You Were Here

Sarah Harmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 29, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Zoe Records
• ASIN: B00004WJGZ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,710 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Need this CD!, August 29, 2000

By 

Jeffrey Showell (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Were Here (Audio CD)

What a brilliant gem of a CD! From the crunchy open chords of "Around This Corner" to the dying notes of "Everytime," this recording displays the highest level of craftsmanship in both performance and songwriting. The sound is spare yet rich, with coloration from trumpet, clarinet and especially cello. The production is subtle and sophisticated, but Ms. Harmer can rock it too, as she shows on the ferocious "Weakened State." She kicks things off in fine fashion with the totally cool, slightly country-tinged "Around This Corner" and follows with a couple of similarly first-rate songs before launching the listener into the dispairing "Capsized." The next song, "Lodestar" could, by itself, make a name in the U.S. for the Ontario-based Harmer, with it's slow, dramatic building from languid guitar and vocals to a magnificent, anthemic conclusion. Luckily, we don't have to settle for just one song-- the songwriting on the CD is varied, sophisticated and challenging, yet it maintains a remarkable openness and accessability. No review of Ms. Harmer's work can pass without mentioning the beauty of her voice-- goosebumps territory, without a doubt. This could be my all-time favorite CD. I give it my highest recommendation.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charmed musician, wondrous and affectionate., September 22, 2000

By 

D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: You Were Here (Audio CD)

A well-deserved U.S. release of this indie album, previously available only on Harmer's website, with new artwork and a lyric sheet to match. That gives this edition of You Were Here buying incentive even if you have the older version (I do). Harmer's lyrics are such lovingly constructed entities that it's good to be able to see what exactly she wrote.

As for the music, Harmer's already proven herself an infallible songwriter in her Weeping Tile days. And after exploring roots, folk and country music on her previous effort, Songs for Clem (with the excellent Jason Euringer, who also appears on You Were Here), her voice has acquired an extra layer of richness and emotion that makes her music all the more attractive.

Harmer's always been a master at balancing a rip-roaring good time with her power pop and introspective depth with her balladry and poetic lyrics, and on You Were Here the songwriting's her most mature yet. The carefree romp of "Around This Corner" is reminscent of rousing Weeping Tile numbers like "South of Me" and "Every Good Story"; title track "You Were Here" features a dark acoustic-guitar line and amazing sonics, a mesmerizing meditation; "Everytime" leaves Harmer alone with her guitar in prime, lucid singer-songwriter mode; and first single "Basement Apt." is a seductive mid-tempo rocker that perfectly captures the feeling of living in Harmer's hometown Kingston, Ontario. I had stayed there in a basement apartment two years ago, and the song touches me every time; Harmer couldn't have captured the feeling better in any way.

Don't let this sublime work pass you by.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars songs to lose yourself to/find yourself in, January 7, 2001

By 

R. Moszynski (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Were Here (Audio CD)

The first time I tried to listen to this cd, I lost interest and wasn't really listening to the songs. At one point in "Lodestar," though, the song just totally changes direction. That caught my attention, and from then on I was totally entranced by the music. I would probably be willing to pay just as much for an all instrumental version of this album, the pieces are that good. When you add the fact that Sarah Harmer writes some of the most refreshingly poignant insightful lyrics I've ever heard, along with her sweet, sweet voice, and you have for an amazing experience.