| Throwing Muses – Anthology (2011) |
Avoiding the obvious hits, this collection celebrates the band’s remarkable catalogue.
Chris Power 2011-08-22
In her memoir, Paradoxical Undressing, Throwing Muses lead singer and songwriter Kristin Hersh describes bands that are like candy, "fun and bad for you in a way that makes you feel good". Hers, by contrast, is "spinach, I guess. We’re ragged and bitter. But I swear to god, we’re good for you."
Formed in Providence, Rhode Island in the early 1980s, Throwing Muses were first US band signed by 4AD. They were one of the most inventive bands of the late-80s boom in ‘college’ or ‘alternative’ rock – but those pigeonholes fail to convey anything of their concise, mercurial, hook-laden psychodramas.
Given the band’s attitude towards conventional music business manoeuvres – somewhere between distrust and disgust – it’s no surprise that Anthology isn’t a traditional greatest hits album. Nearly all the band’s best known songs – Dizzy, Counting Backwards, Not Too Soon, Firepile – are absent, the tracklist representing personal favourites. Just one song features from their breakthrough album, 1991’s The Real Ramona.
Dizzy’s absence is no surprise. The unrepresentatively goofy song, from the band’s least impressive album, 1990’s Hunkpapa, is their Shiny Happy People. As Anthology shows, this is a band at its best when marrying the associative tangle of Hersh’s often striking lyrics ("I sing about dead rabbits and blow jobs," in her self-deprecating analysis) to shifting time patterns, jangling dissonance, and sudden rays of melody. Hersh’s stepsister Tanya Donnelly, who left the band in 1991 to join the Breeders and later form Belly, wrote some great Throwing Muses songs, but their conventionality always sat awkwardly beside Hersh’s work.
Throwing Muses are an island band. Water imagery recurs, and experiencing their best work is much like being turned by a wave; a big roller that leaves you, battered and elated, a good distance from where you started. The number of these moments on their first few albums and EPs, from 1986’s self-titled debut through to The Fat Skier EP and 1988’s House Tornado, is astonishing. This period dominates half of Anthology, and represents the high point of a nearly constantly impressive body of work.
There are occasional flashes of familiarity, usually from Throwing Muses’ contemporaries: the first section of Marriage Tree replicates the knotty intricacy of Guided By Voices; traces of Jane’s Addiction at their most incantatory attach to A Feeling; and Two Step’s lugubrious surf guitar nods towards Pixies, who played support slots at Throwing Muses shows on the Boston club scene. These atypical moments only emphasise the unique shapes of this music. Most of the time, from the banshee screeches that claw through the aching ballad Hate My Way to the nervy energy of Fish, Throwing Muses are their own and only context. Hersh once told a friend, "I’d rather be good in private than bad in public". Here is a powerful public reminder of just how good her band’s somewhat neglected legacy is.
On the 25th anniversary of Throwing Muses debut album release, 4AD are issuing the first ever compilation of the bands work, simply entitled Anthology.
Compiled by the band, the 21 track selection eschews most of the singles in favour of personal favourites, and enjoys a non-chronological sequence which makes for interesting juxtapositions and encourages a reassessment of the music.
This very limited release comes in a hardback book with a bonus 22 track CD of B-sides and rarities
Known for performing music with shifting tempos, creative chord progressions, unorthodox song structures, and surreal lyrics, Throwing Muses was set apart from other contemporary acts by Kristin Hersh’s stark, candid writing style, Tanya Donelly’s pop stylings and vocal harmonies, and David Narcizo’s unusual drumming techniques eschewing use of cymbals.
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Throwing Muses were the first American act to sign to 4AD, pioneering a singular form of ‘alternative rock’ years before the term existed. The band was formed in 1983 by step-sisters Hersh and Donelly, who were both at high school at the time, later to be joined by Leslie Langston and David Narcizo.
Produced by Gil Norton, Throwing Muses’ eponymous 4AD debut arrived in September 1986. Arresting, unsettling and sometimes downright scary, Kristin’s work was like nothing in the rock canon to that point; the young band’s playing was extraordinary, joining the dots between elliptical post-punk, harmonious folk jangle and rockabilly thunder without ever settling into standard genre patterns.
Throwing Muses won instant acclaim in the UK, their originality confirmed by two EPs, Chains Changed and The Fat Skier, in 1987. The following March saw the release of second album House Tornado, that was accompanied by a memorable UK tour which saw the Muses supported by fellow Bostonians Pixies.
1990’s Hunkpapa found Kristin experimenting with more conventional melodic structures, and again, also included compositions by Tanya.
Throwing Muses’ various styles meshed to thrilling effect on fourth album The Real Ramona, which was released in March 1991 and saw Fred Abong succeeding Leslie on bass.
Tanya left the band a a year later, helping Kim Deal launch The Breeders before finding stardom with her own group Belly, who also briefly featured Fred. Throwing Muses continued as a three-piece, Kristin and David being temporarily rejoined by Leslie for 1992’s Red Heaven.
