{"id":6619,"date":"2012-04-29T15:18:17","date_gmt":"2012-04-29T22:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/?p=6619"},"modified":"2012-12-16T22:37:57","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T05:37:57","slug":"nate-kinsellas-birthmark-new-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2012\/04\/29\/nate-kinsellas-birthmark-new-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Kinsella&#8217;s Birthmark &#8211; new release!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>New Music from Polyvinyl<\/h3>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-share-button\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" data-count=\"none\" data-via=\"reviewermag\">Tweet<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/antibodies-pic.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/antibodies-pic.jpg?resize=128%2C128\" alt=\"\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6620\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Birthmark<br \/>\n<em>Antibodies<\/em><br \/>\nPolyvinyl Records, 2012<br \/>\nReview by Kent Manthie<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n    The third full-length CD by Birthmark, Nate Kinsella\u2019s solo project, entitled <em>Antibodies<\/em> is out now, on Polyvinyl Records.  <\/p>\n<p><em>Antibodies<\/em> is such a beautiful album, you can tell that Nate went through a lot work in the studio, making everything sound so perfect; it\u2019s an album that will both mesmerize you and make you think at the same time.  The ethereal, sedate music is juxtaposed by melancholy lyrics written by a man who \u201cisn\u2019t comfortable in his own skin\u201d.  <\/p>\n<p>    The opening track, \u201cStuck\u201d, starts out with a m\u00e9lange of sounds \u2013 vibraphone, baritone sax (or bassoon?), oboe, etc \u2013 that reminded me of the eclectic orchestrations of Frank Zappa \u2013 but then straightens out into a more harmonious and soft song that is quiet, laid back but at the same time there\u2019s a perkiness to it, an upbeat tempo with catchy hooks and that is what makes it work so well \u2013 while the lyrics may be introspective, coming from a perspective and the person doesn\u2019t like what he sees in the mirror, it, at least, has the catchy tune which backs it up; in other words, the songs are not all dirge-like.  For example, \u201cStuck\u201d is a song that I, for one, can relate to, being somewhat stuck myself \u2013 in different ways:  stuck in geographical terms as well as metaphorically.  To quote a line from the song that caught my ear, \u201c\u2026I\u2019m stuck\/to the ones I love\/I\u2019m stuck\/with the occasional suicidal thought\u2026\u201d  When I heard that, I thought \u201cnow THERE\u2019s a song that is for me\u201d.  I too, sometimes, \u201cWish I didn\u2019t have a name\u201d and I \u201cWish I could get lost\u201d \u2013 so that is definitely one cut that will stick in my head.  <\/p>\n<p>    The things Nate expresses on <em>Antibodies<\/em> probably touch many people out there.  Not everyone is a carefree, independently wealthy, constantly happy person.  One thing I read that he said was that he tries to present himself as a \u201cpositive person in normal, everyday life\u201d but underneath that fa\u00e7ade there lurk thoughts of death, regret, guilt, remorse \u201cand everything in between\u201d.  <\/p>\n<p>    I mentioned that the songs are (or mostly) played in an \u201cuptempo\u201d way.  Well, yes, that is true, but what makes <em>Antibodies<\/em> so unique is the eclectic musical arrangements:  for instance, it\u2019s not your average rock \u2018n\u2019 roll album \u2013 meaning:  guitar, bass, drums (and sometimes keyboards).  This isn\u2019t like that \u2013 <em>Antibodies<\/em> has a full range of instrumentation \u2013 vibraphones, violins, cellos and clarinets \u2013 all played by Kinsella.  He had a little help from some session musicians \u2013 maybe to help out on bass, drums, guitar and keyboards (?)  But, in the end, it\u2019s basically Nate\u2019s album \u2013 he is the songwriter and the one who arranged it all.  If he played all the aforementioned instruments, then he must\u2019ve had a hand in the more traditional things, like guitar, bass &amp; drums, etc.  <\/p>\n<p>    The title of the album:  <em>Antibodies<\/em>, after one listens to the album, takes on a whole different meaning.  