To Spirit Back the Mews

To Spirit Back the Mews Artist: Various Artists
Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 656605922621
EAN: 0656605922621
ASIN: B0000649PM


Release Date: 2002-04-16

To Spirit Back the Mews


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Compilations | Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Do You Remember? - Jason Brouwer
  2. He's Not The Swindler We Are - Half-Handed Cloud
  3. Rebirth In Three Crude Parts - Roman Bolks
  4. Popcorn - Chatty Munchkin
  5. The First Full Moon - Sufjan Stevens
  6. Run Me Out Of Town - Jason Brouwer
  7. Noonhitsinglenoone - Peter Mills
  8. Guitar Guitar - Liz Janes
  9. My Brother Is The Meatman - Royal City
  10. Bells - Lowell Brams
  11. Ordinary Guy - Lifestyles & Vistas
  12. Dear John - Half-Handed Cloud
  13. Untitled - Marzuki Stevens
  14. More To Speak Of - Shannon Stephens
  15. Prophet Of Glory - Radio Evangelist
  16. Walker Percy - Con Los Dudes
  17. God'll Ne'er Let You Down - Sufjan Stevens
  18. Search Warrant - Chatty Munchkin
  19. The News In Repetition - Roman Bolks
  20. Christian Boltanski Takes Down His Christmas Tree - Matthew Haseltine
  21. Dog Gone Fire - Liz Janes
  22. 13-Bar Blues - Marzuki Stevens
  23. Cot-Roof - Half-Handed Cloud
  24. It's What You Know So Well - Jason Brouwer
  25. My Father Fits Like A Dirty Shirt - Roman Bolks
  26. Kedge - Therefore
  27. Burnt Rubber - Chatty Munchkin
  28. Bushwick Junkie - Sufjan Stevens
  29. Brooklyn - Lifestyles & Vistas
  30. Hot Party Beats For When You Want To Get Your Groove On - Calcutronicasoris
  31. Was He Really Doubting? - Half-Handed Cloud
  32. Song Of Sparrows - Birthday Cakes
  33. The Storm - Marzuki Stevens
  34. Genene - Matthew Haseltine
  35. I Can't Even Lift My Head - Sufjan Stevens
  36. Big Room - Lowell Brams
  37. There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood - The Welcome Wagon

Similar Items:

  1. Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation
  2. Songs for Christmas

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Spirited away.......2005-10-18

How do you have a label compilation album, if the label only has five bands signed on?

That's the first question that came to mind with Asmatic Kitty's "To Spirit Back the Mews," which compiles various songs by their bands with a lot of others that I have never heard of before. The answer lies in Asthmatic Kitty's 1999 founding in Holland Michigan -- apparently these people were all buddies, and now have contributed

It opens with Jason Brouwer intoning in a robotic voice: "Do you remember... that gum you liked... it's... coming... back... into style...?" Well, with that offbeat opening, it could be falsetto yodelling for all we know.

It includes three of the Asthmatic Kitty bands: the eerie, sad-eyed folk music of Sufjan Stevens, the cheery bouncy pop of Half-Handed Cloud, and the unsettling, sparkling folk of Liz Janes. Bunky and the Castanets are not in evidence here, although I'm sure they'll pop up in future compilations.

And backing them are quite a few talented bands: the offbeat guitar melodies of Roman Bolks, the rippling acoustics of Jason Brouwer, the rather limp harmonica country of Royal City, the foghorn mourning of Therefore. It skews a bit on the folky side, with slow tunes and only the occasional catchy hook.

But it's not all folk and country -- there is bluesy rock'n'roll from Con Les Dudes, angelic dreampop from Shannon Stephens. Lifestyles and Vistas win extra props for their roiling fuzzy rock'n'roll, sparkling stately pop tunes and lyrics about buying sushi. Exactly why don't they have a record deal yet?

And to add a sense of fun, there are little interludes like the opener -- "Chatty Midget" talking about popcorn, search warrants and wrecking your bike, Peter Mills making zapping noises, Marzeuki Stevens' weird noises, and the mini-melody of Lowell Brams. It adds some extra fun and cohesion to the compilation.

Some compilations dazzle you immediately, and send you scrambling to check out the bands on it. But "To Spirit the Mews" actually doesn't even sound like a compilation. Instead, it sounds like one big album, by a single experimental band that is trying out all sorts of sounds.

This can probably be attributed to the laid-back, mellow sound of all the various bands and musicians. The only weak spots, in fact, are when the sound gets too mellow and laid-back. Most of them, however, feature sparkling instrumentation, oddball lyrics, and little flourishes to keep things from getting boring.

Music Album:

  1. Dirty Sexy Knights in Paris ~ Audiovent
  2. House of Cards ~ Saga
  3. Live and Studio ~ Byzantium
  4. Archive ~ The Korgis
  5. Unlucky ~ Freedy Johnston
  6. Rick Broussard's Two Hoots and a Holler ~ Two Hoots & A Holler
  7. The Flood ~ Illbreak
  8. Feeling the Space ~ Yoko Ono
  9. The Appleseed Cast/PMFS/Race Car Riot [EP] ~ Appleseed Cast , Planes Mistaken For Stars , and Race Car Riot
  10. Happy Hippy Hits: 36 Flower Power Hits ~ Various Artists

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Grisman & Garcia ~ David Grisman, Jerry Garcia

Concerto for Joe ~ Joe Temperley

City Lights ~ Mark Winkler

Blue Spirit ~ The Blue Note All Stars

Recorded in New York ~ New Orleans Jazz Band

Sarod ~ Buddhadev Das Gupta

Nouba H'sin & Hawsi Chants ~ Andalous

Os Meninos Do Rio ~ Various Artists

Millennium ~ Evaldo Braga

J-Pop Hits V.2 ~ Various Artists