The Instruments '
bandleader, Elephant 6 stalwart Heather McIntosh, plays both bass and
cello-- in fact, she's signed on as the touring bassist (and occasional
cellist) for high-concept nu-soul men Gnarls Barkley --
and it's her secondary instrument that gives "Ode to the Sea" its
undulating ebb and flow. From McIntosh's Athens, Ga.-based band's new
album, Dark Småland , the song settles into a modal, druidic
folkie expanse, rippling back and forth beguilingly without ever
breaking loose and flooding the land. (Sorry, global warming fans,
guess they wrote this before McCain announced his brilliant summer gas
tax holiday.) Not that McIntosh's bass playing isn't vital to the
track, too, burbling beneath the glassy surface of repetitive guitars
and jazzy drumming for a sound that's somewhere between Five Leaves Left and Astral Weeks .
Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum adds his clear, soft voice to
McIntosh's higher, softer one. "Here is my ode to the sea," the two
intone, more mantra than lyric, on a song where the message is in the
music's tidal drift.
MP3:> The Instruments [ft. Jeff Mangum]: "Ode to the Sea"
[from Dark Småland ; due 05/13/08 from Orange Twin ]
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