As opposed to the real meaning of the word \u2013 what develops when the human body gets a virus or infection:   the immune system fights it off and at the same time makes \u201ccopies\u201d of the pathogen so as to be able to more easily fight it if it comes back in the future (that\u2019s why we keep getting the flu or a cold every year or two:   influenza and the various variants of cold viruses mutate every year or so, not much, but just enough for the body to not be completely resistant to it, although the similarities that are there makes the antibodies work to help kill it off  &#8211;  \u201cAntibodies\u201d comes across (at least to me) as a pun of sorts, in that Nate\u2019s use of the word reflects the fact that he\u2019s often not comfortable in his own skin, in other words, the title\u2019s meaning changes in a way that\u2019s meant to come off as trying to convey the message of Anti-body:  a self-loathing that brings desperation to the fore and for a poet or songwriter, these feelings can be used effectively to fancifully write them down and use metaphors, etc , to express one\u2019s pain and suffering.   This doesn\u2019t mean the artist is being insincere, <em>au contraire<\/em>, he is being very sincere and, as a songwriter in this case, using his talents in a therapeutic way, getting the message out that \u201cthis is how I feel\u201d and hoping that there will be people out there who not only appreciate the music but can identify with the underlying feelings of hopelessness and melancholia.  <\/p>\n<p>    On \u201cShake Hands\u201d the \u201cbackwards\u201d string section was perfected and composed by Kinsella and to make it even more glorious, he brought in a real string quartet to aid in the recording.  The result is a blissful tune.  \u201cPacifist Manifesto\u201d is another one that features strings and is very brilliant and soothing.  The next tune, \u201cPlease Go Away\u201d changes tempo a little \u2013 it picks things up a little:  there\u2019s a heavier beat on it, more guitar and bass on it.  The song is very good.  It\u2019s as if he is just fed up with whomever it is he is singing to \u2013 he just wants them to \u201cplease go away\u201d.  No apologies, no French fried explanation, just get out of here, leave me alone.   But it\u2019s back to the melancholia again with \u201cYou Lighten Me Up\u201d:  \u201cI get so tired of hearing my own voice\u2026\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>    Then, on \u201cYour Imperfections\u201d, Kinsella tries to put his wife up on a pedestal of sorts, when he compares her \u201cimperfections\u201d to his, more major faults, which may or may not be true, but is a true expression of love. <\/p>\n<p>    The final track is \u201cBig Man\u201d.  This is one of the most brilliant tracks on Antibodies \u2013 it is expressive, a bit of anger seeps out.  A good example of his fiery lyrics on here would be \u201cThere is no god\/And the only thing real to me\/is that you\u2019re the man\u201d.  It sounds as if he\u2019s trying to cut down to size someone who would otherwise be a self-important megalomaniac.  But, the music stays quiet, it\u2019s a quiet, low-key song with just a couple instruments, a guitar and his plaintive voice, with a chorus of \u201cOOHS\u201d toward the end.  <\/p>\n<p>    In the final analysis, I must say that I am very impressed with Birthmark, Nate and his new album, <em>Antibodies<\/em>.  It is only 34 minutes long, with 8 tracks on it, but it still, somehow, feels complete, as if this is all he needed to say on this CD at this time.  If you\u2019re a fan of his cousin Tim Kinsella\u2019s band, Joan of Arc or other cousin Mike, who is a sometime member of JOA and has his own thing going with Owen, then you\u2019ll be happy to know that Birthmark is not unlike the others in that Nate too, goes his own way and doesn\u2019t follow any trend or path.  He just follows his muse and writes down what comes into his mind.  Bravo!  <\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<strong>KM<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Music from Polyvinyl Tweet Birthmark Antibodies Polyvinyl Records, 2012 Review by Kent Manthie The third full-length CD by Birthmark, Nate Kinsella\u2019s solo project, entitled Antibodies is out now, on Polyvinyl Records. Antibodies is such a beautiful album, you can tell that Nate went through a lot work in the studio, making everything sound so perfect; it\u2019s an album that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,573],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7163,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2012\/09\/04\/were-breaking-up-already-babe\/","url_meta":{"origin":6619,"position":0},"title":"We&#8217;re Breaking Up Already, Babe?","author":"Kent","date":"September 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Deerhoof The Breakup Song Polyvinyl Records, 2012 Review by Kent Manthie Tweet This year, so far, has been a pretty good year for indie music. 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