- Audio CD (20 Feb 2012)
- Number of Discs: 2
- Format: CD+DVD
- Label: City Slang
- ASIN: B0068DU8TQ
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 50,543 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriot Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. If Not I'll Just Die | |||
| 2. 2B2 | |||
| 3. Gone Tomorrow | |||
| 4. Mr. Met | |||
| 5. Gar | |||
| 6. Nice Without Mercy | |||
| 7. Buttons | |||
| 8. The Good Life (is wasted) | |||
| 9. Kind Of | |||
| 10. Betty's Overture | |||
See all 11 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Live tracks from slang20 festival 2010 at Berlin's Admiralspalast & Track by Track interview with Kurt Wagner. | |||
Product Description
Review
Kurt Wagner’s alt-country collective Lambchop have been quiet since 2008’s subdued OH (Ohio), and although this new offering does little to lift the downbeat atmosphere left by that collection, it’s good to have them back. Following the death of a friend, Wagner, a respected painter, had been focusing on visual arts; until, that is, long-term producer/band member Mark Nevers, keen to try something new, coaxed him back into the studio.
To fans of the band, evolution in Lambchop’s sound will come as nothing new; but those only familiar with 2000’s soulful Nixon album might struggle with this latest development. Nevers’ idea is a ‘psycho-Sinatra’ arrangement of strings and other sounds, presented in a more open yet complex way… whatever that means. And it’s unclear until you hear it – the new directional pull translates into a subtle shift of style, but it’s one that raises Lambchop’s heart even higher up their sleeve.
Mr M’s opening tracks are so heartbreakingly intimate that it is hard to maintain eye contact with them. The strings on opener If Not I'll Just Die pine as eloquently as the lyrics, while the Princely-titled 2B2 couldn’t be further from purple joie de vivre. Wagner’s fractured vocal pleads to be allowed to rest over the most fragile of arrangements, pulling no punches, while Nevers is true to his word on the string orchestrations. At times their lusciousness is misleading, as they take you by the easy listening-hand only to drop away, or soar, when you (and apparently Kurt) least expect them to.
Lambchop are highly respected for a reason – but adhering to John Updike’s “review the book, not the reputation” mantra, if there’s a problem here it’s how personal this album is, how bleak and heartbroken its protagonist appears. This is not music romanticising heartbreak, but the very sound of heartbreak itself. When the mood temporarily lifts, on The Good Life (Is Wasted), you can hear the relief at some positivity in Wagner’s poise.
This album sounds how cracked bluegrass 78s might with modern technology: old-timers rocking on the porch with a battered four-string, but backed by a full orchestra. The influence of Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years album will delight established fans, but those new to the band may find the fragility of the songwriting and subdued mood hard to embrace.
--Tom Hocknell
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was astonished the other day to hear a dj I fully respect say, he just didn't get Lambchop? He then proceeded to say he didn't get Neil Young either. Now, I must stress this was a top dj with great breadth of musical knowledge and I guess I have to conclude that he's either nuts, on a wind-up or fully entitled to his opinion but my point is; we can't all like the same thing.
I however think that Kurt Wagner is a genius and Lambchop are one of the best bands of their generation. They definitely divide opinion in a Marmite way but from the moment I first heard Nixon I have been intoxicated and probably have about 10 of their releases.
Not surprisingly this album has been spinning a lot, and if you'll pardon the cliche, it just gets better with each listen. It really does. Dedicated to another luminaire of Americana, Vic Chesnutt - a genius who sadly passed in 2009 - this is quite a sad body of work but as per usual Kurt works his magic and it is somehow uplifting and life affirming. Needless to say the music is breathtaking and the lyrics, albeit odd at times, pure poetry.
If you like Lambchop this is Essential Kit, if you don't then you're as mad as our dj friend, and if you've never tasted this fine cut of meat then tuck in here, you might just get addicted. A masterpiece. Vic Chesnutt rip!
I however think that Kurt Wagner is a genius and Lambchop are one of the best bands of their generation. They definitely divide opinion in a Marmite way but from the moment I first heard Nixon I have been intoxicated and probably have about 10 of their releases.
Not surprisingly this album has been spinning a lot, and if you'll pardon the cliche, it just gets better with each listen. It really does. Dedicated to another luminaire of Americana, Vic Chesnutt - a genius who sadly passed in 2009 - this is quite a sad body of work but as per usual Kurt works his magic and it is somehow uplifting and life affirming. Needless to say the music is breathtaking and the lyrics, albeit odd at times, pure poetry.
If you like Lambchop this is Essential Kit, if you don't then you're as mad as our dj friend, and if you've never tasted this fine cut of meat then tuck in here, you might just get addicted. A masterpiece. Vic Chesnutt rip!
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Lambchop have made a number of outstanding albums as they've evolved from "Nashville's most f--ked-up country band" to a singular chamber pop ensemble during a career that lasted nearly two decades, but one of their finest works is not really a Lambchop album at all.
Vic Chesnutt recruited Lambchop to serve as his backing band on the 1998 album "The Salesman and Bernadette", and the results were a marvelous fusion of the group's broad but emotionally intimate approach and Chesnutt's witty, skewed, and perceptive gifts as a songwriter.
