New Lambchop al***
Posted by: Tony L on 19 February 2002
It must have been a very hard job for Lambchop to follow up ‘Nixon’, the album that saw them teetering on the brink of massive commercial success. It must have been even harder to throw away the formula that created that commercial success, but that is exactly what they have done with the new album ‘Is a woman’.
The new album is sparse and empty, gone without trace is the “Nashville soul” / Curtis Mayfield meets gentle country plus lush strings section sound of ‘Nixon’, gone also is the “country ‘n’ post-rock” feel of the earlier and stunningly good ‘What another man spills’. What is left is obviously what matters, and what is left is pure Lambchop. ‘Is a woman’ is Lambchop, it could not possibly be anyone else, in many ways it is the most Lambchop album yet. All the artificial flavouring is gone, what is left are Kurt Wagner’s unique and beautiful songs supported almost entirely by piano. Kurt sings and plays gentle guitar, Tony Crow plays exactly the right amount of piano, and the remaining twelve or so band members create some atmosphere somewhere way out back.
There was a review of ‘Is a woman’ in last weeks Sunday Times, which is a paper that surprisingly gets its music reviews right far more often than wrong, yet they completely missed the point this time. They bemoaned the sparseness, the lack of dynamics (there is no boom and tizz here, just natural sound), and even had the audacity to use the word bland (though were not brave enough to use it directly). Bland this album is not. I already rate it way higher than ‘Nixon’ and I have only played it three times, but in all fairness I far preferred the earlier ‘What another man spills’ to ‘Nixon’ anyway – its to early for me to say where it stands in this company. What I can say is that ‘Is a woman’ has that rare quality that makes it quite unlike anything else that has preceded it, and that quality is usually what marks a album for future classic status.
‘Is a woman’ is in my opinion the first great album of 2002. The initial CD release comes as a double pack with a three track single, so buy it soon!
Tony.
Posted on: 19 February 2002 by garyi
I have both the others and I too prefer what another man spills.
I will be looking for this one very soon.
Posted on: 19 February 2002 by Jay
Cheers Tony - I'll check it out. I'm curious about the latest Chemical Brothers, has anyone listened to that yet?
Jay
Posted on: 19 February 2002 by Mike Sae
Bought my first Lambchop album last week, by forum recommendation. I chose "what another man spills" for the cover. We played it as background music while playing cards- 20 minutes into it we agreed "damn this is good stuff, I bet they kick ass live". Has anyone seen their live shows?
quote:
I'm curious about the latest Chemical Brothers, has anyone listened to that yet?
Good stuff, by far the best of the bunch.
I've been disappointed with their LPs, esp Surrender.
I bought the new one out of habit and am shocked at how good it is. The new album is more complex, pleasing for the chin strokers, yet it retains all the dumb fun the bros are known for.
I'll actually admit to suffering a bit of hearing damage from blasting the album louder than the system has ever been. The first spin was truly a sh!t eating grin Maxell moment.
Posted on: 20 February 2002 by Former member
Mike
I've got tickets to see them in May. I'm looking forward to it already.
I don't know if they are touring anywhere other than the UK.
'How I quit smoking' would be a good purchase for you next.
Matt
Posted on: 20 February 2002 by Former member
Endorse Tony's review totally. The bonus single is very good too.
Can't help wondering what the other members of the group (and there are a lot of them!) did during the recording...
Posted on: 20 February 2002 by Former member
Posted on: 20 February 2002 by bdnyc
After being totally unaware of Lambchop, I had a friend who is a fellow music freak not only tell me about them, but he insisted that I try to see them in NY next month when they play at the Knitting Factory, and he gave me a homework assignment of buying at least one of their CD's. Based on his recommendation, and the fact that RMN is the political figure I feel most passionately about, I picked up "Nixon". This is a brilliant CD. As I often prefer clean, acoustic productions on folk, country and folk rock recordings, I will certainly pick up at least the new one.
Funny how these enthusiastic recommendations often run in cycles. Perhaps they are on the verge of a commercial breakthrough. It certainly is music deserving of an audience. For fans of this sort of music, I also am enjoying a recent CD from The Wayfaring Strangers, titled "The Shifting Sands of Time". I am unclear if this group was just assembled for the recording, or if they have any ongoing life. When I saw the singer/songwriter Lucy Kaplansky in concert last weekend, she implied that they were not an ongoing part of, at least her plans, but the music is wonderful. It is an allstar acoustic band fronted by Matt Glaser that features such fine instrumentalists as Tony Trischka, Andy Statman, and others that combine acoustic folk music staples with clarinet and banjo for some beautiful, but unexpected voicings. Adding immensly to this backround are great vocalists such as the aforementioned Lucy K, Jennifer Kimball, Ralph Stanley and others.
Highly recommended.
Posted on: 21 February 2002 by woodface
Had a listen to it last night, so far my feelings are mixed. First impressions were good but then it started to seem a bit sparse and morose. This could well be because I was not in the best of moods. I also bought 'Quiet is the new loud' by Kings of Convenience - this is a corker! I think it was Tony who said this was his album of last year and I can understand why. By the way both albums are sonically stunning - a rare thing for a modern recording.
Posted on: 21 February 2002 by Former member
Last night I was trying to persuade my wife to come and see them with me. I described them as a bit on the morose side...
....but in a Leonard Cohen sort of way. Played a bit and she's going to go. Must have been in the right mood!
Posted on: 23 February 2002 by Michael Dale
What a beautiful album. Like Tony, I've only listened three times, but I'm hooked, and it's not bland, or undynamic, it is totally natural, and sonically stunning.
