Lost Channels

Great Lake Swimmers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 31, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B001RTP40Y
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,036 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Folk Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 31-MAR-2009

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and Beautiful May 4, 2009

By David Ross VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This CD opens with 3 songs steeped in world weariness. The lyrics of the first song, Palmistry state: "You can see by the lines on my hand, I've been carryin a heavy load." The simple repeated lyrics of "Everything is Moving so Fast" follow the same theme. Similarly, my favorite song on this CD is "Pulling on a Line.", with the chorus. "pullin on a line, pullin on a line and sometimes it pulls on me."

This is a CD that features stunningly beauiful vocal harmonies throughout, based on what band's website aptly describes as "the singular voice of (lead singer) Tony Dekker, a voice that summons ghosts from times past. (and) It's a voice that is capable of conveying heartache and comfort all in the space of a single phrase." The vocals in "Everything is Moving so Fast" and "River's End" are especially beautiful. The vocals are reminiscent of folk-style Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young songs such as "Teach Your Children".

Listening to the songs in order the additional themes are estrangement (Concrete Heart) and separation (She Comes to Me in Dreams). This is followed by unexpected sources of hope and beauty such as "The Chorus in the Underground" and the simple bells of "Singer Castle Bells". Further songs such as "New Light" and the last song: "Unison Falling into Harmony" convey a sense of hope and peacefullness though still suffused with sadness.

I continue to be intrigued by the lyrics and drawn in by the beautiful music after repeated listens.

I commented on my own review to give links to a great CBC News interview and album review and also to the band's website where you can listen to full tracks of several of the songs. Enjoy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I still like the softer sound more October 8, 2009

By John L Murphy TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Recorded along the Thousand Islands bordering Canada and the US, this sounds like a riparian pastoral suite. Tony Dekker leads this hushed band, amping up to current Wilco or mid-period REM volume on the first three and the fifth songs. These don't display the power of Dekker's soft quaver as much as their standard repertoire of quieter, slower, melancholy tunes.

Dekker and band understandably wanted to shake up their sound on this fourth record. The songs that are louder, however, seem nondescript next to ones such as "Concrete Heart" which despite the lyric sheet that makes the words look nearly indecipherable in size and color, still stick with you in simple poetry. The album sinks in as it progresses, and the later songs return to the earlier albums such as "Ongiara" and "Bodies and Minds" with a chamber-folk setting that adds depth subtly. GLS has progressed as the band coalesced to flesh out the low-fi, skeletal, haunting sound of the self-titled debut, and despite the added fullness here on #4, I still prefer the more burrowed, hibernating feel of the softer songs that wrap you under layers.

This is not a record to blast. It's suited for introspection, rain, and waking up or settling down. We all need such music however raucous other CDs on our shelves speak to other moods. It took me a while to get used to Dekker's resolutely steady pace of singing and playing, but this will comfort those in the mood for music that makes you turn inward. How he and his band manage to do this without seeming pitiful or self-absorbed is a difficult quality to explain, but I think more often than not, this record succeeds in separating the fine line on the right side, between twee and depth, pose and insight.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Harmonic convergence August 14, 2009

By loce_the_wizard VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

It did not take long for "Lost Channels" by Great Lake Swimmers to become one of those recordings I have to get a "fix of every day. This music is harmonic dopamine, quickening the pulse, mood-altering, blissful. The band surrounding main man Tom Dekker proves more than a supporting cast, taking his songs and turning them into shimmering vignettes.

No filler or schmaltz clogs up the recording, and sentiment is discarded for something clearer, the vision and feelings that come from living without resolution or answers. This music captures the spirit of those souls doomed to quest for love and enlightenment in a fallen world, showing that such a quest is noble, if perhaps doomed.

I thought this idea of recording in historic places could smack of gimmickry, but it works: the instruments resonant distinctly and the voices of Dekker and his supporting singers floats clear as a bell from my Vandersteen speakers. For what it's worth, this is one of those recordings that sounds entirely different when played through a very good stereo (I guess one could make that point about any recording, but the emotional impact of this album is just not the same for me when I hear it in the car or on a smaller sound system.)