Customer Reviews

Dan Reeder

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For his day job, Dan Reeder is a visual artist who paints imaginative pictures that incorporate captions such as: "Mr. Brain leads another doctor professor into the desert where nothing can live." In his spare time, Reeder makes music -- and I use the word "makes" very literally. Reeder not only single-handedly wrote and performed the songs on this CD, but also made the instruments himself, constructed the mixer, and did the recording. What we get for Reeder's efforts is an album with three remarkable qualities.

First and foremost, it's a no-frills affair: Just a guy and his guitar. This puts Reeder's singing and playing directly in the spotlight, but his straightforward, natural performing style is completely unaffected by the heat.

Second, by combining bone-tired blues with dirt-road folk and a slightly raspy voice, Reeder weaves a musical fabric that sounds like soft, frayed blue denim. His harmonies help to create an atmosphere that, like the best American roots music, is mournful and joyful at the same time.

Lastly, and perhaps most surprisingly, Reeder's album is full of humor, which is sometimes juvenile, sometimes witty, and sometimes bittersweet. Many of Reeder's deceptively simple songs take an unflinching look at the drudgery of life, work and relationships, but they also highlight the importance of being able to laugh at it and take it in stride.

These three qualities are not usually combined in a single package, and you might not necessarily expect them to work together well. In this case, the combination produces an album that is comfortingly familiar and yet highly original.

I buy thirty or forty CDs a year. This is the best one I've bought in years. Honest. Reeder has gotten back to the way music starts out -- somebody with a tune in their head singing it for their own amusement. He has the voice of somebody singing on a back porch at dusk, not to impress anybody but just for the pure satisfaction of doing it. This is so elemental it makes most of the other stuff around sound fussy and over-engineered. It's folk music from a real folk. It's real real music. Check out the samples. The real CD is even better.

Reeder's individual style resonantes throughout this CD, obviously largely due to his having home-built the instruments (incluidng the amp)he used to create it---even mixing the voice track on his home PC. The harmonies are flawlessly simple, the lyrics heartfelt and intimate. Reminiscent of J. Prine, to whom Reeder gived credit for "writing the only songs I can remember the words to." There is something here for everyone with an ear for down-home blues who can appreciate sardonic wit and solid, unpretentious musicianship. One-of-a-kind.

This guy is an evil genius. Bob Dylan meets Captain Beefheart meets Godzilla or something sorta like that. Tell your freinds. More fun for under $15 than you will usually have. Put it on and hang around, clean your place up and listen. Your place could use it, it has a funny smell.

I heard about this album on the NPR show, Fresh Air. I figured, what the heck, it's only $10 and bought it off iTunes (sorry Jeff Bezos). Man, is it good! Some songs are downright hilarious in parts, and some others are actually quite touching. The album is basically loads of fun. I highly recommend it and hope that Mr. Reeder will give us some more of his music in the near future.

A friend of mine introduced me to Dan Reeder's music. I immediately fell in love with the simple beauty of it. Here is an artist that is making music purely for the love of making music. I feel almost like I'm eavesdropping on some fellow's back porch, living room, or basement. Moreover, I feel privileged that I get to hear it!

This is a collection of songs that just reaches out to your humanity - whether it's about a relationship gone flat (The Tulips on the Table), the frustration of being overworked (Work Song), or the simple enjoyment of a nice rain (Here in the Kitchen).

Plain and simple, this music just makes me feel good. I always come away from listening to this CD feeling better about myself and my life. I've got a boatload of CDs, but there's only a handful that do that for me every time.

This is quality stuff. Not fancy, not overbearing, just a good songwriter and performer. I've played it every day since I got it, and I still laugh at the funny parts, and still nod my head at the insights. I've sent e-mails to five people telling them to go buy this ablum, even if they usually turn their noses up at "folk" or "roots" music. I've even written my first Amazon review because of it.

Ever go to an acoustic open mic at a coffee shop, and while, sitting through some really unbearable performer butchering the same song they do every week, a guy walks through the door with a battered old guitar case, and everybody in the room smiles because they know that they're now going to hear at least one good song that night? That guy is Dan Reeder.

Dan Reeder to me used to be a freaky painter with a very nice wife and three extremely smart kids (watch out for Peggy R.!). The guy from the neighbourhood that you would drink a beer with, sometimes. When Dan started recording this phantastic and unique record, not even some of his closest friends were aware of the fact that Dan is able to make music, at all.
Check out the surprise when he started dealing his first copies with the hand made drawings on the cover...
I own three different versions of the original cd; it is amazing how Dan changed & improved the stuff in about no-time. Now, for every fan of Folk, it is a must!
Fans: don't be afraid! There WILL BE at least one more album. Soon! OhBoy hast got a contract for the next one...
When I met Dan in the pub some weeks ago, he gave me a short exclusive concert with one of the new songs. So much: I fell down on the floor, struck by Dans songwriting power!

It will be about a guy, waiting for a beer in a pub...
And, apart from all this: what a good painter Dan Reeder is! (Other than Peter H.-)), but this is no amazon story.

This album is one of my most favorites. When you're down and out I suggest putting this record on. Dan won't necessarily bring you up but he is willing to come down to where you are at and play you some music.

Here's a guy sitting in his studio in Germany creating his own instruments and his own mixers and his own music. He's a painter and a poet.

This would be a solid addition to anybody's collection. Great for wine parties and other various high brow gatherings. Escpecially when "Food and Pussy" comes on.

This is a great disc. I have bought more copies because I keep giving mine away. Good smart songwriting, homemade instruments (wow), great playing - buy it, actually, buy a couple, you'll want to share it too.