REVIEW: Morphine, The Night (Dreamworks)
- Matthew Carlin
The late Mark Sandman could do no wrong by me. Ever since I first saw him perform with Morphine at the South Street Seaport in New York for the Knitting Factory's What is Jazz? Festival several years ago, he was the coolest rocker in my book of rockers. With tight black pants and a bright red button down shirt, a puffy bird's nest of hair, that wry but affable stage demeanor and his unforgettable low voice, this man was exactly what you wanted in a rock star. Then when I started checking out the albums I realized this guy was also one hell of a musician. With Sandman absolutely possessing his own style of songwriting, not to mention his 2-string slide bass and strategically employed taxi dispatcher microphone, Morphine were always truly "alternative" to me, back when the term was still in use.
The Night, though it's being hyped as a complete departure for the world's foremost low-rock band, follows the logical path set with Like Swimming from 1997. Expanding on that album's more adventurous instrumentation and atmospheric sounds, The Night is indeed Sandman's opus, but then again, virtually every new album was his opus. Also expanded are the song lengths. Where in the past Sandman limited some of his catchiest tunes to the two to three minute range, all of the songs on The Night take their time to develop for four or five.
Opening with the slowly swinging title track, the new album starts out dark, somber and very much Morphine. Dana Colley blows some breathy baritone sax lines while drummer Billy Conway plays with the understated taste he is the master of. Augmented by the cocktail drum of Morphine's first skins man Jerome Deupree and the expert cello playing of the ubiquitous Jane Scarpantoni (the Lounge Lizards, Sheryl Crow, Ben Folds Five, Bob Mould, R.E.M.), the wider scope of this production is immediately apparent.
"Souvenir" is Morphine's low-rock at its lowest, sonically speaking. Sandman's bass strings sound like they must be tuned down to the point of flapping in the wind. The haunting, single-note piano lines make distinctly Sandman lines like "I remember meeting you, we were super low/Surrounded by the sounds of saxophones" and "If I can only remember the name that's enough for me/Cause names hold the key, names hold the key/Souvenir of nothing," all the more poignant.
Along with the cool, dark tunes, Morphine always served up some of the niftiest party tunes (remember "Honey White") with fun lyrics and very happening sax lines. "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer" follows this tradition, with the addition of John Medeski's extra warm and funky Hammond organ. Meanwhile, "Rope on Fire" finds Morphine exploring Middle Eastern territory with exotic percussion, oud and a three piece string section with bowed bass, viola and cello.
Morphine probably won't win any new fans or break into the radio again with The Night, but the old fans are surely left with a suitable trinket from the coolest man in rock and roll.
