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 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: 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: 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 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 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: 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.
Posted on: 29 March 2002 by Mike Hanson
Jason Falkner's solo efforts are pretty good, although not nearly at the same level as Jellyfish's.
I really like "ambitious" pop like this. That's why I love bands like XTC, et al., and I spend lots of time finding new ones to satisfy my hunger. I should create a list of them all at some point, just for the benefit of others on the forum who like the same kind of stuff.
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
Posted on: 08 April 2002 by Goose
Bought the Lambchop 'Is a woman' at the weekend on forum reccomendations..
I must say that it's good. I live spacious, understated stuff like this, and perhaps slightly depressing. In the right music, depressing is inspiring, if you see what I mean !!!!
Got the first JellyFish album too, and a couple of Cd singles from it errr 'Now she knows she's wrong'..Not my 'real' cuppa cha, but for what it is, not bad at all, some very good ideas..
\Cheers
Goose
Posted on: 15 April 2002 by greeny
Bought Is a Woman after reading this thread, What a disappointment!!
I like this type of sparse music and it is recorded very well but there are just no tunes or variety and the lyrics are bland and mostly nonsense. Nick Cave's album of last year beats it in every respect.
The bonus single contains the most intersting tracks.
On the subject of Jellyfish, Superb, also love the Imperial Drag album. Has anyone heard any of the Umajets stuff, which is also Jellyfish related.
Posted on: 15 April 2002 by Mike Sae
Lambchop fans might want to check out Wilco's new one. Never got on with Wilco's older stuff, but this one sounds promising...
Wilco's new one
Posted on: 15 April 2002 by Mike Sae
"Is a Woman" is a very specific album requiring a very specific maudlin mood, bordering on melancholia. Alternatively, the listener needs the capacity to tailor their mood to fit the specificity of the album.
Does the stark minimalism of "Is a Woman" hint at a new direction for Kurt Wagner (with a name like that, it's no wonder he's such a musical talent)?
I hope not. As good as their new album is, I prefer the kleptodipsomanic, yet in medio tutissimus approach of thier older work. And what became of Kurt's falsetto? Unlike most critical circles, I actually appreciate his ambidextrous vocality; he knows when to employ the falsetto as an etalage par excellance.
No thesauri were harmed in the writing of this post.
[This message was edited by Mike Sae on TUESDAY 16 April 2002 at 20:15.]
Posted on: 16 April 2002 by greeny
quote:
"Is a Woman" is a very specific album requiring a very specific maudlin mood, bordering on melancholia
You're definately right on this. But so do other albums, Nick Drakes Pink Moon, Nick Caves last years effort, but these albums offer so much more (like tunes).
Umajets - Can't remember the exact connection to Jellyfish, One of the members is in it (not Jason Faulkoner) I think. Their album "Demolition" got a very good review in Q who said it had a similar feel to Jellyfish. I've not heard any of their stuff though.
Posted on: 08 May 2002 by Mike Sae
Wicked, Nick.
I wonder why they tour the UK, but haven't bothered with us Canucks?
quote:
The only bummer was that they weren't due to finish until 11 and we had to leave 20 minutes before the end to catch the last train home...
It's times like this when you're supposed to say "sod it, let's stay overnight". 20 minutes? You
know they played a rocking 30 minute encore.
