Daniel Amos Message Board | Print: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule

Posted by audiori on 12-21-2007 at21:49:

From our friend Tony Shore...

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Terry Scott Taylor is one of my favorite songwriters of all time. From his solo albums to all three of his bands, Daniel Amos, Lost Dogs and The Swirling Eddies, the one thing Terry always does is deliver great songs. The Midget, The Speck and The Molecule is no exception with the greatest lyrics of the year and songs that amaze me, like the brilliant “My Cardboard Box.” The only place to get this one is www.danielamos.com

The Midget, the Speck and the Molecule comes in at #17 on ObviousPop's Best CDs of 2007

CLICK HERE: ObviousPop’s Best CD’s of 2007

Posted by audiori on 12-21-2007 at21:56:

From Andre's year end wrap up..
(http://www.tm3am.com/index.htm)

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Terry Taylor brought the Swirling Eddies back from a decade-plus hiatus for The Midget, the Speck and the Molecule. It shouldn’t have surprised me that Taylor would make a terrific album, but it did – I was dreading a jokey, half-hearted chucklefest, and what I got is a worthy successor to Zoom Daddy. It’s dark, it’s clever, and it’s definitely funny, but Taylor has written some of his best latter-day songs here about faith in a materialistic world. It’s super.

Posted by DwDunphy on 12-22-2007 at10:37:

It's crude to talk financials, I know... But I was curious how this CD has sold post-pre-orders...

Posted by audiori on 12-22-2007 at12:17:

It's been selling well as a website exclusive. We plan to open it up to more distribution here pretty soon, so that will increase the numbers pretty fast. We just want to get as many DanielAmos.com sales as possible up front because thats where most of the bills will be paid, etc.

Posted by Pfiagra on 12-22-2007 at12:24:

Has there been any attempt to get this out to the guys at Paste Magazine? I know that they are big time now, but it would be great to get a write-up or even better, a song on the sampler. (I suggest "Cardboard Box" or "Madonna Inn")

Posted by audiori on 02-03-2008 at00:21:

( From http://www.tollbooth.org/ )
The Midget, The Speck & The Molecule
Artist: The Swirling Eddies
Label: Stunt Records
Tracks: 11

Carol Ann said it best in the promo for the film Poltergeist 2, "They're back"! After a ten year sabbatical the band that won't go away is back, and thank God for that. The band has changed personnel somewhat. This time around original members Camarillo Eddy, Berger Roy Al & the enigma that is Spot are joined by Picky Swelly, Judy Ism, Derry Air & Newt York Newt York with a special guest appearance by Eddie DeGarmo. Although Hort, Arthur, Gene & Prickly are naturally missed this incarnation of the band may very well be the strongest to date.

Once again the band has turned to that old sausage master named Terry Scott Taylor for the tunes that appear here. The relationship between Camarillo & Terry is still somewhat of a mystery and cannot be fully delved into here for fear that small children may be scared away and run screaming into the night. What can be said with the utmost confidence though is that the eleven songs on this album are perfect rock n roll from a seemingly perfect band. The production, the playing, the vocals, everything about this album smacks of, as Dr. Tony Shore would say, total professionalism.

As I sit here listening to this album I am reminded of just what a really great band the "Eddies" are. The decade since their last release has only whetted my appetite for music of this caliber, it is top notch all the way around. For more information on the band check out their web site at www.swirlingeddies.com.

Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock

Posted by audiori on 02-09-2008 at14:33:

From HM Magazine, Nov 2007...

The Swirling Eddies
The Midget, the Speck and the Molecule (Stunt)

The genius of Terry Taylor has taken many forms over the past 31 years, from Daniel Amos and the Lost Dogs to The Swirling Eddies. I would love to tell you more about how quirky, cool and fun the new Eddies record is, how it includes "My Cardboard Box," one of Terry's best songs in years, but the editor of HM has asked for a 75-word review. If you like Terry, you'll love this Record!

