Timothys Monster

I am going against the conventional wisdom of psychonauts (Motorpsycho fans) here, as I see this as an album of somewhat unfulfilled potential. The songs are there, but there is a limit to how much deliberately lo-fi I can listen to. It all starts with Feel, which is a wonderful little song recorded in Bent’s living room. So far I am with them, but I start struggling with Trapdoor, a song that really shows how important low-end frequencies can be to a song. I get wanting contrast, but I am so relieved when the bass finally comes in, because the song simply sounds wimpy and boring up to that point. Leave It Like That is next, and that is a stellar pop song that always sounded like they were trying to make another song like Nothing To Say from Demon Box. A Shrug and A Fistful is just annoying with static noise and a stuttering stop-start approach that makes any kind of flow impossible. I know that was the intention – but I don’t like it. It has good tendencies, but it is all drowned out by a band that doesn’t sound like they quite know where they want to go with it. Then things start getting better. Kill Some Day is really a great song, but the vocals are mixed a little low compared to the instruments, which is a shame for a song this great. It’s another song with a very poppy melody, and the chorus is just spectacular. On my pillow is a slower song with pop-tendencies, this time with Snah on vocals, which isn’t always the prettiest, but it fits the song. Beautiful Sister and Wearing Your Smell follow this powerpop section of the album, and finally the vocals are more prominent in the mix. Now It’s Time to Skate is the closest Motorpsycho comes a waltz, with a very pronounced 3/4 meter. Giftland signals that the poppy side of Motorpsycho has to rest, as this is a slowly building song that grows in intensity over its 10 minutes and 20 seconds, including noise from Deathprod. This, to me, is the most fully formed song on the first disk of Timothy’s Monster. However, it isn’t the last song on the disk, as Watersound finishes it off. This is another song that would have to be really high on my list of great Motorpsycho songs if they only had placed the vocals a little bit more prominently in the mix. It’s a great, great song, but it becomes just unrealized potential to me, because of the way it is mixed. And that’s just a shame.Disk 2 is quite different than Disk 1. Only four songs, but still clocking in at about 42 minutes. The wheel is the first song, and it is very appropriately named, as it rolls and rolls on, building and building. It starts with a complex but quiet riff and adds on over the course of just about 17 minutes into a hypnotic riff that I never want to end (every time it ends, it ends too soon). Sungravy slows it down a little being a nice, acoustic ballad, before they bring out the Grindstone. You can really hear the stone grinding and grinding in what probably is the most abrasive song in the Motorpsycho repertoire, but I love every minute of it. The final song, The Golden Core, is another song that builds and builds, with assistance on vocals by Anneli Drecker, who at the time sang in Norwegian band Bel Canto.Timothy’s Monster was an even more ambitious album than Demon Box. Released as a double cd or triple LP (the sixth vinyl side was an etched artwork), with nearly 100 minutes of music. While the music is among the strongest they released, a few missteps with some songs as well as a mix I simply can’t approve of no matter how hard I try really pulls it down into a weak four star rating for me. It is still worth having – and getting the 4 CD reissue from 2010 gives you even more great moments from this period in Motorpsycho’s career. It is still an album well worth having in your collection.

Contenuto eccezionale, ma si sapeva. Riascoltare l'album dopo tanti anni è stata una rivelazione. E anche la sequenza diversa e più compatta nel terzo cd ha un senso. Uno dei tanti capolavori degli immensi Motorpsycho.Cofanetto non facile da trovare, sono davvero soddisfatto.

dopo Blissard.