Hung Up On MC Honky
Written: Apr 25 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Amazing musicianship, cool songs, diverse samples
Cons: Strange (?)
The Bottom Line: A fun, free-wielding album full of quirky lyrics, lovely vocals, amazing production, and crazy samples. Gotta hear it to believe it.
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| lambchops's Full Review: I Am the Messiah by MC Honky |
Who is MC Honky?
According to the official website, MC Honky is a “reclusive remix wizard who cares little for the show business and its trappings.” Hailing from Silverlake, California the janitor/potter/musician his work was discovered by a certain quirky singer-songwriter who quickly snatched it up and soon produced I Am The Messiah, recorded in 2000.
Who really is MC Honky?
There is little question that MC Honky is indeed Mark Oliver Everett, also known as the Eels or simply E. Over the past ten plus years, Everett has been incredibly prolific. His albums have all been impressive beginning with his solo debut, A Man Called E (1992) followed by 1993’s Broken Toy Shop. After “forming” the Eels in the mid-1990’s he recorded 1996’s Beautiful Freak, 1998’s Electro-Shock Blues, 2000’s Daisies of the Galaxy, and 2002’s Souljacker. Also this month, he released the film score to Levity and plans for June are for a new Eels album, Shootenanny! Throughout these years, E also contributed to a number of soundtracks ranging from American Beauty to Shrek (and most recently Holes).
Clearly, Everett is a man with great creative momentum. It would be easier to record a bunch of crappy, cliché albums. But in this case he continues to make truly amazing songs and discs. Not once have I been particularly disappointed by something he has done. Not once has Everett come off as anything but one of the most incredibly talented singer-songwriters alive today. Not just that, but Everett is also distinctly different then his peers. His music is strange, intelligent, and overall incredibly appealing. But what stands out most is the “strange” part. Everett explores the darkest emotions with the lightest of touch and heart. He does so with a wry smile often while whimsically exploring instruments like a toy piano, clavinet, mellotron, and various other less conventional thingamajigs.
MC Honky is without any doubt a work of the musical expert. Everett’s quirky touch is felt on every song, from those populated by samples to those voiced by him. As with Everett’s earlier (and current for that matter) offerings, much of the album is goofy. And as all fans of the Eels and E know, goofy and strange and utterly bizarre are what he does best.
The thirteen tracks on I Am Messiah (released in mid-April 2003) are the perfect compliment to any E collection. They are just as appealing as his other work, but also explore some arenas that he’s left relatively untouched in the past. Most notable is his use of sampling on many of the songs…sometimes instead of using his own vocals. While many people who try this technique could easily be accused of copping out, Everett actually manages to incorporate these samples as instruments rather than the driving force. And these aren’t just run-of-the-mill samples…they are extremely obscure sound bites from mysterious sources. Songs Sonnet no. 3 (Like A Duck), The Baby That Was You, 3 Turntables & 2 Microphones, and Baby Elephant Rock-a-bye are the best examples of this method of music making on this album. As is much of the rest of the disc, and strangely enough nothing about the disc seems to be anything but the work of E. He is the man, he is the master, heck he could be the messiah.
I Am Messiah is particularly reminiscent of the Eels 2000 upbeat album Daisies of the Galaxy. On that album, E was clear that he still had some emotional turmoil but rather than dwelling on death, suicide, and cancer he wrote about field mice and birds. It was a brilliant turn, much akin to I Am Messiah including the accompanying elephants and the like.
The songs that work best here are the wicked, wild, and fun. Those that feature E’s voice are of course my favorites. I appreciate the creativity it takes to successfully mold a song around children’s songs, educational film snippets, answering machine messages and self-help dialogue but as this album demonstrates MC Honky--errr, Everett—has an incredible amount of musical insight to offer. Hung Up, What A Bringdown, and My Bad Seed are all clearly E songs. Everett, according to the disenchanted MC Honky took over on a few songs. Hey, whatever…Everett rocks.
Anyway, Hung Up begins as does many of these tracks…with a sample and funky drumbeats. But soon enough E breaks in with his mellow, monotone vocals. What A Bringdown could have easily been a part of any of the earlier post Electro-Shock Blues offerings. Chipper and frighteningly entertaining, the song is quite possibly the best of I Am The Messiah. Everett also makes quite an impression on My Bad Seed, a hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny song about the unusually funny topic of sex. With space-age samples and horse whinnying it is hard to not giggle like a junior high student to the lyrics and associated sound effects:
Not what you want
But what you need
Come on baby let me
Plant my seed
Plant that seed(repeat 2x)
Please don’t let go
And give it up
Take my spurs and
now giddy up
When I see you
I know it’s right
You and I should spend the night
Plant that seed (repeat 3x)
I Am The Messiah is a hilarious album full of exuberant giddiness and hilarious innuendo. It is a slightly different direction for Everett, not because of the positive attitude (he has contrary to popular belief explored this angle in depth in the past), but more so because of the gratuitous (though perfect) use of samples. MC Honky is the perfect “cover” for E to play around a little more than usual (though in all honesty he’s a funny fellow to start with). It’s usually thought that his main gig, the Eels, is dour and depressed. I disagree fervently. Everett has had some trauma in his life, and the album that has thus far been most depressing is also at the core something of a catharsis. Electro-shock Blues is an amazing work, though not necessarily most representative of the entire discography.
But with that said this MC Honky gig isn’t most representative either, and that is in the end why it works. E seems to have let loose and gotten a kick out of molding the samples to fit his brilliant music. And in the end, well, it works. Maybe it’s not up to the high standards set by the aforementioned Electro-Shock Blues but it is certainly a nice addition to any collection already populated by E or Eels albums.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Track Listing:
1. Sonnet no. 3 (Like A Duck)
2. Hung Up
3. The Object
4. A Good Day To Be You
5. Baby Elephant Rock-a-bye
6. What A Bringdown
7. Only A Rose pt. I
8. My Bad Seed
9. The Devil Went Down To Silverlake
10. Soft Velvety 'Fer
11. The Baby That Was You
12. 3 Turntables & 2 Microphones
13. Only A Rose pt. II
Recommended:
Yes
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lambchops
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Member: Shelly T.
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
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Bye-bye CL hat. Hopefully I'll write some new reviews some time soon!
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