Posted by audiori on 02-16-2008 at15:59:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRDqb09Ddwk&feature=related

Posted by dennis on 02-17-2008 at00:38:

quote:

Originally posted by audiori
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRDqb09Ddwk&feature=related

Very nice! Pleased

Posted by Tyler Durden on 03-02-2008 at10:50:

Terry proves that his voice, vision and creativity are still roaring. I was very happy to see that the band is still taking risks and doing the unexpected on this album. Like all of the best of Terry's incarnations, it took a few listens before fully warming to the album. Every great release gets an initial response of "What? What band is this?" And then the music and lyrics sink in and you realize that great artists are are constantly pushing themselves and the result here is another thought provoking album that grooves.

Posted by sondance on 03-02-2008 at16:23:

been waiting awhile to post this idea and ask for your thoughts:

MSM while technically and artistically great, is missing (to me) the collaborative zaniness of the Eddies.

As someone else mentioned, it is more like a TST album than the SEs.
To me it's like Terry called up the fellers and asked each one to come by and lay down their tracks, then he and the knob spinners finished out the deal. That causes just a hint of disappointment when I listen to it - I miss the little eddies' witty repartee.

An example of what I mean is the song "this is the title". If the narrator was "we" instead of "I", and there was some shared vocals, and some interjected celebrations at their progress, it could sound like the Eddies. Instead it sounds like Camarillo getting weary of having to do all the songwriting 'cause the eddies are sleeping in their little beddies... this I do not believe because Camarillo and his buddy Terry could cover the backside of a rhinocerous with songs in fine print if they dared to. Still, it borders on being cute without being funny. Shucks.

Posted by Tyler Durden on 03-02-2008 at18:24:

Terry is the common thread for all of the works. I took the song to be a witty take on a songwriter trying to knock out one more song to wrap up an album. The theme of Writer's Block off of John Wayne is also written from the first person point of view as This is the Title is Terry penning the lyrics with shared credits going to the swirling eddies for the production. This has been the case for virtually all of the Eddies albums except for their covers album Sacred Cows.

This album has a great vibe to it and I hope that Camarillo was joking when he wrote that he just "completed his swan song."

This is the Title is reminiscent of the disconnect between the artist and fan found in Here I Am on Doppelganger and appears to be a bookend song, being the last song on the album prior to the exit of the old hitchhiker fading from view...

As far as the SE being more of a TST album, I think it is a natural transition from Zoom Daddy which had sharper lyrics and a little less collective frenzy ala Outdoor Elvis. I love the Eddie albums and view the musical collaboration to be the party with Terry being the lyrical maestro scripting the poignant insights.

Terry and the boys are brilliant on this album. It is my favorite release of the decade.

Posted by audiori on 03-02-2008 at18:30:

I wasn't sure what to expect myself. Since it was so hard to get everything moving and no one was sure who would be able to help, I was more than a little curious to see if it would sound like a solo record or even an odd mix of Dogs/Solo/other.

It definitely sounds like the Eddies to me. There are obvious elements missing - like Gene Eugene's wah wah, and the insane horn/saxophone solos of Lets Spin or OE. But it sounds like the Eddies in the 2000's. It feels right in line with where the Eddies were heading musically with Zoom Daddy and the garage-band feel of Sacred Cows. The Sax and horns were already missing there as well actually... and we already had Mike Roe contributing some guitar work, so that feels right at home.

"This is the Title" might stand out a little from the other songs to me as almost being a Dogs-sounding track musically along the lines of "Only One Bum in Carona Del Mar"... or maybe even a NEverhood-ish track like the "bonus room song."

Posted by Tyler Durden on 03-02-2008 at19:30:

Support the Eddies and save America.

I agree.

I listened to the album today as I was working on the fence. Fact: I was able to put up more fence with a smile on my face than yesterday when I did more damage than good when working without Eddie music.

