Customer Reviews

Here Comes The New Folk Underground

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Baerwald in one of todays most underrated songwriters. We all know what a masterpiece "Boomtown" was 16 years ago. Hell, it STILL is! Baerwald has covered a lot of ground since then. His first solo effort, "Bedtime Stories", was IMHO just as good as "Boomtown" but it didn't get the recognition it deserved. He follwed that up with "Triage"; a dramatic about face from his past two releases. Both "Bedtime Stories and "Triage" are now out of print but are definitely worth looking up on your favorite online auction site.

Which brings me to "Here Comes the New Folk Underground". For this release Baerwald collaborates with Will Sexton (yep, Charlie's brother) for one of the years best albums. As with all of his other albums, this cd contains Baerwald's image laden lyrics. You can always "see" his songs as they pour from your speakers. Very few songwriters possess this ability. Yet it seems to come naturally to Baerwald. These songs are an emotional rollercoaster, happy and upbeat (Nothing's Gonna Bring Me Down), sad (Why) to introspective (If). This album has it all.

If you're a fan of Baerwald's, you probably already have this cd. If you're new to his music and are sitting on the fence about buying this cd, don't worry. I guarantee once you hear "Compassion" or "Nothing's Gonna Bring Me Down" or "Wondering" you'll be humming them all day long. It's that good. Hell, they're ALL good!!

Thanks "Destructo"!

In retrospect, I think I was trying to make a hat out of a pair of shoes, and should have left well enough alone with the material on "A Fine Mess". Though I'm as narcissistic as the next guy, I honestly can't really recommend this album. Better to track down a copy of "A Fine Mess", if you're interested. Or better yet, "A Love Supreme". Just my two cents.

David Baerwald

Baerwald is surfacing after a nine-year solo effort hiatus with what is a major musical and philosophical statement for the neo-Austinite. The project title is a scream. The heart-tugging, bluegrass/rock-flavored "Why" and "The Crash" coalesce with the CD's best track ("Compassion") into a melting pot of scathing Randy Newman-influenced poetry ("If" and the hilarious bonus track "Little Fat Cowboy") and straight ahead Beatlesque rock ("Hellbound Train" and "Love #29.") Yet with all of the nodding, his influences don't overshadow the originality of his craft, a testament to his remarkable singing/songwriting ability. This progression of Baerwald's talent is a signpost of the inevitable: with his recent Golden-Globe-nominated, soaring "Come What May" (his masterpiece from the 'Moulin Rouge' soundtrack,) he now takes his place as one of America's foremost composers, and his formidable body of work (beginning with the 1986 wunderwork "Boomtown") demands study by craftsmen and cruising-with-the-top-down fans alike.

After basking in the caustic heaven of his last solo 'Triage,' composing the soundtrack for the satiric "Hurly Burly," becoming a father, and most recently, enjoying a Golden Globe nomination for his gorgeous, soaring "Come What May," (from the 'Moulin Rouge' soundtrack) Baerwald emerges with this long-awaited, worldly-wise project that is massive in ambition and musically addictive. The project's title, "Here Comes the New Folk Underground," asserts that Baerwald's ascerbic wit is still marvelously intact and wide-ranging: Randy-Newmanesque sarcasm is present in the hilarious "Little Fat Cowboy," and "Bozo Wierdo Wacko Creep," but "Why" is a heartbreaking tribute to comrade/collaborator Bill Bottrell's son and must be considered one of Baerwald's cathartic masterpieces. The absorbing lyrical detail and vocal stylings of "The Crash" harken to his gripping west coast 'David & David' efforts. The melodic arrangements here are just as ambitious--"Hellbound Train" rocks as hard as Bearwald did in the early 80's with David Ricketts, but "Compassion" and "The Crash" embrace softer, backporch sounds including banjo, mandolin and (perhaps most remarkably) Nashville/Austin session ace Redd Volkaert's masterful guitar work. Baerwald's remarkable ability to color ascerbic rock lyricism with bluegrass instrumentation and coalesce the product into believeable character vignettes has been honed to a harrowing edge here and is his most impressive feat to date. He is emerging as one of America(na)'s foremost singer/songwriters who can cut and sting ("If") or soothe ("Me and My Girl") at will. This newly relocated father is now officially a force to be reckoned with.

I've been a fan of David Baerwald since the David/David, WELCOME TO THE BOOMTOWN LP came out in the mid 80s. I followed him through every phase of his career until I lost sight of him in the mid-90s. Last year I discovered his soundtrack work on 2 wonderful Sean Penn films with Jack Nicholson, and have been
overjoyed at his return; new label, new local, GREAT songs.
In several of the recent interviews he speaks of the folk-writing greats, trying to preserve dignity in the face of annihilation. With this album, David has added himself to the
list. My favorite songs, after the first listen, in running order; "Why","Nothing's Gonna Bring Me Down", "Wondering", "Hellbound Train".

I'm sure that as I listen to the music more, there will be others.

Welcome back, David.

F.Carmack

Baerwald has made some great records over the years, even if no one's ever heard them.

But now he's made another one that no will hear, which is a shame because everyone should hear this one.

The lyrics still have an edge, but it's not the edge of the razor blade you're using to slash your wrists. It's the edge one gains from living, laughing, loving -- and yes, losing -- from time to time.

This is the kind of CD you can leave in your 6-CD changer for a month and not get sick of. Sadly, that's because you'll never have the good fortune of hearing stuff like this on the radio.

David Baerwald is back, with a soulful vengeance, and his first studio album in nine years is his best ever. it brilliantly showcases his growth, originality, melodic ability and wicked insight on a level that easily surpasses 95% of what's currently being foisted on us as 'music'. who else writes lines like, 'love is eternal...as long as it lasts', 'sometimes it gets so ugly, all you can do is crack sick jokes...a little cyanide humor about lampshades and soap', and, 'life is so weird and demanding'? he gets it - and he shares it generously, with biting wit, such human warmth, and superb melodies and playing. plus that voice - there's nothing like it. if you love falling in love with a song so much that you play it 5 times a day for weeks on end, then pick this album up ASAFP, because there'll definitely be one on there for you. if not, then you're a fool! and i pity you...

After recording what was, in my own opinion, the best album of the entire 1980's with DAVID + DAVID's BOOMTOWN, and co-writing seven of the tracks on Sheryl Crow's 1993 TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB, as well as two powerful solo albums, David Baerwald has released his first solo recordings in a decade.

I, for one, am very grateful that he did.

HERE COMES THE NEW FOLK UNDERGROUND gets my vote for album of the year--- bar none!

It is full of catchy tunes that leave the listener humming them for hours after the CD is put back on the shelf.

If you love intelligent music full of raw emotion and confidence, then take a listen to this new CD. Your ears and your CD player will thank you for it for many years to come!

an excellent cd. stellar lyrics, production, and vocals. a rare fresh voice in a sea of musical sameness.

After years and years of waiting for a follow-up to the superb "Triage" cd, David Baerwald returns with us with a terrific new record. Baerwald has always struck me as part of the great pantheon of the California songwriters--even though some have come and gone from California over the years--Baerwald, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, Randy Newman and the late Lowell George. Higlights for me include "Wondering," "Me and My Girl," and "The Crash." A great sound, not a bum song in the lot. Baerwald-like the other singer/songwriters I mentioned is part of that vanishing breed--artists who would rather not put crummy songs on their cds to fill space. Highly recommended cd by an intelligent, tremendously gifted man. Bravo to Lost Highway for signing him. Hopefully they'll have the sense now to not let him get away.