This time around, from my mailbox to your computer screen, we've got Heartlanders, Hornicators, and the (so far, anyway!) Acoustic Album of the Year. Read on, dear listeners, for here is the one and only...
INDIE ROUND-UP for June 30 2005
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Thomas Truax, Audio Addiction
Thomas Truax invents his own instruments, which in itself makes him worth a listen. With contraptions like the Cadillac Beatspinner Wheel and the hornicator, interesting and amusing sounds seem inevitable. I suspect Truax is better experienced live, however, than on CD. The eccentric material he writes to show off his odd contraptions and offbeat sense of humor is only intermittently fun and clever.
"My Wife Had a Dream," one of the better numbers, boasts something of the geek-chic pioneered by the Residents and Kraftwerk and popularized by Thomas Dolby, the B-52s and early Talking Heads. "The Butterfly & the Entomologist" is a moody, surrealistic spoken-word tale featuring the aforementioned Beatspinner. As a piece of music, it suggests the echo of some obscure PJ Harvey wail, but once you've absorbed the unique sounds of Truax's instruments, you may find the piece lasting several minutes longer than necessary.
"The Fish," a hornicator feature with vocals and lyrics that seem to consciously evoke the B-52s (and Fred Schneider's vocal style) is like a B-52s song minus the song. "Hornicator On The Orient Express," which has no singing, is actually a better feature for the instrument, along with others both standard and unique - from violin to wind-up mobile - and what Truax and his collaborators can do with them. "When You Get Down" is a jaunty little tale of sexuality unbound, with a Peer Gynt quote that jumps right out at you, and "Swappin' Spit" has some macabre drama to it. But on the whole, this music is more about the medium than the message.
Truax is currently on tour in Britain. I'd look forward to seeing a live show when he gets back to New York, because it looks as if the stage is where the real Thomas Truax action is at.
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