Customer Reviews

Dead Inside

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We were speeding down the California coast, the awesome full moon pounding down on us. Lisa was behind the wheel. She put a tape in the stereo, "If you don't love this, I will GIVE you my car." A few seconds later I heard the first words of 'Ride'. It unzipped a part of my brain I never knew I had like I was seeing everything for the first time. 'Thirst' echoed a dream I had forgotten about and convinced me to keep a journal by my bed. By the end of the tape I was hooked. There's no going back after Golden Palominos. You can't step in the same river twice.

This latest release by the ever-changing Golden Palominos exists in the strange space between dark spoken word performance piece and disturbing ambient/electronic film soundtrack. Think of it as Laurie Anderson's evil twin delivering a wandering travelogue through Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER.

Poet/singer Nicole Blackman's powerful words hold center stage on the disc, enhanced and supported by Anton Fier's percussion and production, and some instrumentation by long time GPers Nicky Skopelitis and Bill Laswell. The end result is a powerful and haunting recording, often painfully intense, which explores the shadowy personal stories of Blackman's vivid characters.

On the down side, this is not a disc for light listening or one that works well as background noise, nor will you find yourself humming its primary melodies later. This is not pop music. Instead, DEAD INSIDE is a much more rarified item than any of the Palominos recordings featuring Lori Carson, and probably much more of a niche disc. It demands attention and consideration, and the results are often not pretty. Still, DEAD INSIDE is near perfection within its own unique sphere.

If you are interested in more experimental recordings, fascinated by 'difficult' listening experiences, or taken by the spoken word, this is a rich and rewarding disc that will echo in your thoughts long after its last notes have faded from your ears.

i bought this cd after reading the lyrics to "holy" and having them stuck in my head for weeks. the album was a million times better than i'd imagined, especially after reading reviews that claimed it was "too dark" and you "wouldnt want to listen to it more than once".
i completely disagree - and to those who say it isn't catchy - i think it is! i am always running around with lines in my head... it may not be melodic, but it is rhythmic and driving and intense.
my best friend was murdered, and "victim" is very difficult for me to listen to, but "holy" is worth the price of the album, "ride" is genius, and "metal eye" is entrancing.. everything on this disc is art.

The latest Golden Palominos cd is ethereal and beautiful. Unlike all other music, and incapable of being classified into a specific genre, "Dead Inside" is the most original cd in existence. This cd was not manufactured for a space on the pop charts and a few bucks for a talentless garage band. It was made for people who can appreciate great music.

When I worked at a record store, I need only put this CD in and get on the telephone with the distributor to order SEVERAL copies. Nicole Blackman opens up the inner turmolt and pours ink into lyric lyric into sound. I was introduced to this album from a five second sound bite on, of all things MTV. I went right to my record store and ordered my own copy. If you hear this album and it does not occupy a permanent place in your CD changer, write me and I will personally refund your money. Trust me, it will have that affect on you. It isn't good, it isn't likeable, it isn't catchy, IT IS GENIUS, Antion Fier and Bill Laswell move over and give the mic to a sheer pure genius that has Ginsberg and Kerouac a bit jealous.

Never before has a cd sounded so hollow, so full and so mesmerizing all in the same second. Along the lines of beat poetry, and darkness that maybe only Nick Cave could match...this is an epic album.

The last Golden Palominos album I heard was Drunk With Passion, which I really liked ... but this is something entirely different altogether. The opening track, "Victim", is truly disturbing, and the rest of the album stays true to that motif. When I first heard it, I was very affected and actually thought that I wouldn't be able to listen to it again for awhile, but that evening I had to hear it again, as I did the next day. If you don't mind contemplating the dark underbelly of humanity as well as the lofty aspirations; if you reflect on the portent as well as the promise, then you may really enjoy this. I definitely do.

This slab of GPs is very different from PURE, but equally as good.
What's good about this album (for me) is it's ability to make you set the words and music to an imaginery film that gets projected from your innermost self across the back of your eyelids. Something Kubrick-esque? Same ballpark ... depends on you imagination.
You'll really like it if you get on with Recoil (who Blackman has also worked with) - the same raw story telling over a meticulously crafted soundtrack. Broken loops, luscious pads, fragments of narrative and foley.

This album is a selfish affair - by that I mean you need to listen to it alone - a great album for the personal stereo or long journey. You almost want to keep this album a secret. Wish that only you were privy to it's content, but it won't be long before you can't help but want to share it with your friends. They'll love it too.

graphic in your face poetry... life can be so shattering...

so, this cd is something that you're gonna love or hate. one of my friends said she found it pretentious; another said, 'damn you, I have to walk home alone tonight'. It's just that kind of cd. the music is thumping, sometimes etheral, sometimes like your heart after you slam on the brakes of your car.

for my money, nicole blackman does outstanding work. from "victim" to "metal eyes" she whispers songs that stay with you long after the cd is off. and yeah, sometimes (a lot of the time) they're not too pretty. but they are beautiful, in their own way.