Day 15: Mediocre Masters - Matthew Good

I'd like to take the time to introduce a new occasional feature in honor of the embarrassingly trite musical efforts I've stumbled across through my listening: the Mediocre Masters. It's time to pay homage to the astoundingly average. Lurking between the sexy glitch-tricity of Cut Chemist, R.E.M., and the personal vice of Audioslave (don't judge me - Show Me How To Live is fucking catchy) was the oeuvre of Matthew Good. I had the pleasure of two of his long-form works today - The Audio of Being and Avalanche. It turns out that between his solo work and his band I have six hours of his radio-slathering drivel. Give me drugs.

This man. Fuck him.

He hits all of the right beats for utterly generic music. He keeps his tunes at an even keel, somewhere around 80bpm. His voice hits that sweet spot of whiny/airy and unsupported. Its as if he thinks expression is summarily tied up in breathiness. Predictable percussion with a guitar riff slapped over the top isn't enough for this pinnacle of pedestrian effort. The requisite string sections make their due appearances in  songs that try desperately to be deep and poetic, such as In a World Called Catastrophe. 

Please note the complex motifs he weaves throughout this subtle meditation on death, existential angst, and contemporary sexuality. With startling, evocative lines such as

Here it comes, and there it goes/ Another day of decomposing light

He paints a surreal landscape where his inner emotional turmoil manifests in the ambiguity of distorted syntax and surprise antecedents.

At the risk of leaving a bad taste in your mouth, please enjoy some Cut Chemist.

You may recognize the animation as being from The Animatrix. 

Music left: 164.6gb

Cheers,

Bodhisvaha