Red Krayola, The – “Fingerpointing” – [Drag City]

Max Level   9/7/2008   A Library, CD

An alternate, spaced-out version of The Red Krayola’s 1999 “Fingerpainting” CD. Producer Jim O’Rourke had constructed the record as one long suite, with tracks flowing into one another, joined by abstract transitions. But Mayo Thompson, head Krayola, vetoed that version and proceeded to mix and produce the material his own way, releasing “Fingerpainting” in that form instead. In 2008, Drag City obtained the O’Rourke mix and it is available here (renamed “Fingerpointing“) nearly a decade later, with Thompson’s blessing— he had a change of heart evidently, and thought it would be worth releasing after all. It is a strange record indeed in this incarnation, with Thompson’s low-key vocals and guitar threading their way through a funhouse of drum machines, synths, loops, reverberation, and other kinds of weirdness. There are some interesting parts, but as a whole the thing ends up sounding like it’s strange just for the sake of being strange. When Thompson’s quietly odd songs pop up, it doesn’t take long before we find ourselves heading back into the sonic funhouse, without having really noticed the songs.