Customer Reviews

Brother Is to Son

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We've got the Danielson Family, Danielson Famile, Tri Danielson, Danielson, and now Br. Danielson. Anyway you wind em up I like em. And apparently this record's all Daniel. At least in concept. The whole family and then some contribute to Brother is to Son.
My I-Tunes player labels the genre as "unclassifiable". I can concur on some levels. It's either that or a string of neo niches that you don't want to read and I don't want to taint you with. When I saw the Danielson Famile perform in New York I was dumbfounded by the beauty, spirit, and uniqueness of the performance. The group is electrifying and their records do tend to nearly reflect the spectrum of the group. The visual just can't be overlooked.
So reminiscent of the social religion of the giddy clean Southern Baptist summer camps and vacation Bible schools I attended as a child. Only this is truly poetic and claiming that spirituality in a different, poignant, visceral and revelatory dimension. This has the makins of cults.
Daniel's more revealing of himself in the songs here ("Hammers Sitting Still," " Perennial Wine"), and the arrangements have a more narcotic and free feel, but they are truly Danielson with the clenched attack of the acoustic guitar strum and Daniel's chokehold falsetto. There's also a new maturity to the material. Terrific time and tempo changes that come unexpected and welcome. The vocal performances are leading the way with as much diversity and character as the musical arrangements. A mystical web is woven song after song and the record would mesmerize if it weren't for the compulsion to rock with it. ("Cookin Mid Country," "Animal in Every Corner"). The religion might scare off some of the more leery, but the power of the art speaks for itself. Religious or not, it's a magnificent work.
Bill Bryson

This is a masterful work of art. This may sound overly dramatic, but Danielson is after more than uplifting pop music in his songs, making music that takes you places, backed up by poetic lyrics laced with Christian imagery. Of all the Danielson albums, this one feels the most musically mature and its tone is a bit more serious than ones past. There are some haunting moments, where his chants and whispers are melodically repetitive (listen to Perennial Wine when he sings "over and over and over and over and over and over...").

The cover art for this and other Danielson albums has ties to the music, both exemplifying a folk-art aesthetic. The album art is naive and child-like, with bright colors and broad strokes. Similarly, the music uses of sing-along choruses like you may have sung in 3rd grade, and he makes good use of raw acoustic guitar, banjo, juice harp, bells, light electric guitar accents, piano, and most importantly, his unmistakable high-pitch singing.

All the songs are strong, but my choice for standouts include Cookin' Mid-County, Daughters Will Tune You, Perennial Wine, and Brother:Son.

Danielson & Famile is an acquired taste because it is so dramatically different from anything you've heard, but once you acquire the taste there is no stopping their infectious art. If you have open ears and listen to mainstream music, you can appreciate this. But as listener who subscribes a Christian worldview, you will be challenged to unpack Danielson's poetry and contemplate the authenticity of your faith. Support quality indie music that is more art than escapist pop.

As always Danielson provides an off beat tongue and cheek body of work with more then a touch of the Danielson home spun quirkiness... then again would you expect anything less? This album has dimension featuring everything from the hyper energetic such as songs like "Cookin' Mid-Country"
to slow subtle pieces like "Daughters Will Tune You". Even with a more guitar and string driven pallet this time around Daniel Smith still makes this body of work a rich layered tapestry. It's just like the good ol' days when musicians use to dig deep to form "their sound" but... I think for the most part tunes smiths like Daniel Smith started fading out with the Beatles. In a world of mass marketed bands that choose to be generic because it sells... it's nice to know that there are bands like Danielson that still can be genuine and creative. I wont rant on and on (primarily because I don't think that people want to spend a half hour reading an amazon review) so just do yourself a huge favor... just buy this album...

If anyone would have told me I'd be listening to anything labeled Christian, I would have assumed they were one step from the looney bin. Not that I have anything against people who do - it's not for me.

Fortunately, I didn't know "Brother" had any more meaning than "Sister" in Sledge or Twisted. There's nothing in his lyrics that has a religious overtone. What there is are clever, refreshing and common sense folk-punk lyrics that I associate with a sincere DIY ethic and approach, absent any glitz, glamour and pop saccharine. He's doing music for expression, not to make a billion dollars and that comes across. His music is bittersweet, infectious and honest. "Things against Stuff" is catchy and if the world was fair in music, the song would have gotten air play and probably charted. The rest of the album is just as listenable.

I've been listening to Br. Danielson for a while now and every one has been worth it. Who knew faith was more than image?

I have the frustrating habit of procrastination, which usually causes more harm than good. I've been meaning to write this review for over a year now and well, I guess I've been putting it off. There is one instance where procrastinating actually did me some good. It was the day before I was heading out of town for a trip and I found myself scrambling around at work trying to get everything finished at the last minute. It was a typical burning the midnight oil all-nighter. At about 3:30 am, I finally finished and headed for home to pack and catch my morning flight out. On the way home, I was semi-delirious and exhausted, so I flipped on the radio, which happened to be tuned to KALX, the UC Berkeley radio station. At that moment the song "Our Givest" came on and I thought I'd finally cracked. It was after calling the station to find out who the artist was, that I became aware of the artistic genius of Daniel Smith. Faith-based indie pop is about the furthest genre that I would typically find appealing. Other than something in the classical realm, any faith-based music would usually have me running for the hills. Not so with Br. Danielson. This music is pure, unadulterated, uncompromising art. It is a sincere and truthful expression of love. It is rare in this world full of problems to see something so innocently honest. Smith has opened his soul for all to see. Musically, it is satisfying and delicious. In some alternative parallel dimension, it is Beatle-like in its appeal. This disc offers a rare, beautiful expression of art. The only challenge is getting past Smith's insane stranglehold falsetto. The message is in no way preachy. There are no limitations. These folks are most definitely comfortable in their own skin. Are you?

This is a great album (esp. Daughters Will Tune You, and the last three tracks: Hammers Sitting Still, Physician Heal Yourself, and Brother: Son). It is, by far, my favorite danielson record to date. However, ITunes is selling it for four bucks, so I suggest y'all get it there. :)

When I listen to this album I feel relieved I feel warm and happy I look at the world in a different way. i'm not going to talk about spirituality in this review, but there is something different about danielson's music, something deeper, stronger and more powerful than anything it could be compared to. forget the shallow observations from sufjan stevens and the polyphonic spree, this is the real stuff.