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SIMON FINN, "SILENT CITY CREEP"
Durtro/Jnana
Current 93's recent concerts in Toronto saw the release of a smalltreasure trove of limited EPs and 7" singles. One of most unexpected ofthese was a five-track CDEP of new material from Simon Finn. If anyhave heard about Finn's activities in the years since he recorded thelegendary Pass the Distance,it's been through rumor and innuendo, and generally falls along thelines of: "Recorded one album then disappeared. Now a[psychotic/drug-addled/lobotomized] hermit, living in [a one-roomshack/his mother's basement/a sanitarium]." Well, the truth might bestranger than the cliché in Finn's case, who moved to Canada, gotmarried and became a soybean farmer, apparently. After David Tibetbecame obsessed with Pass the Distance a year or so ago, hetracked down Simon Finn at his Canada home, and arranged not only forthe reissue of of that seminal LP, but also this EP of new material anda few live gigs opening up for Current 93 for three nights in Toronto.If anyone had asked me to rate the chances of the elusive Simon Finnresurfacing in 2004 to play a series of live shows, I'd have rated thema low zero. I would have further doubted the sanity of someone whosuggested that Finn would ever record new material. Though it couldpotentially be a big embarrassment, Silent City Creep isactually quite good. It's somewhat surreal to hear Finn's voiceunmitigated by the murky echo and bizarre instrumentation to which I'dbecome accustomed. Instead, Finn's voice and gentle acoustic guitarcome through clearly, in five songs that reminded me of Tom Rapp (ofPearls Before Swine), with their Dylanesque melodies and apocalypticlyrics fraught with symbolism and mythological references. On "WalkieTalkie," Finn bemoans the isolation caused by the mediation oftechnology into human communication: "And we all go walkie talkie/Thenwe all go run and hide/Between the cracks of our illusion/From ourdepredated lives/And we hold on to our cocks/And we hold on to ourcunts/To assert we're still alive/And to tell our backs from fronts."Strangely, Silent City Creep does not feel more "mature" than Pass the Distance.In fact, it feels as if Finn hasn't missed a beat, picking up rightwhere he left off over 30 years ago. It makes me wonder if all of thosestories about Syd Barrett might be exaggerated.
Current 93's recent concerts in Toronto saw the release of a smalltreasure trove of limited EPs and 7" singles. One of most unexpected ofthese was a five-track CDEP of new material from Simon Finn. If anyhave heard about Finn's activities in the years since he recorded thelegendary Pass the Distance,it's been through rumor and innuendo, and generally falls along thelines of: "Recorded one album then disappeared. Now a[psychotic/drug-addled/lobotomized] hermit, living in [a one-roomshack/his mother's basement/a sanitarium]." Well, the truth might bestranger than the cliché in Finn's case, who moved to Canada, gotmarried and became a soybean farmer, apparently. After David Tibetbecame obsessed with Pass the Distance a year or so ago, hetracked down Simon Finn at his Canada home, and arranged not only forthe reissue of of that seminal LP, but also this EP of new material anda few live gigs opening up for Current 93 for three nights in Toronto.If anyone had asked me to rate the chances of the elusive Simon Finnresurfacing in 2004 to play a series of live shows, I'd have rated thema low zero. I would have further doubted the sanity of someone whosuggested that Finn would ever record new material. Though it couldpotentially be a big embarrassment, Silent City Creep isactually quite good. It's somewhat surreal to hear Finn's voiceunmitigated by the murky echo and bizarre instrumentation to which I'dbecome accustomed. Instead, Finn's voice and gentle acoustic guitarcome through clearly, in five songs that reminded me of Tom Rapp (ofPearls Before Swine), with their Dylanesque melodies and apocalypticlyrics fraught with symbolism and mythological references. On "WalkieTalkie," Finn bemoans the isolation caused by the mediation oftechnology into human communication: "And we all go walkie talkie/Thenwe all go run and hide/Between the cracks of our illusion/From ourdepredated lives/And we hold on to our cocks/And we hold on to ourcunts/To assert we're still alive/And to tell our backs from fronts."Strangely, Silent City Creep does not feel more "mature" than Pass the Distance.In fact, it feels as if Finn hasn't missed a beat, picking up rightwhere he left off over 30 years ago. It makes me wonder if all of thosestories about Syd Barrett might be exaggerated.
