Word: beasting
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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There are those that will love “Apocalypto.” There are also those that will hate it. Then, there are those, who, like me, will laugh and wince their way through this beautiful beast of movie...
...before “Beast Moans” dropped, it really didn’t seem necessary. More resumé-padding from the over-recorded Dan Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers) and the stretched-too-thin Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, a dozen other bands). Plus Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes, who may or may not be crazy. On paper, Swan Lake shouldn’t work that well...
Fortunately the record is a beautifully grotesque creation, one that Swan Lake’s members could never have devised on their own. Together, they form a disfigured, fucked-up beast whose aching, thickly-layered moans elicit both shock and pathos...
Mercer provides the body, and it is his frantic guitar work that drags “Beast Moans” forward. “The Partisan But He’s Got to Know,” a Mercer feature, lurches forward like some baroque, “Swordfishtrombones”-vintage Tom Waits tune, almost spiraling out of control until Krug and Bejar enter to tame the melody...
It’s just that Krug makes more with that time. “Beast Moans” uses a thick tonal palette that takes several listens to really understand. And what becomes increasingly clear over the course of those listens is the value of Krug’s contribution to that sound. It’s enough to make one yearn for the next Wolf Parade LP. Expect its release to herald the demise of NAFTA...