Cursive: The Ugly Organ (5/5)

Year: 2003
Genre: Progressive Experimental Indie Rock
Label: Saddle Creek
TRT: 40:10

The first time I heard this album in 2002, it was heralded to to me as "the future of music". I was as you might expect, dubious of such lofty claims. I was lent a promo copy and told to return it the following day. I did'n't get a good chance to listen to it and really digest what I was hearing, so upon returning it the next day I shrugged my shoulders and went on with my life.

About a year and a half later, a buddy of mine was cd shopping with me, and came across a copy of this album on the shelf. He went crazy and bummed half the cost from me because he just had to have it. Upon listening to it again...I was blown away.

While the concept of the album is nothing groundbreaking, the story is told with a fresh inventive twist, with instrumentation highlighting and underlining key moments. This gives the tale extra depth and texture that simple lyrics never could. It still amazes me how every single part of each song is a calculated part of the whole, without a beat misplaced, wasted or turning superfluous. This is the sort of album you can listen to again and again without it losing it's initial power, hitting you with the same force and passion as it did the very first time.

01 The Ugly Organist
02 Some Red Handed Sleight of Hand
03 Art Is Hard
04 The Recluse
05 Herald! Frankenstein
06 Butcher the Song
07 Driftwood: A Fairy Tale
08 A Gentleman Caller
09 Harold Weathervein
10 Bloody Murderer
11 Sierra
12 Staying Alive

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