hochimen
i'm a cat guy, so i'm predisposed to like any rekkid called tierra del gato, even if it comes with cover art of a space-nightmare-weird kitty. i'm even more inclined to dig it if it's by the hochimen, a band whose debut disc totenlieder is still in regular rotation at mi casa (and based on the evidence of a few spins, this 'un might be even better).
the hochimen are so elusive that they make live performers as infrequent as woodeye (r.i.p.), sub oslo (don't say goodbye, just say so long) and the me-thinks seem overexposed. they take their time in the recording studio, too; in fact, it took 'em so long to record this album -- two years 'n' change -- that drummer pete young left the band halfway through. not to worry, tho; his replacement joey lomas (who works as house engineer at charlie pride's studio and co-produced tierra del gato with hochimen head honcho reginald rueffer) does as fine a job behind the traps as he does behind the board, and based on the evidence of the band's pre-sxsw stand at the wreck room (they weren't actually _goin'_ to the austin musicbiz confab themselves, mind; rather, they were just providing local color for some south-by-bound nashvillians who couldn't even be bothered to do them the courtesy of staying in the room during the hochimen's set), he's brought new energy 'n' focus to the band's stage trip.
when i say that tierra del gato might be even better than its predecessor, i mean that in terms of pure sonics, not songs; it's gonna take awhile for a couple of the toons to really sink into my noggin in this form, altho i've been hearing most of 'em (notable exception: the lovely closing acoustic-gtr-and-violin-with-percussion "hymn to them all") for a coupla yrs worth of hochimen shows (that'd be four or five, i guess). and make no mistake, this is a great _sounding_ rekkid. joey lomas might make his bread 'n' butter cuttin' country sides, but you can tell his ears know big rawk and more importantly, how to record it well. which means the sophomore disc is a li'l less "indie" sounding than the debut. that doesn't imply any degree of artifice here; no mutt lange drums-drowning-in-reverb or any such nonsense. instead, you can luxuriate in the clearly recorded sounds of real voices 'n' instruments -- a very "live" sound indeed. for proof positive, compare the new version of "gore vidal gomez" here with the one from the first alb. the difference is a whole world of depth and dimension. particularly noteworthy are the layers of gtrs supplied by original hochiman / ex-unt jazzcat ed mcmahon and reggie's brother and ex-bandmate in mildren and spot, chad rueffer, who provide their respective inputs (edgy atonality in ed's case, pure melody in chad's) with aplomb.
the real story, of course, is reggie's songs 'n' sangin', absent which this'd be just another rawk rekkid, which it clearly is not. i've been to shows where i marveled, while hearing the hcm perform songs like "the funeral trip" (an exploration, as are most of the songs on totenlieder, of one man's religious doubt) or "60/40" (which is sung from the perspective of an abortion clinic shooter) in the manner of red-era king crimson, "he thinks he's writing _pop songs_!" hearing the tierra del gato songs in recorded form, it's easier to glom onto their pop dimension, as quirky and arty (but _not_ proggy) as they remain. i have to say it: a couple of 'em ("good fences," say, or "do it clean") sound like bona fide _hits_ -- or what _could_ be hits in a world where it was permissible to have more than one melodic idea per song. reggie composes melodies that remain memorable through numerous surprising twists 'n' turns (follow the mellifluous contours of "in an old house," to get an idea of what i'm talkin' 'bout), on top of which he overlays some of the most intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics around. the printed lyrics give you the opportunity to separate the words from the songs (altho you might need a magnifying glass to do so) and _they stand up_. (try this trick with "gold dust," say, or "agree to disagree.") even better, he sings 'em in a voice that yearns the way the human heart yearns, which is to say with hope 'n' humility. no overemotive croak for this boy!
do whatever you have to do to get this rekkid. you could venture into deep ellum for the cd release party at the gypsy tea room this thursday, april 13th. or hit reggie up via the not-yet-ecommerce-enabled hcm website. (if you don't already own a copy of totenlieder, ask him about that one as well. you know you need it.)
the hochimen are so elusive that they make live performers as infrequent as woodeye (r.i.p.), sub oslo (don't say goodbye, just say so long) and the me-thinks seem overexposed. they take their time in the recording studio, too; in fact, it took 'em so long to record this album -- two years 'n' change -- that drummer pete young left the band halfway through. not to worry, tho; his replacement joey lomas (who works as house engineer at charlie pride's studio and co-produced tierra del gato with hochimen head honcho reginald rueffer) does as fine a job behind the traps as he does behind the board, and based on the evidence of the band's pre-sxsw stand at the wreck room (they weren't actually _goin'_ to the austin musicbiz confab themselves, mind; rather, they were just providing local color for some south-by-bound nashvillians who couldn't even be bothered to do them the courtesy of staying in the room during the hochimen's set), he's brought new energy 'n' focus to the band's stage trip.
when i say that tierra del gato might be even better than its predecessor, i mean that in terms of pure sonics, not songs; it's gonna take awhile for a couple of the toons to really sink into my noggin in this form, altho i've been hearing most of 'em (notable exception: the lovely closing acoustic-gtr-and-violin-with-percussion "hymn to them all") for a coupla yrs worth of hochimen shows (that'd be four or five, i guess). and make no mistake, this is a great _sounding_ rekkid. joey lomas might make his bread 'n' butter cuttin' country sides, but you can tell his ears know big rawk and more importantly, how to record it well. which means the sophomore disc is a li'l less "indie" sounding than the debut. that doesn't imply any degree of artifice here; no mutt lange drums-drowning-in-reverb or any such nonsense. instead, you can luxuriate in the clearly recorded sounds of real voices 'n' instruments -- a very "live" sound indeed. for proof positive, compare the new version of "gore vidal gomez" here with the one from the first alb. the difference is a whole world of depth and dimension. particularly noteworthy are the layers of gtrs supplied by original hochiman / ex-unt jazzcat ed mcmahon and reggie's brother and ex-bandmate in mildren and spot, chad rueffer, who provide their respective inputs (edgy atonality in ed's case, pure melody in chad's) with aplomb.
the real story, of course, is reggie's songs 'n' sangin', absent which this'd be just another rawk rekkid, which it clearly is not. i've been to shows where i marveled, while hearing the hcm perform songs like "the funeral trip" (an exploration, as are most of the songs on totenlieder, of one man's religious doubt) or "60/40" (which is sung from the perspective of an abortion clinic shooter) in the manner of red-era king crimson, "he thinks he's writing _pop songs_!" hearing the tierra del gato songs in recorded form, it's easier to glom onto their pop dimension, as quirky and arty (but _not_ proggy) as they remain. i have to say it: a couple of 'em ("good fences," say, or "do it clean") sound like bona fide _hits_ -- or what _could_ be hits in a world where it was permissible to have more than one melodic idea per song. reggie composes melodies that remain memorable through numerous surprising twists 'n' turns (follow the mellifluous contours of "in an old house," to get an idea of what i'm talkin' 'bout), on top of which he overlays some of the most intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics around. the printed lyrics give you the opportunity to separate the words from the songs (altho you might need a magnifying glass to do so) and _they stand up_. (try this trick with "gold dust," say, or "agree to disagree.") even better, he sings 'em in a voice that yearns the way the human heart yearns, which is to say with hope 'n' humility. no overemotive croak for this boy!
do whatever you have to do to get this rekkid. you could venture into deep ellum for the cd release party at the gypsy tea room this thursday, april 13th. or hit reggie up via the not-yet-ecommerce-enabled hcm website. (if you don't already own a copy of totenlieder, ask him about that one as well. you know you need it.)
posted by stashdauber at 6:53 PM
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