Mark Lanegan: Genius in the Shadows

Many of you are probably somewhat familiar with Lanegan's first project, The Screaming Trees. As grungies on Sub Pop, Lanegan released his signature voice to the public. The Trees were a part of the "main grunge group," meaning they worked with Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney. Chris Cornell produced the Tree’s album, “Uncle Anesthesia”, and Lanegan was a member of the one time only super group of Mad Season with Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Mike McCready (Temple of the Dog/Pearl Jam) and others.

What you MIGHT not know is that Lanegan has been making music since that grunge era. Since 1990, he has had 6 solo albums and even more collaborations. Some of his key partners have been Queens of the Stone Age, Hater (a project involving Soundgarden's Ben Shepard & Matt Cameron) and The Twilight Singers. Another very noteworthy collaboration is that of Lanegan and Belle & Sebastian's Isobel Campbell. With out question, "Ballad of the Broken Seas" was one of 2006's best albums.

I'm here to say that Mark Lanegan has done it again. I haven't encountered too much talk about The Soulsaver's new album: "It's not how Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land." The Soulsavers are an English remix/production duo that recruited Lanegan to sing on 8 of 10 songs for their new album. The result is an epic, dark electronica sound with Lanegan's depressingly beautiful lamenting to support it. Both elements make it one of the most depressing albums I have ever heard; yet at the same time it is simply gorgeous.

I'm going to go ahead and call "I.N.H.F.Y.F, I.T.W.Y.L." this year's best album, although... that could change if the Gutter Twin's album is released. The Gutter Twins just signed to Sub Pop and announced their album is finished. Who are the Gutter Twins and how is this relevant? Well, the previously mentioned Twilight Singers' lead singer, Greg Dulli is one of the twins. The other? This millennium’s Man in Black, Mark Lanegan. Dulli and Lanegan have been contributing to each other’s projects for several years, so they decided to record an album together as The Gutter Twins.

The moral of this story is: Mark Lanegan is one of the best, hidden gems of American musicians. I almost feel guilty, because while we talk about the sub-par albums this year, we don't talk about how Mark Lanegan keeps making incredible music that goes relatively unnoticed.

Here's to you Mark Lanegan... Here's to you carrying on the tradition of Johnny Cash and Tom Waits... Here's to the man who walked from the land of grunge into the land of dark blues and rough Americana. Here's to your amazing music...




Peace, Love and Keep Rock Alive!
-DJ KRA