The Ecstatic Suffering
An Empty Glass, Half Full Download
“As far as the electronic influences in my music,” says Alex Mitchell (a.k.a. The Ecstatic Suffering), “I feel like I’m just trying to make it as a singer songwriter, but I’m using all of the toys that I have at my disposal.” While they are merely toys to the composer from tiny Etobicoke, Ontario, they are responsible for a brand of music that sounds like a mix of Tricky, DJ Shadow, and The Books. It is a refreshing brand of sample based music, and one that I have grown to regard as an important part of the genre.
While Mitchell’s work runs the gambit from a quirkly brand of singer-songwriter to experimental electronic amalgamation, Mitchell’s philosophy about sampling is a refreshing and original one. “I think one of the ways to make legitimate sample based music is to try to sample good sounds, rather than sample good music. I feel like there’s a parallel between trying to get a good sound out of your trumpet, and finding that perfect half-second sample in an old T.V. documentary soundtrack. In both cases, it’s about getting a good sound that you can use to create good music.”
Growing up with jazz, Mitchell was soon turned off to the style after notable pretension from his colleagues. “All the jazz guys say ‘you just gotta feel something and then express it through your horn’, but what most of the guys I knew were saying was ‘I can do this better than you.’ Jazz musicians are just as elitist as punks and scene kids.”
It’s therefore quite interesting that The Hippodrome’s featured track, “An Empty Glass Half Full,” shows Mitchell utilizing samples from master jazz crooner Chet Baker. The rearrangement of Baker’s phrases, taken from the end of “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” are strikingly well constructed and culturally pertinent to boot. Indeed, this track is an excellent example of Mitchell’s past merged with his current medium, and a clever composition from any angle.
You can read what you want into it, but “An Empty Glass Half Full” sounds like a pretty genuine description of the American Dream shrinking down to nothing more than a puddle. While this was Mitchell’s idea from the start, make sure to note the subtleties of the carefully spliced background vocals, as well as the shrewdly placed clips from Mitchell’s copious supply of old infomercials. Yes, it’s hard to tell that they’re infomercials just from the music, but we’re into historicism here at the ‘drome, and the fact that Mitchell managed to cram all this into a cohesive four minute piece is astounding. Make sure to check out his non-electronic work as well, and be careful jazzers with what you record, no sound is safe from The Ecstatic Suffering.
