Customer Reviews

Thing of the Past

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

 

 

Who knew. I mean really who knew. Most often cover records come about in two ways. One is as a tribute to an artist, though this type is usually a compilation. The other is to fulfill a contract obligation while the artist is walking out the door. In either of those instances a quick perusal of the track listing shows immediately that the songs aren't originals. If I hadn't read about this LP, I wouldn't have known it was a covers album. Maybe that's why it fits into neither of the norms and is also why it's easy to accept the versions. With the exception of The Swimming Song that I knew, not from Wainwright but from the New Riders of the Purple Sage, I wasn't familiar with any one these tunes notwithstanding a rather large record/CD collection. Too many probably to know what all the tracks on all the albums are. A couple seemed a little familiar when listening but not enough to have welded an image in my brain.
I may have bought this if only for the jacket which is (either ironically or intentionally)loaded with old record covers. I did buy it in vinyl to enhance the attractiveness of the jacket. A jacket as busy as this one is loses a lot when reduced to CD jacket size.
Maybe because they are covers, but there is not a bad track on this disc. In fact, this probably is Vetiver's best disc to date. Obviously, it matters not that the buyer wouldn't know the songs are covers.
The only downside, as is often the case with covers lps, there is a dearth of information about the originals and why they were choosen for inclusion on this album.

I saw these guys open up and back up Gary Louris. I was instantly hooked on them and bought both of their albums that night. I am even more amazed with Thing of the Past, which might be my favorite for this year. You'd think this was album of originals the way it is played with great emotion and subtlety. I love it so much that I've looked into most of the artists that they cover. It's mellow, lots of acoustic guitars,but very catchy and rootsy. Sounds like it could have come out in the late sixties, early seventies. Check it out and don't hesitate to look into the other artists such as Bobby Charles, Loudon Wainwright, Ronnie Lane, Michael Hurley, Townes Van Zandt, and Matthews Southern Comfort.

The band Vetiver is a group of true musicians; you will find no computer junkies here. They are one of the best kept secrets and truly fantastic to go see live. With Thing of the Past, the audiophilic group have chosen lost american treasures(available on vinyl only , as I understand) and given them all the Vetiver touch. You will not be dissappointed.

Andy Cabic's Vetiver owes its success in part to mentor Devendra Banhart, but on every release they seem to outdo themselves. The bands' greatest effort remains the effortless, and very Bon Iver-ish "Tight Knit", but this, their first covers album contains some of their best work - granted these aren't 'their' songs, per se, but everything just works. From the timeless album cover to the interesting (and obscure) song choices, to the fact that some of the original musicians chose to reappear on these cover versions, is testament to the fact that Vetiver is ahead of the indie-folk game.

To those who visit this review based on my previous reviews for Devendra Banhart or Joanna Newsom, Vetiver doesn't quite fall into the 'freak folk' category that the above two artists almost always are categorized under. Vetiver is more of a regular, rootsy American folk band, with very radio-friendly harmonies that harken back to a late 1960s, early 1970s era - even the production is sort of rough and therefore more intimate - Cabic's soothing vocals aren't quite as quirky as Banhart, but its unbelievable that we have a recording artist in the 2000s who sounds so wholesomely vintage as Cabic does.

Perhaps the most striking vocal on this record comes on "Sleep a Million Years" which features Vashti Bunyan on lead vocal (she features technically as 'guest vocalist', but pretty much she takes over the entire song). Andy's harmonizing on this song with Bunyan is close to perfection - something that is replicated again on the country-sounding "Swimming Song", which evokes the best of vintage Americana.

Granted, "Thing of the Past" is certainly not for everyone. Even serious indie music lovers have had some issues with the song choices, and the almost Johnny Cash-sounding melodies and vocal impersonations at times. This is quaint though, and lends this album an air of difference and variation - something that Vetiver lacked thus far into their career. Also, Cabic's voice can be a huge deterrent for those who expect superb vocal artistry or whatever, but as an instrument it does its' job effectively, and on this albums sequel "More of the Past", Cabic actually grows into a better vocalist.

Like Trespassers William, Jana Hunter, and Joanna Newsom, Vetiver is a band that is an acquired taste - this is not an album that will ever find a mainstream audience nor a cult group of rabid fans, but its a quiet, thought-provoking record that echoes a simpler time and place. Absolutely a master of its' genre.

Tracklisting (with original performer in brackets):

"Houses" (Elyse Weinberg) - 3:43
"Roll on Babe" (Derroll Adams) - 4:27
"Sleep a Million Years" (Dia Joyce) - 2:54
"Hook & Ladder" (Norman Greenbaum) - 3:10
"To Baby" (Biff Rose) - 4:26
"The Road to Ronderlin" (Ian Matthews) - 2:24
"Lon Chaney" (Garland Jeffreys) - 4:21
"Hurry on Sundown" (Robert Calvert & Dave Brock) - 6:29
"The Swimming Song" (Loudon Wainwright III) - 2:41
"Blue Driver" (Michael Hurley) - 3:55
"Standin'" (Townes Van Zandt) - 3:39
"I Must Be in a Good Place Now" (Bobby Charles) - 4:30

Following two great albums, 2004's self-titled album and 2006's "To Find Me Gone", band leader Andy Cabic hit writer's block, and so instead he decided on doing a covers album, and what a great decision it was.

"Things Of The Past" (12 tracks; 47 min.) brings covers of a couple well-known tracks, but mostly unknown songs, and what a delight this turned out to be. "Hook and Ladder" (of Norman Greenbaum, better known for "Spirits In the Sky") is delightful. Townes Van Zandt's dark cover of "Standin'" is another stand-out track. But THE highligth of the album is the 6+ min. Hawkwind cover of "Hurry on Sundown", completely remade from the original, it is just beautiful and a reason enough to buy this album. The other outstanding track is "Sleep a Million Years", a cover of a Dia Joyce (whom I admit I've never heard before).

In all, this is a tremendous album from start to finish, what a delight. Vetiver has released a new album just recenty comprising of new material which I intend to check out soon. Meanwhile, "Things of the Past" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is a collection of covers of country songs that are kind of obscure or at least I've not heard of. I'm no expert but I think it is brilliant, I love every song on the disc. A new favorite. It is mellow, I don't recall an electric guitar on any song. If you're a fan of alt country give it a try.