Hey folks!

Today’s Best Album of 2001 match is:

#25 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE

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vs.

#40 Aphex Twin, DRUKQS

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To vote, follow this link to the Google Form. You will need a Google login to vote. If you can’t or won’t have one, let me know ASAP (either through this newsletter, my email [kentmbeeson@hey.com] or on the Best Album Brackets Bluesky account) and I’ll see what I can do.

We have dueling Designated Cheerleaders today! First up, for THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE, it’s @alex-mitrani.bsky.social. Take it away, Alex!

This is going to be short and sweet because I only started listening to Tyranny of Distance this year, although I may have heard several of the songs earlier on live recordings. I like it a lot and it’s grown on me a bit with each repeat listen. Plenty of good tunes that rock intensely without being abrasive or crushing. Some of the guitar lines, while being totally electric and rocking, bring to my mind more traditional instrumentation like bagpipes and fiddles, there’s something folky about them.

The album title comes from a line in the song ‘Six Months in a Leaky Boat’ by Split Enz, a song which Ted Leo has covered twice, which itself references a history book called ‘the tyranny of distance (how distance shaped Australia’s history)’ (Blainey 1966).

The tyranny of distance

Didn’t stop the cavalier

So why should it stop me?

I’ll conquer and stay free (Split Enz 1982)

Lyrical themes are varied, several seem to have nautical themes as does the cover art, and some of them go quite deep. Some images appear in several songs, for instance ‘parallel run streams’ in biomusicology is followed by ‘parallel or together’ which makes me think of the lines of longitude which run parallel but converge at the poles. ‘Dial Up’ discusses over twenty years of history and the influence of british punk band Crass. Their independent way of living and working inspired many others, and they lived at a place called Dial House which was under threat of eviction at the time the music for this album was being written (Aitch 2001).

The Tyranny of Distance was recorded February 17 - March 3, 2001 and it was released in June 2001 (Ted Leo / Pharmacists 2001). All songs written by Ted Leo who sings and plays guitar. The Pharmacists on this record included no less than 4 different drummers (James Canty, Brendan Canty, Seb Thomson and Danny Leo), James Canty (Nation of Ulysses, Make Up) on second guitar, Alex Minoff and Pete Kerlin on bass, plus Amy Dominguez on cello (who also played cello on Fugazi’s The Argument a month or so earlier). Production was by Brendan Canty (Fugazi) and the recording engineer was Seb Thomson (Trans Am).

There’s a very good article on the making of this record by John Vettesse that is recommended reading for further information (Vettese 2016).

There is a collection of live recordings by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (approved by the band) on the Internet Archive (Leo and Pharmacists 2024). The show at Brownies in New York City on 2001-09-02 is a good recording that includes live renditions of 9 of the 12 songs from Tyranny of Distance (Leo and Pharmacists 2001).

Have a listen, it’s worth at least 48 minutes and 54 seconds of your time.

Thank you, Alex!

Then, for DRUKQS, it’s @locraen.bsky.social! Take it away, argle-bargle!

Who is Drukqs for, exactly?

Before we can speculate, we have to begin with some facts, or at least what passes for "facts" from a narrator as notoriously unreliable as Richard D. James:

1. Sometime around April or May 2001, Mr. James was on a flight to Scotland.

2. In his possession was an mp3 player containing 282 unreleased Aphex Twin tracks and another
80 unreleased Squarepusher tracks.

3. He left the mp3 player on the plane, and it was never seen or heard again, even though he had written "Aphex Twin-_Unreleased Tracks" on it.

4. Drukqs, which was comprised of 30 of those 282 tracks, was mastered in July and released on October 22.

And that's it. Those are all the facts. At least, those are what we are going to have to accept as facts until we know better. Let's move into speculation.

Mr. James claims that Drukqs was rushed to release because of a concern that tracks from the missing mp3 would start popping up on the internet. The timeline of events above gives some credence to this claim. To a degree, so does the content and structure of the album itself. If you are not paying attention, the album can seem a bit disjointed and haphazard, "kind of like an mp3 album, really,” as Mr. James himself concedes.

So perhaps Drukqs is for Mr. James's bank accounts. He has certainly joked/not joked(?) about it being all about the money. But that's obviously not correct. A person doing it for the money wouldn’t release an album nearly half-filled with short pieces for prepared piano. No one can dance to that!

