5/31/2023 0 Comments Melvins houdini![]() Houdini is certainly a beast of its own kind. This is easily the album's most abstract track and features 10 minutes of avant-garde drumming by Dale Crover as well as additional percussion by Cobain. ![]() Houdini's last track and only instrumental of the album is Spread Eagle Beagle which sounds it was recorded in a long-abandoned factory. Sky Pup comes in later which features a Cobain guitar credit and sounds like a Primus demo, while Pearl Bomb makes me think that a typewriter was used as an instrument. Immediately afterwards, the tempo sharply drops for the slow and doomy Hag Me. Soon after comes Going Blind, a melodic cover of a KISS song, which is then followed by the contrasting intensity and speed of Honey Bucket. Following it comes Night Goat which has one of the most memorable rhythms to any Melvins song. No intros required, Houdini opens up strong with the hard-hitting and angry Hooch. It's likely this unpredictability and chaos on Houdini was even further amplified due to the collaboration of a drugged-out and often asleep Kurt Cobain who would be found dead seven months after the album's release. Instead of sequencing Houdini's tracks together in an order that makes sense progression-wise, the album seems to purposefully keep listeners on their toes by constantly changing up vocal and instrumental style, mood, and tempo song after song. As any Melvins fan knows, 'conventional' is never an accurate way to describe the legendary group. I'm not going to dive into the band's history because it could easily be its own full post, so if you aren't too familiar with the Melvins or their main band members I suggest you check out their Metallum or Wikipedia page to start. Houdini is the Melvin's fifth full-length album and their first release on a major label, Atlantic Records. ~ Jonathan Burnside, engineer on Houdini and collaborator with the Melvins Bad communication, drugs, major label profiteering, rehab, schedule blowouts, backstabbing, and album miscrediting. "It's not easy reminiscing about making the album Houdini with Kurt Cobain and the Melvins.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |