s stations frustrated with the lack of Nirvana. However, there is no doubt that Nirvana changed things for rock music. Glam Rock was reaching its panicle, men in sprayed on leather pants with hair do’s that cost more than most of my wardrobe were prancing back and forth on stage when Kurt Cobain stepped up in ratty jeans, old converse (from before they were popular), and a tee-shirt. From that point on, jeans and a tee-shirt were just fine for me, in fact even today I might just throw a blazer on top and go to work.

I remember hearing a story that when they made it big, Kurt was living in a van. Chris Novoselic said once, “We didn’t come to the mainstream, the mainstream came to us.” This one statement says volumes about the struggle that Nirvana and specifically Kurt Cobain felt about their success. This struggle along with the constant physical pain led Kurt to commit suicide, I remember coming home from school one day, turning on MTV like I often did, and read the scrolling words at the bottom of the screen, “Kurt Cobain has been found dead.” This was the first musician of my era to die, and I will never forget the feeling that day.

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I was reminded of Nirvana the other day watching a rerun of the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. I sat with tears in my eyes during the opening clip, the tears stayed throughout the show. Michael Stipe called them “lightening in a bottle.” I agreed. I agreed when Dave Gohl and Chis Novoselic gave their short speeches, and I agreed as Joan Jett sung Smells Like Teen Spirit. I remember thinking about how I would react if I were to ever meet those two men. I imagine I would hug them with tears in my eyes and hope to God that it didn’t come off creepy. I couldn’t help but think about what they were to me, I think I spent most of the rest of my life dressing like Kurt Cobain. They exuded frustration, and that was how I felt so I showed it. Their music helped me give voice to feelings I couldn’t consider touching.

I never understood teen spirit (the spirit not the song), pep rallies never made sense to me. In hindsight I appreciated my high school but while I was there I stood counted with social exiles, I was home there. Through the years the music may have changed but the caliber of people didn’t. We were to the social minority, we didn’t want to be football stars, we didn’t play basketball, and we weren’t ashamed to be part of the marching band. Most of my good memories of high school took place in either the band room or the theater. My lunch was spent with all the “others,” because they weren’t afraid to come as they were.

I never owned Nevermind, I borrowed my brother’s cassette and over the years had a few dubs. I bought this a few months ago as soon as I found it, and as I listen to this record over and over again, I sing the songs, often without thought, the words are just there. Funny, the first time I actually bought this album was 2014 and 180 gram vinyl. Nirvana’s lightning in a bottle fueled my teenage years. Through dating, break-ups, and embarrassing moments, I found my voice while listening to the often ridiculous lyrics of Nirvana, lyrics so pure I never had to actually consider their meaning, mine was good enough. Spoke the alien, “Nevermind.”