[Before we go any further, I'd encourage you to go put the album on right now if you haven't already. Go ahead. We'll wait. Start anywhere. Hit shuffle. It doesn’t really matter. And don't be intimidated by the 101-minute run time! It's ok if you don't listen to the whole thing, or even half of it. If one of the tracks or movements isn't working for you, skip to the next one. "You could listen to all of it in one go, but I think you'd be dead if you did," Mr. James admits. That said, I have done so many times and I’m still breathing, I think. Ok, you're listening now? Onward then.]

But the so-called rushed production, the disjointed structure, and the lack of boundary-pushing material could hint at something else. There was a lot of speculation in 2001 that Mr. James was pretty clearly over working with Warp Records, and that Mr. James —specifically operating under the Aphex Twin moniker — had released five of the six albums that he was contractually obligated to release with the label.

So perhaps Drukqs is for the record label. And it is, but it also isn't, at least not to end a contract.
Aphex Twin went on to release nine EPs and an additional album on Warp.

Drukqs wasn't for the critics; that much we can say with some degree of certainty. It's a sprawling, kind of mishmash of a double LP spanning territories that had been well-explored before, which annoyed most contemporary musick reviewers. What have you done for me lately, Aphex Twin? Given that it had been four years since he'd released anything under the Aphex Twin name--the Come to Daddy EP--it's hard to give them too much grief for expecting some exciting! new! sound! After all, it's what Aphex Twin had provided up to that point. There are ambient adjacent pieces, like "Gwely Mernans” or "Bbydhyonchord" that would've felt right at home on Selected Ambient Works, Volume II, for example. There are some bare-bones drum 'n' bass tracks like "Gwarek2.” which is almost like a noise collage. There are jungle and drill 'n' bass tracks like "Omgyjya-Switch 7," or the masterful "Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount,” which was well-worn territory for Aphex Twin, especially on 1996’s Richard D. James Album.

And of course, there are the many pieces recorded on a Disklavier piano that was prepared with "screws and nails and bits of rubber," to which Mr. James concedes were influenced John Cage and Erik Satie, the latter of whom was his favorite piano composer. Although "Hy a Scullyas Lyf Adhagrow is my favorite of these, the most ubiquitous, of course, is "Avril 14," which is one of the two or three most streamed songs in all of Richard D. James's catalogue, likely to his chagrin. (Oddly, April 14 features prominently on another album from 2001 Gillian Welch's Time (The Revelator) — in which it is referred to as "Ruination Day." One wonders whether it may have been the very day that Mr. James took that fateful flight to Scotland. At the very least, it's a strange coincidence!).

So, no, Drukqs is not breaking new ground. Mr. James opined that the tracks don't really sound new, "style-wise," but they are new "depth-wise." "I haven't done something in so much detail before. There's about a hundred times more details than in older ones." If you’ve been listening to the album on a set of good headphones, then you probably already know this to be true. Drukqs is something of a culmination of everything that Aphex Twin had released before, but done better and more maximalist. Most days I would even say that it's my favorite Aphex Twin album for those very reasons (other days it's 2014's Syro, but that's still a long ways away from here. There is just so much there; I dare say Drukqs has at least a lil something for everyone. Let it wash over you, and I can almost guaranty that you'll find some tracks to like.

So. Who is Drukqs for, exactly?

All of us, of course!

Thank you, argle-bargle!

THIS JUST IN: We have a second DC for THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE! I was going to hold off until Round 3, but as of this writing, there’s only a 5-vote difference. so here it is. I’m not sure how the author wants to be credited, and they don’t appear to be on Bluesky, so will refer to them as “John T.” Fair warning, this one’s pretty long, but please give it your time. Thanks! Take it away, John!

Ted Leo is one of those musicians that, if you’re predisposed to like the kind of music he makes (wordy, melodic, punk-inspired rock that can turn on a dime from deep human tenderness, to bitter anger to painfully earnest political commentary, all set to some of the best guitar work this side of Thin Lizzy) then you’ll probably LOVE him. He’s the kind of cult artist where every member of the cult felt like he should have been the next Springsteen or Strummer and will not let the point drop. I say this from deep inside the cult myself, for whatever credibility that earns or denies me.

