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American Watercolor Movement "It Takes Fifteen to Tango In My Book/Flowers for Catalan"

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I’m letting the first two tracks from American Watercolor Movement’s new record, “It Takes Fifteen to Tango…/Flowers for Catalan” (mp3) play in succession, because after listening to the whole thing a few times now, it’s clear that both, not one or the other, are a proper introduction to the group. Give it about a minute to establish itself, before Jason Cieradowski’s voice, sounding like Damo Suzuki doing Richard III, doesn’t so much make its presence known as much as it steps into the small sliver of light in the otherwise pitch-blackness, straight-up Colonel Kurtz-style. He’s shown up to ask the ostensibly rhetorical question “It takes fifteen to tango in my book, what book do you read anyway?” (also the name of the record). He asks it repeatedly and with increasing force and what sounds like furious anger at the lack of a proper response. Behind it, a guitar spirals out of control, howling like a motherfucker all the way, as Cieradowski loses his shit and the drums get louder and just starts yelling “and you shove it away!” Eventually he tires out and the immediate danger fades into the distance, but what reveals itself next is equally ominous and eerily command-driven (”Hey, smile, we’re dying every day. And you drift into the painting, it’s better that you stay”). But now, the multi-hued, choppy rhythm bed strongly recalls Remain In Light, and splashes into existence like a party compared to what’s come before it. What it also does is exposes the husky faux-British burr of Cieradowski’s voice as the true centerpiece of the music—it’s unrepentantly sinister, but actually kind of cheeky. Instead of shoving it away, he’d much rather dance the days away. This moody bastard wants to dance.


It Takes Fifteen to Tango in my Book will see release on October 2. I highly recommend buying this record. Stream it and eventually buy it here. AWM’s Myspace.

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