Tweaker- 2 a.m. wakeup call (iMusic)
review by Joe del Tufo

Track Listing

1. ruby (featuring will oldham)
2. cauterized
3. worse than yesterday (featuring mellowdrone)
4. truth is (featuring robert smith)
5. remorseless
6. pure genius (featuring david sylvian)
7. it's still happening (featuring hamilton leithauser)
8. 2 a.m.
9. movement of fear
10. sleepwalking away (featuring nick young)
11. the house I grew up in
12. crude sunlight (featuring jennifer charles)

Tweaker's second full-length, 2 a.m. wakeup call arrives sounding like the soundtrack for a moist summer night in some mythical city. As with their debut, The Attraction To All Things Uncertain, ex-Nine Inch Nails member Chris Vrenna has retained the help of such notable vocalists as Robert Smith from the Cure, David Sylvian (whose also performed the track Linoleum, the highlight from the debut), Jennifer Charles from Elysian Fields and Will Oldham. This time it's Oldham's track Ruby that is standout. His voice seems uncertain and foreboding (and subtly disturbed) as it drifts between tsunamis of guitar. It is a good opening track in that it sets the tone both lyrically ("I must try and bring a conscious end to night and hope that dreams begin to fall") and musically for what will inevitably be a dark and expansive sonic landscape. Worse Than Yesterday follows, and recalls recent Bowie tracks with the low register vocals (care of Mellowdrone) drifting above lovely lines like "I love the smell of arbitrary love."

Certainly the track likely to get the most attention is Truth Is, as it features the seminal Robert Smith on vocals. With half the new artists fronting vocalists that sound like Smith clones, it's almost odd to hear the real deal. Truth Is arrives as something of a disappointment, with Smith singing without emotion over a simple drum and synth beat. Though fitting in the context of the album, it's one of the least memorable tracks on the disc.

Sylvian's track Pure Genius is again strong, but not as strong as Linoleum. As one of the most pure and recognizable voices in contemporary music, it's virtually impossible to go wrong with Sylvian. Amidst a bevy of sonic effects and muted synthesizer, Sylvian tight vocals find a hypnotic rhythm in a track that is at once jazzy, postmodern and trip-hoppy.

The closing track on the disc is Crude Sunlight, sung by Elysian Fields vocalist Jennifer Charles. Sounding like a track played through a busted old speaker, Charles' voice arrives erotic and sultry, as if sung amidst an epic sex and drug haze. It is at once the most disturbing and most interesting track on the disc, and serves as a nice denouement to a dizzying and consuming album.

On 2 a.m. Wakeup Call, Vrenna has taken an element from his time with Nine Inch Nails and integrated it seamlessly into the fabric of Tweaker. It has actually been there on every track on each of his discs. It's difficult to put a finger on what exactly this is, other than there is a sense of something impending on each track. The elements are usually subtle, coming in the form of rising electronics and subtle and hypnotic beats. The instrumentation is more complex on Wakeup Call, with a mélange of instruments (including but not limited to acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, piano and full-on metal guitar) riding above an electronic pulse. This heightened drama forces the listener deeper into the music, and provides a unique context for these dark, often cinematic tracks. Like all great albums, it cannot be taken song by song, but as the sum of its collective effect. In that sense, 2 a.m. Wakeup Call is a rousing success, eliciting a sense of disturbing insomnia into the engaged listener, and rewarding him with a uniquely cohesive musical experience.

 


