Saint Bartlett [+Digital Booklet]

Damien Jurado | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: May 24, 2010
• Release Date: May 24, 2010
• Label: Secretly Canadian
• Copyright: 2010 Secretly Canadian
• Total Length: 36:55
• Genres:
• ASIN: B003LWSP4C
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soundtrack of gravity, June 3, 2010

By 

Hubert Lovehands "Televangelist Eyebrows" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saint Bartlett [+Digital Booklet] (MP3 Download)

Whatever the Damien Jurado sound is, it is brought to new heights here. Influences of traditional folk music, garage rock and short storytelling weave together to make some of his best work yet. This is a great album from one of America's greatest living songwriters.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of Damien's finest!, June 11, 2010

By 

Dance Hall Hips (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saint Bartlett (Audio CD)

Damien Jurado's 'St. Bartlett': where do I begin? That raspy voice can do no wrong. The Northwest native is no less a part of the rain-drenched Seattle scene than microbrews, flannel, rockstar run-ins, and in-you-face organics. Jurado is also integral part of my adolescene; dark winters fueled aided with "It's Hard to Find a Friend, Something About Airplanes, and Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?.

Barlett's is such a notable album, both for Jurado's career and for the year thus-far. No, he may not be as much a household name as say the Fleet Foxes, or Death Cab for Cutie, but his music will break through that misty Cascade mountain wall.

"Arkansas" for starters finds itself somewhere in-between 'The River' era Springsteen and Spector-produced girl groups, with hammerdrop staccoto keys that can fill up any hungry heart.

"Rachel & Cali" is the standout track. So simple, but so engaging; It's a coming of age, self-consciensce tale told through the conversations of two friends, one who isn't afraid to admit "I just don't feel comfortable in crowds." This song is nostalgic, whether it be for Jurado or the listener. The awkward social moment is painfully universal, if not unavoidable. Whether you want to look at it metaphorically or literally, Jurado does more with words in three minutes than most bands will do all year.

Although Saint Bartlett echoes absolute talents of singer/songwriter past, the album still feels modern, and most importantly, still feels personal. This is a Damien Jurado album, through and through. No question. The ability to produce music under these guidelines, with genuine ingenuity, free of mimicry or gimmicks, is a rare feat. Bartlett encompasses Jurado for everything he's worth: his ability to write songs effectively and efficiently, compose melodies, evoke an emotional response, and staying inventive while still remaining in the confines of a Seattle songwriter profile.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Neil, June 26, 2010

By 

M. Northuis (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Saint Bartlett (Audio CD)

For decades critics have been searching for "The New Dylan", most recently it seems they have switched to finding "The New Springsteen", pushing bands such as The Hold Steady and The Gaslight Anthem. So behold, "The New Neil Young".
Seriously, I have been a huge devotee of Mr. Jurado since On My Way To Absence.
He is consistently a great songwriter-both lyrically and musically. His music is
usually dark, melancholy, sometimes bleak but there is something soothing about
the pervasive pathos in his music not unlike Leonard Cohen's or Bonnie Prince Billie's.
If you took the sound of Neil Young at his most darkly introspective and somehow melded it with the sound of Elliot Smith at his most tuneful you might come close to approximating Jurado's sound. This CD finds him building and expanding on his previous work-if this is not his best it stands with his best. Neil hasn't written songs with this directness and brilliance in ages.