chunder down under

The genius of Mark Lanegan

Spending, as I do, probably too much time on a computer, I find that listening to music makes it feel a bit less geeky and antisocial. Although I probably listen to geeky and antisocial music as well. Recently, I’ve found myself listening to one of the unsung genius’s ( or is that “genii”?) of American music – Mark Lanegan. I’ve known of him since the early 90’s when he fronted The Screaming Trees, the heaviest of the grunge bands. And I don’t mean heaviest in a Spinal Tap, metal kind of way (they were more psychedelic), but literally the HEAVIEST. Their guitarist and bassist (the Conner brothers) must have weighed as much as a double decker bus – each. Seeing them on stage at the Underworld I fully expected it to give way and the plaid-shirted duo to commence a journey to the earth’s core. Their rider must have kept Camden MacDonalds busy for days. Whatever, they never made it big – unlike their lesser talented fellow Seattle bands such as Nirvana.

I still listen to their albums, but although Mark Lanegan has released half a dozen well reviewed albums I’ve never really taken note of his solo stuff – until now. While at the internet café I took advantage of downloading (illegally of course) most of his last album, “Bubblegum”. I was expecting the kind of gravel-voiced acoustic rootsy folk of the kind that occasionally appeared on Screaming Trees B-sides, providing contrast to the Sabbath covers. And there is that, of course, but more. As he has been moonlighting as occasional singer in the noisy Queens of the Stone Age, formed from mighty stoner-rock gods Kyuss, he seems to have rediscovered the repetitive riff. And he has the kind of voice that is an advert for smoking, the kind normally described as “whiskey soaked”. A lot of reviews have mentioned his similarity with Tom Waits, and I can see it especially as on “Methamphetamine Blues” he employs the same kind of clanking industrial percussion. But on one track he even has a ghostly resemblance to Jim Morrison (minus the bad sixth form poetry). And he duets on a couple of tracks with PJ Harvey, who can polarise people. To some she possesses the most emotive blues voice to have come out of Yeovil, to others she is a wailing anorexic who wouldn’t know a tune if she barfed it down the toilet. I am in the former camp, but then I like Patti Smith.

Anyway, the whole album is a work of genius from start to finish. It won’t make him a star of course, he’s too grizzled and possesses an abundance of jail tattoos, but it is the kind of world-weary music that is sadly lacking in the days of Pop Idol. In fact, I find that kind of music depresses me, whereas something like this (more “authentic”, horrible expression I know, but true) is strangely uplifting. I might even shell out money for his other albums.

The only legal downloads I could find for him were on www.epitonic.com/artists/marklanegan.html, from a covers album (which also contains Tom Waits weirdly enough). And you can also download “Methamphetamine Blues” from www.amazon.com. They don’t really show his full talent, but are good tasters.

posted by Hamish @ 9:51 pm