Somewhere Near Paterson

Richard Shindell

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 8, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 8, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Signature Sounds
• ASIN: B000040JCT
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #122,878 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Richard Shindell saw his fervid following expand thanks to Cry Cry Cry, an album of covers he recorded with fellow folk stars Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky. But fans are keen to take him straight up, and folk's Velvet Fog has obliged them with Somewhere Near Paterson. His fourth release is in fact a return to form after the uneven Reunion Hill. Still, longtime fans--and those lucky to come upon this singer-songwriter for the first time--should cherish almost everything here. In the jingle-jangle opener, "Confession," a Wall Street type is desperate for pharmaceutical grace. Some will consider this monologue a chip off the Michael Stipe-ish block, yet its compound of irony, sympathy, and slant observation is Shindell's own. Other great tunes include "You Stay Here," narrated by a war-zone Everyman, "Waiting for the Storm," featuring another of the disc's quiet outlaws, and "Spring." Though this cut's Celtic-style coda has its longueurs, few would be without its paradoxical chorus: "Maybe will be certain / You can take it as a vow / Winter's just the curtain / Spring will take the bow." Shindell insists that his dramatis personae exist only in "songland," but his best work makes one beg to differ. And no one does dynamics and drop-D tunings better. --Kerry Fried

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, March 19, 2000

By	Phil Sandifer (Wooster, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Richard Shindell gets better and better. His last album, "Reunion Hill," was spectacular, and I bought this album quite worried that he was going to be falling apart on it, as so few artists manage to follow up good albums well. Shindell managed to surprise me, though, in putting together what is without a doubt the best new album I have purchased in the past three years. The songs on this album have an amazing variety of mood and style, ranging from rock (Confession) to traditional folk (Calling the Moon) to a brief little Celtic piece (Spring). The lyrics are astounding, particularly in "Transit," the standout track on the album, and the one that the title image comes from. Shindell is, to my mind, the best male singer-songwriter out there today. If you are at all a fan of folk music, this album is an essential for your collection. Get it. Now.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Album of the Year?, February 9, 2000

By	Jeff Gilson (Woodstock, CT) - See all my reviews

It's hard to imagine that he could top 1997's Reunion Hill, but Shindell and producer Larry Campbell have done it, this time leaving behind the more Nashville-like aspects of that earlier album for a more mature and somewhat less radio-frienly feel on "Somewhere Near Paterson."

The lead off track (and first single) "Confession" is a dark journey through the spiritual and psychological impotence of a man living in the fast track. "Abuelita" tells the story of an Argentinian grandmother looking for her grandchild who was taken away and raised by the army captain who killed her parents. "Transit," a later song on the album, is a story of road rage that is at once humorous and then deeply spiritual.

Shindell takes complete ownership of the songs on this album, making the two covers seem like something he would have written himself, had they not already been done. The first, Buddy and Julie Miller's "My Love Will Follow You," is a love song where one of the parties is completely unsure about the love. Dar Williams' "Calling the Moon" is one of the more inscrutable songs on the album, but much like Shindell's earlier "On a Sea of Fleur-de-Lis" conjures questions that cannot really be answered.

This album also has Shindell's first instrumental, a moody piece well suited to both Shindell's guitar style and to Campbell's production.

The sound on this album is sumptuous, and bears close scrutiny, long hours spent listening on high quality headphones. This is one for the ages.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Laid Back and Heartfelt, March 14, 2001

By	Christopher Dudley (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There's a tired old saying that goes, "I may not know a lot about art, but I know what I like." That holds true for me and folk music. I don't know a lot of it. I haven't heard that much. I never heard of Richard Shindell until I saw him with Cry Cry Cry in concert. But I picked this CD up at a Starbucks, and then listened to it for three days straight. I like this album.

Shindell's musical style is very personal, and his voice conveys his lyrics straight from the heart. The entire album is very listenable. It makes good laid back background music for driving or working, and it's equally enjoyable to focus on the songs themselves, hearing the stories he tells, listening to the man sing.

I don't think there's a weak song on the whole album, with the possible exception of the instrumental, which works much better in the capacity of background music, or viewed as simply a lead-in to the next song. Some songs are of course better than others. Shindell has a couple songs by other artists, including "My Love Will Follow You" which is a great song when RS does it, and Dar Williams's "Calling the Moon," which also appears on Dar's album, "The Green World" (which was released after Somewhere Near Paterson), and is maybe less great when RS does it. Speaking of Dar Williams, she and Lucy Kaplanski (also members of Cry Cry Cry with Shindell) both make appearances doing background vocals on this album, and their distinctive voices blend well with Shindell's.

Folk is not my personal favorite style of music, but this album is easy to get into. I'll have to check out Shindell's earlier albums and see if they're as good as this one is.