Customer Reviews

Is That You

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

 

 

For me, this album of Bill Frisell is my favorite so far... it has some great masterpieces in it... beautiful melodies... This is actually my first album of Frisell I heard, and I still listen to it with pleasure through years. I highly recommend it!

Great album without a doubt, but not quite as strong in my opinion as 'Before We Were Born', released the same year.

It has a much less 'live' a feel than 'Before We Were Born', due largely to Frisell's multi-instrumental, multi-layered overdubbing in the studio. Wayne Horvitz demostrates some pretty impressive (if heavy-handed) production chops here, standing out far more on this album in that roll than that of composer or even keyboard player.

But hey, what's a little studio trickery when the end result is as good as this? 'No Man's Land' navigates a vast, spare sonic landscape with an occasional fiery squall from Frisell and some amazing, atmosperic drumming from Joey Baron.

'Rag' makes its debut here, the most obvious early example (that I know of) of Frisell's 'front porch Americana' style that would fill entire albums later on.

Frisell takes the melody of 'Chain of Fools' into his capable hands and delivers, big time. He squeezes as much emotion and nuance from every note as Aretha Franklin ever did, and that's obviously saying a lot. As he's demonstrated many times, Bill Frisell has an amazing way with a pop tune.

Dave Hofstra's tuba on 'Hello Nellie' is a highlight: blissfully bouncing along while Frisell boils all around him.

...and that's just my favorite tracks. Much of the album is more in the territory of the 'avante garde spooky' sound of the early 90's scene in downtown Manhattan.

This would be a really good purchase for more recent Bill Frisell fans, who would like to see where he was coming from on his way to such albums as 'Ghost Town', 'Nashville', and 'Gone, Just Like a Train'.

3 1/2

Not as melodically astute or compositionally engaging as the brilliant guitarist's top-tiered solo outings, but a diverse and technically wondrous smattering of early excellence nonetheless.

"Is That You" is a studio album with striking similarities to Wayne Horvitz's "This New Generation." Both feature a lot of overdubbing, dated synth sounds, some synth drums, and that horrendous Nonesuch studio sound. I have no idea what Nonesuch was thinking when they put out these early 90s albums - tinny treble, anemic bass, massive dynamic compression. Basically, it makes it so that no matter how excellent your stereo system may be, it still sounds like you're listening with computer speakers.

Another similarity in both albums is a real lack of direction. Most Frisell albums have a definite theme or style. "Is That You" is all over the place - a little of this, a little of that. It almost sounds like extra material from other albums. He DID release a number right around this time, most stronger than this.

There are, of course, many great moments. It's not an album to avoid, but perhaps it is an album to save until you've explored most of the others.

Bill Frisell has always been a guitar visionary. That written, his music didn't really bloom or mature into consistent greatness until the late 1990's. While there are notable exceptions to this, it's easy to be skeptical about anything Frisell recorded in 1989. Rightly so as "Is That You?" is one of those early Frisellian efforts that's interesting but ultimately uncompelling. That written, the formula is instantly recognizable. Frisell's signature dynamics are well-employed. Even here, whimsy acoustic sounds are counterpointed against menacing distortion. Orchestral inclinations are as self-evident as Frisell's ECM minimalism. Along with sentimental Americana, his penchant for avant-garde is present. Despite such qualities, the album just doesn't resonate. It lacks 'mojo.' The music has few hooks and much it winds up sounding pedantic. A drawback is the 1980's style rock guitar and synthesized drums that percolate through the album. Like "Fascination," it was probably inventive in its day but now seems a throwback. That written, there are gems. 'Half A Million' stands as one of Frisell's finest. 'Rag' is a playful song with acoustic tones. Aretha Franklin's 'Chain of Fool's' is so rockin' that it almost convinces the listener to forgive the production. Long time listeners will appreciate a banjo infused rendition of 'Twenty Years,' later to grace "Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones" and "Bill Frisell Quartet." The album title asks "Is That You?" Yes, it's the same old Bill Frisell that we love, but this effort should be saved for the completists.