Ode To Quetzalcoatl (studio album) by Dave Bixby

From Mercury 10/19/2017 20:19

This album is, at times, truly stunning. It's a raw, ugly, lo-fi, echoey, DIY classic in many ways. All about dave Bixby, and his rise from the borderline psychotic, drugged out loser of the stunning and gutwrenching opening track "Drug Song" through his first encounter with the grace of religion, through eventually a feeling of his coming to a new reborn state by the end of the album.

If you really just give yourself over to the very barren, bleak sound of this album, and really give yourself over to the feelings of the music, I think you'll be engrossed. Not all the songs here are classic or great. Some are just too plain. But the album is great in its very unique lo fi sound, and in the way the incredibly minimal music - basically just an acoustic guitar - manages to be recorded in such a way that it echoes and moves about and creates some really stunning moments.

When the songs are really "on", they are simple, unpoetic and unpretentious gems. Like I said, "Drug Song" is about as stunning and touching an opening track as I have heard. It is so heartbreaking and low and earnest in its broken feeling. The second track "Free Indeed" is similarly great and beautiful. Other real standouts for me are the songs "Mother" which is a sad and intense plea from Bixby to his mother, trying to get her to see that he is for real now and not a drug addict anymore, "Morning Sun" is incredibly spare and yet beautiful. It manages to convey the feeling of waking up with hope and serenity, possibly for the first time in years. The intense drama of "666" is fabulous, and the way Bixby closes this album with the exaltingly happy and earnestly peaceful "Secret Forest" (which features some cool harmonica which i loves) and the aptly titled "Peace".

Yeah I again may be ranking this too low. I think the sound of this album is so DIY, lo fi, almost Daniel Johnston-esque in its earnestness and simplicity and lo-fi sounds. The story of the record is interesting, and the album does really work as a sort of concept album/story about the lowest low of Dave Bixby's life turning to a miraculous rebirth. Its a great record and highly recommended. From what I can tell, Bixby never made another record. So there is also a certain closure and logical end to this story. One can imagine he lived happily ever after.

Rating: 8.8/10

This relatively unknown album was recorded as a private pressing in 1969. Best described as Loner Folk it tells the story of the singers rise from drug hell and redemption through religion. However his is no Christian happy clappy record. Bixby in later years described his distaste for organised religion. A beautiful spiritual recording that deserves a far wider audience

Very passionate and beautiful with an interesting story behind it.