2008, #2: Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness

This time last year I made one of the most surprising and unexpected musical discoveries I've had in a long time. After hearing much enthusing from one or two people on a music forum I posted on, I glanced at the band's website which held the bold claim "The band Have a Nice Life would like to announce that they have recorded the most depressing record in the history of music". Did I think that it was an overambitious statement? Of course. Did I think that there was a certain element of pretension to it? Undoubtedly. Did it have me hooked? Absolutely.

Have a Nice Life is essentially the Connecticut-based musical partnership between two friends, Tim Macuga and Dan Barrett. Formed in 2000, it's been a long road to where they are now: Deathconsciousness is the product of their musical endeavours during a five-year period. Spanning two discs and accompanied by a fascinating 75-page booklet that explains the dark religious history that the album references, it is a triumph of the DIY home recording approach, showing just how ambitious and emotionally accomplished an album two people can make using a laptop, a guitar, a microphone and Logic. Initially given almost no real promotion whatsoever, what started as a few enthusiastic whispers about the album's brilliance spread like wildfire through word-of-mouth on forums and sites like RateYourMusic.com, eventually making it a cult hit and leading to the first CD-R pressing completely selling out on the label's webstore.

Deathconsciousness

With the facts out of the way, let's touch on the album's concept. Though in practice the album is a hugely personal statement from the authors that spills out way beyond cold conceptual ponderings into something that is emotionally pretty intoxicating and affecting, all the lyrics of the album are tinged by a fascination for the symbolism and religious history of an obscure religious cult named Antiocheanism that supposedly emerged during the later years of the Roman Empire. The central teaching of this sect was the idea of Deathconsciousness: the all-consuming awareness that death surrounds us, is final, and is utterly inevitable, therefore prompting the question - "What is the point?" I don't have the booklet to hand and it's a while since I've read it, but while this is a very grim viewpoint that I certainly wouldn't want to dwell on for too long, the booklet alone is a reason to buy this: written by a professor at the University of Massachussets, it is a beautifully harrowing read, detailing the life and legacy of the near-mythical Antiochus and the terrifying themes of his teachings. When read while listening to the album, it makes for an overwhelming experience - so while I provide you with the music here, which is really the principal reason I love this album, if you enjoy what you hear I strongly recommend you purchase the album from the Enemies List website as the only way you'll really get the most out of this album is if you combine it with a read through the booklet.

To some of you, that probably (and understandably) all sounds pompous and self-indulgent. Allow me, then, to sell you on the music itself, which is why I'm writing about the album after all. The Enemies List site describes the album as falling "somewhere between My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, and Swans" - that's probably as good an introductory statement to the sound of the album as anything else you're going to find. Mixing dark fuzzy shoegaze guitars with hulking great cavernous industrial drum sounds, everything thoroughly soaked in reverb, the production relies on lo-fi sensibilities but at the same time manages to sound enormous. The rawness of the mixing may put some audiophiles off, but frankly I can't imagine this working with a more polished sound - part of the charm of the record is the emphasis on home recording sensibilities, and besides, the hazy fuzz that many of the songs shroud themselves in is part of what makes the mood of the album so powerful. Despite these initially abrasive production values, Deathconsciousness is a surprisingly accessible album: 'Bloodhail' is a weighty, moody and utterly brilliant song with a wonderful bassline and echoing vocal harmonies that would find themselves very much at home in The Cure's discography, while the first half of 'Holy Fucking Shit: 40,000' is a lo-fi indie-pop ditty with some wonderful lines ("I've replaced my heart with metal parts/And I'm working just fine, but I can't get it to start") and the massive hooks of pacier post-punk numbers 'Waiting For Black Metal Records To Come in the Mail' and 'Deep, Deep' are barely contained by the raw production. My personal favourites on the album are 'The Big Gloom' and 'Earthmover': the plaintive melodies of the former are initially anchored by a wall of fuzzed-up guitars and bass, before the drums kick in and the wall of sound becomes something unbelievably gorgeous, enveloping your ears and tugging at your heartstrings. The latter has a kind of graceful beauty in its monolithic fuzz, the noise eventually giving way to a serene wash of vocal harmony before the gloriously loud shoegazing conclusion kicks in to end the album in style. Quieter, more understated numbers like 'I Don't Love' and 'Who Would Leave Their Son Out in the Sun?' give the album an even greater sense of depth. The instrumental 'A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Connecticut', despite its ridiculous title, destroys me in the best possible way every time I hear its subtle but overwhelmingly affecting chord progressions, setting the mood for the album wonderfully. Some of these songs have become kind of personal for me, providing the soundtrack to many of my more brooding moments over the last year.

