Hey, everybody. Can I tell you something, please?
This is a first and something big for me and the Maroon Mondays blog, as I’m usually known for my thoughts on the big news of the day and sometimes for reviewing songs and TV shows. Most notably, back in November, I’ve reviewed Cartoon Network’s first (and critically-acclaimed) mini-series Over the Garden Wall. This was the first time outside of 1 Season Wonder that I reviewed a television series. I also reviewed its’ haunting and beautifully amazing music in a special edition of Short/Long Music Review. So, why am I mentioning the series?
Well, this big project of mine is reviewing albums; not just one song at a time, but full blown LPs. I call it Short/Long Album Review. I’ll probably do this on a more scarce basis than Short/Long Music Review, meaning once every three months or so, maybe longer that. I’ve been thinking of doing this album review since the day I first heard this it. And that was almost two weeks ago.
For now, let’s get started, shall we?
The album I am reviewing is The End by Patrick McHale.
You may have recognized this name before; he’s the creator of the aforementioned Over the Garden Wall, and also previously worked on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Adventure Time (all of which aired on Cartoon Network). So basically, he’s a really good animator.
But what you didn’t know about him is that he’s also a musician. And after listening to this record, he’s a damn good one at that. How so? He wrote and composed almost all the songs on the album (with the lone song being “Death Come Slow”, which was mostly composed by Isaac Giuseppe).
The End is an album consisting of demos McHale written between 2005 and 2006, and recorded between 2007 and 2009. The record was never in line with its intentionally planned state, and McHale never did perfect the album before release. He released the compilation on February 22, 2015, on his page on Bandcamp as what you hear today. And yet, it still sounds perfect for a legitimate album. This one is a concept of haunting, fuzzy, and scary, yet beautiful, titillating and pleasing music that explains why OTGW was so great musically.
(Also, I’m not great at telling which instruments are played in this record, so I’m guessing by ear. I apologize if you think this makes the review a little more sloppy.)
So let’s get started, shall we?
The first track is “Be Still”, an instrumental involving whistles and guitar work.
When it started, I knew what I was getting into, but as the record continued, I realized that I actually didn’t. The soft banjo work, the quiet, echoing whistles and the use of wind effects in the background work perfectly together, and really take me to a dark, dreary place. A place you’ll stay in for a minute, but you’ll never want to leave.
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And this “dark-and-dreary-ness” continues in the next track, “Death Come Slow”, which, from the moment I first heard this (along with the rest of the album), I knew this would be one of my favorites. This is the first single involving McHale’s vocals (if you don’t ). The beat is absolutely amazing; I hear many instruments used here like Bass, Guitar, Banjo, Bells, ect.
I’m not sure exactly what is played here, but all of these just make the song work extremely well.
In fact, listening to this reminds of me of Over the Garden Wall, with the lush vocals, rough, not-really-inconsistent music, and faded background vocals really sound like a song that could play as a transition between scenes in a Chapter of the series.
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Track #3 is very short, along with a name that’s a bitch to pronounce (and I assume that Pat had a hard time finding a title for it). It’s called "<><><>" (but I’ll call it “Enclosed”). Here is a small use of accordion layered with thunder clapping. It sounds really nice, and feels like you’re in a thunderstorm but you feel the sun shining through the clouds and the rays beaming in your face. Maybe it’s just me listening to it with my eyes closed in a lit-up room on a rainy day, but I feel much better much happier from it.
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Straight after it is “Ain’t Shallow Enough”. This is another song that reminds me of Over the Garden Wall (which is why I love this one so much). The background vocals make the song shine bright (ironic as it sounds so dark, gloomy and dreary) and McHale’s vocals are just fantastic, even when they die down with the sound effect of wind chimes coming in. In fact, the use of wind chimes at the end is also a plus, as it not only fits with the tone of the song, but reminds me dearly of the start of the 1994 Spike Lee Joint my family watches all the time called Crooklyn. This is another of my favorites I’ll always listen every time I listen to it
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Track #5 is “Man”, a track that gave me straight up chills and gets me very emotional every time I hear it. When I heard this song for the first time, I suddenly saw my past flash before my eyes. And I’ve mentioned before that my life isn’t that great. As the chorus reads
“You know it’s hard to be a Man/Your heavy breathing is hard to stand”I closely identify with it, and realize that it really is hard to grow up to be a man, and if you were ever put in my shoes, you’d really see why. I love how as the track continues, McHale is joined by other singers singing the chorus alongside him. It adds to the sad, mopey sound it has going on, and makes for a very good exposition. And speaking of the exposition, damn. It’s very powerful and really helped me see a whole new perspective of what manhood is, and I can’t imagine how hard Pat had it when he grew up (if he did have a bad childhood; I don’t know much about him).
I’ll never know where life takes me from here as I grow up, but I can really thank this song for telling me that it’s not going to be easy.
