Cloud Cult - Meaning of 8 (Dig)
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CD Details
Artist: Cloud CultEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-04-10
Music Label: Rebel Group
Soundtracks:
- Chain Reaction
- Please Remain Calm
- Chemicals Collide
- Pretty Voice
- Brain Gateway
- Take Your Medicine
- Your 8Th Birthday
- Dance For The Dead
- Everywhere All At One Time
- Purpose
- A Good God
- The Shape Of 8
- The Girl Underground
- 2X2X2
- Thanks
- Alien Christ
- The Deaf Girl'S Song
- Hope
- Song Of The Deaf Girl
Music reviews of Meaning of 8 (Dig)
Music Review: Floating on a musical cloud
Rating: 4 Stars
One of the most interesting musical finds I have had in quite some time; this is not your typical indie band...not by a long shot. Cloud Cult and the band's self-created record label, Earthology Records have shunned major label attention and continue to work from their geothermal energy powered organic farm as a not-for-profit music centered environmental and philosophical movement. Not exactly the normal indie band bio.
One reason Cloud Cult has remained independent is the band's dedication to being eco-friendly. Concert tours are made "green" by countering CO2 emissions from travel with acres of tree planting, purchasing wind power credits to power the stages and equipping the tour van with solar panels.
In the early 90s founder and front man Craig Minowa was pursuing his degree in Environmental Science and doing every sort of odd job (Including dressing up as Barney the dinosaur for children's parties) to stay afloat while pursuing the music dream. His first release was under the name The Shade Project in 1995. Such was the budget that Minowa used pots, buckets, couch cushions and whatever else he could find to make sounds for instruments he couldn't afford.
In 2000 Minowa released Who Killed Puck as the Cloud Cult. But without any funds to market the album his financial situation became worse. His son, Kaidin, was born shortly after, marking Cloud Cult's transition away from live performances and into strictly a studio band. Minowa spent most of the next two years focused on his family and environmental work. In 2002 his son unexpectedly died and his marriage crumbled in the wake of that grief. At that point Minowa threw himself completely into music as a way to deal with the tragedy. Five years later the Cloud Cult is a fully formed touring multimedia experience with six albums to their credit. Side note, Minowa also reconciled with his wife and she tours as a visual artist with the band.
No doubt the Cloud Cult has an interesting and unique story which brings us to their newest album The Meaning of 8. Imagine what would happen if The Flaming Lips and The Decemberists decided to join forces, maybe throw in Neutral Milk Hotel and Beck as well. Stylistically the band reminds me of The Cure. Vocally Minowa has a lot in common with Robert Smith and many of the darker guitar sounds take me back to those gothic Cure discs.
Beautiful strings abide in odd harmony with crunchy guitar and electronica. Hip hop and dance beats flow into acoustic guitar. Somewhat off-kilter melody dissolves into bell parts. It is dense and intense, constantly changing and totally engaging. There is no one style here; it truly is a bit of everything. But instead of being distracting it somehow works together very well. Not many artists could pull this off.
According to the band, the lyrics on The Meaning of 8 compare religions and philosophies from around the world with Carl Jung's theories of universal symbolism and the collective unconscious. That statement sounds incredibly heavy handed, but in reality the mood of the disc, while always intense, is not preachy or over the top. It never seems oppressive.
For example the song Take Your Medicine offers up; "You can take it in stride, or you can take it right between the eyes / Suck up, suck up and take your medicine / It's a good day, it's a good day to face the hard things." The song has it all; a great hook, relentlessly catchy music and interesting harmony with a killer middle eight full of bells and chimes.
I would be remiss if I didn't also mention Cloud Cult's 2005 release Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus. It is every bit the equal of the new release with a slightly more dance beat, hip hop fuzz sound. I can't really say which disc is better; they both are really very good. My advice is to buy them both, you won't be disappointed.
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