Cursive - The Ugly Organ
List Price:
Our Price: $7.16
You Save: $4.82 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.53 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: CursiveEdition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced
CD Release Date: 2003-03-04
Music Label: Saddle Creek
Soundtracks:
- Ugly Organist
- Some Red Handed Sleight of Hand
- Art Is Hard
- The Recluse
- Herald! Frankenstein
- Butcher the Song
- Driftwood: A Fairy Tale
- A Gentleman Caller
- Harold Weathervein
- Bloody Murderer
- Sierra
- Staying Alive
Free Music Notes for The Ugly Organ
Free Music Review: A couple hymns of confession; songs that recognize our sick obsessions.
Hit: 5 Stars
The friend of mine who showed me this band refuses to accept that it is head and shoulders above and slightly to the left of anything else he owns, although he does enjoy it quite a bit. He tends to enjoy emo and death metal (dirty words!) albeit he locates the best either genre has to offer; I was so hopeful that Cursive was the first of many steps into the often-surprising world of folkless indie, but for some reason my friend has not strayed any further. I know that for me buying the album not only renewed my faith in indie to do what it should (that is, baffle the listener with an easily-identified but unique sound, pace and technique) but filled a hole on my subconscious list of favorite albums that was aching for an interesting addition.
The few longtime fans I have met or read of see this as the band's Dark Side (most bands have one) in that it merely satisfied followers but made a leap to a level of accessibility that allowed the band comparatively mainstream attention. When I heard the significantly more independent and underground predecessor Domestica, I was reminded of my somewhat philistine need to be spoon-fed my pure indie. The poppiest song on that album was "The Martyr" which relied on a shrill and vaguely sharp hook which still needed multiple listens to catch. However hooks, I am glad to say, The Ugly Organ has; that and some much needed discipline on the part of angsty mastermind Tim Kasher.
To convert those who have been gritting their teeth since the word "emo", I can say that one can only call this album emo in the context of the lyrics, which are not only clever (which emo can be) and heartfelt (likewise) but aggressive and unrefined, which may well be emo's lyrical downfall. Emo takes a certain brand of music listener to captivate lyrically; if it's ever played in any sort of a social setting I generally find the distant, blurry power chords inconsequential and the lyrics (to beat the music snob's dead horse) positively petty. On Organ the music itself is solid for a social setting, and letting one hook draw you in yields acceptance of the album as a whole work, an odyssey through a truly depressed mind. The music is as personal as the lyrics, which is where traditional emo falls short: when pensive and sober the instruments work as a beautiful atmospheric swirl; when impulsive and enraged the scraping Velvet Underground guitars and throbbing drums create a near-cacophony, representative of the emotions clawing at Kasher's cranial walls. He takes himself so seriously that - and this may have been Roger Waters' intention - the listener cannot resist.
Is it always pleasant? I'd be lying if I said yes. But frankly, I have heard what I consider frivolous discord, and all acts of Cursive's album feel much more like "the harsh truth." Only when it is at the most unobtrusive of volumes do I get the vague humiliation that comes with forgetting how real the album is. As for the story, it is one of moods. The logistics confuse me slightly, with wanton changes in focus from the fictitious "Harold" and Tim himself. Because they are constantly drenched in metaphor, the events of the story hardly seem to matter so much as the themes. For all intents and purposes, Kasher is the center of the album, even though events such as having his daughter taken away are fabricated vehicles for him to explore more realms of emotion (a second downfall of Domestica is brought to mind; the redundancy of dialogue during Tim's *real* divorce). I like to say U2 paints (especially on The Joshua Tree) brilliant scenes of life and nature... Cursive is similar, but always through the scope of Kasher's mind. This is best represented in "A Gentleman Caller," which displays shocking chaos in an abusive relationship before breaking down to the confused but soothing hangover-choked dawn of the following day, as Kasher solaces, "the worst is over." I kid you not, it has never failed to make me shiver - though with delight or fear I cannot say.
