Monk Turner and Fascinoma - Emergency Songs

 - San Francisco, California -

"This is a letter to the Los Angeleans
with trepidation I write this song
I have lived among you many years and never before have I felt so compelled
but my heart trembles for our future…"

“Letter to the Los Angeleans [BEFORE]” - Emergency Songs

Odd as it may seem, sometimes self-imposed artistic limitations can fuel artistic creativity. Setting restrictions in theme, story, or style can force one to delve deeper into the potential of what he has to create a work much more intriguing than it might be otherwise. A common tool of restriction that artists use is the concept album, which loosely refers to an album that is constrained by a particular idea, story, or theme. Story-based concept albums include The Wall by Pink Floyd. Theme-based works include Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois and Michigan, which both revolve around a specific U.S. state. The album Emergency Songs by Fascinoma and Monk Turner is a blend of these two styles; each song tells the story of a particular individual’s story, but all of the individuals share a common location and cataclysmic event. The thematic and musical elements of Emergency Songs are nothing short of superb; aside from a limited number of mix issues, the album shines as a concept album and an exploration of the pettiness and frailty of modern society in the context of a natural disaster.

Monk Turner and Fascinoma - Emergency Songs (2011)The uniting event in Emergency Songs is a massive earthquake near Los Angeles, California. The locale of Los Angeles is not a random selection; in the ten years that I lived in Southern California, I heard countless times of the massive, once-in-a-century earthquake that was “due” to come to the Los Angeles area any day. Emergency Songs takes this event, which still has yet to take place, and places it in context of the residents of Los Angeles. Each song tells the brief story of a different individual either before or after the earthquake. The brief amount of time given to each individual, combined with the everyday, accessible tone and language in the songs, causes the characters in the album to be relatable in their lack of remarkability. This commonness allows the influence of the earthquake itself on everyday life to shine through; the desperation and sense of dependence in “Lover Won’t You Hold Me” and “After Disaster,” which occur later after the earthquake in the album, contrasts sharply with the frustration in songs such as “Trust (Is Just A Word).” Even though very little time is given to the earthquake itself (four minutes of a thirty-six minute album), the earthquake’s ability to unmask the over-accelerated and careless tendencies of southern American society remain in the forefront through the entire project.

Musically, the album is quite intriguing. I am not familiar with the former works of Monk Turner or Fascinoma, but I am impressed with both the vocal and instrumental work on Emergency Songs. The album carries a jazz/folk feel throughout, but it also has definite rock influences, culminating in the climactic song “HOLD ON!”, the one track that directly addresses the earthquake. The songs generally consist of a conventional combination of verses and choruses, but the instrumentation on the album is both varied and high-quality, supporting the lead vocal and stories of the album very well without obscuring the message of the album.

The only issue that I have with this album is the mix of one song—“HOLD ON!”. As the most musically exciting and thematically chaotic part of the album, much of the project’s strength lies in the power and aggression of this track. However…it is far too quiet. As I worked very heavily in the style that this song aims for when mixing my own album, I can appreciate the difficulties involved in mixing a rock piece. Making a rock song sound powerful without making it into a cacophony of unintelligible distortion and overdrive is a Herculean task, especially if one is not a professional mixer. If one does not have the resources to properly compress and process a rock piece, the song can end up sounding somewhat quiet and unimpressive. It seems that this was the fate of “HOLD ON!” – its low volume contrasts sharply with the neighboring jazz-folk tracks, which would have been much less difficult to mix and master due to the lack of distorted and overdriven instruments. Even though I wish this song was mixed better, I cannot be too harsh about this one song since the other eleven were mixed so well.

I am greatly impressed with Emergency Songs—and I am even more impressed that Monk Turner is providing it as a free download on his website. It is one thing to provide one’s music for free when no one would pay for it—it is quite another when an album is of a musical and thematic caliber to be worth paying for. Emergency Songs is now a permanent part of my musical collection, and I will be following Turner and Fascinoma’s future releases very closely. I will also be downloading and listening to Monk Turner’s other albums, which he has also provided for free. I cannot recommend this album highly enough for fans of jazz, folk, and just a touch of rock-and-roll.

If you'd like to download the album yourself, follow the link here.

Rating: 4.5/5 Sour Grapes

JK