Dig if you will a picture: a darkwood conference room at UMG/EMI/AOL.
Around the table sit several men in business casual, and a kind-eyed
tribe dressed all in white, or black, some perhaps in bloomers, one
with the head of a donkey. They are playing their new recording for the
record execs, who aren’t pleased. There’s too much talking on it, they
say, and the sound quality isn’t good enough. They only reprise one of
their “hits,” the only obvious single, “Baby Doctor,” is too long, and
they’re not, they say, releasing a record where audience is told to
kill the president. “Besides,” says the skinny one, trying to exude
confidence, “you can’t do a live record until your fourth release.”
Even in an imaginary world, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum don’t get to
release their new record on a major label, because even in an imaginary
world Live is an odd record. And not just odd in the sense that
if you know anything about Sleepytime of course it is. Live is
more like a fan club release. While their previous disc, Grand
Opening and Closing (Seeland) was designed to be a head-turner,
this disc is more for the indoctrinated. It’s culled from audience
tapes, so the sound quality while acceptable throughout varies from
track to track. But moreso, it’s filled with odd, one-off moments. It’s
not the best of the last three records plus a surprise cover thrown in
(pity on the latter, since it probably would have been This Heat’s
“S.P.Q.R.”), rather it’s a collection of the sort of moments that you
wish you had on tape after a show, or with which you can sympathize
anyway if you’ve seen them live.
Like a good fan club release, John, Paul, George and Ringo each get
their moment. Moe! covers Cheer Accident, Dan Rathbun tells a story,
Nils Frykdayh banters and Frykdahl and Carla Kihlstedt are great on a
version of what is here called “Sleep is Rong (finally)” from the first
record. Since departed donkey-headed drummer Frank Grau propels them
along well.
Still, if Grand Opening and Closing was a touring exhibit, this
is more something from the museum gift shop, a souvenir to remind you
of the time you were there. You had a good time. You don’t want to
forget it. And if that’s a lackluster endorsement, well, another new
disc is expected by the end of the year.
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