El Ten Eleven is a duo consisting of Kristian Dunn on strings and Tim Fogarty and drums. Plus several loop pedals! El Ten Eleven’s debut self-titled album released on September 20th, 2005 (even though Dunn says the album released in late 2004). This makes 2020 the 16th anniversary of their debut album in the twenty-first century post-rock scene.

This entry in Tergiversate reviews the history and background of the album and offers a personal perspective on one of my favorite music albums. Let’s take a look at El Ten Eleven!

My background on El Ten Eleven 🔗

If Last.fm is trustworthy, I have 39,355 listens of El Ten Eleven, out of a total listen count of 348,043. 18,605 listens were of the self-titled album specifically. It takes two lead positions in my music library: my most-listened artist and album of all-time. I discovered El Ten Eleven on December 19th, 2012.

In 35 minutes, El Ten Eleven tells a great story. It is an album that means a great deal to me.

El Ten Eleven, track-by-track 🔗

El Ten Eleven songs have no lyrics (not counting Emile Mosseri collaborations). The only given meaning is in the song titles. The rest is up for audible interpretation.

But if you are a curious music nerd like me, the artist’s thinking behind a song is interesting to understand. This blog post documents what I know about this album. My experiences come from reading other music journalism sites on the Internet and even talking to Kristian Dunn after concerts time to time! (He is a cool dude. He signed my brick.)

1: My Only Swerving 🔗

This song was written in tribute to Traveling through the Dark, a 1998 poem by William E. Stafford (confirmed here). The track title gets its name from a line towards the end of the poem.

I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—,

then pushed her over the edge into the river.

Traveling through the Dark, William E. Stafford

Dunn ran an “Ask Me Anything” (A.M.A.) on Jan 22, 2018 via Patreon. In the A.M.A., Dunn lamented how the song failed as a tribute to the poem. He believed the song was not dark enough to match the poem.

3: Lorge 🔗

Dunn’s mother passed a short time before the album was recorded. The album is dedicated to her memory. Lorge is the middle name of Dunn’s mother. The album reflects on the emotions that follow the death of a loved one.

4: 1969 🔗

In a phone interview with Fogarty, he believed this song title came from Dunn’s birth year, 1969.

7: Fanshawe 🔗

The song is a tribute to The New York Trilogy’s The Locked Room novel, which features a character named Fanshawe. In the Patreon A.M.A., he acknowledged the connection to the character and book.

8: Connie 🔗

Connie is the shortened form of Dunn’s mother’s first name, Constance.

Why I care 🔗

El Ten Eleven deals with loss. As the album transitions from beginning to end, it moves towards acceptance. But acceptance of loss is not easily attained. Loss also comes with difficult emotions.

In psychology, there are five stages of grief. They can happen in any order and go between each other, but it always ends with acceptance. The abbreviated five stages are regret, denial, anger, sadness, and acceptance. El Ten Eleven offers a musical experience of the life-cycle of grief.

El Ten Eleven empowered me. In times of discomfort or anxiety, this album is always my go-to. It continues to be a cornerstone for me in challenging moments in my life.

Where to find El Ten Eleven 🔗

Check below for links. If you have no preference, Bandcamp purchases are the most effective way for your money to go to supporting the band.

• Bandcamp
• Spotify
• iTunes
• Google Play
• Amazon

If you would be kind, please drop some claps to my friend’s interview with the band on Medium!

Curious where the name “Tergiversate” came from? Check out the dictionary definition.

The next album to spotlight in Tergiversate is Abysma by Los Angeles-based Geotic, a.k.a. Will Wiesenfeld. Abysma is the ninth studio album released by Geotic. It debuted on March 31, 2017. The album could be described as a cross between an electronica and indie pop. For Wiesenfeld’s first début on a record label with his side project Geotic, he makes a bold and eccentric presence with Abysma.

Why Abysma? 🔗

Abysma was an accidental discovery during a significant experience of my life. At the time, I subscribed to Google Play Music and I would sometimes receive recommendations for new music to listen to. On March 31, 2017, Google Play suggested Abysma as a new release I might like.

At the time, I was living in Dubrovnik, Croatia on a study abroad exchange. The album quickly became one of my favorites for the remaining two months I spent abroad. After returning to the US, I chose not to renew my subscription. Since I never purchased the album, it was conveniently forgotten after I returned.

Months later, in October, I reviewed some of my top albums from 2017 on Last.fm. I came across Geotic on the list and remembered Abysma. I decided to buy the album and add it to my library. Since then, the album returned to a regular spot on my listening queue.

Thus, perhaps it makes sense that I strongly associate this album to my time living abroad. Frequently, this album was the backdrop to afternoon walks near the Old City of Dubrovnik, long bus rides to Bosnia or Albania, or for studying the week before final exams. Regardless, this album rekindles my imagination for some of my own unique experiences. Therefore, it made sense to include this album in a Tergiversate column.

Themes 🔗

Deciphering Abysma is a challenge. Most of the record is ambient, with some songs featuring brief, synthesized, and heavily modified vocals. The album artwork is the next biggest hint to themes and meanings of the album.

