Cougar Microbes

It is pretty clear that Tim Kasher can do very little wrong in my eyes. Regardless of whether he is throwing his all into a live performance or releasing brilliant records I’m always dazzled by the end product.

It is therefore great news to find out that, whilst Cursive take a deserved but hopefully temporary break, the singer will be releasing his first solo album, ‘The Game Of Monogamy‘, at the start of October.

By the sounds of that title this album is going to explore some of the themes seen in his previous output. Indeed, the release of ’Cold Love‘ as a taster track is not a million miles away from the amazing work displayed with his The Good Life project. Lyrically the track deals with boring sex, couples going through the motions and unsurprisingly relationships that have run their course. Textbook Tim Kasher.

‘The Game Of Monogamy’ is released on Saddle Creek on the 5th of October.

TRACKS:

This weekend I sat down to plan my gig calendar for the next few months. I can’t believe its already February and already there are some classic events coming up. Before we even notice it will be festival season again.

Still, this year will have to deliver very highly considering the quality of shows I witnessed in 2009. My highlights were as follows:

Rock En Seine 2009

There is something primordial about watching a crowd of 19’000 go mental watching The Prodigy on the outskirts of Paris. The fact that the festival also offered up classic performances from Birdy Nam Nam, MGMT, Metric, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was an added bonus.

Neil Young/ Bruce Springsteen live at Hyde Park

As far as rock legends go you could do much worse than seeing either Shakey and The Boss live. The fact that I saw them play back to back at Hyde Park this summer was Epic. Both lived up to their legendary status and my I concluded my weekend as a very happy man.

Cursive live at Dingwalls

I have already said several times on these pages that Tim Kusher is a songwriting hero of mine. Back in July I finally saw him live fronting Cursive at the intimate Camden venue. The fact that they picked and mixed  discography and the relative closeness to the stage made this a night to remember and led Kenny to drunkenly label it “a religious experience for the atheist“.

Good luck with living up to that 2010

TRACKS:

The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die ? Liam H Re-amped Version

My admiration for Tim Kasher‘s output with both The Good Life and Cursive has grown with each release so when the latter band released ‘Mama, I’m Swollen‘ back in March I was clearly excited.

On this latest effort the Omaha frontman has managed to combine the best qualities of his two outfits to produce what is essentially a snapshot of his ideas circa 2009. Losing drummer Clint Schnase would have been a major blow to any band but his replacement was formidable back in July and and shines on these tracks as well.

Still the arrangements on this release are a little less bombastic than those that characterised much of 2006′s ‘Happy Hollow‘. Instead the band opted for more dynamic changes and almost completely dropped the brass section from the last release and replaced it with more wind instruments that equally as effective.

Though Kasher restrains some of his apocalyptical tendencies reoccuring themes from previous releases, such as nihilistic drinking, religion and rockstar cliches, are revisited as he fights new and old demons.

There are always rumours that Cursive may not reunite again given the band members various extracurricular commitments. Should ‘Mama, I’m Swollen‘ be their last release it would be a fitting testament to the band and their underrated output

TRACKS:

Cursive – I Couldn’t Love You

NEXT: #05 Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2009: Iran – Dissolver

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A couple of months back I saw underground masters Cursive at the wonderfully intimate Dingwalls in Camden. Living in London means I am fortunate to have access to live performances by some of the finest bands in the world and this show was no exception.

Front man Tim Kasher and co’s latest recorded offering ‘Mama I’m Swollen’ got me pretty excited at the time of release and lived up to expectations in the long run possibly surpassing the dizzy heights of their previous releases. I was intrigued to hear what live incarnation their new tracks would take. Every time I’ve seen this outfit I have been so consistently blown away that expectations were justifiably high. Needless to say the band delivered.

Kasher climbs across railings and stumbles from speakers, delivering every syllable with such conviction that he literally dictates the beholder’s emotional state, dragging them from laughter, to near tears and ultimately satisfied smugness.  new drummer Cully Symington adds fresh dynamics with metronomic precision. Here are one of those rare bands whose live performances are even more impressive than their masterful recorded work.

In my drunken state I slurred something about Cursive shows being “a religious experience for the Atheist”. To phrase it slightly more soberly, these guys are true masters of their art and incredibly clever fellows too.

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This post written by the mighty Kenny

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MP3′s:

Cursive – Sierra

I genuinely get excited and eagerly await any new release by either of Tim Kasher‘s bands, after all he is responsible for writing and venting on some of my favourite albums. Over the years I think I have spun Cursive‘s ‘The Ugly Organ‘ and The Good Life‘s ‘Album Of The Year’ billions of times.

Obviously it was good news when i found out Cursive will be releasing their 6th studio album titled ‘Mama, I’m Swollen‘ on the 10th of March. To make things even sweeter the good folk at Saddle Creek are selling the digital version for just 1$ on the 1st of March, 2$ on the 2nd, 3$ on the 3rd etc. until the release date. As far as cool marketing ideas go this one rates highly and rewards the fans who buy early.

At the time of writing Saddle Creek‘s website is slow or unresponsive, I assume due to the sheer amount of requests this deal has attracted. I have managed to get through and listened to the album this morning. I’m really impressed with the tracks on display so far and if it is as good as the band’s other recorded output I may well also chip in for the $15 double vinyl version.

TRACKS:

Cursive – Mama, I’m Swollen