And here we must observe that men must either be cajoled or crushed; for they will revenge themselves for slight wrongs, while for grave ones they cannot. The injury therefore that you do to a man should be such that you need not fear his revenge.
The “Lord God” Bird, or Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, so known because observers were known to cry that phrase out upon seeing this magnificent bird. (Plate by Audubon)
The For Carnation – “A Tribute To”
The For Carnation
One of the first offshoots of Slint, The For Carnation put out a few albums leading up to this one, but none, I think, effect the same fusion of menace and melody quite so well as this self-titled release from 2000. The softly-spoken vocals of Brian McMahon are indeed very Slint-like, but the pacing and subtle instrumentation are much less abrasive – though that doesn’t mean the band is incapable of bursts of noise like that at the four minute mark. An excellent album.
The splendors of human pomp and prosperity seemed rapidly vanishing in the distance. In the temporary depression of his spirits, he experienced feelings somewhat akin to those of the heart-sickened exile, whose fond eyes are riveted upon the mosques and minarets of his native city, glittering in the soft sunlight of evening, where are the cherished objects of all his tenderest thoughts and feelings; while his vessel is rapidly bearing him from it, amid the rising wind, the increasing and ominous swell of the waters, the thickening gloom of night— whither?
In the name of all that is manly and generous
Wilfred Satty
Fieldhead – “This Train Is A Rainbow”
They Shook Hands For Hours
Listen to it all the way through. The closest reference point I have is perhaps Arovane’s earlier and more abstract albums, Autechre’s most accessible ones, or perhaps most closely, Tim Hecker’s excellent and atmospheric Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again. Fieldhead seems hard to pin down, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable album for anyone with the patience for, well, this sort of thing.
You may say it is not so easy to be wicked without ever being found out. Perhaps not; but great things are never easy.
Neither famine nor disaster ever haunt men who do true justice; but light-heartedly they tend the fields which are all their care. The earth bears them victual in plenty, and on the mountains their oaks bear acorns upon the top and bees in the middle, and their sheep’s fleeces are heavy with wool.
We must endow our man with the full complement of injustice; we must allow him to have secured a spotless reputation for virtue while committing the blackest crimes; he must be able to retrieve any mistake, to defend himself with convincing eloquence if his misdeeds are denounced, and, when force is required, to bear down all opposition by his courage and strength and by his command of friends and money.
