Ecstatic Peace
2007
James & The Quiet
About This Album
James and the Quiet is the mirror image of James Toth's (aka Wooden Wand) Harem of the Sundrum & the Witness Figg in 2005. The latter recording was an uncomfortable collection of twisted elliptical songwriter fare that left the bleached out wah wah and free folk rhythmic and keyboard shambolics of the WW and the Vanishing Voice collective recordings at bay. James and the Quiet is a very different animal. Produced by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo (who appears here, as does SY's drummer Steve Shelley), both sound and songs are more deliberately crafted. It's clear from the minor-key opening of "The Pushers" that quickly gives way to electric guitars, a behind the beat drum kit and apocalyptic lyrics -- with Jessica Toth balancing out his reedy baritone with her fluttering alto on duet vocals: "We don't need this cathedral/We don't need poison people/We don't need not a morsel/from outside this temple/It ain't s**t that I shovel/I am quite on the level/And beneath broken egos/We'll laugh at the devil..." This is the Bob Dylan of "Masters of War" calling from the ether, and giving license to a full blown rock band. Elsewhere, it is quieter, with elliptical imagery born of excessive verbiage blending seamlessly with shimmering guitars, organ, piano and minimal percussion slip-and-slide through the mix with Toth's voice right up front.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8)

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