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Ah,
after a bit of down-time, I'm back in action. This is
my review of Denali's self titled debut on Jade
Tree Records (home of Jets to Brazil and the Promise
Ring). The CD costs about $12 at stores, or if you are
lucky enough to catch a live show, about $10 from the
band/direct from the label. The tracks are:
01.
French Mistake
02. You File
03. Lose Me
04. Everybody Knows
05. Prozac
06. Relief
07. Time Away
08. Gunner
09. Function
10. Where I Landed
The
album cannot be described in current terms. It unerringly
evades any categorization which can be given to it other
than "Indie", which really is like saying
that Coldplay is "Rock" or that Ja Rule is
"Spoken Word". It is, however, an amazing
album. It far exceeds anything on this year's Grammy
charts, and never falls short. Denali has crafted a
godly debut, a ruttily sexual, hypnotically absorbing
cry from a heart which pines for life and love.
Hailing
from Richmond, Virginia, it's no wonder to me how this
album was inspired. On a gray day, the once colorful
townhome rows of Richmond are the most depressing thing
i've ever seen. However, according to friends, this
isn't at all unique, rather, it is my own expirence
which is lacking. Whatever the case may be, this is,
in fact, the most prominent influence in my mind. The
entire album could only be described as the feeling
of walking down the street in a rainstorm after having
been dumped by one's lover. It is an expression of sadness
beyond the attempts of many others. There is a very
good song on the Denali
website, track 8, "Gunner", in MP3 form.
It is a fairly good represenative of the album, but
isn't nearly my favorite song. At it's height, this
album compares with the inherent meloncholia of Miles
Davis' magnificent "Kind of Blue" album, or
The Mercury Program's "From the Vapor of Gasoline"
album. =_= it's getting late (2:30AM), so i'll wrap
it up with the following. Having heard this album described
as anything from Punk to Light Goth (Punk? 0_o) I'll
not try and categorize it for promotion. I'll simply
call it Modern Indie, and give it to all my female friends
for their birthday.
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