CD Odyssey Disc 313: Pete Yorn

After a bit of a delay I got through another album. I've been making small trips here and there and couldn't quite finished this album until today. With two songs remaining I put them on and just sat quietly and listened. I figure that 'doing nothing' can't possibly violate my rule #4

OK, I also ate a plate of ravioli - but that's it! Scout's honour. On to the album.

Disc 313 is...Music For The Morning After

Artist: Pete Yorn

Year of Release: 2001

What’s Up With The Cover?: Pete is caught unawares wandering somewhere in a rocker shirt and tousled hair. I won't judge this cover too harshly, because I am often caught unawares wandering somewhere in a rocker shirt and tousled hair, and I never look as good doing it as Pete. I will say that his hair on the cover of his follow up album, Day I Forgot (reviewed back at Disc 189) is superior.

How I Came To Know It: I last reviewed Pete Yorn's "Day I Forgot" back in October 2010 (see above link to read it). At that time I noted that "Music For The Morning After" (which I insist on punctuating) was purchased by Sheila after she discovered it on a 'best music of the oughts' list. So this one is from the music critics, via Sheila.

How It Stacks Up: Yorn is now up to six studio albums, but we only have the first two. Of these, "Music For The Morning After" is the far superior record.

Rating: 3 stars but almost 4.

For whatever reason, some records become critical darlings, and others just as good fade into obscurity. "Music For The Morning After" was a critical darling, and received a bit of radio play as well (or so I am told).

Pete's music is low key and relaxing. The melodies are beautiful, although I'd like to hear them a bit more clearly defined (see below) and his voice is low and haunting in places on this record. It reminds me strongly of some Canadian indie bands like Gordie Sampson or Dan Mangan (although I'd say Mangan's songs are superior). More likely both those artists were influenced by "Music For The Morning After" which made the rounds among musicians a decade ago.

In the case of Sampson, there is even a line in Yorn's "Life On A Chain", "I sent a bottle of whiskey" which sounds very similar in to a the line from Gordie Sampson's 2004 song "Sunburn", "I drank a bottle of Wolfblass". Of course after you listen to enough music, you start hearing similarities everywhere. For the record, I'd rather have a bottle of whiskey - as I noted when I reviewed Sampson's album. I can't stand Wolfblass, and am sick of having it ordered as the 'wine of least offence' at dinners out. How about a nice Italian Valpolicella for once, people! But I digress...

Back to "Music For The Morning After" which is a fine collection of songs that come across as deeply personal. Yorn composes in a series of short, chopped up sentences - sometimes only fragments - that read as poor verse, but work well with music. Strung together melodically, they create a wistful groove that makes you feel angst without knowing exactly why.

And in a way, that is my critique of this record - that it doesn't consistently connect to the listener emotionally. This isn't always true - there are some great tracks, in particular "Lose You" and "EZ" which genuinely had me feeling melancholy. The latter track needs some spelling assistance, but apart from that is the best track, and at second to last on the playlist, well worth the wait.

In a way, the individual songs are better on their own than as a cohesive record, maybe because collectively they lack any easily definable peaks and valleys in their sound. This could easily be blamed on the poor production decisions that were already generally being made in 2001. Lots of ambient sound and excess instrumentation - in the mix, but not adding anything of quality.

I'd love to hear some of these songs unplugged, with just Yorn singing and playing the acoustic guitar. In fact, the hidden track at the end of "Simonize" has this stripped down feel, and works wonderfully despite not being the strongest melody. This record could benefit from a similar treatment on the first thirteen tracks. ("Simonize" itself is a bit forgettable, except in one part where Yorn's voice sounds a bit like a folksy David Bowie - that was fun).

Despite occasionally regrettable production and arrangement choices, the songs are written with obvious skill, and I feel like this album was just a few ticks south of four stars. I stuck at three, though, because I need more than emotional resonance on a record - I need to go on a journey through the tracks, not just feel like I'm hearing a series of singles.

I also need to know why it is resonating - either through the story of the singer, or through his skill in drawing a story out of me with lyrics, tune or both. Yorn clearly works from a position of personal truth, but doesn't consistently convey those feelings to his listener, which is a key part of popular music - be it rock, pop or folk.

He does it often enough though, that "Music For The Morning After" is a strong record, and one I enjoyed dabbling in for the last few days.

Best tracks: Strange Condition, Just Another, Lose You, For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is), EZ