Badlittlekitten's top 50 indie/alternative tracks of this century so far.

Badlittlekitten · 12-19-2010, 09:09 AM

40
The Breeders - Off You
Title TK
2002
Everybody make way again please. And take your finger out of your nostril. Legend coming through . . .

Well it only took them about a decade to follow up Last Splash, and when Title Tk was finally released it looked like the band had thrown it together in a couple of hours. From the cheap and nasty artwork to the dusty lo-fi production, and even the albums title itself - Title Tk seemed half-arsed to say the least. But over the years it has slowly revealed itself to be a bit of a gem; all the songs flow organically while Steve Albini's production is stark and intimate and the band sound like they're playing in your bedroom, enjoying every note as they're lapping up all your booze. I actually prefer this to the patchy and overrated Last Splash (Obviously Pod is their masterpiece). 'Off You' is like a quieter and less chaotic 'Gigantic', which Kim Deal recorded with alt-rock heroes the Pixies. It represents the LPs softer side, ditching the muddy fuzzbox din for a Velvet Underground style ballad. By now Deal's voice was not what it used to be and the mic picks her up at close range, all ragged and breathy (apparently she lost her voice completely for a short period due to smoking, heroin and being a bit of a loud mouth) but to me she never has sounded so beautiful. When she purrs "I am the autumn in the scarlet, I am the make-up on your eyes" I can feel hairs begin to prickle down the back of my neck. The songs seems to be about landing to sail and casting yourself adrift, presumably what Kim had been doing for the last nine years, but it's hard to make sense of Deal's lyrics which come across like half remembered dreams. Musically it sounds naked, with three VU chords, no percussion, a weird squelchy synth noise that appears at fifty seconds in only to be never heard from again and a fruity upright bass that just about holds everything together. Like so much on Title TK it somehow works, even though it shouldn't.

12-19-2010, 09:09 AM	#14 (permalink)
Badlittlekitten And then there was music Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Near Wild Heaven Posts: 287	40 The Breeders - Off You Title TK 2002 Everybody make way again please. And take your finger out of your nostril. Legend coming through . . . Well it only took them about a decade to follow up Last Splash, and when Title Tk was finally released it looked like the band had thrown it together in a couple of hours. From the cheap and nasty artwork to the dusty lo-fi production, and even the albums title itself - Title Tk seemed half-arsed to say the least. But over the years it has slowly revealed itself to be a bit of a gem; all the songs flow organically while Steve Albini's production is stark and intimate and the band sound like they're playing in your bedroom, enjoying every note as they're lapping up all your booze. I actually prefer this to the patchy and overrated Last Splash (Obviously Pod is their masterpiece). 'Off You' is like a quieter and less chaotic 'Gigantic', which Kim Deal recorded with alt-rock heroes the Pixies. It represents the LPs softer side, ditching the muddy fuzzbox din for a Velvet Underground style ballad. By now Deal's voice was not what it used to be and the mic picks her up at close range, all ragged and breathy (apparently she lost her voice completely for a short period due to smoking, heroin and being a bit of a loud mouth) but to me she never has sounded so beautiful. When she purrs "I am the autumn in the scarlet, I am the make-up on your eyes" I can feel hairs begin to prickle down the back of my neck. The songs seems to be about landing to sail and casting yourself adrift, presumably what Kim had been doing for the last nine years, but it's hard to make sense of Deal's lyrics which come across like half remembered dreams. Musically it sounds naked, with three VU chords, no percussion, a weird squelchy synth noise that appears at fifty seconds in only to be never heard from again and a fruity upright bass that just about holds everything together. Like so much on Title TK it somehow works, even though it shouldn't. __________________ 'Said do you feel it? Do you feel it when you TOUCH ME?. THERE'S A FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!' The Stooges. Dirt. https://soundcloud.com/bad-little-kittens My Top 100 LPs My Top 52 Indie Tracks Of The 21st Century (incomplete) Last edited by Badlittlekitten; 12-19-2010 at 09:17 AM.