East River Pipe Mel CD

Queens, New York resident F.M. Cornog is a one-man band in the Stephin Merritt/Magnetic Fields tradition, originally renowned as the first American artist ever signed to legendary British indie Sarah Records. Cornog records by himself, on a cassette machine in his living room, and initially self-released cassettes on his own Hell's Gate label. He shares Merritt's taste for low-budget solo reinterpretations of soul-stirring '60s pop archetypes, but the comparison breaks down after that.

For one thing, Cornog uses more guitars in one song than Merritt might employ over the course of a full album. More importantly, where Merritt's often jaundiced and cynical lyrics are laced with dry irony and goofy similes, Cornog's emotionally direct songs are often genuinely dark, with lyrics befitting such titles as "I Am A Small Mistake" and "Prettiest Whore." Nevertheless, his pretty, ringing guitar-pop melodies create their own uplift, making MEL a fascinating dichotomy of light and shadow.

East River Pipe: F.M. Cornog.

Recording information: Queens, New York, NY.

Rolling Stone (10/17/96, pp.136-137) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...a worldview where everyone is fragile and possibly doomed....a wall of reverb, guitars and keyboards meshed together to unsettling effect, a voice that is barely audible....Cornog's pop sensibility gives his songs an unexpected lift..."
Spin (10/96, p.139) - "...specializes in home demos with melting choruses, well-spaced chord changes, pretty guitars, and harpsichord keybs; MEL is rich fare..."
Entertainment Weekly (9/20/96, p.82) - "F.M. Cornog...infuses MEL with the sad wisdom that perhaps only a once-suicidal, recovering alcoholic might ever know: Lurking beneath the surface of his heart-breaking melodies is the edgy loneliness of a run-down bus station." - Rating: B+
Alternative Press (12/96, pp.72-73) - 4 (out of 5) - "Eight-track master F.M. Cornog's songs don't just transcend the lo-fi medium; they practically reinvent it....painstakingly demonstrating that the medium is capable of great beauty....MEL's twelve songs are lush and atmospheric, with a craftsman's attention to detail and sad, evocative landscapes..."
Option (11-12/96, p.101) - "...Tasty chord progressions and subtle vocal and synth effects give staying power to the ballads....a meeting of Harry Nilsson and Lou Reed in an alley behind the Brill Building..."