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CD
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IDA 027CD
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2016 repress; originally released in 2005. "Forget 24 hour bingeing, raucous antisocial behaviour, even the gin-soaked balladry of The Band Of Holy Joy or the likes of Eazy E, The Beastie Boys and Schoolly D singing the praises of their favourite brew. Matt Elliott emerges shyly from the shadows of his Third Eye Foundation alias to celebrate the drowning of sorrows rather than the exuberant pissing away of our leisure hours. Introspective and alone, breathing in the fumes of some neglected cellar, his drinking songs withdraw themselves not simply from polite society but from all society. How else can one dream or contemplate what might have been? Opener 'CF Bundy' has a woozy charm. Evenly paced and alive with the strumming of acoustic guitars, it sets the mood for what is to come. Evoking the regrets and indiscretions of a bygone age, one grown sick and enfeebled by fantasies, 'Trying to Explain', 'The Guilty Party' and 'What's Wrong' would all seem to be taking place in a world teetering on the edge of some great fall or cataclysm. 'What The Fuck Am I doing On This Battlefield?' and 'A Waste Of Blood' are both moments of rude awakening. As a coda and extended finale, the 20 minute 'The Maid We Messed' sees Elliott returning to the wordplay and hypervelocity breaks of his Third Eye Foundation recordings. Overall, however, Drinking Songs remains a work to be listened to with eyes closed -- it's about the only way you can keep the room from spinning." --Ken Hollings, The Wire, April 2005
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