Ugly Casanova

Ugly Casanova is an American indie rock band carried on Sub Pop Records. The band has only released one album: Sharpen Your Teeth. According to the Ugly Casanova website, in 1998 a man named Edgar Graham, a.k.a. "Ugly Casanova", impressed himself upon the band Modest Mouse while backstage at a concert in Denver, Colorado. After some prodding, he shared his work with the band, and began performing it early before shows while some people were milling around. Whenever he completed these performances, he retreated quickly with a look of anger and shame. After a time, a few small recordings were created, after which Edgar vanished. Issac Brock of Modest Mouse later recorded his songs in hopes that Graham would resurface in the music scene.[1] Isaac Brock has since revealed that Edgar Graham was "a fiction thing that [Brock] started a while back to eliminate [himself] from the band," to escape having to do interviews.^[1] Two pieces of evidence exist that suggest that the story was false: Modest Mouse's 1997 EP The Fruit That Ate Itself was credited to having been under the production company Ugly Casanova, which suggested it was a name Brock made up to retain creative control and publishing rights to his music while under a major label. Secondly, "Ugly Casanova" was the title of a song Brock wrote around 1993 (a recording of this song can be accessed at btjunkie.org). [2] The band lineup now consists of Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Tim Rutili (Califone, Red Red Meat), Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession), John Orth (Holopaw), and Brian Deck (Red Red Meat).

One key difference between Ugly Casanova in comparison to Modest Mouse is the more stripped-down nature of the songs. The lack of overdubbed vocals on some of the tracks is particularly significant because Brock is known for having a slight lisp which he is very uncomfortable with and often covered up on Modest Mouse recordings via double tracking and distortion. Ugly Casanova mixes indie rock with hints of country and folk, ultimately creating a completely unique genre. Ugly Casanova's songs range from acoustic ballads (Hotcha Girls) to overwhelming bizarreness with piercing vocals (Diamonds on the Face of Evil). The mood created by Ugly Cassanova's songs reflects the enigma that is its creator, Edgar Graham. [3]

Two tracks released by Ugly Casanova, "Baby's Clean Conscience" and "Parasites", appear earlier as unreleased demos of Modest Mouse in the Paracite Sessions purportedly recorded in 1993 at Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studio. In 1997 the fourth Magic Eye Single (each one named after its color of vinyl) included To Roads To Go [4] on the apparently now defunct Magic Eye Records, however, this was an entirely different incarnation of Ugly Casanova of Isaac Brock, Steve Dukage, and John Atkins of 764-Hero.

It seems that another release is unlikely, owing to contract issues between Modest Mouse's label, Epic Records, and the contract Brock signed with Sub Pop Records to produce the record.

Discography

• Magic Eye Single #4: White (Magic Eye Records, 1997)
• Diggin Holes b/w Babys Clean Conscience (Sub Pop Records, 2002)
• Sharpen Your Teeth (Sub Pop Records, 2002)

Songs

1. Barnacles
2. Spilled Milk Factory
3. Parasites
4. Hotcha Girls
5. No Song
6. Diamonds on the Face of Evil
7. Cat Faces
8. Ice on the Sheets
9. Beesting
10. Pacifico
11. Smoke Like Ribbons
12. Things I Don't Remember
13. So Long to the Holdays
[5]

Notes

External links

• Sub Pop Ugly Casanova Page
• An article about Ugly Casanova
• Luckyhorse Industries - Ugly Casanova merch page
• "Who is Edgar Graham?"
• An interview with Isaac Brock

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