This Is Book's Music

Sometimes artists work too fast for their own good. I have here on my review table/deck a copy of Scott Alexander‘s CD, Makes 7 Or 8 Dollars, and I was ready to review it when here comes another CD by the man, called Makes A Big Deal Out Of It (Yomyamyeemyaz), which is two EP’s in one. Perfect, now I get a chance to review what I was going to, and the new.

For Makes A Big Deal Out Of It, Alexander gets a bit dramatic in his tracks, almost in rock opera/musical form. His emotional sounds are of course personal, very personal, diary entries he turns into song where you want to say “no, I can’t be listening to this” but you do. In “Why Are You So Horny?” he finds a lady so sexy and alluring but questions her motives or perhaps reasons she is who the way she is, for maybe Alexander prefers to be with a lady and not someone who he feels is not. His cover of Joan Jett‘s “Bad Reputation” is nerdy sinisterism, as Alexander takes the power and I-don’t-give-a-fuck-attitude of the song and places it within a minimalistic classical setting. You immediately realize what he’s trying to do, and the contrasts work. With the 7 songs on Makes A Big Deal Out Of It he could easily create a Frank Zappa-like libretto and I’d be along for the ride.

If you are familiar with his earlier work, you may find Makes 7 Or 8 Dollars to be that quirkiness you’ve been waiting for. I like it because you think on why anyone would do a song on the topics discussed, but he does, as if he’s Ween‘s cousin from around the way. My favorite songs here are “Penny Goofball” and “Pennies Are Annoying”, where the idea is that small currency is foolish but it can be of value just because it’s there. The songs are separated by a few songs on the CD, but the simply monetary connection makes it worth listening to. Add to that the clever ways of “Let’s Go Shopping”, “$2o Bill (Old Dickory)”, and “Forever In Blue Jeans” and it seems his observances aren’t like most people. Fortunately, Alexander isn’t most people, but finding common ground in his work will make him and his music endearing for life.

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