Drag City
2007
Xi
About This Album
Neil Hagerty has an amazing talent for challenging himself and his listeners. Though the Howling Hex name might suggest a more stable lineup than his Neil Michael Hagerty albums had, Hagerty has actually switched up his cast of supporting musicians as much with this project as he has on his solo albums. On XI, he shakes things up again with a completely different crew backing him -- resulting, ironically enough, in the Howling Hex's most band-like album yet. The Hex's latest members -- guitarist/vocalist Mike Signs, saxophonist/flutist/vocalist Rob Lee, and percussionists/vocalists Phil Jenks and Andy McLeod -- also chip in on singing and songwriting duties, giving XI the feel of a rotating, revue-like show. This isn't a coincidence: the band honed these songs on the road and then committed them to tape in three days, so XI often seems more like an especially well-recorded concert album -- recorded at a picturesquely grimy dive, of course -- than something made in a studio. It sounds like the Howling Hex had a great time making the album, coming off like a very hip, brassy house band on Hagerty's "Keychains" and closing with the furious noise-funk of "Theme," which would work as well as a show opener as it does as a showstopper.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,4,7 and 10)

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