Ancient Melodies of the Future

Ancient Melodies of the Future-Built to Spill

Released: July 10, 2001

Warner Bros. Records Inc.

Having nothing to do with Ancient Melodies and everything to do with the world, Barak Obama is the Democratic nominee for president!!!!!  I'm so excited and pleased and awed that I just had to say, "Right on, Obama!!!"  Congratulations.  Wow.   Less exciting news and also little to nothing to do with the aforementioned album, I learned three guitar chords today!  G, C and F.  My ring and middle finger tips feel a little numb, right now.  I learned these guitar chords over the phone, while being talked through them by Shawn.  What a guy, huh?

Okie Doke.  Built to Spill.  Love 'em.  Fabulous live shows; they have so much material and you never know what they're going to play.  Do outrageous covers.  Play with an intensity and focus that even infects shoe gazers with the urge to nod their heads in equally focused time to the music.  I vowed that next time they play in Seattle, I would get tickets for two shows, not just one.  They usually play two or three nights at the Showbox and they always sell out.  "Going Against Your Mind" is one of the all time best songs ever to start a show, that I have had the pleasure of seeing/hearing--but that's on You in Reverse, so we won't be getting to that album for a looooooooooong time.

So, Ancient Melodies of the Future.  Catchy tunes.  Short tunes, especially for this band.  Rockin' guitars and steady drums.  "In Your Mind" is a swirl of hypnotic simmering anger with the fantastic flourishes of an Eastern flavor perched above the guitars via a keyboard.  A steady acoustic guitar accompanied by subtle drums and bass.  When the electric guitar takes over, the underlying sounds of the other instruments don't skip a beat or soften, they keep going and it's all so very, very good.  There are even some ballad like songs on this album.  Martsch's vocals aren't quite as insistent, he takes it down a notch and there's more of a gentleness to the singing and playing.  And yet, those songs--"The Weather" and "You Are", in particular--aren't what a traditional ballad would be.  They have a definite edge and would hardly be something you'd want to dedicate to your loved on the night time airwaves.  (Do people still do that?  My friend, Marni, and I used to do that in 5th grade.  Only I'd call in and say that Marni wanted to dedicate "Crazy for You" to our mutual crush, Cory, and she'd do the same using my name.  We would huddle over the radio waiting to hear if the dj actually said the dedication and then secretly hope that Cory was listening but feign mortification to each other... aaahhhh... good times.)

"Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss" is the closest, I believe, that Built to Spill ever came to having a commercially played pop song.  Of course, I can't swear to that.  Since I don't listen to commercial radio (THANK YOU, POWERS THAT BE, FOR KEXP!!!!  You, too, can listen from your very own computer...) I have no idea what kind of air time it may, or may not, have enjoyed on corporate-owned "alternative"--gack--radio stations.   I remember walking into the Gap, downtown, and suddenly this song comes over the in store speakers.  ???????  I have a distinct memory of looking around to see if anyone else noticed--or even recognized--the song and then, for just a second thought, "It's all over.  Next they'll be playing at Key Arena and I'll never get to see them at the Showbox again."  Well, that didn't happen.  Even if they had the opportunity to play such a venue, I get the sense that they would decline.  And, despite it's "cross over" appeal, it's a fun, catchy little number.  Even a shoe gazer would have to look up to bounce up and down to this one...