"Death Swings"
Jimmy Vargas and The Black Dahlias
Teasa-Vargas USA, 2003
Jimmy
Vargas doesn't just put out CD's. He out to create a whole noir
universe in word, music, and film. Death Swings is just part
of the whole multi-media experience. The CD stands well enough on its own,
but when you connect it to the rest of Vargas' world, that's
when the magic truly happens. Some of the tunes from this album are featured
in Vargas' short film My Shadow Bride in a Noir Veil.
(Click here
to see the chapter titled "Tallulah's Boudoir.") The music and the video
images wrap themselves around together like wisps of cigarette smoke to
construct a re-imagined American noir mythology centered around the mysterious
murder of the beauty that has been come to be known as the Black
Dahlia. It's an ambitious project, but Vargas pulls
it off with style.
When you listen to this
music, you are instantly transported to a misty, frantic, smoky dreamworld
filled with hucksters and striptease temptresses. It walks the razor's
edge between a burlesque stage paradise and a back alley gangland shoot-out.
The vocals are both powerful and yet ethereal. It's a invisible serenade
calling to you though a fog-covered veil.
Death Swings
itself is an album you need to sit down and listen to all the way through.
Each track is fine on its own but it is just a small slice of this world
this album creates. It's like watching a single scene out of "Double Indemnity"
or "The Maltese Falcon." It's a peek through the keyhole. To really understand,
you have to open the door to the shadowy room inside.
Visit
Jimmy Vargas' Website