Listening to the Eddies just might be the cure that the nation needs to beat this recession. America needs to purchase The Midget, the Speck and the Molecule with the rubber checks that are coming soon from George W.

Swirling Eddies=increased productivity=saving America

Support the Eddies and save America.

Posted by Mountain Fan on 03-03-2008 at10:28:

while i guess they do work, i still really don't like the xylophone parts Frown

sax or horns or something else could've worked much better ...

and medley of our hit rocks but is still just so sad ...

don't get me wrong though, i am thankful to have it Smile

Posted by Jevon the Tall on 03-03-2008 at12:27:

my two scents from the toilet bowl

Nearly twenty years after Let's Spin, The Swirling Eddies return with one of their most musically accessible albums. This was an album I had pre-ordered a couple of years before it was released, and it seemed as if it would be a race to see which came first the rapture of the news Eddies album. To be honest I'd just about written this off as a learning experience - then it arrived. I have to admit that after a few cursory listens I was pretty happy with this album but then it got lost in the pile of other stuff that crossed my desk. Then as I was thinking about the most anticipated albums of 2007 this one came to mind. So I dug it out of the library to give it another spin.

The Eddies have always been an odd side project - each album is different. The sound this time out is a bit of Buechner's era DA, with elements of Lost Dogs, and Terry's Imaginarium mushed together. It's an odd mix that feels natural. The songs have a looseness to them that feels like a comfortable old shoe. Musically and lyrically Terry is in top form. The songs here are cover a lot of ground. "Snow in a Can" is a nice bookend to "Snowball" from the debut.

The only real head scratcher here is the strangely vindictive "Medley of Our Hit" - which seems oddly out of character for Terry, but is perhaps right on the money for Camarillo. It's not everyday Terry flips his listeners the bird. There was a flap over the pre-orders and I'm guessing some of the "executive producers" weren't happy with the timeliness of the release. Whatever the reason, the song is a long sour note, and frankly the anger in the song surprised me. It actually takes away from an otherwise excellent album. Still this is the Eddies, and if Sacred Cows is a barometer for anything, it's that the band pulls no punches and funny is funny unless the barbs are aimed at you.

The album is a worthy addition to the Eddies catalog and showcases a bunch of old farts who are more full of Mountain Dew and vinegar than most of today's angry young men. There's nothing in the world like an angry old man who has nothing to prove, but keeps going on principle.

If this is truly the swansong alluded to on "This Is The Title - The Old Hitchhiker" then the Eddies went out on their terms.

Posted by Audiori J on 03-03-2008 at13:31:

I am really suprised at how some miss the point and spirit of "Medly of our Hit" entirely.

Posted by Mountain Fan on 03-03-2008 at13:57:

quote:

Originally posted by Audiori J
I am really suprised at how some miss the point and spirit of "Medly of our Hit" entirely.

sure

Posted by Audiori J on 03-03-2008 at14:11:

I am suprised. When Terry/Camarillo told us he wrote some song about the situation he was laughing and saying it was the funniest song on the album. The reason it is funny is because it is entirely self deprecating. He took what was essentially an ugly situation and turned it into a self deprecating joke, and at the same time tried to convey a little bit of perspective. I believe the last verse is a good summary of the point of the entire song;

do you think this is something?
we’ll let’s hear from st. paul:
"no this is nothin,’ really nothin’ at all"
compared to coming glory
it don’t compare a bit
just another sad story
of another piece of hit

He is saying his own music is a "piece of hit" that is not worth all this commotion. "Just another sad story.. of another piece of hit" aludes to the fact that this is nothing new in Uncle Terry's career, anyone that has followed their career knows they generally have had to struggle to get any music out. Having to wait for one of his pieces of "hit" does not constitute suffering, especially when the reason everyone is waiting is because;

cos we’re on empty
so fill up our tank
with good and plenty, milk and
honey, and money in the bank

There is no angry mean spirited point or spirit behind the song at all.