alextheander
The saxophone has a good mix throughout the album, the sax gives the melodies depth, warmth and sets a tone that's heavy. Also the beats is very direct and prominent. I love the combination of the different styles. Favorite track: Saxophones and Rock and Roll.
Strange and yet..
No gigs, no shows, no dancing, no hugs.
Strange times. And yet.
Nothing to do. Just stay home. Couldn't be easier. Hm.
"Lately I've been out in the garden a lot.."
We don't stop, it's what keeps us going.
After my dad's passing, I certainly was in the middle of it, in hindsight. Wondering what was left, and left behind. And all of that turned when the dust clears I think, into an affirmation of living, more than anything else.
I'm still here, I'm still human.
"Can I help you somehow, with something else?"
---
To those departed, and those still living, in whom they live on.
Track notes:
"When the Summer Comes"
I remember short and overcast summers. What happens when it's summer all the time?
"Saxophones and Rock and Roll"
When I was little, I remember watching the California Raisins (youtube it) on TV, making a mental note that saxophones can co-exist in rock and roll music. I'm still trying to figure it out.
"Joy of Living"
It's not the fear of death that keeps us going.
"Basho Dreams"
Lucid dreaming on the guitar, somewhere on a mountaintop, above the clouds, take me there.
"Heron Blues"
Have you ever walked on a marsh trail to a wide open sandy beach on a foggy day?
"Knowledges"
Refer to 'human nature' in conversation and observe the reaction. Understand how received history serves the powerful.
"After the Fire"
Irrelevant, then dangerous. Damaged, broken, kicked around, ridiculed, bulldozed. Found, remembered, rekindled, lifted up, loved forever.
"My Two Brothers"
Hine ma tov u’ma na-im / Shevet achim gam ya-chad
Behold how good and how pleasing / for brothers (people) to sit together in unity.
"The Untrammeled, Destroyer of Ignorance"
"This shrub is not beautiful […] nor is it nauseating; if a philosopher found it so, that would be his problem, but nothing to do with the scrub oak. This thing is nothing to do with us. This thing is wilderness. The civilised human mind's relation to it is imprecise, fortuitous, and full of risk." ― Ursula K. Le Guin, Always Coming Home, Chapter: Pandora, Worrying About What She is Doing, Finds a Way into the Valley through the Scrub Oak
"Heart is Only What it Is"
Show up every day.
"Cinders Fell in the Grass"
In the summer of 2018 the forest fires were so bad that chunks of ash fell in the yard.
"Closer"
Take some time looking out the window.
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PRESS
"A life lived is full of uncertainty and often as disheartening as it is fulfilling. The mix of genres on the album mirrors this chaos. One moment it’s the jazzy “My Two Brothers,” the next it’s the psych-funk gem “Basho Dreams.” [...] The rawness of the recordings leaves room for the story McDowell tells to shine through. Its meaning isn’t hiding behind too many effects or tricks. The lo-fi production works beautifully on the closing track “Closer.” A guitar plucks away, not hitting every note perfectly, as saxophones wail in the distance. The song is chillingly bare, as if it’s being performed right in front of you." 4.1 out of 5 - TOP ALBUM
Divide and Conquer
credits
released July 19, 2020
Written, performed, and engineered at home by Matt McDowell.
All proceeds to EarthJustice.org - a nonprofit environmental law organization representing hundreds of public-interest organizations — for free — in their fight for clean air, clean water, and our climate future.
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