Luminaria

Ian Moore | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yep Roc Records
• ASIN: B0002MHER8
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,707 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Paste

[Ian] left the hot licks and long blond locks behind to reveal a wonderfully cerebral (and often estranged) gothic songwriter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 -- Impressive blend of folk, country and psychedelia, October 30, 2004

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Luminaria (Audio CD)

Those who already know Moore may only know him from his previous incarnation as a guitar-slinging Texan. Those who haven't heard his earlier work will have a hard time connecting his earlier blues-rock background to his current folk-rock inflected alt.country sound. His latest betrays few hints of his past, filling out this disc (his sixth) with superb pop melodies and adventurous arrangements that layer harmony and echo on meters that effortlessly flow from pop 4/4 to dreamy waltz-time interludes.

Touch-points like Jeff Buckley's introspective folk and Wilco's pop constructs are fleshed out by loping tempos, as well as pedal steel that is more atmosphere than twang. The 7+ minute "Caroline" is a lush Badfinger-like construct that alternates between concise melodic pop and trippy psychedelia. Having recorded this album over many months with a revolving set of musicians in several cities and along the road, the songs explore a wide range of styles, including the shuffling country soul of "April," the jazzy blues of "Abilene," and the otherworldly Theramin-inspired "Ordinary People." It's a heady collection of sophisticated sounds that mixes primary elements with shadings of trip-hop.

When Moore cranks up the rock 'n' roll electricity, as he does for "New Day," it's more a wall-of-buzz (with Penny Lane-ish trumpets) than Texas blues. Even the rootsy dobro rant "Bastard" sounds as though it were processed through a bit of Tom Waits' alley-way sensibility. Moore's lyrics are similarly sophisticated, mixing allegory with word play for poetic effect, but without destroying the narratives or characters. His sketch of Antarctic explorer Sir Robert Scott's dramatically portrays the mariner's failed attempt to reach the South Pole before anyone else (he was beaten by Norwegian Roald Amundsen), and his death on the return journey.

Perhaps the album's greatest achievement is how effortlessly it combines its breadth of style and depth of experimentation. Rather than sounding constructed, it sounds like an organic whole that tumbled out of Moore's imagination. There's a great deal of craft in the unusual, detailed arrangements, but like the lyrics, singing and playing, it's in service of fashioning a superbly coherent result from often disparate ingredients.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Scott! Give me Moore..., October 30, 2004

By 

Diamond Dave (Chicago, Home of the Blues) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luminaria (Audio CD)

Like Jonny Lang & Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Ian Moore pretty much came storming out of the blues starting blocks around the same time, and rocked about as hard. And like Jonny & Kenny, Ian's latest release takes him far, far away from the steamy bar blues of yesteryear's debuts.

I was expecting blues, actually hoping for something akin to his first CD, which I really dug.

This is NOTHING like that. But what a treat. Hard to pin down, it rarely rocks...hard. It's actually pretty chilled out. I can imagine Ian Moore crafting these marvelous songs as Brian Wilson might have sat and wrote one great song set after another in Beach Boy Brian's Good Vibration salad days. Or comfortably numb Pink Floyd, or spellbinding Audience, or the way Beatesque pop like "She's Leaving Home" type songs would inspire and evolve into a band as poppy as the great Jelly Fish. It's like none of those things and all of them.

I don't know, I just think this was an unexpected knock out. I can not stop playing this CD. That hasn't happened to me this year, except with Patty Griffin's dreamy new release (Imposible Dream).

This is a very special CD. Not one dud in the bunch and most every song is a revelation.

I rarely take the time to confess my love for an artist or album, I have a blues kinship to many of these young cats so I pull for them to do well, but this CD blew me out of the water.
I hope it does the same for you. I'm buying another copy of this instant classic for a desert island.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST KEPT SECRETS, August 24, 2004

By 

Mojo Pin (Baton Rouge, La.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luminaria (Audio CD)

Ian Moore never fails to progress with each album. From his first self titled album as a blues guitar hero to "And All The Colors" as a brillant singer/songwriter, Ian has been a huge inspiration for me. I saw Ian twice in the past year, and I was honored to see these songs evolve. IN my opinion, this is one of the most honest efforts Ian has ever released. The collaboration with Chris Dye is amazing..Do yourself a favor and buy this record!