Customer Reviews

Now You Know

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Built to Spill's Doug Martsch, in the tradition of great musicians who do whatever they want whether or not their fans would instantly approve, has gone and recorded an amazing album of clanging, glass-on-steel slide guitar folk songs.
...Or are they rock songs?
"Woke Up This Morning With My Mind On Jesus" sure starts off like old-timey fieldworker gospel, but then this great tube-amp guitar crashes and clashes into the song, enveloping drums and vocals in a cloud of crunchy, "Down by the River"-style fuzz.
Ooh, it's good.
All the songs are, and I find myself especially liking the instrumentals--though Doug Martsch's voice is always a treat. Buy this album if you like old-time folk, delta blues, Built to Spill, indie rock, rock and roll, or Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere."
I don't think you'll be disappointed.

This record is often referred to as stripped down or raw, yet there is nothing low-fi, raunchy, or even "live" about the feel or production of the songs. Each track is as carefully put together and as cleanly produced as any Built to Spill release. What is absent from Doug's solo work is the heavy guitar layering and ambient keyboard noise that marked much of his Built to Spill work. What is left are the elements that have made all of his work gripping - haunting vocals, great songwriting, and ripping guitarwork. I suppose the songs could be called "stripped down" in that the guitars used are primarily acoustic but this only serves to illuminate how well Doug Martsch can actually play the instrument. So, I wouldn't pick this up hoping for something dirty or raw but I would pick it up looking for a minimal rock album revealing it's bluegrass roots and masterful songwriting.

Doug Martsch has yet to dissapoint me. He is, in my humble opinion, one of the great songwriters at work today. This, his first solo album, sans Built to Spill, is a mostly acoustic affair. Like all the reviews say, there is a blues influence here - but most reviewers miss the point. That doesn't make this album all that different from a Built to Spill record. In fact, the slide guitar and stomping blues influence have equally pervaded his work with the full band. The songwriting here, as a result, will seem warmly familiar to those initiated to his Built to Spill work.

The tunes here are all solid, and lyrics are typically witty and cynical. "Heart (Things Never Shared)" is a gorgeous ballad, while "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus)" (the only thing here not written by Martsch) is a traditional spiritual/blues number which builds into a scorching guitar workout for Martsch.

Speaking of guitar work, guit-heads out there might want to check this album out on those grounds alone. Other than Leo Kottke, I've never heard another slide guitar player so good.

This album may not be the masterpiece that Built to Spill's Keep it Like a Secret was, but its fine on its own terms. Worth checking out, no doubt!

This is a really interesting album as a Built to Spill fan. It's obviously Doug Martsch, and his playing style plays through. There are a couple moments where the solos are all Doug the way we've come to love. What's intriguing about it, is that Doug fell in love with the blues. Where most people just say they wish they could play the blues, Doug has learned how, and has added a fantastic open tuned slide guitar to his arsenal of sounds. The album almost exclusively features this, and it's a fantastic modern take on the blues from a very Doug/Indie Rock viewpoint.

I really enjoyed the way this album was produced. I know that's sort of odd, because it doesn't say anything about the songs, but it's true. The songs are everything from haunting to totally kicking your a**. They are all steeped with great musicianship, wonderful harmonies, and all around good beats. There's some pop, some rock, some bluegrass, but it's all Doug. I would buy this album at full price again if my CD broke today. If you can't stand slide guitar don't buy this album, that's sort of the main thing, but its slide guitar accompanied harmonies more associated with rock. All I have to say is wow, totally original and a thorough pleasure. 4 stars cuz it ain't perfect.

Well, what can I say- Doug Martsch has made the favorite CD I own. Doug Martsch, frontman for the indie-rock group Built to Spill, made a sorta Oh Brother Where Art Though meets Modest Mouse CD. At times the CD lulls you into a folky trance, only to snap you out of it with wailing solos and powerful lyrics. I highly recommend this CD, every song is a masterpiece.

I really didn't know what to expect with this CD. I'm a die-hard BTS fan, but feel like their latest release (Acient Melodies...) was their weakest. This however, is a great CD, and is getting better with each listen.

There are only a few tracks that remind me even remotely of Built to Spills' prior recordings. But any BTS fan would be able to recognize Doug's voice/style underwater during a full-on nuclear cacophony; and we all know that Doug IS Built to Spill so you can slap any name you want on the front of the jewel case-- it's all the same in your headphones.

It will probably take a few listens for the songs to start distinguishing themselves from each other, and for the more subtle melodies to surface, but you will be rewarded for giving the music time to sink in.

It made me yearn for a new BTS album, but it's a terrific holdover. It starts strong, and ends even better, with a few forgetables in the middle. A solid solo offering.

Taking a break from BTS (please ignore those who think that just because a band member does a solo album, the band is over), Doug produces a masterful, far reaching album. The comparisons with Niel Young's work could go on and on (including Neil's alternating work with and without Crazy Horse). . . but I'll finish by saying that Doug, with this effort, has charted a course that appears will be as illustrious and Neil's.

. . . and that's that this album is as good as anything Built to Spill have ever released. Really. It's tremendously fabulous. It's so good it defies reason.