Customer Reviews

Luminaria

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I've been a fan of Ian's since 1996. He remains one of the singular best live performers I've ever seen - to see an Ian Moore show is an experience unlike many others.

And, I should say that I am also a fan of the "new" Ian Moore. Much has been said of his transition from a "guitar-slinging hero" to a more introspective singer-songwriter. I find the transition one of growth and inspiration. In fact, Ian's previous studio release "And All The Colors..." is among my most treasured recordings.

I sensed that Ian was going for the complete transition on this recording. I've really tried as hard as I could to like it - I've locked myself in a room and listened to it end-to-end a few times now. I can't warm up to it. The songs are too simple, the melodies lack the unexpected twists that make many of the songs on "Colors" great, and the lyrics aren't in my opinion, up to Ian's standard.

I can definitely see what he is going for here, and based on the other reviews I can tell I'm in the minority among Ian Moore appreciaters, but I simply don't like this disc.

THOUGH I'M A HUGE FAN OF HIS EARLIER WORK, IAN'S GROWTH AS A SONG WRITER IS EVIDENT ON THIS ALBUM! SINCE STRAYING FROM HIS BLUES/ROCK BEGINNINGS AND SHRUGGING OFF HIS "HEIR APPARENT" TITLE, AS BESTOWED BY ME, LOL, HIS ALBUMS HAVE BEEN ADVENTUROUS AND ARTISTICLY CHALLENGING, IF NOT ALWAYS 100% SATISFYING. "LUMINARIA" IS IN MY OPINION, HIS BEST EFFORT TO DATE. ON THIS ALBUM HE HAS ACHIEVED A DEGREE OF "COMPLETENESS" THAT I DIDN'T FEEL ON SOME OF HIS EARLIER WORKS. IAN IS TRULY AN "ARTIST", AND HIS REFUSAL TO COMPROMISE IS FINALLY REWARDED WITH THIS ALBUM!
EVEN AT HIS WORST, IAN HAS MORE TALENT THAN 99% OF THE OTHER PERFORMER/SONGWRITERS OUT THERE, AND AT HIS BEST, HE IS TRANSCENDENT!!!!!! BUY IT!!!!
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IAN DO ANOTHER LIVE DISC/DVD, MAYBE IN THE VEIGN OF WHAT SHAWN MULLINS DID RECENTLY, HALF SOLO/HALF BAND, OR HALF NEW STUFF AND HALF OLD "LIVE IN AUSTIN" ERA STUFF???? I KNOW, PROBABLY TOO MUCH TO HOPE FOR! BUT I FEEL DEPRIVED BECAUSE I'VE NEVER GOTTEN TO SEE HIM LIVE! I DID BUY "LIVE AT THE CACTUS CAFE", BUT THAT JUST LEFT ME WANTING MORE!!!!!!!!
IAN MOORE IS A GIFT, FROM GOD, TO ALL OF US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The reluctant guitar hero returns, and once more delivers an album which showcases his bottomless versatility. Ian Moore has always shunned the mantle of the next great Texas guitar slinger, his early recognition in these parts having been rather unfortuitously coincident with His death in 1990. I've never thought Ian's studio albums captured the ferocity of his live performances, preferring instead the cassette tapes I bought from his fan club before the first album came out. Ever dedicated to following his Muse and challenging his fans to catch up, Ian has crafted an album of such beautiful melodies that I don't think I've heard anything like it since The Beatles. The line of new CD's I've bought since this one keeps growing longer; I just can't stop listening to it.

I became an avid fan of Ian's upon the release of his debut album. I saw him live as often as possible for the next couple of years. Then, I heard that he had ditched his band and moved to Seattle. It was then that his music got weird and just went downhill in my opinion. I bought both Green Grass and All the Colors, both of which I listened to a couple of times, but now they just collect dust. I recently saw him on a live special filmed at the Bat Bar. The Ian Moore on this show lacked passion, exhibited little guitar playing or songwriting ability and just plain bored me to death! I can appreciate artists wanting to experiment with different sounds for a few songs or maybe an album or two. But Ian has COMPLETELY abandoned his blues roots that made him great and unique. Now he sounds like a million other artists. There's nothing at all unique about his sound and his voice has no passion in it and the music is just plain depressing. I have not purchased this album but just listened to clips from it. That alone is enough for me not to buy it. The songs all sound the same: boring and depressing. I wish he would explain why he has completely abandoned the rockin' blues music from his self-titled album and Modern Day Folklore. He's wasting his talent with his new ordinary sound. If you listen to the Ian Moore on Live from Steamboat in Austin, you will be blown away. Compare that to the Ian Moore now, and he's not the same artist and that's too bad. Ian, go back to the blues, it's what you do best.

I've got all IAN MOORE releases and loved everything he has done until this offering. MODERNDAY FOLKLORE and ALL THE COLORS were excellent and intelligent changes in direction, while still maintaining the obvious skills and energy from his BLUES persona. This is like EMO dross.....LEONARD COHEN without the humor. There is not even a tiny bit of energy to be found anywhere on this disc. If IAN still plays the guitar, it sure is not obvious to this listener. Not sure which drug you'd need to take to make this dirge sound good. Crying shame for one so obviously talented as IAN MOORE. I am also still listening to find the INTELLIGENT bit that some reviewers are referring to. PRETENTIOUS - YES - WANKING - YES - FLACID - YES - INTELLIGENT - NO !!!

Man how Ian's sound has changed from his self-titled debut album of the early 90's. In each album since, Ian's reinvented his music stylistically, and it's a great thing to have experienced. This album simply never gets old. My wife and I drove from Austin to Albuquerque and must have listed to this album 10 times, and sang along on every song. This album is not to be missed, and if you have a chance to catch him live, his arrangements are even better in a stream-of-consciencenesss kind a way that few musicians I've heard are able to accomplish. He can even make you feel sorry for Sir Robert Scott ;) If you're at this page, you already are thinking of buying, so go ahead and pull the trigger, no regrets.

Ian has a difficult type of songwriting to label. While listening to this gem, all I could think of was "unique". He was once a "Vaughn/Hendrix" guitar style artist. His last three releases ("Got the Green Grass", "All the Colours", & this one) have shown him growing into a completely different type of musician. He's thrown the previous outdated style out the window in favour of a very focused, intelligent songwriting that is very much his own style. The cd is amazing. In fact, having listened to this for about a year now and I'm blown away by the depth of this guy. You just don't hear songwriting like this everyday. One of the best cd's I've heard, and that's saying plenty.