redsox75's Full Review: Against the Night by Jason Webley
Once again it is time for the I’ll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours (ISYMIYSMY, for those of you scoring at home) write-off held by that Pearl Jam-lovin’ dude MattA75. Despite my sporadic output of late, I was once again invited (3rd time, I think) to participate. This could also be called the Think Outside the Box write-off since Epinioners are challenged to give their view of music they would not review otherwise. This year my partner was the Philadelphia area music expert otherwise known as JennJoy, whose nice words about me in her entry, I certainly do appreciate, though I am not sure I deserve. Miss Jenn said in her review that we share similar musical tastes. There is one big difference in our listening habits and that is her affinity for independent music, especially of the avant-garde nature. I challenged her with some jazz and she challenged me with music that defies easy categorization. One of those discs, I am reviewing herein, the 1999 release Against the Night by the Seattle based accordionist, Jason Webley.
Mr. Webley seems to have two voices on this record, a smooth one and a rough one. The title track opens the disc, giving no hint of the variety that will be forthcoming. This one is a pretty ballad using an accordion, acoustic guitar (I don’t think there’s an electric guitar on this record) and bass. The lyrics tell a story of words being a protection of the night that wants to do you harm. Winter has similar instrumentation but tells a far more sinister story of a skull the writer gets in the mail which contains an evil spirit which tells him “I’m like ancient Rome baby, all roads lead to me.” This track has more of a spoken word vocal which leans toward the rough voice.
Devil Be Good and Jack of Spades are two similar rough voiced songs that I could have done without. The arrangements are sparse and the cliché-twisted words are hard to connect with. Ontogeny I found to be one of the more accessible songs. The term “polka punk” that I think Jenn used in her review applies perfectly to this song. Small parts Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone” and bassy punk, this is one which might stick in your head. These three songs are sandwiched around a catchy waltzy Spanish sounding song, Dance While the Sky Crashes Down, which seems to be a case of our singer at a sinister dinner party.
Right in the middle of the record, Webley reprises the opening track (this time called Again the Night) using his rough voice and the accordion as the primary instrument. It is one of the better rough voiced songs on here, but I am partial to the first smooth voiced version. The theme is repeated once again on the final track, Lullaby to sound like a music box.
Constellation Prize sounds like it could be done by a barbershop quartet or by a Dixieland band (if one ever had an accordion in it). Our singer is not feeling too well because he spent 㥷 hours making love last night.” It’s amazing he has the strength to sing the song. Later, he increases his total to 37 hours. Back to the Garden is also in an old-time style (imagine the thumping bass line in Zeppelin’s “Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp”) in which the singer describes a vegetarian world (the United League of Vegetation) in which he sees “a fiery head of broccoli in a dream” and “anyone caught moving faster than a turnip will be shot.” An interesting track, this one will make you smile.
Millenium Bug is a song about a virus, possibly written amid the rumors that when the year turned 2000 all computers were going to crash because the code in them wasn’t correct. This is another smooth voiced track. The singer hopes that “when it gets me, I hope I go quickly.” Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (a pretty, melancholy piano-based song) and Eleutheria join Millenium as the more tender ones on this collection, though Eleutheria is marred by a strange walkie talkie interlude in the middle.
What You Need to Know
This is a disc that takes some getting used to. My second listen was far more enjoyable than the first. The smooth voiced songs have good melodies and pleasing instrumentation, albeit with some strange lyrics. At 17 tracks and 62 minutes, Jason Webley gives you your money’s worth here, but with that many songs there are bound to be ones you don’t like. 3 versions of the same song are a bit much (the title track). The bizarre instrumental 2 a.m. and strange spoken word track Entropy sounds like it’s coming from the bottom of a well. I mentioned a couple others I didn’t care for too much.
I mentioned a few of the rough voiced songs (Constellation PrizeAgain the Night and Back to the Garden) and one spoken word one (Winter) which are appealing, so that style is not all bad, though this material might have been better served split up into two discs, or one disc and an EP to split up the smooth and rough voiced songs.
With some editing, this could have been a 4 or 5 star disc, but I can’t give it more than 3 due to the problems I listed above. For the more adventurous listener, this one might find a place in your collection. For others, tread cautiously.
Please see all the other entries in the ISYMIYSMY write-off on MattA75’s page.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.