Don't let the doofy cover fool you. This is one of the best albums you will hear in your life. Most often, I hear Cowboy in Sweden cited as his best work (aside from his collaborations with Nancy Sinatra), but this is the better album, in my opinion, and indeed I would say: it's nearly flawless. This is a guy who's pretty loopy at the best of times, but far from being just camp curiosity, his work here is sublime. A collection of country-pop with lush, cinematic strings, a baroque sensibility, a savvy sense of the archetypes of the genre and a genuine gift for deadpan, pathos-laden storytelling with a rich sense of humor; all delivered by a man whose laid back chops were nonetheless honed. Each song is great, the title track being particularly breathtaking in it's crystalline brevity and stunning sudden stop, and the track "Pour Man," which kills just kills with its interplay of harpsichord and jangly guitar. The guitars, keys, and strings throughout are stellar... inventive and ruthlessly professional, almost Italian sounding. Really just a little treasure of production. Lee himself does the froggy monotone that has always characterized his singing, but it's the best incarnation of it and it's great. Besides, like David Berman says, "all my favorite singers couldn't sing."
If you like the Porter Wagoner compilation Rubber Room, Nancy Sinatra, or music, among other things, you will see fit to try and like this. I say this a lot, and it's because I think a lot of them haven't been properly identified yet: It's a masterpiece.
-http://flashstrap.blogspot.com/-
GET MELLOW HERE
9/25/10
King Of The Froggy Monotone
Don't let the doofy cover fool you. This is one of the best albums you will hear in your life. Most often, I hear Cowboy in Sweden cited as his best work (aside from his collaborations with Nancy Sinatra), but this is the better album, in my opinion, and indeed I would say: it's nearly flawless. This is a guy who's pretty loopy at the best of times, but far from being just camp curiosity, his work here is sublime. A collection of country-pop with lush, cinematic strings, a baroque sensibility, a savvy sense of the archetypes of the genre and a genuine gift for deadpan, pathos-laden storytelling with a rich sense of humor; all delivered by a man whose laid back chops were nonetheless honed. Each song is great, the title track being particularly breathtaking in it's crystalline brevity and stunning sudden stop, and the track "Pour Man," which kills just kills with its interplay of harpsichord and jangly guitar. The guitars, keys, and strings throughout are stellar... inventive and ruthlessly professional, almost Italian sounding. Really just a little treasure of production. Lee himself does the froggy monotone that has always characterized his singing, but it's the best incarnation of it and it's great. Besides, like David Berman says, "all my favorite singers couldn't sing."
If you like the Porter Wagoner compilation Rubber Room, Nancy Sinatra, or music, among other things, you will see fit to try and like this. I say this a lot, and it's because I think a lot of them haven't been properly identified yet: It's a masterpiece.
-http://flashstrap.blogspot.com/-
GET MELLOW HERE
