Sunset Studies [Import]

Augie March | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 5, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bmg
• ASIN: B000056KT8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,229 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2000 full length debut album from the critically acclaimed Aussie rock act. BMG.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Australian album ever made, March 10, 2006

By 

Alex (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunset Studies (Audio CD)

Realised the other day that the review I wrote for this CD years ago was under the Japanese import version, and not this one. So I thought I'd move it where it belongs.

This album deserves way more than 5 stars, because it is indeed a cut above nearly all other music out there. This is, quite simply, one of the greatest cds I have ever heard, and the fact that it is a debut makes it even more astounding. Augie March have a sound about them unlike any other band. This music, and I mean this in the most positive of ways, sounds old. Like it is from another era - an era steeped in time and tradition, lost in the nostalgia of the mind. If a sepia photograph had a soundtrack, this would be it. The atmosphere the music creates to me gives off an aura of 30s/40s Australia. The music, and lyrics, are both so beautiful and haunting, and together create an immensely enjoyable experience. A lot of people laud the lyrics of Glenn Richards, and rightly so. Poetry in every sense of the word. Head to their website (augiemarch.com) and check the lyrics out, plus listen to their songs and even watch a few music videos.

Each and every track on this album is unique and beautiful in its own way. and if it is possible for a cd like this to have standout tracks, they are The Hole In Your Roof, There Is No Such Place, Men Who Follow The Spring Around, Here Comes The Night and Owen's Lament. But if you can get your hand on a copy, do so immediately. You won't regret it - this is music you can lose yourself in. Australia's best band and best-kept musical secret.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a rarity, June 19, 2001

By 

rob (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunset Studies (Audio CD)

All the Jeff Buckley/Radiohead comparisons are really horrible i think - all they do is trivialise the sound, and make Augie March sound like a bunch of copyists, which they're clearly not. I hear more of the Pogues, Tom Waits, Tom Verlaine and even Grant Lee Buffalo in the music than anything Radiohead ever did. There's no Jonny Greenwood in Augie March - nothing really comes to the front in the mixes. Guitars are quite restrained, and even the louder bits are not augmented by frantic atonal picking a la Mr Greenwood. Augie March do a great job sounding like a *band* - in the most democratic sense of the word.

Glenn Richards has a fantastic voice, but I guess anyone who sings the odd bar in falsetto these days is copying Thom Yorke, Thom himself obviously being the first to ever sing in falsetto.

For me, the lyrics are the true genius of the record - even when not set to music, they are some of the most affecting words I've ever read. 'The Good Gardener' is an excellent example with a delivery that really focussed the listeners attention to the words - "drowned and amoral/I pollinate the coral/reek of the deep where I've tended the waterweeds". And 'Owen's Lament' is possibly the saddest war song I've heard. Richards' lyrical style is obviously indebted to the writer of the novel the band named themselves after - Saul Bellow. If you've ever read one of Bellow's books, you'll know what I'm talking about. Very colourful characters and narrators, very personal themes set against a backdrop of a nameless location - 'angels of the bowling green', 'maroondah reservoir', and, spelling it out, 'there's no such place' - the songs seem to create almost a fantasy world that brings to mind a 1950's American small rural town (featured in films like Lawn Dogs and Virgin Suicides).

As far as I'm concerned, I'm prepared to put this album alongside some of the best in my collection - 'Good Morning Spider' by Sparklehorse, Lambchop's 'Nixon' and Television's 'Marquee Moon'. It's THAT good. Please check it out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sunset Studies - The Greatest, October 15, 2001

By 

Martin (Adelaide, SA, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunset Studies (Audio CD)

I have heard some great albums in my time, but Sunset Studies by little known Australian band Augie March is my favourite ever. It is 76 minutes of absolute brilliance that will just take you to that other place like only a few albums can. It took its time to grow on me, but after about six listens i was hooked for life. It is not for people with short attention spans. There is so much depth to the music on this album that it is imposible to take in all at once. The lyrics are incredibly thoughful and poetic and add to the amazing feeling this album gives. Every song on this album is different yet they all link in together to give it that real album feel. Over the past year every song from this album has been my favourite at some point in time, but now i can't decide because they are all so brilliant.
In conclusion, if you can handle music that is a bit slow or if you like semi-folk and singer-songwriter music Sunset Studies is an absolute must have album.