amusingmusings is a feature from Counterzine contributor, Secat, that riffs and digresses on recent, exciting releases in music, games, television, movies, and more. Today’s amusingmusings covers the new album from Big Thief, ‘Two Hands,’ released on October 11th.
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[alec is typing . . . ]
alec: please for the love of God come out of your room
secat: will you just leave me ALONE. i am having a sensual, earthy experience with my favorite band, BIG THIEF !!
alec: youve been having a god damn sensual whatever experience since 9 a.m. and i am tired and i want you to turn the music down
secat: you want to be soothed.. ah, i have just the thing for you.. come listen to the soft croons of adrianne lenker with me in here… big thief will rock you to sleep, my child . .
alec: since when do you like big thief so much anyway
secat: since like forever!! i mean did you LISTEN to capacity. did you LISTEN to masterpiece. did you LISTEN to U.F.O.F. (and have you properly appreciated that big thief have put out 2 stunning albums in a single year!!!!)
alec: you know very well that i have not done any of those things my man
secat: come in and listen to Two Hands already. It is so good. did u know that big thief made TWO ALBUMS in a YEARR
alec: yes you have told me
secat: what a feat.. what an accomplishment.. frankly, big thief’s consistency is just marvelous to behold..
alec: whatever! it all sounds the freaking same
secat: it is so laughable. How wrong you are. My goodness
secat: like, Masterpiece is incandescent flame.. Capacity is dark, bubbling ichor.. U.F.O.F. is airy, fluttering light.. Two Hands is rich, crumbling earth..
alec: the 4 elements. I get it
secat: you see! this time, Big Thief have grabbed their shovels and dug raw mineral chords and timbres out of the black, black earth, and recorded them with the absolute WARMEST analog shit on the planet (seriously this album it is like a big down quilt and i cling to it fondly)
alec: when are u gonna grow up and stop using albums as comfort objects
secat: BIG THIEF RANKING uhh let’s see 1) capacity 2) UFOF 3) this one 4) masterpiece
alec: so you dont even like it that much!
secat: shut up!! im splitting hairs here
secat: literally everything they’ve done thus far is on a level above their peers. each project a treasured jewel in my, ehm, musical treasure trove
alec: can’t you listen with headphones at least
secat: oh, yes, i could! but i won’t.. if you don’t let this reverberate around the room a little, you’re, frankly, a little monster, and i will have nothing to do with you
secat: if you set up your space just right, it will feel as though the music is holding your hand. it’s a uniquely intimate, tensile record — an amazing feat of surface tension — a whisper that bends, but does not break, the surface of the still water
alec: so what’s the best song
secat: the BEST song! ha! hahah! i laugh! as if there could be a BEST single song, on this cohesive, wonderful recordingg,
secat: with that being said, it’s Not
secat: i mean, duh. a growling, towering pinnacle. ya know? it completely eclipses everything that comes before and after
secat: . . . and in fact, it has the effect of making the following songs (while still excellent) feel perhaps a little nonessential. after Not ends, you want its final, ringing squalls to sit in your room till the end of time — but then the next song starts — and you’re kind of like, “oh! album’s not done”
secat: so it might’ve been better suited as a final, closing track — but the album is still well paced in that those following songs feel very much like they’re being played in the gaping shadow of Not. the mood moves inward, becomes reflective; the space narrows..
alec: the only thing narrowing is.. My patience
secat: ha HA! good one. but you can’t get me to stop. i will never leave this room. I WILL DIE IN HERE
alec: i made croissants tho :((
secat: shitt why didn’t you say so! i’ll be right out
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Secat is a musician and writer based in Houston, Texas. To see more of their work, you can follow them on Twitter (@secatsecat) or check out their personal blog at secatsecat.home.blog.
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