I could write a lot more about this album, but it would get even more indulgent than this article already is, so I'll round things up. Deathconsciousness succeeds in that it is simultaneously accessible and brilliantly ambitious, setting the benchmark for home recording and really challenging DIY artists to record something similarly creative and engaging using a laptop and microphone in their own bedroom. Musically, lyrically, and conceptually it is a very powerful emotional experience that, when combined with the accompanying booklet, will likely keep you fascinated for a while if you're anything like me. Regardless - check out the two discs linked to below, and, if you enjoy them, I really recommend that you download the $5 booklet/album package from the band's website because Deathconsciousness, at its most rewarding, is a sprawling experience to fully immerse and lose yourself in.

Sleeping in and out of an ice bath
No warmth, no life without
It's too much, my arms, my legs are wood, unconscious trees with roots deep in the ground
We will all be out, soon, an ocean ringed with tile.
I know that's not your style but it certainly will be mine if I can't make this right.

So please, please, please, release me.

Can you hear my faintest breath, is it amplified?
The number that I've become will put you inside
I've got a message that I must relay
No, I can't delay it one more time (it's not going well)
It is desperate, can you relate, can you please, please relate? (I'm not holding up)
I am trapped, I'm stuck here on this bathroom floor and I don't have much more hope or pride
No air, no food (but I'm sure that I'm still alive..)

Just open your eyes, your dead ones (all ashes on the floor)
I will never need you more, just open your eyes, your dead ones.
-Have a Nice Life; "Bloodhail"

Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (Disc 1: The Plow That Broke the Plains)
Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (Disc 2: The Future)

Versoma - Life During Wartime

One look at the curriculum vitae of Versoma's members (the group included past and present members of Hot Cross, Transistor Transistor, Anodyne, LickGoldenSky, Orchid, Bucket Full of Teeth, Saetia and Wolves) and you'd be forgiven for immediately forming the preconception that this is some sort of screamo supergroup. Well, you're not entirely wrong, but this is not the kind of well-trodden emoviolence you might expect - Versoma's glorious racket is as informed by 90s indie-rock as it is grounded in the passionate catharsis of emo. The ghosts of My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Fugazi all lurk within these six tracks, something that is immediately obvious as the noisy tremolo guitars of opener 'Gods and Queens' hit your speakers. Most songs on this 18-minute EP blend the dark aggression and heart-on-sleeve nature of emo and hardcore with the melodic sensibilities and guitar styles of the aformentioned masters of indie and shoegaze, creating something unique and fascinating as bludgeoning riffs meet desperate vocals and shoegazing guitar wizardry. 'November 2004' is an obvious highlight: opening with a major-key plod reminiscent of Pelican, the song is propelled by its urgent drumming and superb vocal performance towards an emotional climax before dissolving in a wash of MBV-esque guitars. The following track '4.' serves mainly as a segue but is an interesting departure in its own right, sticking to more ambient sensibilities as sheets of noise and clean guitars are layered up with yearning yelps. The song this gives way to, 'Black Train', is the most obvious indication of the sound of members' previous projects, mostly sticking to dark hardcore riffage layered with subtle noise experimentation. The intro of closer 'Come In Alone' could almost be that of a My Bloody Valentine song (I wonder what brought that band to mind - maybe the impossibly blatant reference in the song title?) but the song morphs into a perfect crossover between hardcore punk and 1990s indie-rock that really sums up what Versoma is about.

I need to order this from the Robotic Empire webstore sharpish because, while not able to find the lyrics anywhere, I bet that if they're anywhere near as good as the music on this EP, this record is a keeper. It's just such a shame that this, along with the demos of this release that can be downloaded from Robotic Empire's rarities blog, represents the only material that Versoma ever recorded before their premature split. However, ex-members are currently making great music in projects such as Tombs and Gods and Queens, both of which follow similar ideas, so be sure to check those out if you enjoy Life During Wartime.

Versoma - Life During Wartime

Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

Grouper is the Oregon-based Liz Harris. Noone more, noone less. Over the last few years she has been quietly making a name for herself through her ethereal and haunting songs, shrouded in a thick fog of vocal loops and guitar ambience, akin to perhaps My Bloody Valentine if they decided to ditch their "louder is better" approach and go acoustic. It seems that these days she's decidedly walking out of that fog: here on her latest effort, we have twelve folk songs that shine with a new-found clarity. Liz's stellar vocal harmonies float effortlessly above her gently strummed, reverb-drenched guitars to create something utterly mesmerising. Don't be fooled by the creepy cover art and equally creepy title, there's something about these songs that's beautifully calm and delicate - they lull you into a sense of total serenity where nothing matters but the haunting melodies that drift around in your subconscious. These are folk songs that are as subtle as they are powerful, taking a gentle but hypnotic approach that works its magic slowly but eventually becomes very endearing. "Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill" is the light at the end of the tunnel in musical form.

Buy

(link behind cover art)