Peter
H. Cummings • Americans
Click tracks to play, use back button
to return.
To download track, right-click and choose 'save
file as..'
1. Americans 1:01
Comically serves as the overture and title track. A cartoon litany of european
stereotypes is offset by a cartoon image of Americans that have 'Roller Rinks'.
A snappy number with some bright fretwork.
2.
(Trying
to Walk Against) Your Own Wind 4:00
is a wry personal subject of Peter's- his penchant for embellishing his life
when meeting people. The difficulties of making up invented lives and keeping
them straight gets a propulsive harmonica-guitar treatment. A standout example
of how he'd confess about himself in his music while entertaining with a hummable,
bouncing melody- an ironic juxtapositioning, but ultimately a therapeutic avenue
of expression.
3.
I
Feel Beautiful (When I'm Next To You) 0:57
is like a classic Igor from a horror film who has met someone with an even
uglier interior. Harpsichord chamber music with a Charles Addams twist.
4.
There's
A Place In Every House (Where Monsters Suck Their Thumbs)' 4:56
Everybody needs a place to retreat to. Medieval Poetry Rock.
5. Maybe
It Is, Maybe It Ain't 1:28
Will he, or won't he? A bouncy number with a burlesque glee and a musical in-joke
going out to Bob Dylan.
6. Sacrament 2:27
A self portrait of the artist as an offering to the Gods- one of my favorites.
Wonderful organ solo and lyrical cadence.
7. Plastikinztruktschen 2:52
A ragged Krautrock parody that crunches and growls its way thru the instructions
for a plastic model kit, in badly enunciated Deutsch. Feedback mit ein biere,
bitte.
8. Silver Hat 3:22
The original, more acoustic version of the same song that would get a more
full production in 'Throne Of Wax'. Unsavory characters that haunt the thoughts
of a writer, or maybe a schizophrenic.
9. Count Your Blessings 5:23
A mini-drama about self-seclusion and the inner fiefdom that arises in the
absence of friends. Another bluntly oblique autobiographical tune.
10. Throne Of Wax 4:16
A swirling, psychedelic, haunting journey of a mote thru a summer microworld
of bees and hives and sunlight. Gorgeous melody and great lyrics on a flying
bedstead of dulcimer.
11. You're O.K. 3:36
An unblushingly sentimental song about a young man's yearning for a girl to
complete him. Very pretty tune.
12. Looking At The Wall 0:59
Another Residents inspired warping. Claustrophobia.
13. Final Lie 5:27
One of Peter's finest songs. A song about our rituals that we carry out in
our need to release our burdens, even when we know deep down we can never
fully remove the roots of our flaws.
14. The
Part Of Brie That's White 1:41
A gentle country bloke who lives a quiet life. An accurate description of Peter
when he was at his most content.
15. You Are Doomed 0:42
One last slightly creepy cartoon number... oh what glee for fate's pounce.
16.
Where
Nothing Has A Name/Sleeping Dog 5:26
The "retreat to my museum, where everything's the same, where nothing
has a meaning, and nothing has a name" segues into a frantic slideshow
of thoughts racing thru the memory banks of someone who has 'thrown the stones
that have shattered many homes'. A strong double-headed ending to the album.
Peter
Herrick Cummings • Music • Bio • Writing • Art • Share • Friends 
