Customer Reviews

Perishable Fruit

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're interested in what I think of Patty Larkin as a musician in general, go check out my review on her "Angels Running" page from September '99.

Go ahead. I'll wait.

Back? Good. Here's the thing about "Perishable Fruit." It was an experiment -- all the percussion is done with stringed instruments, so think guitar slapping and you're halfway there. Except that this is Patty Larkin, and she manages to evoke bongos, marimbas, different and varying multiethnic-influenced sounds with her array of stringed instruments, and it all works.

This is a pulsating, catchy, fascinating album, but even beyond that, it has some of Larkin's most intelligent and moving lyrics.

This new percussion sound reaches its height with "Pablo Neruda," a spare, slappy, plunky coconut-rattling island-influenced narrative. It's also effective on "Wolf at the Door" -- a response to the spoiled cult of chick singers (I read somewhere it was addressed to Joan Jett, but that's unsubstantiated...so far) who "hang their sweaty little black leather dresses on her guitar." "Wolf" is a rocker in grand Larkin tradition, with a bit more harshness than some of her previous rock-influenced efforts, and a bit more depth.

But these spare, unencumbered sounds also support some truly moving lyrics and stories. "Rear View Mirror" is one of the saddest songs ever written; in six and a half minutes it tells the story of being alone with your soul in a soullless world where everyone's got their own agendas. She opens with: "I saw you / I saw you as you drove away. You checked yourself / you checked yourself in the rear view mirror / and I thought / I thought that you were looking at me..."

The story in "Brazil" is equally enthralling, reminiscent of relationship stories in Patty's earlier work. "The Road" is a musician's confessional; "Heart" is a smart woman's.

Amazon's review is right on: this is like a fish in the sun, but it's also like coconut drinks on the beach, a bronzed native playing the bongos...this is Patty Larkin in Boston in the winter reminding you about coconut drinks and fish and a red accordian, playing like a native on the bongos with nothing but her guitar.

I've got every Patty Larkin album and I love 'em all. PERISHABLE FRUIT stands out because of this, from "Red Accordian":

"Pay attention to the moon rising behind you. / Look at life like a tragedy and it'll blind you. / I'll make a fool of myself, maybe that will remind you how."

Patty Larkin is the poster person for the unjustly neglected folk-oriented singer songwriter. Album after album she excels in every aspect of her recordings -- songwriting, clever lyrics, rich, flexible voice, and stunnning guitar work. This is another fine effort with songs that cling in the mind. Everything rings true except Jane Siberry's bizarre, spaced-out backing vocals on "Coming Up for Air," and that sounds more like an experiment that didn't work than a major mistake. You will listen many times to this CD.

Patty Larkin is a superb songwriter, musician and performer. She hasn't created a bad album, ever, but this is her best (and I've been listening to her music since 1979). caveat: I haven't heard her newest - the 2008 release - at this writing. Larkin defly handles complicated emotional and interpersonal issues, has a wicked sense of humor and a finely tuned musicality. Her take on personal psychology is often quirky and always insightful. (If she does a show within a day's drive, don't miss it.) I'm a deejay and play her music frequently on the air, in my car and in my home. This is singer/songwriter, folk-rock at its best. And what a voice!

I recently saw Patty at a local house concert. This was my first time hearing her music... To see Patty play the quitar the way she plays left me speechless... She is absolutly amazing and so very talented.... I knew I had to purchase more of her cds... This cd is a must have... Patty is truly an amazing artist. I still need to purchase the rest of her collection.... Please purchase this cd and hear the talent of this wonderful woman :-)

Sitting here working, in lower upstate eating Jumbo shrimp and other oxymorons. At a low energy point I started this CD and transported back to a live concert, we caught Patty at a local college.
It was totally phaser-on-overload at first note (I play some guitar, and fell not only in love with her flawless technique and humorous-serious-silly stage presence and Breattttthhhhy voice, but also her unusual garb (more on that never).
I here testify, if you love guitar work with a thoughful mind, and lyrics that cut to the yeasty center of our existential gumbo, hold the MSG, then BUY THIS! BUY THIS! BUY BUY THIS THIS!

Patty, thanks for the autograph and who the hell is the guy expression when I asked about life.
---- Middle aged system programmer in De Nile. ----

My parents had listened to Patty Larkin for years, but it wasn't until a friend gave me this album for my birthday last year that I fell in love with her music. There are so many wonderful songs here; some of my favorites include "The Road," "Angels Wings," "Brazil," "Rear View Mirror," and "Red Accordion." For months, this was the only album I would listen to while driving. Patty's lyrics are just as strange and stunning as ever on *Perishable Fruit*, and the music that accompanies them is beautiful, ethereal, and often simply gorgeous. Her other albums are also amazing; *Angels Running* is my other favorite. I highly recommend *Perishable Fruit*!

This solid album ranks among Patty Larkin's best. Given the unusually high caliber of her work, this is really saying something!

Granted the style and nuances here are a bit different from her earlier work, but this is still very much a Patty Larkin. It also happens to contain some of her very best songs. "Coming Up For Air," "Wolf at the Door" and the wonderful "Brazil" are all standouts, rest of the album holds up fine as well.

I have been listening to this album a lot lately, so I thought I'd check out Amazon to see what other folks were saying. I then discovered that I had at some point given this disc a 3/5. I now wonder what in doG's name I was thinking?! This is a fantastic album. Not only does the album get better as I listen to it more, it really builds up listening to it sequentially. The songs are all at least good (even if Book I'm Not Reading does get old after a while) but Heart and Red Accordian are awesome and really gets me going after getting all depressed with Rear View Mirror.

I was so disappointed with this album, I gave it away...after the melodic tunes and ripping chords that colored "Angels Running", I think I was expecting something more flavorful. I found these tracks to be uninteresting and slightly monotonous. These songs do not show off her talented voice or her incredible guitar-picking. To be clear, I think Patty is a wonderful performer and artist, but I would not recommend this CD. "Angels Running" and "Live in the Square" are her best works, and to get a better taste for her voice and musical talent, I would recommend them instead.

Perishable Fruit has to be Patty Larkin's pivotal disc. In a world drowning in derivative repetition she is original and light, her off beat lyrics floating on stringed textures. The mood on this disc ranges from a pensive melancholy in "rear view mirror" to the driving almost rocking rhythm of "wolf at the door." Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention the enigmatic "the book I'm not Reading." I, too, need someone to read me stories.