We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

the Mystery 909

by Aux 78

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Full album download includes a video by Austin Rhodes for the song ARTICHOKE, handwritten song/lyric sheets and mix notes. PayPal accepted.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

1.
The Nerve 06:35
2.
Red and brown war Blue and red war Pink and purple war I’ll just feed this back to you to perpetuate this crap Dirty bombs and ties, dirty bombs and ties Experts picking their noses staring at the screens “Please turn around” The buzzer beeps Where is my steel? I want a metal spleen Everything is terror Everyone is terror Human nature Sand and Spit Steel and Glass Cheap missiles, those Nike missiles Cheap missiles, those Nike missiles Red and brown war Blue and red war Pink and purple war
3.
4.
5.
Artichoke 03:25
6.
Crowded 04:25
7.
Intelligence 03:09
I'm on the inside looking on the outside You're on the inside looking on the outside I'm on the outside looking on the inside
8.
Buses By... 02:10
9.
Broken Bones 03:28
after the dark here, we have the nerve to call this sweet it’s like standing tall and covered in this deepening water those deviants, they call on me and hold broken bones and after all the sea feels me and adds apathy and after all is done, we throw it out and call out heads we’re falling down and never care which way we falter because deviants, they call on me and hold broken bones and after all that sky feels me and adds imagery
10.
Gumbo 03:19
1942 core on the march as active as ants as civil as idealistic as less water than imaginable, hope is as passive aggressive as more, but more boys and girls don’t choose. togetherness is found in direct nonviolent, less aggressive freedom labor as a measure racial sit-ins as seeds workers separate equal strikes in the landscape of red Warhol pictures including dogs in the courts of human thought brown youths as active as their educational participation separate Indians equally looking for social equality schools integration Jim Crow Parks buses black arrested boycott rights
11.

about

Review By Everett Saucedo
Special to the El Paso Times

War is hell. But the sounds it makes can be pretty cool. "The Nerve," the first track off "The Mystery 909" by Aux 78, introduces itself with the rumblings of artillery exploding beyond the horizon. After the shelling ends, "The Nerve" pops itself into focus with a drum and bass riff a-la Nancy Sinatra that snaps along at a drill instructor's cadence beat.

War, rest, more war, chaos and eventually, peace; in one song, Aux 78, the solo project of local musician Nicholas Matta, proves that music can speak volumes without saying a word.

Going on his seventh year as Aux 78, Matta (who also performs in local band The Sea Legs) and "Mystery" will probably please fans of such instrumental-heavy bands such as Man ... Or Astroman?, Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Plant, and Southern Culture On The Skids. Genre fans, however, may not, as "Mystery" refuses to be pigeonholed into any one category.

A careful listener can pick out jazzy percussion beats, country steel guitars, surf rock and musical influences ranging from The Ventures to Angelo Badalamenti to The White Stripes, but these are merely ingredients to the mélange and not the final product.

Matta's ability to play instruments ranging from percussion toys to accordions shows, as he is single-handedly responsible for all the sounds heard on "Mystery."

This includes everything from guitars that ring like tubular bells guitars to art-house chic voiceovers that don't say much and are merely window-dressing for the music itself. The end result is music that can convey an amazing range of emotions and images, if the listener is willing to play along.

If "The Nerve" has you dodging AK-47 fire and R & R'ing in Thailand, the self-titled third track sucks you back to mysteries and horrors on the mainland, with a slow and deliberate rhythm riff overlain by a softly wailing guitar.

Also noteworthy is "Guns That Smoke," which takes a needed somber turn. It is a soft, melancholy tune which opens with the sounds of machines grinding against one another but shortly thereafter gives way to a simple four-beat drone as heavy as it is beautiful. It is also a great example of Matta's ability to infuse his music with emotion; if you were ducking cannonballs earlier, you are now picking up the pieces of your home in the aftermath of a hurricane.

One of the best surprises of "Mystery" is "Broken Bones," the only vocal song and Matta's stab at making a country song. "Broken Bones" overshoots the line-dancing country of Garth Brooks or Tim McGraw and squarely hits the drunk-mean and sad honkey-tonk that Hank Williams Sr. and Jim Ed Brown's row of fools on a row of stools inhabit. The lyrics of "Broken Bones' may not sound overtly country, but there's no doubt its soul is.

"Mystery" ends on a kitchy accordion-driven tune that seems pulled from the closet of French junk culture. It's actually a happy little song that's cute on its own but seems out of step with the rest of the album.

Either way, "Mystery" is a stellar example of Matta's abilities both as musician and communicator.


Written, Arranged, Performed and Produced by Aux.78 / Nicholas Matta

Recorded at The Mystery 909 Recording Facility, El Paso TX 10/2002-03/2003

2003.AppleLeg Music

credits

released March 3, 2003

Aux.78 / Nicholas Matta : Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Programming, Clarinet, Keyboards, Kazoo, Accordian, Trumpet, Vocals, Sampling

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Aux 78 Portland, Oregon

Aux.78 (nicholas matta) is a solo recording artist, musician, sound designer, audio engineer and live performer based in Portland, Oregon.

contact / help

Contact Aux 78

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Aux 78, you may also like: