| Tracklist
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 Notes
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| There are 13 tracks. Two more than usual. Based on how the last two tracks sound, I'm assuming that they're both bonus tracks. I guess we'll know when we get the vinyl.... Also, anything in quotes comes from the letter
that came with the disc.
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| Volume 7 - Gypsy Marches
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"The songs from the first half of this album (1-5,
titled "Gypsy Marches") have an extremely dark, almost Middle-Eastern vibe."
Each new volume of the Desert Sessions breaks new ground. This one is no
different. Volume 7 doesn't rock in any conventional way, like vols. 5 & 6
rock, but it still rocks. The Desert Sessions are becoming more and more a
"hey, everyone switch instruments!" deal with every volume. Josh is back on
drums again for three of the five songs (a total of six of 13 songs on both
volumes). Brendon brings in such new instruments as the mandolin, the
tomboura, the balalika, and the always fun indian waterfall chopstick
tweeker type guitar. And it wouldn't be the Desert Sessions without some
tripped-out, fucked-up song performed by a bunch of manic schizophrenics,
who are represented this time by the Winners and the CRACK ASS FUCK YOU
KIDS. That said, on to the songs.
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| Don't Drink Poison (5:03)
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To my knowledge, none of the people involved in
this project have ever done a song with such a Middle Eastern feel. The
song doesn't start right away; instead, we get a few moments of noise, a
bell signaling the start of another long, jam-filled day at the studio, and
someone whistling the verse melody. A mandolin and a crumar provide the
bulk of the verse melody with a drum march played underneath it. The chours
melody is supplied by two or three souls wailing ah-ah-ah-ah. As is the
case with most Desert Sessions songs, this is unlike anything I've heard
before.
vox - Slamantha (Maloney) and Chris Goss
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| Hanging Tree (3:14)
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| This song starts off with a devilishly quick bass line, driven by our own Josh Homme. Hanging Tree is one of the more
conventional songs on this volume, but in the desert 'conventional' means
'unconventional.' The lyrics are dark and supplied by the great Mark
Lanegan. Everything about the song adds to the urgency begun by the opening
bass.
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| Winners (1:07)
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| Weird-Ass song no. 1. On every volume of the Desert Sessions is at least one song that is so strange that it resists
description. This is one of those songs. It is closest to Take Me to Your
Leader.
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| Polly Wants a Crack Rock (2:30)
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| Take the smoky sounds of A #1, the oohs
and aaahs of Punk Rock Caveman, the end of Millionaire, and the vocals of
Jr. High Love, slow it down a little bit, add in a cool riff and some
lightly sinister lyrics delivered by Nick ElDorado, bake at 100 degrees
(with a dash of herbal enjoyment for flavor), and you'll get something
similar to Polly Wants a Crack Rock.
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| Up in Hell (4:47)
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| This song is similar to Don't Drink Poison in that it has a distinctly Mid-Eastern desert feel. It begins with a mandolin and
after about 40 seconds, big drums, hand-claps, and stomps come in (think
Spiders and Vinegaroons). But it doesn't stop there. The grandiose main
riff is akin to Led Zeppelin's Kashmir or to a less-trippy Venus in Furs
(Velvet Underground). The title of the volume, Gypsy Marches, is most
evident in this song and Don't Drink Poison.
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| Volume 8 -Can You See Under My Thumb? There You Are
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| This volume is much stranger than
the previous volume; Interpretive Reading, Covousier, and Piano Bench
Breaks see to that. Some of the songs just fucking rock, though, in a
different way than they've rocked before. You also have more Fun with
Names: Nick "Meth McMasters" ElDorado, Samantha "Darling," Fred "Dollar
Drink Night" Drake, Brendy pants, Josh "Yeah? What?" Homme, Alain "Niala
Sennahoj" Johannes, Cole Johntrane, Nigel Thistlewaityourturner III,
Francesco Sordini, Harry Rockchild, Bubbles Mcfadden, Tush Horror, Countess
Fuckface, and the Duchess of Dick.
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| Nenada (3:11)
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| "'Nenada' (sung by Natascha Schneider) rocks HARD with a [sic] almost Thin Lizzy-ish vibe, yet features a catchy melody and chorus sung in Russian!" [If anyone speaks Russian, please, please, please help
with the lyrics....]
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| The Idiots Guide (3:05)
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| "The Idiots Guide" would not be out of place on a Queens of the Stone Age release." vox by Josh.
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| Interpretive Reading (1:37)
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| Weird-Ass song no. 2. This song will make
your eyebrows go up in confusion and your jaw drop to the ground. To say
any more would ruin the surprise.
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| Covousier (1:51)
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| This could easily be a song by Isaac Hayes. It's very soulful and smooth, every bit an Isaac Hayes song, until the last line:
"really miss you, since I killed you." (pron. Ko-va-see-ay - think the
Ladies Man, for those of you who watch Saturday Night Live)
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| Cold Sore Superstars (3:25)
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| This is another conventional yet
unconventional song. The verse is whispered in the vein of Marilyn Manson,
but that's where the similarities end. An ensemble song if there ever was o
ne, this song features two drummers, two piano players, two voxers, and
Alain on the Sacks-a-phone.
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| Making a Cross (5:32)
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| "The beauty in the beginning of 'Making a Cross,' builds to a hard and heavy end section that successfully proves you don't
have to be 'metal' to be 'heavy.'" The slogging, slowly marching, dragging
feet rhythm of this song and the use of more Mid-Eastern/Far-Eastern
instruments harkens back to the Gypsy Marches theme, if only for a while.
This song is as close to an epic as any Desert Sessions song has gotten thus
far. It reminds me of something I've heard before but can't place.
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| Ending (1:30)
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| Literally, the ending of a song, with screaming and thanking of the crowd that one might find at the end of an 80's heavy metal band's stadium show. There is a slight reprise of the Mid-Eastern riffing.
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| Piano Beach Breaks (1:09)
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| Exactly what it sounds like. Note about
the time: the song stops and after about 40 seconds, a warped voice says
"coming soon on rekords rekords, Fatso Jetson, yadda yadda" and then there's
a clip of a Fatso Jetson song. I'm going to assume that this isn't on the
real album, but even so, I don't know exactly how long Piano Bench Breaks
really is.
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| The End
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| That's it. Now, go buy it!
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