The Secondman's Middle Stand
The Secondman's Middle Stand | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 24, 2004 | |||
Recorded | January 16—February 16, 2004 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 53:10 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Mike Watt | |||
Mike Watt chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | (mixed)[2] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10[3] |
The Secondman's Middle Stand was
The storyline for the nine-track album parallel's Watt's real-life January 2000 bout with a near-fatal infection in his
Writing and recording
For the music of ...Middle Stand, Watt chose to do something he had been planning to do before the illness struck - work with a keyboardist instead of a guitarist, as he had done for his entire musical career. To play organ, he enlisted
Prior to recording the album and a day before his 46th birthday, Watt had a bicycle accident which injured his left arm (fortunately, without any broken bones or other damage), forcing him to postpone the start of the recording sessions until January 16, 2004. For the first time in his career, Watt recorded in his home town of
Watt augmented the basic sound of the Secondmen in the studio with tympani and other percussion borrowed from
No singles were released from the album, but a video for "Tied A Reed 'Round My Waist" was filmed in San Pedro by veteran video director Lance Bangs. In the winter of 2005, another Pedro native, director Mike Muscarella, filmed a trilogy of videos involving the original Secondmen lineup (Trebotic had to forego touring with the band because of family-related constraints, replaced on the road by Raul Morales) plus Ms. Haden, for the songs "Burstedman", "Beltsandedman", and "Pelicanman". All three of the videos in this trilogy, plus the video for "Tied A Reed 'Round My Waist", can be streamed at Mr. Muscarella's site, http://www.mikestheater.com. A 2005 European release of the CD includes a DVD with the videos for "Tied A Reed..." and "Beltsandedman". The cover is reminiscent of John Coltrane's album Interstellar Space, of which Watt is a fan.
Track listing
All songs written by Mike Watt
- "Boilin' Blazes" – 5:31
- "Puked to High Heaven" – 3:15
- "Burstedman" – 5:55
- "Tied a Reed 'Round My Waist" – 6:00
- "Pissbags and Tubing" – 6:17
- "Beltsandedman" – 6:40
- "The Angels Gate" – 6:32
- "Pluckin', Pedalin' and Paddlin'" – 7:02
- "Pelicanman" – 5:58
Personnel
- Mike Watt - Bass, Vocals
- Pete Mazich - Hammond B3 Organ, Background Vocals
- Jerry Trebotic - Drums, Percussion
- Petra Haden - Background Vocals
Production
- Arranged & Produced By Mike Watt
- Engineered By Michael Rich
- Assistants: David Coleman, Mike Helperman
- Mastered By John Golden
References
- Allmusic.
- ^ "The Secondman's Middle Stand". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Matthew (August 25, 2004). "The Secondman's Middle Stand". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 8, 2019.