Bavarian Fruit Bread

Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 23, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B00005QB7K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,699 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Drop

2. Suzanne

3. Butterfly Morning

4. On the Low

5. Baby Let Me

6. Feeling of Gaze

7. Charlotte

8. Clear Day

9. (interlude)

10. Bavarian Fruit Bread

11. Around My Smile

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Anyone familiar with Mazzy Star's ethereal, hypnotic music will find singer Hope Sandoval's debut album with the Warm Inventions a welcome return, with its haunting, spaced-out odes to melancholy. It's been five years since Mazzy Star's last album--the rich, evocative Among My Swan--and while Sandoval has appeared on records by the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Chemical Brothers, the At the Doorway Again EP, released at the end of 2000, was the Warm Inventions' first offering. The band--half of which is Colm O'Ciosoig from My Bloody Valentine--favor altogether sparser songs, which suffer somewhat from the absence of David Roback's lush, entrancing slide guitar, which made Mazzy Star so beguiling. Nonetheless, there are delights to be had: Sandoval's voice continues to drip with ennui and a tripped-out nonchalance while the delicate, tinkling songs on display here are eerily romantic, employing soft, beautiful acoustic guitars and occasional strings. Highlights include the relatively upbeat "On the Low," with its gentle swaying rhythm and occasional splashes of harmonica, and the dreamlike "Around My Smile," which features an intoxicated Sandoval singing, "I've got it going on." She may well be right. --Suzannah Brown

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's sad. It's sparkly. It's simply stunning. June 2, 2006

By Manda

Format:Audio CD

With the music, Hope Sandoval's vocals, the album art, and the album cover of "Bavarian Fruit Bread" combined, this has to be my single favorite album. Hope, whether it was when she was with Mazzy Star or went solo with this project, has easily become my favorite vocalist. How could anyone not be drawn to that adorable voice? What's really great about this album is that her vocals become even more of a focal point on "Bavarian Fruit Bread." And what's different about the music here is that rather than the psychedelic bluesy sound of Mazzy Star, there's more of a low-key, folksy approach through the use of acoustic guitar, harmonica, and the glockenspiel. Simple, sparkly, and gorgeous. I wish all music was this good.

I remember hearing "Suzanne" for the first time. I was not yet familiar with Hope, but that song was the beginning to my adoration of dream pop and shoegaze music. What really stood out was the gentle tinkling of the glockenspiel on this track accompanied with Hope and Colm murmuring "Suzanne". There's a certain shimmering, subdued beauty about this entire album that gently pulls you in and keeps you warm and intoxicated with its relaxing and somber nature. It's so easy to just sit back and lose yourself in this kind of music. Of course this isn't the most uplifting or upbeat music I've heard, but there's so much beauty to discover and appreciate in the lethargic dreaminess here.

The only fault I see in this album is the slight mix-up of song titles. I find they're sometimes listed differently, so here's my version:

1. Drop

2. Suzanne

3. Butterfly Mornings

4. On the Low

5. Baby Let Me

6. Feeling of Gaze

7. Charlotte

8. Clear Day

9. Bavarian Fruit Bread (instrumental)

10. Bavarian Fruit Bread

11. Around My Smile

12. Lose Me on the Way

I consider the standout tracks to be "Bavarian Fruit Bread", "Clear Day", "Suzanne", and "Charlotte." All tracks are impressive, though, and it's quite consistent. I can't guarantee you'll love it, but I hope many have been able to enjoy this album as much as I have. Melancholy was never so beautiful before. Whether it makes me want to smile or cry at all its beauty, I just feel pleased to have come across an album created by all very talented musicians.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Making Ennui Cool Again December 28, 2001

By M. JEFFREY MCMAHON TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

These songs are languid, sensuous, swathed in ennui and melancholy. All the songs are woven by the same magical fabric, a quality I like in an album (as opposed to a hodgepodge). To make the album all the more wonderously tormenting, Hope Sandoval's persona, sad and smoky, is very attractive, irresistable even.

Additionally, I admire the album's absence of gimmicks. The album's appeal lies in its melancholy sensibility and Hope Sandoval's dolorous voice.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It�s always important to have Hope October 25, 2001

By William Merrill TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Such a great pleasure to hear Hope Sandoval's ghostly voice again! It's been more than half a decade since the last Mazzy Star CD, but now's a good time to hear from her again. The immortal MazStar tune "Fade Into You" has been receiving airplay again on TV this year, creating a demand for new music from Hope, and here it is. This new CD features a very stately and soft kind of folk music, meaning the songs are all down tempo, primarily just Hope's voice accompanied by Colm O Ciosoig on guitar. Colm's guitar playing is rather slight, a fact which becomes painfully apparent when Brit-folk legend Bert Jansch joins them on two tracks for some much more intricate guitar lines. Hope's singing is the highlight, though, that wispy, breathy thing of wonder you can just wrap yourself up in and get lost for hours...