Prepared (2) by Lambchop
From Damaged (Merge/2006)
I know it comes only a third of a way through this CD, but Prepared (2) sounds like the centerpiece of Slinky Bombast. For one thing, the tune is complex and beautiful, all tinkling piano and strings. Also, Kurt Wagner’s vocal performance hits all the right emotional notes, there’s a controlled hurt in his voice that serves his words perfectly. I think that some of Lambchop’s songs are so literal that they become abstract, but the best of them, like Is A Woman’s “The New Cob Web Summer” and “Prepared (2)” I just get. They’re both bathed in that golden-hour dying sunlight, warm and just about gone. No matter who you may be with, that light is a really lonely light.
Funny Lambchop story: About six or seven years back, I went to see Yo La Tengo at Detroit’s Majestic Theater. It was summer, or that’s how I remember it, because the placed was packed and hotter than shit. The Majestic has fans mounted on its crumbling walls and ceiling but apparently they’re just for decoration, because the air wasn't moving at all. This was back in the days when I still went to shows early, staked a spot in the front and fought hard to hold my ground. Since then, I have sort of slinked my way to the back of the house. Anyway, up to this point, I hadn’t heard a note of Lambchop. I had no idea.
Singer and principle songwriter Wagner walks out, guitar in hand, with the rest of his 13-member band and take a seat front and center. He sat for the whole show and this pissed me off to no end. I'm standing, packed in my own oil in that heat like an upright sardine. What the hell! I mean, o.k. they’re not really a rock and roll band but come on! Stand up, man! I didn’t like them at the time, mostly because of Wagner’s insistence on sitting the length of the concert. I realize now that it sounds kind of ridiculous, but there was just no way going to hear them in a way that would allow me to enjoy their performance. I could not get past his sitting. I thought it was some sort of arty-farty affectation. I learned later that Wagner laid flooring – linoleum, carpet, whatever – for a living, and after years of crawling around on the ground his knees were just about pooched. Standing up for any extended period of time was out of the question. I myself knew of a couple of men with the same problem from my contracting days. I like them now, Lambchop. The floor guys were nice enough, too.
From Damaged (Merge/2006)
I know it comes only a third of a way through this CD, but Prepared (2) sounds like the centerpiece of Slinky Bombast. For one thing, the tune is complex and beautiful, all tinkling piano and strings. Also, Kurt Wagner’s vocal performance hits all the right emotional notes, there’s a controlled hurt in his voice that serves his words perfectly. I think that some of Lambchop’s songs are so literal that they become abstract, but the best of them, like Is A Woman’s “The New Cob Web Summer” and “Prepared (2)” I just get. They’re both bathed in that golden-hour dying sunlight, warm and just about gone. No matter who you may be with, that light is a really lonely light.
Funny Lambchop story: About six or seven years back, I went to see Yo La Tengo at Detroit’s Majestic Theater. It was summer, or that’s how I remember it, because the placed was packed and hotter than shit. The Majestic has fans mounted on its crumbling walls and ceiling but apparently they’re just for decoration, because the air wasn't moving at all. This was back in the days when I still went to shows early, staked a spot in the front and fought hard to hold my ground. Since then, I have sort of slinked my way to the back of the house. Anyway, up to this point, I hadn’t heard a note of Lambchop. I had no idea.
Singer and principle songwriter Wagner walks out, guitar in hand, with the rest of his 13-member band and take a seat front and center. He sat for the whole show and this pissed me off to no end. I'm standing, packed in my own oil in that heat like an upright sardine. What the hell! I mean, o.k. they’re not really a rock and roll band but come on! Stand up, man! I didn’t like them at the time, mostly because of Wagner’s insistence on sitting the length of the concert. I realize now that it sounds kind of ridiculous, but there was just no way going to hear them in a way that would allow me to enjoy their performance. I could not get past his sitting. I thought it was some sort of arty-farty affectation. I learned later that Wagner laid flooring – linoleum, carpet, whatever – for a living, and after years of crawling around on the ground his knees were just about pooched. Standing up for any extended period of time was out of the question. I myself knew of a couple of men with the same problem from my contracting days. I like them now, Lambchop. The floor guys were nice enough, too.
In addition to bad knees, I just read that Wagner recently had to face down prostate cancer in addition to having major surgery done on his jaw (that's his x-ray on the CD sleeve, apparently).
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