Forfeit / Fortune

Crooked Fingers (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2008)
• Original Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: +1 Records
• ASIN: B001HUIUNG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,317 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Crooked Fingers fans who enjoyed Eric Bachmann's 2006, bare-bones acoustic To the Races LP, yet yearned for the kind of heavily orchestrated, E Street Band-fueled Americana that graced 2003's Red Devil Dawn and 2005's Dignity and Shame will no doubt be pleased by Forfeit/Fortune. Picking right up where Shame left off, Bachmann, along with an all-star cast of characters which includes longtime collaborators as well as indie rock stalwarts like Brian Kotzur (Silver Jews), Tom Hagerman (DeVotchKa), and Neko Case blow through an 11-song set of dusty, horn-laden, highway driving, drink-spilling heartache that stands as the group's most solid piece of work to date. Opener "What Never Comes," a fully loaded showstopper that comes on like a cross between David Bowie's "Heroes" and Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," sets the pace, and from there it's an unusually wild ride from a bandleader who often favors straight-to-tape authenticity over studio experimentation. Funky instrumentation and wild percussion abound throughout, especially on the cool and visceral "Luisa's Bones" an old-timey tale filtered through a digital water bag. "Cannibals" a straight-up power pop nugget that could have peen peeled off the back of the first Cheap Trick album, also impresses, but it's Forfeit/Fortune's final two tracks, the mesmerizing, anthem worthy "Modern Dislocation" and its equally rousing counterpart "Your Control" -- the latter a duet with Neko Case -- that seal the deal. --All Music Review

Product Description
Crooked Fingers will release their fifth LP, titled Forfeit / Fortune October 7th, 2008 on Red Pig / Constant Artists, Inc. Produced by Mark Nevers (Andrew Bird, Lambchop, Silver Jews), Alex McManus (The Bruces, Bright Eyes) and Eric Bachmann in Nashville, Denver, and Tucson this past spring, Forfeit / Fortune will be their first release since 2005's Dignity and Shame (Merge).
Forfeit / Fortune features the fullest and most eclectic orchestration on a Crooked Fingers release to date, kicking off with the horn-heavy What Never Comes , and the drum machine-based Luisa's Bones . Whereas Dignity and Shame was recorded entirely live, Forfeit / Fortune was a more piecemeal affair, with CF enlisting an all-star cast of players to perform on the record, with the cast depending on the city they were in. Brian Kotzur (Silver Jews) lent his to the project in Nashville, while Tom Hagerman (Devotchka) laid down string parts in Denver. Frequent Crooked Fingers touring mate Neko Case sang the brilliant album-closing duet Your Control with Bachmann at the Upstairs Studio / Wavelab Studios in Tucson. Bachmann, a noted composer in his own right, wrote and arranged the string and horn parts on the record, in addition to functioning as the album s creative director of sorts.
After releasing albums on indie powerhouses Merge (2003's Red Devil Dawn and 2005's Dignity and Shame) and Saddle Creek (Bachmann s 2006 solo debut To the Races), Forfeit / Fortune will be the debut release on Red Pig / Constant Artists, Inc.
Forfeit / Fortune will be available in both a standard jewelcase edition and a deluxe digipak edition, which includes extended artwork and a DVD found only in the Deluxe Edition. The DVD is slated to contain exclusive new performance footage, the first music video from Forfeit / Fortune, and an interview with chief singer & songwriter Eric Bachmann. All formats are available through CrookedFingers.com website.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Eric Bachman is a genius!, May 21, 2009

By	Oscar Stern "Dock Oscar" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What is going on that Eric Bachman/Crooked Fingers is not at the top of the charts? After Archers of Loaf, Eric spread his wings and flew with Crooked Fingers (along with some solo albums). Mr. Bachman has his style with spare sad songs of mostly self-destructive people. Then with Crooked Fingers notched it up with Dignity and Shame (a concept album) and now we are here with Forfeit/Fortune.

Crooked Fingers dares to grow musically and this album has more of a "Pop" feel. More harmonies than previous releases. His voice sounds great against female vocalists, a nice contrast. More synths (Your Control) yet still nylon guitars (¡No Me Lo Des!) and cello. But wait, horns (What Never Comes) and Balkan influenced instrumentation (Let's Not Pretend (To Be New Men))

This guy is dedicated to his music, I saw a show where he was catching a nap in a van parked outside the club (NYC) after driving there. Show biz is so glamorous.

No flash in the pan, check out the entire Crooked Fingers discography. Eric is one of the best songwriters out there...period!

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the album I was looking for from the Crooked Fingers, March 8, 2009

By	Uthor - See all my reviews

My first Crooked Fingers album was Dignity and Shame, which I think is a brilliant mix of pop and country. Red Devil Dawn was much more country oriented, but still mostly good. Bring on the Snakes was even further down the country scale and I liked it much less.

This album follows the trend of dropping the country sound for pop music. A lot of these songs would be at home on a Top 40 station. The Crooked Fingers experiment with a lot of sounds on this album, but in the end, the pop music sound is not something I'm looking for. I don't see myself listening to this album that often.