Worried Noodles Make For Great Art

Various Artists, Worried Noodles (Tom Lab), eight out of ten stars. Are your noodles worried? Yeah. So are mine. I mean, in this day and age, it’s hard to keep the noodles loose and happy. Too much fear and panic. And too many bibles and prostitutes and holes. And never enough sentimental songs or blackcurrant jam. Right? I mean, it’s pretty obvious—at least it seems to be, especially if you’re listening to David Shrigley’s weirdly acute sentiments on the new two-disc compilation Worried Noodles. Shrigley is a Glasgow-based multimedia artist best known for his cartoons and environmental art. His latest endeavor—Worried Noodles—finds an impressive plethora of musicians setting his stories and words to noise and tune in a manner few could ignore. A handful of the contributing musicians will immediately raise your right eyebrow (Grizzly Bear, Hot Chip, Trans Am, Franz Ferdinand, Deerhoof and David Byrne) while the more obscure contributors will have you wondering, excitedly, Who is this? and then scrambling for the insert to find out. Listening to the excellent Worried Noodles compilation has me responding, primarily, in two ways: In one way, I feel like a young girl discovering a weird new world of music all over again (remember that chilling feeling?) and in another way, I feel like the lucky recipient of a mix tape made by that friend (you know the one) who had a sixth sense for brilliant musical collage. Shrigley and company hasn’t left my stereo in months. I realize the proper thing to do next, in defense of the aforementioned, would be to discuss in detail how and why each track come together to provide such a pleasurable mix-tape-like listening experience. But, in reading other reviews, I blur my eyes over the wordy individual track descriptions – what do they truly have to offer other than a colorless, abstract taste of something that doesn’t exist until you hear it anyway, right? I’ll let you decide what the instruments do, what genre they fit in and what other legendary musician the cut sounds like in your own experience—and then recommend highly it’s an experience surely worth having. I don’t mean to be difficult. But I’m tired of following a formulaic review rule that commonly serves as mere filler, and little else. I’ll tell you this: Worried Noodles is made mostly of “alternative” sounds—and alternative in the truest subversive sense. It’s the sort of careless alternative that harkens back to a time when risk-taking—or going against the grain—was neither intentional nor accidental; it was a non-issue and little more than a byproduct of honest, interesting, unique and, at times even, offensive art. And all in all, as music should be, engaging.And while all of the musicians present (other eye-catchers: Scout Niblett, Liars, Dirty Projectors, Mt. Eerie, Islands) are real talents alone, Shrigley’s intense, poetic lyricism seems to propel each song to a greater height, or perhaps served as grand inspiration for greater music-making. Shrigley’s lyricism meanders from paradoxical to sardonic to quirky to plain funny. “You don’t have to live in fear of me because I’m not such a bad man… You don’t have to lock your door at night cause I won’t come into your house,” Christopher Francis bemoans on the eerie “Live In Fear”. “…’Cause when you are most vulnerable. I will not be there.” “Beanbag, beanbag, whatcha’ doin’ sittin’ on that beanbag?” Phil Elverum asks on the drum-heavy “Whatcha Doin”. “…Crack pipe, crack pie, whatcha’ doin’ smokin’ on that crack pipe?” “You better give that baby its bible back,” Hank croons on the Country Western-tinged “Baby’s Bible”. “Hey! Hey you with the spade! Come dig me a hole! Hey! Hey you with the fist! Come bang on my head! Hey! Hey you with the mouth! Come sing me a prayer!” Shrigley via Alig Fodder demands on “The Hole”. “When was the last time you drew a picture?” Shrigley asks on “A Sentimental Song”, which is featured twice on the compilation (first by Cotton Candy and later by Mt. Eerie). “When was the last time you touched a leaf? When was the laugh time you tasted raindrops on your tongue? … When was the last time you climbed a lamppost like a monkey with a pretense? When was the last time you wrote a limerick? Why is there a picture of a penis on your fridge door? It makes me feel awkward.”Which is something Worried Noodles might make you feel—but in a quite welcomed and refreshing way. And, plus, I can’t remember the last time I heard a set of “alternative” songs so thoroughly thought provoking and enjoyable. I myself can’t stop listening. For complete track listing, click "here":http://www.davidshrigley.com/worriednoodles/newcd.htmTo order the compilation, go "here":http://www.tomlab.de/One of my favorites… really though, they’re all good.