Album: Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus
Artist: Cloud Cult
Genre: Indie Rock
Year: 2005
Label: Earthology/Baria
In my explorations of the world of Music, I have a lot of stockpiled good karma and it pays off often. One of these pay offs came in the form of Cloud Cult, a band which I was introduced to by my friend Alex. Cloud Cult power is twofold; for one, all the musicians involved are talented and for another, the lyrics are great. I’m not sure how to describe lyrics, never really have been, but they at times seem whimsical at others deadly serious. Recurring themes are things like overcoming great hardships, wonder of everyday life and positive energy. That’s one of the great things about Cloud Cult to me is that they always seem to be moving in the positive direction even when the shit hits the fan.
One of my favorite songs, “Moving to Canada,” is about the end of the world (sort of) but still seems more positive than the majority of music out there today. It’s nice to find something that isn’t wallowing in the doom and gloom of the world and tries to acknowledge some of the good. Another example is Transistor Radio. In the song, Craig Minowa (Cloud Cult’s leader) tells a tale of hearing his dead grandfather’s voice in his radio, his grandfather then leads him on a journey where he encounters wondrous but ordinary things, and even after his grandfathers voice leaves him he continues the journey. It’s a really beautiful story and it makes you want to believe in impossible things like that. Minowa’s songs are sung with an intense kind of earnestness. It’s honesty like that that also furthers the music’s wonderful feel.
The music is fantastic. Lots of it is guitar, bass and drum based, which is totally conventional, but thrown into the mix are a violin and what I believe is an electric cello. Proving that even convention can be made good with these days, Cloud Cult’s guitar rock is the perfect blend of arty and accessible. I know that usually I favor things with all the accessibility of a forty foot roof, but this is a rare situation where the “pop” aspect of this music doesn’t serve to discredit it but rather speaks to the artists skill in creating a sound that is both unique to them but still manages to be pleasing to many ears. This is Indie Rock, not polished pop crap so don’t be scared away from getting this album because I said the word “pop” and didn’t chuck biscuits. There is always more to say, but for now I think I’ll leave it at that. This is a fantastic album and you should pick it up now, because the world could use more positive energy. Ignore your inner pessimist and get this album.
1 comment:
yay! What a great review! I think you should know this though: in 2001 (?), craig minowa lost his 2-year old son, and to deal with the pain, temporarily became a recluse and wrote about 300 songs (the base of cloud cult's music). In my opinion, that loss is where his emotional intensity stems from, and the musical result of living with that kind of pain is one of the things that causes cloud cult to stand out.
Craig has implied that Cloud Cult was a direct result of needing to deal with his son's death. He stated after the release of the most recent album (feel good ghosts) that Cloud Cult may be winding down, because he and his wife Connie Minowa (one of the band's painters) feel like "the circle of grieving has been completed".
Hopefully this isn't the end of cloud cult though.
Anyway, just thought that might give you some more insight intO the band's sound and ideas.
Thanks for putting this review up! I agree that this is an album (and a band) that people need to hear. Especially "transistor radio."
-A
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