The End of History

Fionn Regan

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2007)
• Original Release Date: August 7, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B000QFAG3K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #94,894 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Be Good or Be Gone

2. Underwood Typewriter

3. Hunters Map

4. Hey Rabbit

5. Black Water Child

6. Put a Penny in the Slot

7. Cowshed

8. Snowy Atlas Mountains

9. Noah (Ghost in a Sheet)

10. End of History

11. Abacus

12. Bunker or Basement

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Imagine a whimsical, sunnier Nick Drake. Or perhaps a young Donovan for the 21st century. With his lithe, limber, and conversational tenor complemented by the subtle virtuosity of his acoustic guitar, the Dublin troubadour sustains an engaging intimacy even when his material seems on the slight side (more precocious than profound). Though his childlike innocence extends to the hand-lettered lyrics in the CD booklet, he invokes the literary influence of Saul Bellow and Paul Auster on "Put a Penny in the Slot." Much of this self-produced release finds Regan playing solo (often with double-tracked harmonies), with the spare employment of strings, piano, and percussion making their use all the more striking. An unlisted bonus cut seems to channel the range of Jeff Buckley. --Don McLeese

Product Description

The community of musicians can be divided into two categories -- those who want to create and those who do so because they have no other choice. As he proves on his dauntingly mature, intriguingly nuanced Lost Highway debut, The End of History, singer-songwriter Fionn Regan clearly falls into the decidedly rarefied latter category.

The soft-spoken 26-year-old coaxes an intoxicating array of emotion and detail into his fragile-yet-gripping songs -- a body of work that's already elicited comparisons to forebears as varied as Nick Drake for his guitar playing and to Woody Guthrie for his wordplay. It's easy to understand why, given the filigreed acoustic finger-picking and raw lyrical stance of songs like the cinematic "Be Good or Be Gone" the menacing "Snowy Atlas Mountains" or the allegorical "Hey Rabbit" with its social conscience, songs that paint intensely vivid pictures -- so vivid, in fact, that Regan hesitates to elaborate as to their deeper origins.

He keeps the frills to a minimum on the dozen-song collection, getting his point across with little more than voice, acoustic guitar and piano (most of The End of History's songs were captured in one or two takes) he never gives the idea that he's practicing minimalism for its own sake. That comes into particularly sharp focus when one hones in on his guitar playing, a beguiling brew of rhythmically sturdy finger-picking (the backbone of "Hunters Map") and (as on the twinkling "Abacus"), lissome passages in which every note resonates with crystalline clarity.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God Bless Computer Generated Recommendations!!, July 18, 2007

By	S. Jones (Des Moines) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was referred to Fionn Regan via similar artists recommendation (if you like ____, then you'll love _____) and am so thankful that I took a leap of faith on The End of History.

What I discovered was an alluring, delicate and emotional piece - an incredible journey that you will want to share after your first listen (hence this review). Like other sites that recommend similar artists, Fionn is often grouped with the legends (Dylan, Drake, Cohen) and today's singer-songwriters like Conor Oberst, Elliott Smith(rip) and Damien Rice... but Fionn also seems to be his own musician and while there might be some influence in his music, the album is totally unique.

Fionn's lyricism and blending of melodies stand out on several tracks. While "Be Good or Be Gone" seems to be the flagship song with an amazingly unique video (check it out), other tracks like "Hunter's Map," "Snowy Atlas Mountains," and "Abacus" are phenomenal songs that you will never tire of.

To wrap it up... The End of History is a versatile album you can play when alone on a cold, snowy day but also the perfect album to play when having friends over for dinner. You'll never have to get up to skip over a track... and at the end of the day, isn't that what we all want?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars send out a battalion...., August 1, 2007

By	Sam J. Ritchey (chicago, il) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

inches away from a live fionn regan, mop coiffed and cobbled in white patent leather, playing for about 100 people at schubas in chicago it dawned on me that i would never enjoy such a seat again...

if you like damien rice, blah blah blahhhhh...stop it. fionn regan is not damien rice. just in case that weren't clear, fionn has attached his initials in various species of tape to the wares he carries on stage, including three guitars, guitar case and hanky.

not that fionn doesn't beat his breast and tear his hair in his own irish way. he runs laps in the rainy day, sexually charged melancholia of mr. rice, but doesn't stay there for long. instead of a cynical and almost fatalistic anger, fionn emerges far more intact...he invites you into a bittersweet wanderlust and you want to join him ever so badly. in the end, this is the currency of young heartbreak--romantic or otherwise. he delivers, if not innovation, a stiff upper lipped laugh into the night that makes me want to laugh too, hardscrabble days be damned.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect, September 19, 2007

By	R. KANE (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This album is so perfect that it's devastating. Every song is so emotionally affecting that it's like there's something primal about his songwriting that I can't even explain. I adore all of the songs but my favorite is Snowy Atlas Mountains. When I first listened to it, it reminded me of something that I couldn't even place. I played it for a friend and she had the same response, it's almost transportational. Really, I like this album and so should you.