The Devil Has The Best Tuna: She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde

Sunday, October 21, 2007

She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde

She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde
Genre: Acousmatic / Tape music / Down-tempo / Zouk
From: Madison, Wisconsin United States

I've often wondered how important time and place are in the enjoyment and appreciation of music. If I'd first heard Joy Division while lying in the sun on holiday on a hot Saturday morning rather than late at night on a tinny transistor radio followed by the dulcet tones of John Peel eulogising them would they still mean so much to me or would I have dismissed them as miserabilist doom mongerers and loaded my walkman with Duran Durans latest album with renewed relish (it's torture even to merely speculate!)?

Well this week I tested this theory and listened to the forthcoming album by the exotically monickered She is so Beautiful/She is So Blonde, the solo project of Elliott Kozel guitarist of Sleeping in the Aviary (first featured on the Devil's blog back in May 07, click here to read more.), whilst slowly sipping a Caramel Machiatto in the Starbucks in Bold Street, Liverpool. Yes I am fully aware that Starbucks are evil and my soul has been corrupted just by spending time in there but there is no coffee in the world that can match a Starbucks Caramel Macchiatto and how can the Devil's soul get any more corrupt?!!.

So anyway back to SISBSISB's self-titled album, which has been over four years in the making, and my theory on the relevance of time and place in the appreciation of music. After about half an hour spent listening to the usual Starbucks mix of plastic soul and faux authentic and self confessed deep and meaningful singer songwriters I slipped on my headphones and was immediately transported to a world where music is produced for its artistic merit rather than to adorn the walls whilst uninterested people sip their slightly bitter tasting beverages in plastic cups.

SISBSISB's album has a shambling, messy, laid back folk vibe (maaaannn!! I'm beginning to turn into a parody of myself, is this normal?) with a slightly sinister undertow, kinda like a crystal clear pond full of piranhas. One track ('Biography') is accompanied by the sounds of a female who could either be in the midst of a particularly great orgasm or being tortured by a sadistic serial killer (not being able to tell the difference possibly accounts for my lack of success with the female of the species (that and the fact that I'm happily married!!)).

Elliott has created an impressively engaging, Sunday morning album that ranges from the sparse acoustic side of Smog via the gothic dream pop of This Mortal Coil to the spacey soundscapes of Califone and The Microphones . This is one of those albums that rewards repeated listens continually surprising with subtleties easily missed on first hearing. Having time to luxuriate in this album made me appreciate it's subtle textures and intricate patterns and confirmed my long held belief that time and place do have a key part to play in the enjoyment and appreciation of music.

She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde will be released November 6, 2007 on Science of Sound so go check it out. Just don't forget that time and place have a part to play in how you'll feel about the album.

Go Try

MP3 - She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde - Days
MP3 - She Is So Beautiful/She Is So blonde - Watch the Crimes

Go Buy

Click here to order She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde's self titled album

Go Visit

She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde - Myspace // Website
Label - Science of Sound Records // Science of Sound Records Myspace

Go See

6 Nov 2007, 20:00, CD Release/ Listening Party/SitA acoustic set @ Escape Java Joint on Willy Street, Madison, Wisconsin

If you like the following then you'll love She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde...

MP3 - Smog - I Break Horses (Peel Session)

Buy Smog 'Accumulation:None' from Amazon