Happy 2017!
I’ve had a lovely holiday, during
which I had a chance to read a lot of “best of 2016” music lists. I didn’t
agree with any of them, so before our next review, here’s mine.
I bought 23 albums released in
2016, so here’s my top 10 so far.
10. Conor Oberst “Ruminations”
9. Marlon Williams – Self Titled
8. Sturgill Simpson “A Sailor’s
Guide to Earth”
7. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Skeleton
Tree”
4. Angel Olsen “My Woman”
2. Eleanor Friedberger “New View”
I don’t technically own Conor
Oberst (#10), but I’ve listened to it and it is definitely top ten for the
year.
And now here’s a review of a 2016
album that did not make the top ten but still had a few good moments.
Disc 953 is….Mosey
Artist: Daniel
Romano
Year of Release: 2016
What’s up with the Cover? With his loose afro, Adidas
track suit and defiant stare Romano looks like a cross between Bob Dylan and a
low level mobster.
How I Came To Know It: My coworker Sam introduced me to
Romano and this was me just buying his new album on a whim.
How It Stacks Up: I have three Daniel Romano albums, and this is
my least favourite so…third.
Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3
Daniel
Romano’s passion for trying something new and his evident zeal for avoiding
being pigeon-holed is admirable, but there is a danger that the resulting record
can come off sounding either disjointed or self-indulgent. “Mosey” is a bit of
both, but there are enough high points to counter the missteps.
The record
opens with “Valerie Leon” which
sounds like something from 70s a.m. radio, with a horn section that would fit
right in as background music in a chase sequence from Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy. It still kind of works, which is
a testament to Romano’s innate understanding of how to write a pop song.
Sadly, Romano’s
efforts to marry indie folk sensibilities to seventies schmaltz more often results
in songs that are overblown and self-conscious. On “Toulouse” he recruits Rachel McAdams to make sexy “famous actress”
quips over the song, but doesn’t improve it noticeably in the process. When
adding Rachel McAdams doesn’t make something better, you’ve made a serious
wrong turn. I can think of a long list of situations where the addition of Rachel
McAdams makes things better, but this song isn’t one of them.
Other odd
decisions include a number of songs with strange instrumental tails (“I’m Alone Now”, “Maybe Remember Me” “Mr. E. Me”)
that relate tangentially or not at all to the original melody. Romano seems to
want to to shake us loose from our musical foundations, and maybe to give us a
palate cleanser between songs. Instead the effect is like one of those appetizers
that Tom Hanks samples in Big; it looks
fancy, but tastes terrible.
“Mr. E. Me” is the worst offender, with a
title that is (I assume) deliberately cheesy. With its crazy string section and
groovy beat you can almost see a guy in a red leisure suit and flare pants
walking down the street. As the soundtrack to a seventies spy film, it might
work, but it isn’t something I want to chill out and listen to.
“Maybe Remember Me” is a pretty song,
with Romano’s high and airy vocal calling out, frail and honest, supported by
pretty imagery and sharp imaginative rhymes. Hell, this song is so pretty and
pure it holds up despite the pointless tail tacked onto the end.
The
record’s best song is “Hunger is a Dream
You Die In” which is a beautiful country track, with exceptional and
understated guitar work. When Romano sings:
“Hunger is a dream you die in
Dreams wake when you’re done
deciding”
You think
this song is a warning not to spend your time in listless desire. However on
repeat listens, lyrics like this come more to the fore:
“I’ve been hungry all my life
And nothing feeds my appetite
Hunger is a dream you die in
When the best of it comes true
There’s always more I need from
you.”
The
title refrain is repeated multiple times in each verse, and then conspicuously
replaced with a guitar run right when you’re expecting it. The music, like the
song’s warning, leaves you hungry for more yet forever unfulfilled. This track isn’t
a roadmap out of the Dreamlands, but rather a lament of someone trapped within
it. It is a brilliant, thoughtful and emotionally evocative song and I wish
this record had more like it.
If one
song sums up “Mosey” it is “I’m Alone Now.”
As I noted earlier, this is one of the many songs with a disjointed ending
tacked onto it. It also features a mix of brilliant poetry and a jangling and
tinny production and an eclectic mix of instrumentation that sometimes works
and sometimes fails.
It reminded
me heavily of Leonard Cohen’s album “Death of a Ladies Man”. That record marks
a strange point in Cohen’s career. He was near the end of his light and frail poet
croon, and not yet into the deep-throated gravel and groove that would define
the end of his career. “Death of a Ladies Man” is full of horns and
orchestration and songs that sometimes work and sometimes don’t.
Transitional
records are sometimes like that, and “Mosey” shows enough promise and ambition
that I’m excited to see what Romano will do next. But outside of two or three
tracks, it would be an overstatement to say I’m excited about what he does
here.
Best
tracks: Hunger
is a Dream You Die In, One Hundred Regrets Avenue, Maybe Remember Me
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