The following are two themes I identified in Abysma:

• Own worst enemy
• Overcoming hardship

Both themes play a supporting role in each other,.

Own worst enemy 🔗

One of the primary themes of the album is recognizing our least desirable qualities of ourselves and letting them overpower our other positive qualities.

Artwork 🔗

The album artwork sets the foundation for this theme, combined with various hints from song titles and mood from each track. The artwork features a sun-bathed, empty room with a rainbow-colored body lain across the floor.

The body appears lifeless as it peers outside the bright window. The body is a metaphor for the bright and wonderful qualities we own, but the room represents a trap. Despite the wonderful qualities inside, we lock ourselves into boxes or rooms where we are unable to see past the walls. We only have a window into the great wonders of life – yet somehow we are not in that picture.

Songs 🔗

The mood of the album contributes to that idea. Sunspell, the opening track, creates the initial view of the album. The album is reminiscent of a bright, cheery atmosphere, but it seems remote and disconnected at the same time. The sunlight captivates us and puts us under a spell – in the spell, the bright lights of others and the world we see strike us and blind us.

The following tracks continue to build this atmosphere, leaning towards an introspective and oblique feel. Echoing words of “it all makes sense” on Nav feed this idea of deep, intrinsic wonder to ourselves. As the album grows in its mysterious nature, so does the feeling of mental isolation. As Abysma progresses, Geotic puts on a lens of closer and closer self-introspection.

Admittedly, not all the qualities in this lens are the best ones. The theme reaches its climax in Perish Song. The song title leaves little room for second guessing. In the long, drawn-out waves of the synthesizer and delicate piano keystrokes, a listener is left with understanding of a type of depression. It’s reminiscent of the days when our thoughts are self-destructive and harmful.

What it all means 🔗

Whether by design or by accident, Geotic forces the listener to find a level of acceptance of their own mind. Throughout life, we sometimes make ourselves our own biggest enemy and showstoppers. Even though we are all filled with a natural bright and illuminating nature (like a child), we can lose sight of that version of our self. This theme is present because we become aware of ourselves when listening. Everyone has been their own hardest critic, and Abysma is a gentle reminder that sometimes we are hardest on ourselves.

Lingering thoughts remain whether the harsh self-criticism is worthy or not, but this is quickly answered at the close of the record.

Overcoming hardship 🔗

In a quick turnaround, the last song of the album, Valiance, introduces the second theme and integrates into the different pieces of the previous theme.

The second theme builds on the idea that even in our worst qualities and lowest moments (e.g. Perish Song), we are able to overcome the battle with our mind and find our own peace. After all, the body on the album cover reflects light and echoes the colors of the rainbow – we always possessed the qualities, but perhaps did not recognize them within us.

Valiance 🔗

The high notes and intense energy of Valiance are a contrast to some of the introspective atmospheres earlier in the album. While Valiance is also introspective, it changes the lens. Instead of looking in at our worst qualities, it’s a change in perspective to look at our better qualities. The song almost seems to externalize the hidden energy inside the body on the album cover.

Valiance is a reminder of our ability to find peace with our mind and create our own happiness. It tells and affirms that we can overcome our hardships, whether imposed on us by ourselves or by others.

What it all means 🔗

One line from the lyrics of Perish Song are significant. It plays back into the second theme:

The heat of the sun,

Is there if you want.

We decide whether we want to feel the warmth and heat of the sun in our life. We are the ones that make a choice to how we receive the world and our experiences in life.

As a whole, this theme plays into the previous theme because it takes a stark change in direction. But it plays together beautifully. The negative and difficult recognition of our own self as an enemy is challenging. It reminds of our shortcomings, our regrets, our missed opportunities. It becomes easy to pin the blame on ourselves. Not only that, but the awareness can introduce a concern of not being able to overcome our failures.

Yet, the album ends elegantly, brightly, and brilliantly. The closing reminds us that we should always choose the heat of the sun in our life. When we shape our perspective of the world and the people around us, we make a choice for how we receive and interact with it. To make a positive impression of the world and those around us, we must become comfortable with ourselves first. We have to find peace with our own mind before we can find peace with any others.

The closing of Abysma reminds us of that, in a layered progression from recognizing our worst qualities to acknowledging they can always be overcome. Recognizing our worst qualities is challenging, but it’s a challenge we can overcome when we live in the light and warmth. When we choose happiness, love, and compassion, these qualities reflect and echo back to us in life.

Where to find Abysma 🔗

Most albums reviewed in Tergiversate focus on the complete album, not each song. Consider making your first listen from top to bottom instead of picking single songs. My experience in music is that great albums offer the most when enjoyed in a single, immersive experience.

• Bandcamp (preferred, directly supports artist)
• Spotify
• iTunes
• Google Play
• Amazon
• SoundCloud

Curious where the name “Tergiversate” came from? Check out the dictionary definition.

Why Demon Days? 🔗

Demon Days has a sentimental value to me. When I was younger, a close friend gifted me a copy of the album on CD, marking the first physical piece of music merchandise in my collection. Ever since the first CD, my collection has expanded across many artists, genres, and mediums, from CDs, to 7" and 12" vinyl records, and even a signed brick (a story to save for another time).