His indie pedigree is spotless. He started in the NY/NJ punk scene in high school, playing in Citizen’s Arrest, Animal Crackers and Puzzlehead before, like the good future-former Catholic boy he was, heading off to college at Notre Dame. He didn’t love the school but he did find a couple of friends with whom he formed mod-punk legends, Chisel who toured the midwest and east coast indie circuit extensively in the mid-’90s. After they broke up in 1997, he played guitar briefly for the Spinanes, formed a band that never recorded called the Sin Eaters and started touring solo. During this time he released an experimental solo record (with an appropriately confusing title tej leo(?) Rx / pharmacists) in ‘99 with help from his future wife Jodi Buonanno from the Secret Stars and a few singles before actually recording a full band Pharmacists EP, Treble In Trouble in 2000.

Though the band named “Pharmacists” had been kicking around since Leo’s Chisel days, the band itself was mostly a pickup affair at this point, consisting of whoever was available for studio sessions or the few live gigs at this point and Tyranny was the last hurrah of that method. This makes Tyranny feel far looser and more experimental than future Pharmacists records, which were more the products of a shit-hot touring band. For example, producer Brendan Cany (of Fugazi fame) drums on some tracks as does his brother James, as well as Ted’s brother Danny and Trans Am’s Seb Thompson. But Ted is the real mastermind, playing a little of everything and changing up arrangements on the fly.

This gives the final product the feel of a ‘60s or ‘70s classic rock record that dips into multiple genres or, as Ted described it “a great mix tape.” There’s finger-picked folk, distorted punk, dreamy pop, thundering Zeppelin riffage and sprightly Irish jig popping up throughout, which complement the lyrics, concerned with searching, exploration and possibility (among other things). Indeed, the title is a lyric from Split Enz’ “Six Months In A Leaky Boat” - a beautiful, almost corny nautical ode to travel and adventure. It was the dawn of a new millennium, Ted was falling in love, he was starting a new musical project with his friends, as well as entering a new period of his life. Also, perhaps crucially, 9/11 and the political dystopia that would dominate his future records (and everyone’s reality) hadn’t yet happened. Time to set sail on a great adventure!

Personally speaking, I think this is a large part of why the record grabbed me like it did when I discovered it at the end of high school. I too was looking out towards a big world full of challenges and rewards and lovers and friends in a potentially infinite variety and it all seemed so damn exhilarating. And I too, was a big hearted lefty, inspired by far too many hours behind big, weighty books, ready to dedicate that heart to love and art and making the world a better place. Everything seemed possible and all the possibilities - good, bad and otherwise - seemed full of wisdom and connection and excitement.

And indeed, this has been one of those records that can truly be described as a “soundtrack to my life.” It was with me on road trips to visit ill-fated long-distance girlfriends and train trips across Europe. I’ve walked through downtowns in towns that are not my own and tacked up the paintings on my walls, lost and found faith, fallen in love, broken up, been hired and fired, seen friends come and go, some from my life, some from this earth, all with Ted’s voice (and guitar) ringing in my ear.

When I first started listening, most of the subjects of the record were fairly abstract to me, which lent them an air of romance and adult wisdom. What’s impressive is how living through the things he sang about, made them seem, rather than reductive or obvious, deeper or more complex. I was naive enough to only see the upside of Going Out To Change The World, having yet to reach the “damn, the world’s got hands”-realization. But every bump in the road, there was Ted, helping me understand, teaching me how to emote and letting me know that it’ll be ok and there’s nothing worse than giving up the fight, personally, politically and anywhere in-between.

But when I went through breakups, there was “Parallel Or Together?” keenly observing things I thought were unique to MY relationship and showing me how there was hope after the “months of an ennui that kills” while also strumming at a seemingly impossible pace and somehow pulling a beautiful melody out of a frenetic mixture of words and instruments. When I went through that oh-so-Millennial Obama-era transition from bright-eyed West Wing liberal to clear-eyed, card-carrying socialist, “My Vien Ilin”’s distorted guitar and raging drums mirrored my own tumult while the lyrics (which manage to touch on The Odyssey, Ulysses, the Legend of Icarus and Vietnam’s DMZ) reminded me that this journey is not new and was never easy but simply part of living through this shitstorm of human folly. “The lightness of necessity… our days they make us, clearly.”

Those multiple literary references are a common feature, as grappling with the intersection of language, history and ideas is yet another recurring theme. “Thre Great Communicator” (re-recorded from a rough, earlier single version) isn’t just a cheeky Reagan reference but a meditation on what how we speak, uh, says about us as people. As a former debater and shameless opinionator, I harbor a delusion that if I could only fully understand myself and the world and communicate that understanding, it could fix everything - my life, my relationships, our broken world. And yet, it never does. “Stove By A Whale” (oh, another literary nod!) also explores this idea while engaging some of the heaviest riffing this side of Zeppelin IV. There’s a video of him playing it during the 2003 New York blackout which, to me, perfectly sums up the hubris and human longing for connection and perfection within broken systems.

