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: 29 March 2002 by Former member
quote:
Originally posted by Mike Hanson:
P.S.: For a real bit of bombast (and a very good album), check out Jellyfish's _Spilt Milk_.
So there's a third Jellyfish fan in the world!
The first album is very good, but "Spilt Milk" is brilliant. The tunes (and it is very very tuney!), the arrangements, and as you say the bombast and life! Very 70's.
Shame they split up - Imperial Drag weren't nearly as good.
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 Former member
Hey, you're allowed not to like it.
I don't know how many listens you've given the Lambchop, but every time I play it I fall further under its' spell.
Yes, the Spice Girls aren't going to cover any of the tracks for their next single, but they have a quiet beauty that just grows on me. It strikes me just how self-confident the singer had to be to deliver in the way he does - it's almost as if he's singing to someone (me) directly rather than just stuck in a studio.
I also started to notice all the subtle bits of additional instrumentation that creep into the songs, which on first hearing just sounds like guitar and piano.
Umajets
Not heard anything of/by them. What're they like stylistically re: Jellfish/Imperial Drag? And what's the link to Jellyfish?
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: 16 April 2002 by Former member
As a direct reslt of this thread I purchased Is A Woman. As well as the fact that I wanted somthing new to spin on the new rega planet.
I have not heard Lambchop before
Sparse it is, elagant it is, brilliance it has, I might normaly hope for a little more in the way of instruments and music, but in this case it is not needed.
Is A Woman is in the opinoin of somone who has not heard lambchop before a great album. I will pick up nixon before long so I can enjoy there music some more.
Simon
Posted on: 07 May 2002 by Former member
Just arrived back from seeing them live at the Albert Hall.
Mesmerising.
There were thirteen of them (mind you I might be wrong - I had run out of fingers and I wasn't about to take my shoes off). 5 guitarists (though some doubled up on other sundry instruments), 2 drummers, 2 bass guitarists (!!!), a pedal steel guitarist, a pianist and two guys hunched over mysterious black boxes, from which old-fashioned tone-generator swooshes emerged at odd moments. At one point one of the black box guys took up a guitar too...
They also commented that they'd left four members back in the U.S.
Yet despite all that they didn't play loudly, except for the odd bit at the end of some of the songs, making it all the more effective.
Most of the stuff was from "Is A Woman" and it worked really well, though you couldn't always tell what the words were, which was a shame. The wonder was that he managed to hold the audience with this stuff in such a big place.
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...
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.
Posted on: 09 May 2002 by Former member
I was reading a few newspaper interviews with them from across Europe, and a consistent question was "Why are you more popular over here than in the US?". They didn't know.
As to staying overnight, well, my wife had to be at work next morning (she's a teacher) and I hadn't got my asthma drugs with me so I'd almost certainly end up with an attack!
As it was we didn't get back till a quarter to one. It's nice living out in the greenery, but it makes concert-going tricky.
Posted on: 09 May 2002 by Former member
I am Simon - if you want a copy of nixon you can have mine - I don't like it.
Dozy
