Friday, May 26, 2006 , Updated
Calhoun’s Latest Gift to Us All
What do you get when you put Tim Locke, Brandin Lea, Steve Duncan, Ben Roi Herring, Toby Pipes, Todd Pipes, Byron Gordon, Max Lintner and Jordan Roberts in the Bass Propulsion Lab Studio and hand 'em instruments, along with music by Tim Locke? You get freakin' brilliance, that's what.
I've been a long long long-time fan of all the above mentioned artists, most 'specially a fan of Tim Locke's voice, lyrics and music. I've completely worn out my copy of The Year that Never Was from so much play, and Calhoun's newest self-titled release is well on it's way to needing a breather - it's been playing non-stop since it landed in my mailbox last week.
I normally don't really like attempting to write reviews. I'm just not that overly eloquent, thoughtful or journalism-y. Plus I tend to overuse descriptive terms like "kick-ass" and "wicked-awesome." Really deep stuff. I like to link to good reviews written by them there smart people. However, I will assure you that this CD is a must-have if you love gorgeous, melodic - sorta poppy, sorta rootsy, sorta rockin', really splendid music - written and performed by some of the best musicians in the country.
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""one of mine lives just around the corner from me. when tim locke finished the new calhoun record (which is apparently entitled finis; i don't know song titles, either, because all i've got's a cd-r and tim's songs are _never_ called what i think they are), he told me, "it's done. i hate it. last week, i loved it." i came home one night last week to find my sweetie diggin' the copy he'd left in our mailbox. after listening, i e-mailed him, "dude, you went and made a wilco record...a big surprise, in the best possible way." meant it, too. it's been quite a journey, following tim's career the last five years or so. with each new set of recordings, he's redefined himself in the same way sly did with there's a riot goin' on: from the extreme-close-up intimacy of 2001's love songs for the very low; to the overly-rich, everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink approach of calhoun's 2003 debut the year that never was; to the still-unreleased sides he cut with a west coast producer called "the count" that totally reimagined tim's songs and gave them a glossy sheen which somewhat eclipsed the performer's personality; to the surprisingly hard-edged rawk of coma rally; to the stripped-down sound of the 18 songs he demo'ed early last year, which i took as an indication of the way this record would sound. wrong! instead, finis borrows the best elements from all of the above to create something entahrly new -- a tweaked, modern sound that's stripped down at times and hyper-real at others, almost a "dub" version of tim's music. a lot of credit for the changes has to go to tim's newest collaborator, jordan roberts, formerly the big brain behind / most interesting thing about the audiophiles. he's filled the tracks with surprising colors and textures, including lotsa electronic drums which, who'd a thunk it, don't grate and detract from the feel of the music they way they can. the songs i've been hearing acoustically for years are completely transformed, and the unfamiliar ones all reveal new facets on each hearing. it's going to take awhile to digest all of this, but it'll be a fun ride. "easy listening" is for squares, after all."
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I'll make this really easy for you - click here and getcherself a copy.
Listen to the track "The Rain The Stars" from the new album
Then drop all your plans and head to Hailey's in Denton tonight for one magnificant show:
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Calhoun / Super Love Attack / Smile Smile / Prayer for Animals / Chica Los Gatos
Doors at 9 PM
$5.00 Over 21 - $7.00 Under 21
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