The Vision of a Dying World - Feelin' Alive (Revived)

Unless you’re T.S. Eliot, it’s customary to imagine the soundtrack to the end of the world in Wagnerian terms. Mention the apocalypse, and immediately people begin thinking of crashing percussion, roaring horns, weeping woodwinds, fat women in blonde wigs and Viking helmets performing glass-shattering coloratura solos… okay, okay, maybe not that last part, but you get the picture. Some of the last instruments you would associate with the end are the banjo, mandolin, and acoustic guitar. But hey, if musicians did nothing but follow convention, they’d still be making melodies with sheep's guts and turtle shells. And with their peculiar blend of biblical reference, absurdist fantasy, and folksy sound, The Vision of a Dying World are anything but conventional. Feelin' Alive sweeps its listener through twilit seascapes and chimerical dream vistas into goofy romps and touching introspections, from crowded cities to lonely rooms, from abstract prophecy to confidential confessions. Equal parts revelry and revelation, it manages the riotous energy of the kaleidoscopic and the carnivalesque while avoiding the gawdy pitfalls of either in a wicked binge of mostly acoustic sound. Its closing piece, the aptly named “Have a Nice Day,” even ends with a waggishly whispered address to the audience after an extended silence. It maybe not be the whimper that Eliot envisioned, but it sure sounds a lot better. [www.thevisionofadyingworld.com]