The Now: Muse


I often forget the life of a record; The years, or even decades of indifference between it’s conception and the redemption of it’s re-discovery. I suppose it’s totally understandable that a sort of cooling-off period is needed before an era can be stripped of it’s personal baggage and viewed somewhat objectively. In fact, I’m not sure I would have been ready for The Now to land on my doorstep even a mere 2 years ago. Having grown up in and experienced my own personal musical trials & tribulations during the Clinton years (for lack of a more defining label) it might very well have been too soon. It is with this in mind that I urge you, my forward thinking brothers & sisters, to consider this awkward yet totally engaging coverless lp from 1992. I think you’ll be glad you did. Few records have left me contemplating thoughts such as “what if Rick Grossman cut a second album backed by Kraftwerk”, or “what if TODD had anticipated Spacemen 3”. Now that I think about it, this was actually the first time I’d ever thought either of those things, so you can clearly see gravity of what we’re dealing with here. A totally unique trip heavy with up-late-at-night-when-you-think-no-one-is-listening bedroom swagger. It was difficult selecting a handful of cuts for the uninitiated that will really sum this up so I’ll include a random (yet far from definitive) sampling of my favorites. Lastly, a huge thanks to Josh for this one…

“Estranged”

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“Time Passes Slowly”

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“Trans-World Express”

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