MoonSpeak

groundweller r2.22

There's a "b-side" (yeah, I know) to MoonSpeak's EP, groundweller, and it contains one song that is a wopping fifteen minutes in length. Since it would be against ALL sensibility to put out a track, designate it with its own individual release, and have it be an endless shitty drum loop with a few "wahh... wahh..."s here and there yet AGAIN, I have faith that I'll find something different here. The thing about making songs six or seven minutes long is that you don't really notice it or pay much heed to it. While it's a pet peeve of mine, other people obviously don't seem to care.

But a song that's FIFTEEN MINUTES long? That doesn't happen on accident; she purposely did that, so I'd hope that this song (that doesn't even have a title, I might add) actually might have an inkling of depth.

I'd hope.

As it turns out, "gdw-r2.22" is a surprisingly well-made track. I hate that I'm using the word "surprisingly" there, too. MoonSpeak certainly has the ability, but she suffers much from not being able to put any verve in her music. When she pulls it off, it's fantastic, and I've cited numerous examples in the past.

Clearly, the most satisfying part of this track is, of course, the fact that it's basically a number of songs in one. Which is what an extended track SHOULD be. The first part of the song goes back to what MoonSpeak has always done best in my opinion; soothing ambience. After awhile, a breakdown occurs, and there's a lot of complex shit going on in there. It would fuck you up if you were trying to use this song to relax, but shortly thereafter, the light bells and gentle atmosphere come back to play once again. Oh, it repeats on and on, but this time, it's okay, because the riff is catchy enough that you don't really want it to stop. The song goes back and forth between calm and energetic. It's really not bad.

The hardest thing about me, as the listener, is not knowing exactly what it is that makes some songs sound good and why other songs sound bad, which is why I tend to harp on stuff like song length, overuse of a particular instrument, and even the song's title. These ARE factors that matter to me, but I can't imagine it's too helpful for a musician. You have to remember though; I am just a listener. I don't make music, and I don't claim to know much about music theory. I just listen to music I find and judge it based on what I like to hear. Sometimes it's difficult to pinpoint that stuff. So when I say a song is bad for X reason, it should be taken less as a criticism or some kind of demand for change, and more as me just levying my opinion about some music.

I like doing that, and if I can do it well, well, even better.

Oh, and it's also because I'm well-aware of the fact that only one person is really going to read all of this stuff all the way through, so, it gives me a chance to be less informative of the music I'm speaking about, and more about using this as a conversational tool. I've had very few opportunities to actually flesh out my thoughts on much of her music, and I've finally been able to grasp the opportunity. I may not be the biggest fan of her music, but I felt morally obligated to make these reviews for her. Hell, I'm gonna be a novelist, and I'd appreciate it if MY friends were to read my shit, no matter how much it may suck. Golden Rule and such.

Until next album, then.

4/5