Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
confessional indie rock superstar, 26 Jan 2005
Since the turn of the millennium, Lou Barlow's been pretty quiet. A disappointing Folk Implosion record and some more sketches from his Sentridoh songbook aside, we haven't really hard anything from him at all. Luckily this debut solo album proper is here, and it's enough to satisfy any long-term Loobiecore follower.Largely acoustic, but swathed in cellos, electronic hums and drum machine rattles, this is partly a return to the heart-breakingly sweet ballads of Sebadoh's masterpiece 'Harmacy', whilst still acknowleging the luscious indie-tronica of later Folk Implosion. Opener 'Holding Back The Year' sets the tone perfectly; a guitar strums beautifully whilst Lou's typically honeyed vocal melts your heart all over again. Second track 'Home' continues the mood, even drenched in a cacophonous building thrum, whilst further on, 'Mary' addresses the notion of Jesus Christ's 'real' father. It's a thornier issue than Lou normally deals with, but in the form of a gorgeous ballad, it's difficult to see how even the most devout Christian could fail to love it. Well, it's not, but you get the point. With its jokey title (Lou was always the spritual father of emo anyway), it's plain to see that indie rock's premier confessional singer-songwriter has finally mellowed out. Happily, he hasn't burned out. If you've ever loved anything by Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Folk Implosion or Sentridoh, or even if you've never heard of them, this is a must. Acoustic indie-pop simply doesn't get better than this.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The album to open up your eyes to how beautiful songs can be, 27 Mar 2005
I had never heard of Lou Barlow before (well I was aware of him as a Dinosaur Jr. member, but thats it), but my boyfriend bought EMOH and told me that I would love it; comparing its simplicity to older Bright Eyes albums, and perhaps a slight hint of early Ryan Adams. He broke up with me, but then yesterday I received a cassette tape copy of EMOH and haven't stopped playing it since. This album touches you - not only if you have the sentimentality of a broken heart, but for all emotions. Songs make you half smile, such as 'The ballad of Day Kitty', which is a sweet tale of a stray that comes to visit Lou and how they get along. The basic jist of this album are songs like these - simple, heart warming, original, addictive. If you don't like the lyrics Lou's voice alone will encapture you. Its just a wonderful album that will surely become one of those lo-fi classics that everyone will own; putting to shame all of these contemporary try-hard acoustic flirters.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From Sebadoh to Emoh, 11 Aug 2005
Lou Barlow has been around for what seems like for ever for me. In the begining there was Dinosaur Jr & with all the emotional turmoil of playing in a band with a nutter of J's magnitude it was only time until Barlow a equally tallented musician, would leave the fold to form Sebadoh. One of my favourite bands of all time. First for me was bubble & scrape then rocking the forest. But the pinnacle of Sebadoh's powers was Bakesale which is still in my top three of all time(along with about thirty others)! Kurt Cobain was a massive fan & wore many Tshirts but one famous band shoot in Ireland he wore with pride his favourite, a Sebadoh shirt . Now Barlow's main muse was his girlfriend who for a while left him for another close to his life & at this time his & the band, best work was done. During this same purple patch he formed side projects like Sentridoh, Folk implosion & solo work of an even more stripped down style. Emoh is simlar to the solo work only in the sound of Lou's voice & the best compliment I can pay this body of work is to say it's on a par with Bakesale. I loved it because Lou's finally grown up musically & listening to his words emotionally. If you're a Pavement/Sebadoh/Teenage Fanclub fan you'll love this record.
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