The great Ulysses once tied himself to the mast in order to hear the sirens call. Listening to Elysian Fields alone at night, I can't decide whether to drown myself on the rocks or plug my ears with wax. One thing is certain, if you've got a major case of the shakes, then you'll find yourself in good company with this band.
It's too bad the title "Bohemian Rhapsody" has already been taken. That would have been an ideal monicker for this debut release by Elysian Fields. But If you feel in the mood for a little risque adventure, try putting on the dog with this new artist. You'll find yourself transported into the back alleys of Amsterdam's red light district, or the French Quarter at 3 a.m. Like some jazz inflected Mazzy Star, the music of Elysian Fields is a soundtrack to a wet dream, a kind of theme music to carnal desires, and one with a distinctively European flavor.
Four selections are on this EP, all played at legato tempo with the dark overtones of diminished chords vamped against minor ninth scales. The sounds caress one's nervous system like the whisper of a bar room pickup, calling you to some late night rendezvous in the local boudoir. If there was ever a musical lacuna for the pleasures of the flesh, this music fills the gap.
None of the usual similes apply here. We have here a strange brew of sensuality and jazz with rock lobster rhythms and blue light instrumentation. Call it alternative jazz-folk-rock, smoke-filled bar, late-at-night, scotch & soda, ash-tray-overflowing-with-lipstick- smeared-butts music. Billie Holliday meets Lou Reed in a dark alley, or Greta Garbo does Torch Song Trilogy. With Oren Bloedow running down Gabor Szabo licks on his guitar, and Ed Pastorini's keys, Elysian Fields is marking out new territory for the miss lonelyhearts of tomorrow. Torch songs, yes. But more akin to the texture of film noir than traditional jazz.
The person most responsible for casting this spell is Jennifer Charles, who provides a radioactive vocal to the Elysian Fields ensemble. Like any good temptress, Jennifer's voice is full of smoke and mirrors, promising to lead you to heaven's gate, but never quite surrendering the goods. If Marlene Dietrich could return as a jazz singer, she might sound like Ms. Charles.
On a track called "Star," she displays a quaalude vampish quality, something like a lullaby for down home smack users. With "Diamonds All Day," she exudes a lush, glistening in the gutter feel of roaming cobblestone streets late at night in a bad part of town, when all the bars have closed and even the street walkers have called it quits. Another track, "Move Me," made me feel like I was on the wrong kind of medication but it felt too good to complain.
Some of God's children believe that spirits can be awakened by human voices. If so, Jennifer Charles should be in great demand by the poltergeist set. Whether she can awaken the dead or not remains an open question. But she's got my attention, and Jennifer Charles will do nicely until Marlene D. decides to reappear.
Unfortunately, you probably won't be hearing Elysian Fields mentioned on Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown any time soon. It is so far from the mainstream palate, that one feels a slight blush of concern for this group's chances of climbing beyond the college radio market. With only an EP to judge, it's too early to say whether this unusual group will sustain their first effort and find a niche for themselves on the alternative shelf. But if Portishead could do it...