marillion- happiness is the road
tilt- million dollar wound
mickey simmonds- the seven colours of emptiness
ukz- radiation
pain of salvation - scarsick
icon- icon II, icon live
the pineapple thief- tightly unwound
planet p project- levittown (go out dancing part II)
nosound- lightdark
dengue fever- venus on earth
art of all- morgan
marillion- somewhere else
abigails ghost- selling insincerity
blackfield- blackfield II
damien rice- 9
the who- endless wire
the beach boys- good vibrations
the pineapple thief- little man
the killers- sam's town
tom petty- highway companion
hem- funnel cloud
emm gryner- the summer of high hopes
jeremy enigk- world waits
razorlight- razorlight
gps- window to the soul
iron maiden- a matter of life and death
thom yorke- the eraser
richard butler- richard butler
the flaming lips- at war with the mystics
ray davies- other people's live
david gilmour- on an island
nosound- sol29
jackson browne- running on empty 5.1
neal morse- ?
king crimson- 21st century guide to king crimson
shriekback- cormorant
depeche mode- playing the angel
pallas- the dreams of men
my morning jacket- z
riverside- second life syndrome
roger waters- ca ira
various artists- backs against the wall
riverside- out of myself
sigur ros- takk
killers- hot fuss
queen + paul rodgers- return of the champions
journey- generations
yes- the word is live
emmylou harris- heartaches & highways
van der graaf generator- remaster series
rob dickinson- fresh wine for the horses
annie- anniemal
dredg- catch without arms
foo fighters- in your honor
dream theater- octavarium
belle and sebastian- push barman to open old wounds
the go-betweens- oceans apart
porcupine tree- up the downstair (remaster 2005)
coldplay- x & y
nine inch nails- with teeth
aimee mann- the forgotten arm
van der graaf generator- present
christopher o'riley- hold me to this
glen phillips- winter pays for summer
new order- waiting for the siren's call
ben folds- songs for silverman
john doe- forever hasn't happened yet
trashcan sinatras- fez
adrian belew- side one
kaki king - legs to make us longer
longview- mercury
stereophonics- language. sex. violence. other?
for against- echelons
over the rhine- drunkard's prayer
kathleen edwards- back to me
kasabian- kasabian
porcupine tree- deadwing
the wedding present- take fountain
super furry animals - songbook
arena- pepper's ghost
snow patrol- final straw
rpwl- world through my eyes
tori amos- the beekeeper
kino- picture
monarch- the grandeur that was rome
spocks beard- octane
the wonder stuff- escape from rubbish island
richard barbieri- things buried
the pineapple thief- 12 stories down
the pineapple thief- 8 days later
the innoncence mission- now the day is over
zero 7- when it falls
pain of salvation- be
california guitar trio- white water
jelly jam- 2
tim bowness- my hotel year
van halen- the best of both worlds
glen burtnik- welcome to hollywood
charlie mars- charlie mars
porcupine tree- voyage 34 (2004 remaster)
saint etienne- travel edition
lanterna- highways review
hellboys- cha cha with the hellboys review
persona non grata- the fine art of living review
tegan and sara- so jealous review
guadalcanal diary- 2x4 reissue review
voices in the wire- signals in transmission review
roger waters- to kill a child/ leaving beirut review
luna- rendezvous review
jim white- drill a hole in that substrate and tell me what you see review
the drive-by truckers- the dirty south review
the blue nile - high review
lovedrug- pretend you're alive review
twilight singers- she loves you review
keane- hope and fears review
winds- the imaginary direction of time review
kristeen young- x review
asia- silent nation review
macha- forget tomorrow review
crystal method- legion of boom dvd-audio review
kevin moore- ghost book review
marillion- don't hurt yourself singles review
attrition- dante's kitchen review
rush- feedback review
tortoise- it's all around you review
division of laura lee- does not compute review
peccatum- lost in reverie review
iq- dark matter review
bass communion- ghosts on magnetic tape review
the push stars- paint the town review
virgin black- elegant... and dying review
marillion- marbles review
the streets- a grand don't come for free review
the veils- the runaway found review
all about eve- let me go home review
john young band- live review
mary lou lord- baby blue review
the divine comedy- absent friends review
pink floyd- the final cut (2004 remaster) review
prot-kaw- before became after review
jeffrey gaines live review
mocean worker- enter the mowo review
starsailor- silence is easy review
pineapple thief- variations review
lloyd cole- music in a foreign language review
david sylvian- blemish review
spock's beard- feel euphoria eview
guy manning- press pack sampler review
magellan- impossible figures review
the tangent- the music that died alone review
john gorka- live from grace church photos and review
hothouse flowers- into your heart review
charlotte martin- on your shore review
rasputina- frustration plantation review
stellastarr*- stellastarr* review
vast- nude review
sparks- lil' beethoven review
the damnwells- bastards of the beat review
dave gahan- paper monsters review
king crimson- power to believe review
fish- field of crows review
porcupine tree- in absentia dvd-audio review
new model army- great expectations review
antimatter- unreleased 1998 - 2003 review
catie curtis: dreaming in romance languages review
the gathering- sleepy buildings review
twilight singers play blackberry belle review
vienna teng- warm strangers review
opeth- lamentations dvd review
courtney love- america's sweetheart review
blackfield review
anathema- a natural disaster review
nearfest 2003 coverage
neal morse solo photos- metuchen, nj
porcupine tree broadcast
alpha- stargazing review
david sylvian at the tla
emm gryner at the point
barry andrews at the tin angel
tweaker:2 am wakeup call review
cure- join the dots review
fish live from the tla with john wesley
spearhead- everyone deserves music review
miles hunt (wonderstuff) live

full archives coming soon!

 



Studio M Live
818 North Market St, Suite 2R
Wilmington, DE 19801
302.475.9880

 

 

 
Copyright © 1997-2004 Studio M Live, Inc. All rights reserved. All content on studiomlive.com is owned by Studio M Live and may not be reproduced without written permission. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this policy. If you are looking for Custom Injection Molding you are at the wrong site, and should really be at Applied Tech Products.