A play in three acts [Mercury Rev]

"Much more of a trip rather than band"

In coordination with their recent performance at the Stone, Mercury Rev released their new album, Snowflake Midnight, this past week.  Saccharine title aside, this is officially Mercury Rev's third phase in a long and winding career. A breakdown of the group's three acts:

Act I: Volatile Beginnings

Yerself is Steam (1991)

Boces (1993)

See You on the Other Side (1995)

Predominantly centered around former frontman Dave Baker and his volatile personality, the first two Mercury Rev albums were characterized by noisy psych-rock that was tumultous though pierced with moments of absolute beauty.  Structurally, these albums were more experimental and jam-oriented, and compositions could either wind on and on with extensive solos and sonic freakouts or be short bursts of sound.  Standout tracks include "Chasing a Bee" (Yerself is Steam) and "Something for Joey" (Boces), which was complemented by a video featuring infamous porn star Ron Jeremy.

Mercury Rev - Chasing a Bee [Yerself is Steam LP, 1991]

Mercury Rev - Something for Joey [Boces LP, 1993]

Act II: Reinvention Leading to Stagnation

Deserter's Songs (1998)

All is Dream (2001)

Secret Migration (2005)

Searching to reinvent themselves after See You on the Other Side, the Rev began channeling their psychedelic leanings from Act I into more concise, song-oriented albums, starting with 1998's Deserter's Songs, arguably the group's best output, to date.  Coupling standard instrumentation with more rare instruments such as theremins, bowed saws and mellotrons, the album had the distinction of being routed in traditional americana while having a more whimsical and dreamlike feel.  All is Dream continued this newfound sound, though was more widescreen and cinematic, as exemplified by epic tracks like the "Dark is Rising" and "Me and Hercules".  Unfortunately, Mercury Rev had exhausted this dream-pop sound by the time Secret Migration was released, which proved to be the group at its most saccharine and, strangely, adult alternative.  Consequently, this is the group's worst album, to date.  

Mercury Rev - Opus 40[Deserter's Songs LP, 1998]

Mercury Rev - The Dark is Rising[All is Dream LP, 2001]

Act III: New Sonic Discoveries 

Snowflake Midnight (2008)

Strange Attractor (2008)

Released simultaneously, Snowflake Midnight and the purely-instrumental Strange Attractor represents the group's new direction, which is more focused on electronics and far less structured than the Rev's previous three albums.  In a way, this Act is promising in that it takes the jam-oriented and more structureless works of Act I while borrowing from Act II's more dream-pop approach.  It remains to be seen how this Act plays out, but it sounds promising.  In any event, the Rev are no strangers to change, and their ability to evolve on a dime is the greatest compliment a band can receive.  Cheers to one of America's finest rock groups to emerge in the last two decades.

Mercury Rev - Senses on Fire[Snowflake Midnight LP, 2008]

Live Review: Trip Over the Light Fantastic [Mercury Rev]

On September 10, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Mercury Rev's "Trip Over the Light Fanstastic" at the Stone in NYC.

First off, before entering into a discussion of what the show was, I'd like to point out that the Stone is literally a box, seating no more than 20 people and tucked away at 2nd street and avenue C. The Stone is not-for-profit music space run by avant-garde musician John Zorn, and hosts a variety of atypical music performances.

Mercury Rev is one of my favorite bands, and I've followed them ever since their release of Deserter's Songs, an album I believe is one of the best musical pieces to come out the 1990s. Comparisons to the Flaming Lips are multiple, as the two bands are led by singers with similarily high-pitched wails, though I always thought Mercury Rev was always a little more out-there, if that's possible.

Back to the show. As I entered the Stone at around 9:40 PM, I immediately went directly to the front row, and found myself literally a foot-and-a-half away from the microphone of Rev's lead singer, Jonathan Donahue. A scene before the performance:

Then, at around 10 PM, the band came out in a very "un-rockstar" entrance, crawling over patrons that were sitting on the ground and nearly tripping a couple of times. People around me were asking me if they knew what was going to happen, for which I gave a big ol' shrug. One guy to the left of me thought it was going to be a full-blown concert, but I knew that wasn't the case, given the setting.

Mr. Donahue stepped to his mic, but then he put on this strange headset, which was hooked up to all sorts of machinery, and then sat down in his chair. Alex Chechile, a Brooklyn avante-garde artist that accompanied the Rev, brought along a hand-built electroencephalograph, or EEG, along with a computer program that was used to modify music in real time according to one's own brain activity. Like something out of a movie, Alex had hooked up Jonathan to this machine, and the band began to "play".

"This is the sound of my brain" cooed Jonathan, as loud though rhythmic thumps emanated from the Stone's crackling speakers. In the background, two individuals touched two light beams to create a strange visual that I won't try describing, but maybe this picture does:

As Donahue manipulated brainwaves, Grasshopper, Rev's guitarist, played percolated riffs and noise, which was also sonically manipulated through his computer:

The show was a good 45 minutes, and though it wasn't a typical Mercury Rev performance, it wasn't what I expected, which is refreshing coming from a band that's been on the circuit for two decades. Even after all these years, Rev is still keeping their experimentalism alive, confirming the notion that this is one of the great American bands to have surfaced in the last twenty years.