Morphine - Good

1993; 13 tracks

Distant, suspended worlds. Reality experiences a slight abeyance as the sensual world caves in on all sides... a world of rain and failure.

Morphine was an acclaimed jazz/rock group based in Massachusettes. Good, a beautifully constructed work of soft jazz-infused alternative rock, was their debut album.

you look like rain

dredg - Leitmotif

2001; 10 tracks

dredg have been one of my all-time favorite bands for a while, but this is mainly due to their second album, El Cielo. Now that I think about it, Leitmotif, their first full-length album, is much more experimental and raw in sound. Check here for some very interesting takes on the various concepts of Leitmotif.

"Leitmotif is based on a story written by the bassist Drew Roulette in which a man with a spiritual disease looks at different cultures around the world in search of a cure. The story is included with the album, but it would probably not be too difficult to find it online. The album is generally considered to be progressive alternative, a fitting label. The instrumentation is very simple - one of the things I really enjoy about the album. Any of these songs would be easy to learn and preform, and most of them stick to generic rock instruments. Yet, the sometimes Eastern or jazz-influenced music is engaging, catchy, and dynamic. Occasionally we see other instruments making their way in, including a cello, synthesizer, and theremin."

"'We decided to call this release Leitmotif because we wrote our music based upon the adventures of a wise man who traveled around the world to become a pure soul.' These travels are outlined within the liner notes of the album. The story focuses on a man visited by a spirit who tells him he has a moral disease and must travel the world on a quest for higher spirituality. If he succeeds, he will evolve; if he fails, he will die. Ultimately, the character learns to put faith in the religion found in the spiritual awakening of humankind, rather than buy into the religion of commerce and greed. The result of Leitmotif's explorative, experimental union of music and text is a mystical sound odyssey."

We live like penguins in the desert. Why can't we live like tribes?

Pond - Pond

1993; 10 tracks



"Pond is remembered by people who don't really know what they're talking about as a 'grunge' band, but I wouldn't call them that. Yeah, they rose to prominence in the NW in the early-to-mid 90's, and it's easy to slap that label on them to quickly reference their involvement in that scene, but "grunge" has dumbed-down connotations that I would never attach to Pond. Their music, even though it was never short on gristly, fuzzed-out tones, was deceptively intricate and fully reliant on melody over all else. Trying to compare the resulting sound to any other band is pointless, and in this case, that's a high compliment.



Pond was a three-piece band that sounded like a four-piece, thanks both to Charlie Campbell's dexterous fingers on the guitar, and Chris Brady's penchant for playing weird-ass semi-chords on his bass. (He would also use a bow sometimes.) And, of course, Dave Triebwasser pummeled the drums. That guy was the perfect drummer for this group. They all sound huge, but like I said, it's the precision that made it work. There were plenty of bands who tried to play loud, melodic rock, but Pond was just really fucking good at it.



The fact that Campbell and Brady's voices sound similar to the untrained ear made the whole thing even more interesting. Their harmonies were dead-on, and instead of their being a slight disconnect when one or the other took over the lead vocals (I always just assumed they sang the songs they wrote, and the vocal duties usually ended up being split down the middle - also cool) - like, say, on a Sebadoh record - you were never left with any sense that things had shifted. Tough to do, and a real testament to how well Campbell and Brady worked together.



So, yes, this is their debut, and though I bet the band considers this their finding-their-sound LP, it's full-blown awesomeness. (Quick aside - I went to see Pond in 1997, and someone yelled out 'Agatha' - one of the singles from this record - and Brady made a comment about how they're "not that band anymore" and they did not play the song. Hence my assumption that they disowned this record at some point.) Trying to explain what Pond sounds like is difficult, so describing the exact merits of these songs is a little tough. They're heavy in a way, but also the sort of songs that I used to sing along to at the top of my lungs. I still can. They're catchy. And the lyrics are smart."



That was taken from here, but I thought it was really great. I agree with that author - Pond is nothing like Nirvana, or Alice in Chains... it is on a completely new level, and the lyrics ARE smart! I will be listening to this album for a few more days, medititating on the full-blown awesomeness of Pond. Every time is a new experience.



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