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| Daisy's Beauty Salon |
Should you be one of the people who've received my lamentations on my frustrations with the music blogging "biz," you certainly are afforded my most humble apologies.
But, to unmuddy the lake, there are great amounts of frustration that go along with what we do. My personal blogging empire isn't exceptionally vast and it's certainly not lucrative financially.
What I'm afforded from this venture is the occasional vinyl promo, the opportunity to review shows, and acres of digital music.
So, really, if you think about it, it's a lot like getting paid because those are the kinds of things my money gets spent on anyway....but here's the reality of the situation.
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| Very Be Careful |
Spinning and spinning...though it never seemed to be winning. Listening to the cute tunes in Spanish made me tap my foot and then my internal monologue began.
Is this good enough for the blog? What about that part there? Is this something that is really right for me?
Then I begin to think of the ways that it could go. Check out that cowbell. That's a damned fine cowbell. When I'm paying close attention...I can even understand the Spanish.....I can also understand some of the English albums I'm sent too... (bazinga)
Those things though, honestly, they were overshadowed because it neither grabbed me nor popped enough to catch me.
So, a CD copy of Daisy's Beauty Salon sat in the pile on my desk. There's always a pile of CDs. Right now that pile includes two Roger Waters bootlegs.... Every now and again, there'd be an email asking me what I thought of it, would it be getting reviewed....
I hate saying now, so I just ignored the emails.
Weeks pass and another email about Very Be Careful shows up. This time, there are a limited number of vinyl copies available for vinyl reviewers which I happen to be.
Emails are sent back and forth and the CD gets spun again. Maybe there was something missed the first time around, but there was more than just a single time that first time...more like maybe I'll hear something on the fifth spin right?
In the end, my decision isn't to request one but to keep me in mind should there be one available in a few weeks.
Because maybe...maybe listening to this record, in my home, in my personal secret lair, sitting on my wife's chair (because my couch is still under plastic), and listening while drinking a delicious beer (Voodoo Ranger IPA for the record) it will click.
It's more than just hearing it on glorious vinyl here. When I'm in the other place working on reviews, sometimes my focus is pulled elsewhere, which is why the grabbing must occur.
My home setup is a stereo made for listening to music on vinyl and nothing else. My receiver doesn't even have a CD or DVD (much less blu-ray) input and that suits me fine.
My stereo system is at least as old as me and that gives my music an immediacy that spinning a CD can never convey.
Daisy's Beauty Salon happened to be spiriting away a groovy ass bassline that my little PC speakers could not give me. They simply didn't have the tonal range. In fact, this is one of those LPs where I have to adjust my standard EQ. Bass goes from +1.5 to -1.5 and Treble goes from -1 to +1.5. The bass man has it going on so much that he'll crush all comers, a bit too much.
His basslines are oozing groove, melody, and swagger. It's the backbone and the good looks of Very Be Careful, sorry everybody else.
Now, this is where it gets a little strange. The other "lead" instrument is an accordion which is backed up by a washboard and a cowbell.
It may be odd, but that cowbell is indispensable force of nature. When combined with his natural enemy, the cowbell, it grows stronger than Rodan after eating Popeye tweeking on spinach. (That's a strange metaphor.)
Very Be Careful appear to be playing Afro-Colombian music without any of the instruments required to play it. There are no guitars, horns, etc. It's an accordion, a bass guitar, a washboard, a cowbell, and god knows what else...
It's not easy for a white Anglo who's never really been exposed to Latin music (apart from Top 40 bullshit) to really understand it. But for me, once that wall had been torn down, Daisy's Beauty Salon became a vibrant soundscape.
It sounds like I'm walking through a crowded neighborhood street and everyone has something to say.
The disc is an epic slab of vinyl. It's Thick enough to be a frisbee and it would probably still play after a throw.
The inner label has a cool interplay on it, but it's not really clear as to which is side A...one of my personal pet peeves. The back cover is hilarious. Spoil it, I will not.
You should visit Daisy's Beauty Salon if you're ready for an other worldly experience and perhaps a Flock of Seagulls haircut.
Release: OUT NOW ORDER FACEBOOK
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