Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Monkey Suits



Good news! You can now download for free a new song from the not released for far too long Pernice Brothers album along with a video to go with it. Follow the link at the bottom of this. This album reunites Mr. Pernice with the producer of the classic "Overcome By Happiness" and if its half as good as that album I can't wait. Here's what my at the time not my wife said about that album back in the day;

"I loved what I heard. something about the sound of it, the longing in the vocals, the tender arrangements of the violins and guitars and horns, really struck me. the music was simple, but at the same time had a resounding sense of completeness.
Try to recall the last time you listened to an album thatfeatured, among other instruments, a flugelhorn. And that flugelhorn's not all. In addition to the standard guitars, drums, and occasional piano, add three trombones, some violins and violas, and even the languid strummings of a harp.
The title track starts slowly and sparsely, with joe's sandpaper vocals against a backdrop of simple drums and a hushed bass line building into a richly swirling number that melts easily into the next track. The characteristic twang of pernice's earlier work is absent here. the Pernice Brothers take pop sensibilities and flesh them out completely, a la belle and sebastian, to make for an album that's completely satisfying.
I liked the layers. I liked the sound of joe pernice's voice. I liked that it felt like there was a pervading sense of loss or even melancholy in the songs, but that that feeling of absence was what tied everything together to make the sound complete. I thought about that a bit when I was first listening to the album, the idea of a lack of something somehow defining the greater whole. perhaps I am waxing a bit too philosophical here, but when I was listening to this album constantly for the first week or so I owned it, itall made sense to me, given things in my life at that point. the music was whole, filling, like a good meal. a meal complete with appetisers, wine, entree, anddessert. sonically, instead of nutritionally, balanced.

Today's downloads include the title track of that album, my favorite song from the last album "Discover A Lovlier You", the very first Pernice Brothers single which has never appeared on an album, and finally a track of a tour only EP.

The Pernice Brothers - Overcome By Happiness

The Pernice Brothers - Subject Drop

The Pernice Brothers - Square World

The Pernice Brothers - Ballad Of Bjorn Borg

Buy CDs and get your free Pernice Brothers MP3/Video downloads here

The Pernice Brothers - Working Girls

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