More importantly, Gorillaz represents a distinct departure in my music listening habits from my youth. Gorillaz opened my perspective to new sounds and genres, and the diverse range of sounds that Damon Albarn uses in the Gorillaz albums helped me discover new music. Gorillaz is the root of my independent music discovery, when I began to explore the rich palettes of sound, passion, and insight that music offers.

Even though Demon Days was the first album that felt like my own finding, its meaning and purpose have grown with me over time. Every year, there’s a period of my life where I find the album on repeat, or I’ll suddenly realize that I need to listen to a very specific song from the album immediately. I departed from other artists and albums from my youth, but Demon Days is one that clings on with a contemporary relevance, captures my imagination, and fills my heart with hope.

Thus, no other album felt worthy of receiving the title of “first” in this series.

Themes 🔗

The album sits at a pivotal moment in human history: the dawn of the 21st century is still breaking. A world of technology begins to immerse our culture, the world is at a war with questionable purpose, and an air of suspense hangs above for the thoughtful philosopher.

Damon Albarn attacks this moment in a poetic and creative genius that addresses four themes, but doesn’t paint a picture of despair. The four themes, as aptly detailed by the Demon Days Wikia page, are…

1. Desensitizing children / the innocent
2. The Iraq war
3. Environmental damage
4. Defacement of mass culture

New direction 🔗

Unlike the earlier album, this album marks the beginning of a new era for Damon Albarn and Gorillaz. Albarn’s music reaches a new level of maturity that was not as present in previous works.

Another analysis of the album from Reddit pins a deep insight into the meaning of the album. One exceptional excerpt from that thread:

Within this album, which is a popular music album, Damon spins a soundscape which explores the world in true existential crisis and tries, genuinely tries, to instruct the listener towards a positive outlook. It is unflinchingly hateful and rejecting of the forces at work which prevent personal growth and one by one exposes the Orwellian nightmare of living under a violent government and an apathetic society.

One piece 🔗

Perhaps the most powerful part of Demon Days is its composition as a singular unit. While many of the songs stand up on their own as mainstream singles, the album is best received as the sum of its parts. Albarn described the album in an interview as a story that takes the listener through the night. Intro sets the tone at the beginning of the darkness, and the self-titled track at the end paints a bright, luminescent color for the album.

Powerful ending 🔗

The ending of the album remains the most powerful part of the album for me, particularly Don’t Get Lost in Heaven and Demon Days. The album deals with themes of a world in decline. It is not discreet in its implied meaning and Albarn offers his perspective on the pitfalls that humanity sets for itself.

Yet, the ending of the album isn’t a reflection on the hateful, spiteful, and damaging parts of society and culture.

The ending reminds the listener of the breaking rays of sunlight, cutting through the darkness of the night. In line with its storyline of journeying through the night and facing different demons, the album closes itself with a positive picture of hope, love, and inspiration. I believe Albarn was aware that the message of urgency and themes of darkness in other songs from the album were difficult to swallow. But he was acutely aware that the embers of hope and love should never be extinguished if these demons of the world are to be overcome.

The ending of the album is what took me through 2017. One of the highlights of my year was seeing Gorillaz live in Chicago in July, as they started their international tour for the Humanz album. I was speechless and filled with a boundless joy when the concert ended with Don’t Get Lost in Heaven and Demon Days. These two songs aged and were reborn with new meaning and passion for the world we explore in 2017 and beyond. I’ve felt that for some time, but seeing Gorillaz perform at their first show in years and also ending with these songs? It only confirmed this resolve in meaning to me.

Where to find Demon Days 🔗

If you only know some of the singles from the album, or if you have never listened at all, please consider a full listen from top to bottom. Some albums can be enjoyed in pieces, but Demon Days is a package deal, and it offers the most when it’s listened to in a single, immersive experience.

• Spotify
• iTunes
• Google Play
• Amazon
• YouTube

Curious where the name “Tergiversate” came from? Check out the dictionary definition.

Tergiversate: New articles in 2018 🔗

Tergiversate takes the form of a column on my blog. New posts will appear in the Music category. Since this is a personal undertaking, I did not want to commit to a publishing schedule, but I hope to cover one to two albums a month.

The album columns will not always be a review or an analysis, but rather a spotlight or highlight on albums that have a special or intrinsic value to me. I hope to cover both new releases from current-day artists as well as introduce older albums from some of my favorite artists.

The first articles in the series will appear in January 2018.

Recommendation swapping welcome 🔗

I plan to start with music that I’m familiar with. However, if you want me to consider an album, I’m happy to swap recommendations. I’m always looking for new music, so if you want to point something out to me, you’re welcome to leave a comment or reach out to me somewhere else.

I’m excited to launch Tergiversate. Music is an important part of my life and I’m excited to extract the best highlights from a world polluted by noise.

Curious where the name “Tergiversate” came from? Check out the dictionary definition.

Music by Sandy Priyasa from the Noun Project.