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I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle

 
Album Review: I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle

  • Artist: Portastatic
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1994
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Mac McCaughan manages to be extremely prolific yet maintain a high level of quality, and on I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle he created an idiosyncratic masterpiece. The guitar twangs out pretty but dissonant melodies while McCaughan sings oblique lyrics deep in the mix. His voice is nasal and slightly flat, but somehow he manages to evoke strong feelings in material like "Gutter" and "The Main Thing." This album set the pattern for the solo albums McCaughan released under the Portastatic name, with a wide dynamic range and occasional raging slabs of rock mixed in with quiet tunes. The instrumentals are almost reminiscent of Polvo in their use of drones and odd time signatures and are worthy of mention. The best of the rockers here is probably the bouncy "Silver Screw" -- what it's about is anyone's guess, but it sure is catchy. Like most of McCaughan's projects, I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle reveals layers of ideas with repeated listening, a feat very few of his contemporaries manage. ~ Richard Foss, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Mute2 Mac McCaughan Portastatic (2:13)
Polaroid Mac McCaughan Portastatic (4:22)
Gutter Mac McCaughan Portastatic (3:23)
Naked Pilseners Mac McCaughan Portastatic (5:13)
Tree Killer Mac McCaughan Portastatic (1:26)
Creeping Around Mac McCaughan Portastatic (3:23)
Weird Time Mac McCaughan Portastatic (2:49)
Silver Screw Mac McCaughan Portastatic (4:14)
Beer and Chocolate Bars Mac McCaughan Portastatic (3:22)
Had Mac McCaughan Portastatic (3:21)
Memphis Mac McCaughan Portastatic (2:27)
Receiver Mac McCaughan Portastatic (3:46)
Why Have You Come Back Mac McCaughan Portastatic (2:19)
The Main Thing Mac McCaughan Portastatic (4:12)
[Untitled Hidden Track] Portastatic (1:48)

Credits

Kaye Woodward (Vocals), Jennifer Walker (Bass)
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Wikipedia: I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle
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I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle
Studio album by Portastatic
Released 1994
Genre Indie rock
Label Merge Records
Producer Mac McCaughan and Jerry Kee
Professional reviews
Portastatic chronology
I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle
(1994)
Slow Note From a Sinking Ship
(1995)

I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle is Portastatic's first studio album. It was released on Merge Records in 1994.

It was also released in Japan with additional bonus tracks. These tracks are Mute 1 which is the same as the Untitled hidden track on the US Merge release, Replacement Parts which is mislabeled, and is actually the song Look Honey, Peaches (available on the A Day In The Park compilation), and Weighted Raft (also available on the Ow!, Quit It 2x 7" compilation). According to Mac McCaughan Replacement Parts is a unreleased song recorded for this album, but never released.

Track listing

  1. "Mute 2"
  2. "Polaroid"
  3. "Gutter"
  4. "Naked Pilseners"
  5. "Tree Killer"
  6. "Creeping Around"
  7. "Weird Time"
  8. "Silver Screw"
  9. "Beer and Chocolate Bars"
  10. "Had"
  11. "Memphis"
  12. "Receiver"
  13. "Why Have You Come Back"
  14. "The Main Thing"
  15. "Untitled Bonus Track (Mute 1)"

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle" Read more