Friday, December 29, 2006

CD Review: Salim Nourallah & The Polaroids’ Pleasantry Lane

By Chad Jones

Some of you might be wondering about the motive behind Salim Nourallah's new release, Pleasantry Lane.

Well, what better explanation than to go straight to the horse’s—Salim’s—mouth? (not to say he resembles a horse in any fashion). As he tells Erin Rice in an audio interview at his Pleasantry Lane studio (which is owned and operated by Salim and electronica whiz Rip Rowan):

“So, I thought for all the people that’ll never get to see me play with a band, that it would be nice to make a little CD. Also, the Polariods have been doing some radically-different versions of Nourallah Brothers songs."

What's more, Salim says the CD took three days to record but two years to finish. That being so, he's just as excited as you are that the guys "finally got it done."

Thankfully, they did. The thirteen-track album is vivacious and somber, laid-back yet lively. In "She'd Walk a Mile," a remixed Nourallah Bros classic, Salim wraps a soothing and simple melody around his rhythmic narrative so flawlessly that you might not realize he's really writing poetry. The lyrics, soft and cheerful, flawlessly paint a vivid picture of silly kids in love.

The song "Missing Funerals" provides a good example of how Pleasantry Lane differs from Salim's original recordings. Salim says the new version "bears almost no resemblance to the acoustic-guitar-dominated version found on my solo debut. Dufilho and Garner work a pumping drum and bass groove while the last verse features one of my favorite guitar parts ever with Steve finger-picking his Italia a la Georgie Harrison or Guy Chadwick."

A previously un-released track, titled "Constellation," was written around the time of Beautiful Noise but not included on the album. According to Salim, it's the one song he regrets putting on PL. "People better get this version before I eighty-six it,“ he says.

But really, Salim's being too hard on himself. "Constellation," like each of the other tracks, is rich, refined and powerful.

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