Following the release of a Kristin Hersh solo album, Throwing Muses returned in January ’95 with their sixth album University and new bassist Bernard Georges, who also played on the following year’s Limbo. Both records were excellent, but critical acclaim was not matched by sales and the trio reluctantly disbanded in 1997, Kristin stating that her beloved group was no longer financially viable.
Kristin surprised her devoted fanbase in the new millenium by creating the ‘Gut Pageant’, a special event where the audience would travel to a venue to see the band play, as well as see a couple of Kristin’s solo sets. This led to new Muses material and a thrillingly raucous self-titled album, issued in March 2003 in tandem with Kristin’s sixth, wholly acoustic solo set The Grotto. Never one to rest on her laurels, she also formed the blistering power-trio 50 Foot Wave, with Bernard and drummer Rob Ahlers.
Let’s leave the band with the last word on this release… “It’s beautiful and substantial, thanks to awesome David Narcizo / Lakuna Design – a chunky, 28 page hardcover booklet and two CDs – one CD consisting of a hand-selected retrospective track-list by Kristin, David and Bernard, and on the other the collected b-sides, including the original Lonely is an Eyesore version of Fish, the long-lost Hillbilly and the original version of Back Road (Matter of Degrees). And yes, the release will be supported by Throwing Muses live dates.”
Thanks to All Music Guide and Wikipedia
Website Kristin Hersh: http://www.kristinhersh.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/90923594#
Pitchfork review: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15781-throwing-muses-anthology/
Genre: Alternative/Indie/Rock
Location: Newport, Rhode Island, United States
Tracklist:
CD 2
01. Garoux Des Larmes 2:37
02. Finished 3:53
03. A Feeling 3:07
04. Marriage Tree 3:11
05. Fish 4:33
06. Hate My Way 4:04
07. No Way In Hell 4:44
08. Colder 3:18
09. Tar Kissers 3:08
10. Mr. Bones 3:11
11. Limbo 4:30
12. Summer St. 2:19
13. Furious 3:55
14. Bright Yellow Gun 3:46
15. Pretty Or Not 3:32
16. Flying 5:51
17. You Cage 1:36
18. Two Step 4:37
19. Vickys Box 5:08
20. Mania 3:02
21. Cry Baby Cry 4:24
CD 2
01. Hillbilly 3:22
02. Same Sun 3:13
03. Amazing Grace 5:47
04. Cottonmouth 3:03
05. Cry Baby Cry 2:40
06. Manic Depression 3:00
07. Snailhead 2:47
08. City Of The Dead 5:41
09. Jak 2:26
10. Ride Into The Sun 3:12
11. Handsome Woman 2:12
12. Like A Dog 3:24
13. Crayon Sun 4:19
14. Red Eyes 2:57
15. Tar Moochers 2:57
16. Serene Swing 3:11
17. Limbobo 7:18
18. If 1:56
19. Heel Toe 2:49
20. Take (Live) 3:52
21. Finished (Live) 4:14
22. Back Road (Matter Of Degrees) 3:29
Photograph of Throwing Muses. Depicted in the photo, left to right: drummer David Narcizo, singer/writer/guitarist Kristin Hersh, singer/writer/guitarist Tanya Donelly, bassist Leslie Langston.
Kristin Hersh / Portrait, May 2010 / Born: August 7, 1966, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
David Narcizo, born May 6, 1966, in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
Bernard Georges (born March 29, 1965) is best known for his bass guitar work in Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave. / Interview with BG: http://www.blacktable.com/munson050303.htm
Tanya Donelly - Born July 14, 1966, Origin: Newport, Rhode Island, United States
Photo of singer Tanya Donelly performing./ 17 October 2006 / Author: Abby Ladybug
SWN presents THROWING MUSES
with support from TEITUR
The Gate, Keppoch Street, Roath, Cardiff
Tuesday 8th November 2011
7:30pm
£20adv
This event is 14+/Please bring ID
On the 25th anniversary of Throwing Muses debut album release, 4AD are issuing the first ever
compilation of the bands work, simply entitled Anthology.
Compiled by the band, the 21 track selection eschews most of the singles in favour of personal favourites, and enjoys a non-chronological sequence which makes for interesting juxtapositions and encourages a reassessment of the music. The initial, limited release comes in a hardback book with a bonus 22 track CD of B-sides and rarities.
Known for performing music with shifting tempos, creative chord progressions, unorthodox song structures, and surreal lyrics, Throwing Muses was set apart from other contemporary acts by Kristin Hersh’s stark, candid writing style, Tanya Donelly’s pop stylings and vocal harmonies, and David Narcizo’s unusual drumming techniques eschewing use of cymbals.
Let’s leave the band with the last word on this release...”It’s beautiful and substantial, thanks to awesome David Narcizo / Lakuna Design - a chunky, 28 page hardcover booklet and two CDs - one CD consisting of a hand-selected retrospective track-list by Kristin, David and Bernard, and on the other the collected b-sides, including the original Lonely is an Eyesore version of Fish, the long-lost Hillbilly and the original version of Back Road (Matter of Degrees). And yes, the release will be supported by Throwing Muses live dates.”