And on top of that the road crew for the band I play with, Embrace, get a mention on one track! We hung out with Lambchop at Benicassim Festival, Spain a couple of summers ago.
I saw Lambchop at the Festival Hall with the full 14 piece band. The band were ace, but unfortunately, our seats were not, and we could not really see or hear much. Might try and check out the York gig.
Best,
Mick.
Posted on: 02 March 2002 by garyi
I managed to get hold of it today on limited addition vinyl with a bonus CD inside.
So far I am chuffed with this album, a real atmosphere about it.
Good recommendation Tony.
Posted on: 02 March 2002 by garyi
Coming to the end of the album now, beauteful I have really enjoyed this, and sooo well recorded, possibly the best piano I have heard on my kit, mabye this is vinyl I don't know.
what the hell are all the members of this band doing!!
Posted on: 13 March 2002 by Former member
Tony,
Thanks for the great recommendation. This is a band I had heard quite a bit about, but never acutally HEARD until I bought the cd. Apparently, this is a departure from their usual sound. In what ways does anyone out there prefer their earlier work, if you do at all?
I am excited to report that I will be seeing them live tonight! They are playing with David Kilgour (formerly of The Clean), whose new cd "Feather in the Engine" I can also comfortably recommend.
Posted on: 13 March 2002 by Former member
Their other albums feature a much wider range of instrumentation and arrangements than "Is A Woman", which work very well.
All of them have that rather wry, wistful, melancholic feel to them but they do tend to feature a few more up-tempo songs on them.
They're all very good, but my favourite is the one prior to "Is A Woman" called "Nixon". Be warned though, that on some tracks Kurt Wagner decided to sing falsetto, which is a little weird at first!
Posted on: 15 March 2002 by Dave J
£6.66!
Very much looking forward to receiving it and 'Is a woman' in the next few days. I thoroughly enjoyed their contribution to 'Beyond Nashville' and keen to check out your recommendations.
Dave
Posted on: 16 March 2002 by ejl
The band Palace (also sometimes called "Palace Music") is likely to appeal to Lambchop fans. The Palace album "Viva Last Blues", which like many good indie albums in recent years was produced by Steve Albini, is probably their best and definitely worth checking out.
In a slightly more folk-rock direction, I just got the new Ida album "Shhh..." and it is excellent.
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by Stephen Bennett
I bought Nixon, finally, last week for 11 quid off Amazon. Story of my life! Anyhow, Nixon is quite wonderful - brilliant lyrics, and low rent deadpan vocals. However the falsetto just scared my cats - horrible! Does he do this on the new one too?
Regards
Stephen
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by Former member
Nope. It's the delightfully mournful drawl all the way.
I don't mind it (it does grow on you), but I've played this several times for people as something they ought to get into. The typical scenario has been enthusiastic nods of assent, followed (after the first falsetto song) by rather wide-eyed looks....
You do wonder why he did it though!
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by Stephen Bennett
generally, I hate falsetto. I hate small boys singing. Still, I'll get the new album - watch it fall in price right away!
If you like the lambchop stuff I think you'll like the forthcoming Tim Bowness/peter Chilvers platter 'California Norfolk' - I'm not on it before you all say 'well you would...'
Regards
Stephen
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by Former member
Then you should know I only got into Lambchop because Shazbut got me hooked on Calexico - via "Hot Rail".
It's packed with good tunes, a drum sound to die for and it's spattered with splendid bits of mariachi trumpets (a la Forever Changes)
Posted on: 18 March 2002 by Mike Sae
I never made the Lambchop/Calexico connection, but I guess you're right!
Have you heard Calexico's "Black Light"?
Wonderful stuff. I keep on forgetting to pick up their other stuff- you know, the syndrome of forgetting everything you were looking for the moment you walk into the store?
Also, the The Black Light marks only time I've ever seen an LP to be cheaper than the CD.
Posted on: 21 March 2002 by Former member
I finally got this yesterday in a big box from Amazon.
I've only had a chance for a couple of plays but I'm impressed. Quietly brilliant.
I also got a couple of others from their back catalogue. An EP called Hank and Tools in the Drier, which is a collection of B sides, singles etc.
Matt
Posted on: 22 March 2002 by glenda
Just heard the news !! I've been listening to the Lambchop - fantastic !! Drinking a few cans of Wadworth's 6x - sensational !! Read a few chapters of the new Bill Hicks biog - wow !!Does life get any better than this ?
Posted on: 22 March 2002 by garyi
Am enjoying lambchop 'is a woman' this evening, I am totally hammered on all sorts of things and this album is really rather good. buy it if not done so already!
Posted on: 29 March 2002 by Mike Hanson
I'm just listening to
Nixon again, and I've decided that I agree with the "sparse" descriptor applied to
Is a woman. Yes there are many tasty musical bits in the latter, but the former has more of them.
Nixon gives me much more to chew on. I still enjoy the other albums, but
Nixon is currently my favorite. (Of course, that could change at any time.
)
BTW, I agree with Tony's assessment:
quote:
‘Is a woman’ is Lambchop, it could not possibly be anyone else, in many ways it is the most Lambchop album yet.
Throughout all of Lambchop's stuff, I could never mistake them for another band. Their signature is exceedingly recognizable. Since
Is a woman has the least "stuff" in it, it must be closest to representing the essence of what Lambchop
is. That doesn't change the fact, though, that I prefer to have more to chew on.
Bombast is best! 
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
P.S.: For a real bit of bombast (and a very good album), check out Jellyfish's Spilt Milk.
