Bleak. Bleak, bleak, bleak. But good, in the end.
After I got Fragments of a Rainy Season I had a hunger to know if there is more out there that was as good. People, and reviews, told me Music for a New Society was essential. But it was deleted and unavailable at the time — no Amazon marketplace or eBay then. Fortunately a CD reissue came out a year or so later, and I ordered it via Record Collector. It disappeared again shortly afterwards and continues to be rare.
It wasn't what I was expecting. In the short term that means disappointment; in the long term it can sometimes be a good thing. I never really got on with the album in 1993/4, and it's been shelfware since then. I listened on headphones a couple of evenings ago and it half worked, but it sounded a lot better this morning when I was able to play it in an empty house this morning with my latte (the Boy was away visiting his aunt with his mother, getting the brake pads fixed). Those sparse, spooky arrangements and close-miced vocals, come into their own when they have a bit of space to bounce around in.
Some nice elliptical song-by-song commentary over at Fragments of a Cale Season.
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