There’s so much more I could say about all these songs. (Did you know that the gorgeous “The Gold Finch And The Red Oak Tree” is about the state bird and tree of his native New Jersey? Or that the meditative feedback freakout of “St. John The Divine” melds at least three different St. John’s to delve into Leo’s own crisis of faith? Or that “Under The Hedge” was about a fight he had with Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices?) But I’ll limit myself to simply pointing out the two sublime highlights of what is, for my money, an already perfect record.

“Timorous Me” is one of Leo’s calling card songs (shoutout to anyone else who frequented the fan forums of that name in the 2000’s). It plays like a lost ‘70s radio classic. Starting with Ted alone on guitar, he plays what sounds like a riff lost by the rock gods somewhere in history between Thin Lizzy and Dexy’s Midnight Runners. On top of this he starts spinning a nostalgic first-person story about his old friend Jonny, then and fan named Timory, (a real person who had since passed), it’s all sweet nostalgia and memory without being precious. And then the full band enters and Ted’s bringing us up to the present, singing about his new love Jodi, that newest human connection that keeps him going and gives him strength. Meanwhile, the song explodes into a full Irish wake, those hips are now fully free to move as he celebrates the present, mourns the past and lets us live forever in this perfect moment that we know is about to be over.

The other great gem is the opener, “Biomusicology,” the song I’ve long said I wanted played at my funeral because it is a perfect pop song about, well, fucking life itself. He first demoed it in 1999 and had been road-testing it solo since but the full-band studio version takes it from a dreamy-keyboard exercise into a full-blown anthem. It starts with a tinkling keyboard riff that feels like it’s blowing in off an ocean breeze before his energetic strumming kicks things into gear and then the band fully crashes in. The song builds steadily with keys, guitars, even a cello all melding together as Leo sings about struggling through the bleak and difficult everydayness of life, of finding meaning through community and connection with others. (He even throws in some German, a T.S. Eliot quote about Tristan and Isolde, because this is Theodore Goddamn Leo.) Finally, like wave crashing headlong into a seawall, the song crescendos as he belts out "all in all we cannot stop singing / we cannot start sinking / we swim until it ends / they may kill and we may be parted / but we will ne'er be broken hearted” as his echoplexed guitar fades into the distance like a seagull calling for its mates. A song that never fails to make my chest swell, my courage rise and my heart grow three sizes.

When I mentioned the Irish wake earlier, that was something Ted had also discussed about the album and I find it perfectly fitting. I’m also reminded of the song-cyle aspects of another Irish classic, Astral Weeks, as Tyranny starts and ends with meditations on life and death and the neverending journey humans are making between them This record is equally mournful and celebratory because it’s trying to tackle way more than any pop record could. As Kristin Sage Rokermann  put it in her Pitchfork review, “this album could have sounded like anything. As it turns out, it sounded like everything.” That scope and ambition is something I’m drawn to in all my favorite pieces of art - Moby Dick, Citizen Kane, Double Nickels On The Dime, Infinite Jest, etc. etc. But what makes it great is the execution and I hope that’s what people in this tournament are able to latch onto.

Since I’ve heard people say they prefer personal stories in their DC’s, I’ll end with this one. It’s summer 2006 and I decide to go to the brand-new Pitchfork Music Festival to see Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (in a set that ended up being iconic, with him smashing the mic into his forehead until he was literally bleeding for his art). I remember there was a girl from my Freshman English class who was also a fan and I decided to head over to her Facebook wall (this was years before messenger) and we agreed to meet up. When she asked me where at the festival we would meet that day, I responded to the woman who would, 11 years later end up becoming my wife (with our table at the wedding marked, not by a number but an album cover with a giant whale breaking through the sea) in a way that perhaps would have only made since to me and her - “have you ever come across the vastness of pavement?”

And, some 30+ Rx shows, a busy life and a rescue cat named Timory later, I’ve ne’er been brokenhearted. Thanks, Ted.

Thank you, John!

Click here to see the current results for the entire tournament, and click here to see the current results for the prediction bracket contest.

Thanks,

Kent