But there is one thing that much less easier than that. It’s that the song suddenly ends (which is a damn shame, as I curiously wonder what that sounds) and segues to…
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#6--”Good Luck”
My name’s not Charlie, but I didn’t have much to work with this one.I was surprised to notice that I reached a song I DIDN’T like with this one. Fortunately, I was already half way through the album to reach it. I really didn’t like the beat; the fuzzy, booming, choppy-as-hell beat is loud and ugly, that it sounds like a song recorded by Kanye West for his album Yeezus but didn’t make the cut. Also, I could barely hear the vocals of McHale and a female singer, which may or may not be the point in terms of the concept, depending on who you are. Plus after every other piece of verse features a sound that sounds like a distortion of a tiger roaring (or coughing up a hairball), and I really don’t like that. Plus the end is a loud boom that closes it that really hurts my ears, puts a very bad taste in my mouth and leaves me very uncomfortable. This is a very weak track, and one track will not listen at all when I play this record (probably unless I’m really angry and need to shut out the world.)
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The next song, “Hair All in Knots” is slightly better than the previous. It’s a straight-up pop track with booming (in a good way this time) bass and a really super-cool beat that’s similar to some of the songs you heard on the radio in the past decade. And it’s a pop beat that I actually like better than many of the beats from those other songs. I like this way better than “Good Luck”, and I feel saddened and ashamed that this one is shorter than the former. Oh well, can’t fret too much; I didn’t produce these songs, and if I made them, I’d feel the exact way everyone else did when it was made, and keep it the same way.
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Fortunately, there was comfort and relief ahead as we reach the next track, “Exhume”. This one is mostly music, and I was happy for this--not because Pat is a terrible singer, far from it--but because the smooth, amazing composition I heard. The soft, gentle, soothing, quiet organ (I think) sound is absolutely wonderful to the ears and the brain, and listening to it just feels like it takes me to another land. Another land of sunshine, pink clouds, fresh air, spring-grown trees, crystal blue waters and endless fun and happiness. All you can do is lay down under the shade and enjoy the day unfolding in front of you, and you want to stay forever. I also love this bumping noise throughout the bulk of the track; it’s a good thing the song wasn’t polished, because the noise makes it sound more authentic and fresh.
The song ends in a completely different piece, which I love just as much. In a way, this part is like the warning telling you it’s time to leave this other land and return to the real world.
I really love this song so much and definitely considered it one of my favorites from the start.
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And finally we reach the last track on “The End” called...”The End”.
It’s a really small, but really sweet bonus track about sharing time with the one you love, like dancing. It’s a very nice track with a wonderfully solid beat. It’s not the best in the bunch, but is very cutesy enough to be one of my favorites.
In fact, the beat reminds me of the built-in music played on WebTV. You remember WebTV? It’s a device by MSN that brought the Internet (via a phone cord connection) to your TV. My family had a device when I was a child, and it was freaking awesome! It has music that plays when in use that I still have in my head after all these years, and this track brings back those memories.
I honestly enjoyed this song, and will find this in my head as one of those catchy, groovy songs that'll stay in my head for the rest of my life.
He says on the website for the album on Bandcamp that he apologizes for the rough recording quality and low volume; but in my opinion, I think that makes the album sound better in terms of the concept and sound. It can explain why my volume is at 100% on my computer every time I listen to it, but the rough, cracked quality just works in the record’s (and Pat’s) favor.
I apologize for all some sentences that say "I think" or "I’m not sure" in the song reviews; it’s because I’m not entirely sure what instruments were used in these songs. Since McHale never mentions what instruments were used on the album, besides what was used in “Death Come Slow”, and the use of sounds found in the public domain, I had to figure out what was used just from my limited knowledge of instruments, and it doesn’t do much help as it seems. But it doesn’t matter, as, to me, makes the album work even more. The mysterious nature of the music and the unknown state of the list of instruments makes the concept and nature of the record work so well and establish it as a fantastic collection of demos.
Another tidbit about the record is that it was originally titled “Be Still Thy Roots Beneath the Soil” (a really awesome name on its’ own). From that, it gives the concept much more meaning. and makes it sound much cooler, even if it isn’t the official title. To be honest, it really makes The End look and sound basic and generic in comparison, even though the latter isn’t that bad a title.
Pat also revealed that really didn’t want to add in the title track in the final cut (which explains the inclusion as a bonus track), but did so anyway as a joke referring to the fact that it was the final track. Either way, I really wouldn’t mind if this or “Exhume” ended the album; these are both really good songs to end it on.
I wish the album was finished and sold as a true album; I would’ve enjoyed this a little bit more than I had here, but I'd still love it as much as I had as a demos record. The songs may seem like demos, but to me, there’s so much more to them. They’re unfinished masterpieces with their own style and flavor, yet cohesive and tight-knit enough to tell a story, and a really good story at that. I enjoyed every track (Yes, even “Good Luck”) on this album enough to listen to it three times in a row when Pat released it on February 22, and I’ve been listening to it (and closely enjoying it) ever since. As I said at the start, Patrick McHale is a damn good animator and a damn good musician, and I really want to check out his other music on Bandcamp. And I really love to listen to any new material he down the road someday.
Consider me a fan. A...Pat-head if you will.
The End is a really haunting, yet beautiful album to listen to and I highly recommend it. As far as albums go, I’ll give it a rating of 4/5, but just barely. But as far as demo CDs go, I’m giving it a 5/5. I’ve never listen to demo CDs before, so this is the first, and it’s a really great start.
Well, guys, thank you all for joining me for the first ever edition of Short/Long Album Review. It's been a lot if hard work, but I'm glad to reach this point in the blog's history to do this. See you...whenever, when I find another album to review. Hopefully you guys can help me with this. See you next time!!
