Customer Reviews

Hundred Lovers

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

 

 

if I had a big island, this would certainly be one of my desert island cd's. I love the sound, the so-called dirty digital recording method sounds great! The acoustic guitars and percussion scratch, tear, and rip with sonic grandeur. Standouts: Shotgun Wedding, Kitchen Fire, and the title track. Be sure to have good loudspeakers on your island, turn 'em up loud, play air guitar to this one proudly, even if no one is watching.

If you like eclectic thoughtful writing, dynamic recording and production, and something out of the Rock mainstream (a niche we used to call "Progressive Rock" when I worked at Seattle's KEZX radio in the early '90's) ...you will probably treasure this offering from the dynamic duo of Pat and Barbara K MacDonald.
In the case of Timbuk 3, the commercial success of their hit, "The Future's So Bright" was largely a curse, because they are so much more than that one song, yet- a lot of people think of that tune as having been a defining statement about them, which probably limited their exposure to a larger audience. A Hundred Lovers dissolves that illusion right away, and seduces you into a musical world of sharp observation and satire.
This is a very sonically dynamic recording which will sometimes test the upper limits of your tweeters and at other times exercise your subwoofer and low end amplification. The sonic palate is rarely the same from song to song, but that's done on purpose, not because of engineering oversight or equipment limitations.
This is a real "sleeper" of an album, and if the world of music were fair and reasonable with some taste, Timbuk 3 would be famous and revered for being the pioneers they actually are. The proof is right here in the spicy A Hundred Lovers.

I consider this music very sophisticated, coming from Timbuk 3. As I listen to it, I hear so much more than I comprehend in my usual preoccupation with words and chords. Duet singing was a feature which was not particularly prevalent in popular music in the years after the Everly Brothers and Simon and Garfunkel had big hits, and the harmony on this recording may keep a dominant tune from emerging for some songs. Like Bach being less popular in his own time: so many other musicians were easier to listen to and remember what they were going to sing before they got to the good parts. If I told you the good parts of this one, I'm afraid the obvious question would be, how crazy would that be? Really, the song "A Hundred Lovers" defines a state of mind which reflects the basic entertainment values of the music industry better than any single tune good, and I better listen to the tune again just to make sure I really heard it.

The song starts with a single rhythm guitar, drums, electric guitar lead riff, male vocal verse, "A Hundred Lovers" repeated so often that "dance in her head" starts to make sense. When the little numbers start to hit, rolled into one, musical crescendo carries everything together. Mostly just a male vocal, but the "lie in my arms" tends to be dueted, and the background vocal "A Hundred Lovers" at the end makes great sense as the defining state of mind.

Next song, "Just Wanna Funk With Your Mind" has female vocal, "I wouldn't want make you go blind" with very electric sounding guitars. "I don't want to take pictures of you." There is probably no video for this song. This rocks very musically, though, if you let it grab you.