Kurt Weisman is right: more is more. Which is why, when I finally got around discovering and hearing his debut 7" (pre-Spiritual Sci-fi), More Is More, I had to drop my jaw open here. I love Spiritual Sci-fi, and this is in that exact vein of weirdness/wonderfulness.
Double-bonus, Weisman-acolyte and FG-featured musician, Salvador (Salvita?) Cresta, made this mind-warping video for More Is More's "(Syd´s snooze room)´s blues and leather gallery":
Kurt Weisman Orange
(2010, Autumn Records)
RIYL = Scott Tuma, Spenking, Sung Tongs
Following up his absolutely amazing schizo noise-pop debut, Spiritual Sci-fi, Kurt Weisman returns with a much more quaint, airy album on his sophomore effort. Gone are the knob twiddled, hiccupping electronics; this time around Weisman has gone solo acoustic, with Orange being blessed primarily by his tiny voice and acoustic guitar. However, if you are expecting all the dulled pleasantries that we classically associate with acoustic singer songwriters, you are in for a surprise (and it is certainly a pleasant one). On Orange, Weisman’s guitar noodles about, almost at will, often breaching into the awkwardly (read: wonderfully) atonal areas. “Atonal” may be a stretch, but this definitely isn’t some Nick Drake or Elliott Smith musing. Weisman’s sound seems most aptly described by that achingly obsolete “freak folk” tag. Think early Devendra Banheart or the drone-folk guitar work of Scott Tuma and you’ll be a lot closer. While I must admit that it was difficult to see the skittery electronic touches of Spiritual Sci-fi removed on Orange, repeated listens have revealed that Weisman has tapped into something deeper; an elusive song writing core that multiplies the spoils Orange far beyond that of your average or even above average folk albums. Weisman’s understated follow-up is certainly a treasure trove of musical gems in its own right and reveals that Weisman is only going to get better and better.
Kurt Weisman is a weirdo. I mean, you can tell by his choice of cover art, right? We've given that cover art a lot of crap since this album was released last year, but we have also given the music for which it represents a proportional amount of praise, and for good reason. As much as the cover may want you to think, "well, this is just bad weird," (Sassigrass still won't listen to him because of it) the truth of the matter is that Kurt Weisman represents the best most innocently creative "good weird" there is. That's why I love him.
Kurt Weisman
Spiritual Sci-fi
(01.2008, Important)
Verdict = Futuristic weirdo pop is so so good
Listening to Kurt Weisman’s Spiritual Sci-fi is an otherworldly experience. Clustered with both madness and beauty, I think you’d be hard pressed to find anything as odd and affecting as this album. I pushed the album onto Wooly Mammal a couple days ago and last night, after what I assumed was his first listen to the album, I got this random text message(way after “lights out” time around these parts) that read “Spiritual Sci-fi oh my heck!” I am not quite sure exactly what the text meant, but I am assuming that since Wooly was willing to break some of his personal cuss boundaries by using the word ‘heck’ that he was fairly impressed. Full of chirping, whirling, humming electronics, listening to Spiritual Sci-fi feels a lot like what it must be like to wander through an open air insect house from Mars. However, this ain’t no noise record, though it is pretty difficult to really say what this record is for sure. Underneath the aural mess that Kurt launders about the album’s eight tracks are some of the most affecting songs I’ve heard in recent memory. With melodic turns that will bring you to your knees and a beyond-falsetto voice that seems to embody the wide-eyed inner child that makes life worth living, it is no wonder that Weisman is so successful. Literally, album centerpiece and namesake “Spiritual Sci-fi” contains some of the most beautiful musical moments that I have ever heard. It is really breathtaking. There is just something really personal about the album. The fact that Weisman spent ten years toiling away at the thing is telling of meticulous nature of every little pop and whistle scattered across the album. An absolute essential of this or any year.
