image �1999, darrel anderson - www.braid.com

Music Melt-Down
2003-02-06 � 8:50 p.m.

I'm waiting for my CD to finish burning. It's an interesting mix of stuff � Autechre, Eisturzende Neubauten, The Birthday Party, Cabaret Voltaire, etc. � that reflects my mood of late. I snagged an MP3 of the twelve-inch version of Cabaret Voltaire's "Sensoria" that I am really looking forward to listening to.

Yes, I was on a bit of a musical bender this afternoon. I don't know why. I read just about every entry on The Cure over at AllMusic, and I came across this gem of a review of one of The Cure's lesser known songs, "Siamese Twins." It's really interesting to me, because I HEART that song quite heavily, but it was one of those things that I never really examined too deeply. I knew what it was about, or at least I thought I did. But this review made me realize that I was responding to things I wasn't consciously aware of. Anyway, here's the review of the song:

AMG REVIEW: Not many rock bands � male, at least � take the opportunity to describe sleeping with someone for the first time as a scenario for wretched, bone-chilling loathing. But the Cure aren't most rock bands. Fitting into the rest of the similarly extreme material on Pornography perfectly, "Siamese Twins" details a loss of virginity in horrific yet poetic terms, exchanging fireworks and "becoming a man" for something else entirely. A soft sparkle of bells at the start seems to promise something else, but Lol Tolhurst's full-bodied, slow drumming sounds more a tribal ritual going wrong. Robert Smith's guitar and Simon Gallup's bass match the measured pace as well, the former's usual post-psychedelic chime feeling even more distressed and alien than ever. His hurt singing is perfectly suited for the occasion, direct yet sounding softly distressed at all points, as images of two who moved "slowly up the stairs and into the room" and "writhed under a red light" leads to a final blunt protest � "Is it always like this?" � Ned Raggett

Sounds like a fun song, doesn't it? (I'd put up an MP3, but I'm not at home and I don't have one here.)

One of my very first pieces of what I consider to be my "real" writing was directly influenced by that song, and I even named it the same thing. It was a pretty dismal failure, all things considered, but it marked a real departure for me in the way that I approached writing things.

I wonder if I'll ever write again?

-t

Currently Aurally Inducing:
Selection of the Lyrical Vocabulary:

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