The producers employ the clever technique of, although keeping the album unified and sequential, scattered and practically alternating levels of intensity. The band is not afraid to throw audial paradoxes our way- I was drawn in instantly by Kasher's bored and controlled vocals against a "wall of sound" backdrop at the beginning of the album, and remained fixated on elements such as the ubiquitous cello (it sounds so natural that it is hard to believe Gretta Cohn isn't an original member - part of what makes the album's overall sound crisp and totally unique), the ever-anticipating intermissions of distant "Ugly Organ" tones and whispers, and the band's ultimate strength in dynamics throughout. At its mellowest the guitarwork is complex and twinkling, the cello is smooth as water and the bass and drum churn the music along. At its most hardcore, guitar and bass strings are grabbed, struck and clawed to create a sawing or pulsating effect not unlike the angriest handful of Smashing Pumpkins songs on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Every instrument works to throttle the speakers, and my occasional discomfort during these unsettlingly moving songs keeps this album from being a masterpiece, although inconsistently I'm captivated by the variety it allows. Quite simply, it is not a mood my subconscious will always enter without a fight, like the aforementioned Pink Floyd album The Wall.
My final warning is to those whose mouths watered at the word "indie", who think the Shins are God's gift to humanity; it's not impossible to like both, but by no means expect anything even remotely similar to folk-indie... or even garage-indie! I won't even make the standard comparison to Bright Eyes simply because of the college radio success of the unassertive and acoustic I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. And to hardcore indie fans (and many rock fans in general), I hope The Ugly Organ holds the place in your collection and heart that it did mine.
A
Alternative Rock Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Alternative Rock Music CDs
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal LaughterRelease date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Blondie - Parallel LinesRelease date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $397.77
Doors - L.A. WomanRelease date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $199.99
Amon Duul - Phallus DeiRelease date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Tangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine DreamRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
![Ska Explosion [VHS] Image](/images/Ska-Explosion-VHS-6303381014-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ska Explosion [VHS]Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
![Little Earthquakes [VHS] Image](/images/Little-Earthquakes-VHS-6302488664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Little Earthquakes [VHS]Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Exileby Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
![Louder Than Live [VHS] Image](/images/Louder-Than-Live-VHS-6301627865-X.jpg){kind=small}
Soundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
![I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING [Vinyl] Image](/images/IM-WIDE-AWAKE-ITS-MORNING-Vinyl-B000777J00-X.jpg)
BRIGHT EYES - I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING [Vinyl]SADDLE; Release date: 2005-01-25; Music CD
Best price: $15.05
Price in other shops:
The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of SongRelease date: 1998-11-02; Music CD
Best price: $8.06
Price in other shops:
Cursive - Difference Between Houses & Homes: Lost SongsRelease date: 2005-08-09; Music CD
Best price: $0.18
Price in other shops:
![GIVE UP [Vinyl] Image](/images/GIVE-UP-Vinyl-B000095K7A-X.jpg)
THE POSTAL SERVICE - GIVE UP [Vinyl]Release date: 2004-11-09; Music CD
Best price: $13.55
Price in other shops:
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad NewsRelease date: 2004-04-06; Music CD
Best price: $5.48
Price in other shops:
Cursive - Burst & BloomRelease date: 2001-07-24; Music CD
Best price: $4.77
Price in other shops:
Cursive - Happy HollowRelease date: 2006-08-22; Music CD
Best price: $4.34
Price in other shops:
Cursive - Mama, I'm SwollenSaddle Creek Records; Release date: 2009-03-10; Music CD
Best price: $5.40
Price in other shops:
![In The Aeroplane Over The Sea [Vinyl] Image](/images/In-The-Aeroplane-Over-The-Sea-Vinyl-B002PHVHFI-X.jpg)
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea [Vinyl]Release date: 2009-11-03; Music CD
Best price: $14.81
Price in other shops:
Cursive - Cursive's DomesticaRelease date: 2000-06-20; Music CD
Best price: $5.40
Price in other shops: