Cover art by Jordan Veres
ODG187: Unfasten Slowly / Grabbing Olivia's Purse
Unfasten Slowly is the nom de plume of Jordan Veres.
Jordan is a Jewish musician/songwriter/composer/lyricist/producer, photographer, published poet, sculptor, painter/artist, and welder from the Upstate of South Carolina.
Jordan's music tends to defy classification as he has a proclivity for blending genres such as modern composition, post-rock, sound art, sound collage, conceptual art, mixed media, avant-garde, experimental rock, dark ambient, elektro, musique concrete, musique actuelle, electro-acoustic, post-minimalism, drill 'n' bass, and experimental electronic to list just a few.
Several artists and groups who have inspired how he writes and records include but are not limited to Fire-toolz, the Residents, Thelonius Monk, Merzbow, and Matmos.
About his album Jordan says:
"Grabbing Olivia's Purse" is very much a conceptual album. That being said, or rather written in this case, there is quite a bit to unpack. The opener, "Dr. Eamz" owes heavily to the incomparable George Carlin in that, "they call it the American dream because you have to be asleep in order to believe it." The next ditty, "The Phenomenon" is about how Trump secured the nomination for the GOP. Trump is, in fact, the Commodore (which is ironic because he dodged the draft several times because of his bone spurs.) Obviously, Donald is more crooked than a coat-hanger, and so the album goes into detail about his lack of a moral compass and his various misdeeds (including his overtly racist policies and violations of the Emoluments Clause, hence the Pop Sutters plugs peppered throughout the album.) Once Trump was given the thumbs up by the electoral college, part of me was relieved because I was under the impression that Republicans would no longer have anything to remonstrate about considering the fact that their man was in the Oval Office and that the GOP held majorities in both the House and the Senate. Needless to say, I couldn't have been more wrong. Even though the far right got what they wanted, they ended up kvetching even more (you give a mouse a cookie...) And their repining wasn't about the concerns of the working man like the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, which was directly related to Trump's policies. Rather their enmity was focused on targeting the most infra dig matters (supposed cultural wars.) And day after day, it was one scandal after another in Trump's cabinet (so much for his hiring of the best people.) There were so many major scandals that it was nearly impossible to keep up with them all. The Trump presidency was truly a joke. Then again, if you elect a clown you better expect a circus (cue "I Guess They Got What They Wanted.") And granted his tenure as president was a horrible joke, but it was a joke that did immeasurable damage. The song "His Highest Honor (In Memory of Audrie Parsons)" is about the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. Brett clearly had an unscrupulous past, checkered with very plausible accusations of lascivious violence. The whole situation made me think of Audrie Plott and Rehtaeh Parsons, who were both victims of sexual assault and rape. Tragically, both girls were never able to fully recuperate from the unimaginable trauma, and before graduating from high school, they took their own lives (refer to the title of the song.) "Last Chance" is essentially a last call for everyone to get out of dodge. Transportation is an important and recurrent theme on this album. Throughout the record, there are various audio clips of rocket ships, cars, submarines, horses, planes, and trains (especially trains.) "Last Chance" is also a reminder of the moment when the administration told Americans overseas that they would not be allowed reentry to the United States due to the COVID 19 outbreak (which according to the Commander in Chief was a liberal hoax yet it could be eradicated by ingesting bleach.) What followed was complete beldam in airports worldwide as Americans rushed to get their first ticket back home. "Panda Mic'' is clearly a testament to how Trump and his team bungled the whole COVID pandemic. In this previously mentioned ditty, is a snippet from a speech by Ayn Rand who equates socialism with Nazism (which is interesting considering how most Neo-nazis belong to the far right movement, and the wall they were so adamant about building would have been funded by taxpayers which is the very definition of the term socialism.) As for the next song, I am not going to claim that I vaticinated the insurrection on January sixth, but I did record and upload “Control” before it actually happened. It was truly an ignominious and terrifying moment in our nation's history. Democracy, as we knew it, hung on by a thread thanks to a bunch of lunatics who couldn't accept the results of the election (whatever happened to their shibboleth “fuck your feelings”) and tried to stage a coup to get their cult leader back in office. (The party of law and order? Give me a break.) The last stretch of the album deals with the collapse of civilization. Those in power can not control those below because the peons realize that the law no longer applies to the politicians so why should it apply to them (so long rules for thee, but not for me.) What ensues is some facsimile of a Mad Max dystopia before the last of the Commodores' followers regroup and orchestrate one last strike that is essentially a suicide mission and ends with nuclear weapons being deployed across the globe. Those who survive the initial blasts have to deal with nuclear winter and fallout. Food and clean water become scarce and mothers can no longer produce potable milk (the reason for all the babies crying in "What Once Was.") But you need not worry, the wealthy manage to hop on an airplane that takes them to a spaceship that will find a Goldilocks planet for them to live out the rest of their days (the second and last Pop Sutters commercial you hear.) Looking back at the Earth, there remain only two things: the sun and the sea."
15 tracks to start to very slowly understand the real 'Artist' he is though 30 would have been better!
Enjoy!
Jordan
Digital release on the 19th of April 2024.
Track listing:
1: Dr. Eamz
2: The Phenomenon (Sometimes the Stars Align in All the Wrong Ways)
3: And So We Wait, Forevermore
4: Our Hero Arrives
5: Sumthing iz Afoot
6: I Guess They Got What They Wanted (A Hankering For Milk)
7: No Return Policy
8: His Highest Honor (In Memory of Audrie Parsons)
9: Last Chance (It's As Simple As That)
10: Panda Mic
11: Control (Tugging On Wires)
12: Into the Wasteland (The Desert's Foreboding/Christmas Eve/Closed Forever/The Twilight)
13: As I Have Previously Mentioned (Arnold and Gabriel)
14: What Once Was
15: The Son and the See
Itunes, Spotify, etc.:
And on Bandcamp:
