Customer Reviews

Love & War (Dig)

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

 

 

Barton Carroll's music is a little odd and therefore difficult to describe. He sings with such understated emotion and passion. It's as if he has so much to say but he's not sure if anybody wants to listen so he doesn't scream, he doesn't yell and he doesn't sing loudly. He's got this kind of passive emotion to him that, at times, chills me to my bones. The best evidence of this is in the first song, "Look up, Look down, that Lonesome road." With just his vocals, an acoustic guitar, a cello and a bassoon, he creates such an atmosphere that is worthy of remeberance. He also will let his electric guitar scream the things he's afraid to let his vocals say. "Vultures" is a great example of this.

There are a couple of songs on here that fail to live up to these standards, hence the 3/5 stars instead of 4, but a definite buy if you're tired of hearing the same old stuff.

As a Northwest local I've had the pleasure of seeing Mr.Carroll play live on a number of occasions. He is not pretentious at all and manages to be a very touching storyteller through his music. This is moody music, taking the listener through a variety of stories and frames of reference, melodies both slow and fast, tender and very evil. His unusual voice and guitar playing are profoundly seductive. He reminds me a little of Leonard Cohen, but is thoroughly his own, weird, talented, unique self.He cites influences as varied as Springsteen, Townes Van Zandt, and Elie Weisel's "Night" trilogy.

I absolutely adore this guy and his music. Go see him play live if you can. Check out his website for upcoming show dates and music samples.

Great CD, very talented artist. I listened again and again. Nice addition to any collection.