Chesnutt and Lambchop's Kurt Wagner seemed like kindred spirits, fellow Southerners who married oblique yet telling poetry to melodies that were strong yet fluidly graceful, and it should surprise no one that Wagner was hit hard by Chesnutt's death in late 2009.
Lambchop's first studio project since Chesnutt's passing, 2012's "Mr. M", is dedicated to Wagner's friend and collaborator, and though the songs don't deal explicitly with Chesnutt, there's a sense of sorrow in these songs that's deeper than what we've come to expect from Lambchop, infused with an air of reflection and regret that's impossible to miss.
As usual, Wagner's lyrics are blankly poetic and don't much concern themselves with linear storytelling, but his gently abstract sketches of people coming to terms with loss and unkind fate make themselves felt even when they're not literally understood, and the lines "Friends make you sensitive/Loss makes us idiots/Fear makes us critical/Knowledge is difficult" from the song "Mr. Met" sums up the tone and the themes of this album remarkably well.
But if "Mr. M" is music informed by tragedy, the sense of gravity makes this some of the most beautiful and powerful music Lambchop have created to date.
Wagner's gorgeous, artful melodies give the musicians plenty of opportunity to demonstrate their remarkable command of dynamics and interpersonal interaction, and most of the songs have been gussied up with fine, tasteful string arrangements that weave their way in and out of the band's performances rather than simply being draped over the top.
"Mr. M" is an album that concerns itself with loss, but the beauty and gentle force of these songs speak to the joys and responsibilities of being alive, and the album is more than simply a fitting tribute to a fallen comrade, it's one of the most affecting works to date from a brilliant, one-of-a-kind band. M.Deming
Vic Chesnutt recruited Lambchop to serve as his backing band on the 1998 album "The Salesman and Bernadette", and the results were a marvelous fusion of the group's broad but emotionally intimate approach and Chesnutt's witty, skewed, and perceptive gifts as a songwriter.
Chesnutt and Lambchop's Kurt Wagner seemed like kindred spirits, fellow Southerners who married oblique yet telling poetry to melodies that were strong yet fluidly graceful, and it should surprise no one that Wagner was hit hard by Chesnutt's death in late 2009.
Lambchop's first studio project since Chesnutt's passing, 2012's "Mr. M", is dedicated to Wagner's friend and collaborator, and though the songs don't deal explicitly with Chesnutt, there's a sense of sorrow in these songs that's deeper than what we've come to expect from Lambchop, infused with an air of reflection and regret that's impossible to miss.
As usual, Wagner's lyrics are blankly poetic and don't much concern themselves with linear storytelling, but his gently abstract sketches of people coming to terms with loss and unkind fate make themselves felt even when they're not literally understood, and the lines "Friends make you sensitive/Loss makes us idiots/Fear makes us critical/Knowledge is difficult" from the song "Mr. Met" sums up the tone and the themes of this album remarkably well.
But if "Mr. M" is music informed by tragedy, the sense of gravity makes this some of the most beautiful and powerful music Lambchop have created to date.
Wagner's gorgeous, artful melodies give the musicians plenty of opportunity to demonstrate their remarkable command of dynamics and interpersonal interaction, and most of the songs have been gussied up with fine, tasteful string arrangements that weave their way in and out of the band's performances rather than simply being draped over the top.
"Mr. M" is an album that concerns itself with loss, but the beauty and gentle force of these songs speak to the joys and responsibilities of being alive, and the album is more than simply a fitting tribute to a fallen comrade, it's one of the most affecting works to date from a brilliant, one-of-a-kind band. M.Deming
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Vinyl
This is how Vinyl should be packaged. A great gatefold double LP with each disc in a black sleeve with a transparent inlay.
The records themselves are 180g complete with pictured label.
The only issue I have is that the lead-in is very small, which makes it quite difficult to drop the stylus on it on my turntable. But this isn't a very minor blot on an otherwise great package. Its how music should be sold!
At £10 its unmissable.
The records themselves are 180g complete with pictured label.
The only issue I have is that the lead-in is very small, which makes it quite difficult to drop the stylus on it on my turntable. But this isn't a very minor blot on an otherwise great package. Its how music should be sold!
At £10 its unmissable.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Vinyl
I decided to give this a go when I guess a mistake was made, will it be possible to get this again for a tenner? I doubt it!
Still great value though at twice the price. Read more
Still great value though at twice the price. Read more
Published 2 months ago by jonjhargreaves
lovely vinyl package
This is an excellent vinyl package - you get a gatefold sleeve, double 180g heavyweight vinyl, a code to download the album from the cityslang website (which I have yet to obtain,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by My pen name
The old stereo
Hi Lambchop lovers! More organic but no less cosmic than say Nixon or Is a Woman that's not to say that they're not all good but these are the standouts as this one could be, well... Read more
Published 3 months ago by P. CLAYTON
I hope you're still listening
Although I am giving the same number of stars (as a rounding up of 3.5) as the previous (excellent) review, I am afraid I am not quite as generous in my praise. Read more
Published 3 months ago by degrant
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