![]() If there’s a caveat, though, it’s that I can’t help feeling he has the capacity to make a genuinely extraordinary record, and consequently, the arrival of another one which is merely very good seems, weirdly, like something of an anti-climax. Everything is just-so, evidently the work of a craftsman with a vivid and satisfying idea of how his records should sound. Like its predecessors, “The Atlantic Ocean” is a compact, beautifully-realised collection of finely-wrought songs. It’s testament, I guess, to the strength of Swift’s immensely strong musical character, a bleary-eyed gentleman of the piano, marooned halfway between Tin Pan Alley and the Lost Weekend. That this shipload of supporting players – and the guest production of Mark Ronson, of all people – doesn’t change Swift’s vibe at all is quite an achievement. The big exception is what we might tentatively call an all-star jam, “Ballad Of Old What’s His Name”, with Wilco’s Pat Sansone on bass, Sean Lennon channelling George Harrison, amusingly, on lead guitar, and a usefully unrecognisable Ryan Adams on backing vocals. Mostly, the album seems to have been recorded in Wilco’s loft by Swift with the assistance of one of Sufjan Stevens’ myriad multi-instrumental underlings, Casey Foubert. The title track (which I referred to last time as “I Am The Ocean”, from a live gig three years ago) is a pulsating show of Swift’s skill, a surging, beaty, artful piece that’s as catchy as anything he’s yet written. Initially, it’s a bit jarring, but gradually the sound starts to make sense, as a characteristically perverse twist on his early ‘70s Nilsson schtick. The squitting old synth that runs through “The Original Thought” is a recurring texture here, spraying around the olde-time rinky-dink of Swift’s piano playing. Three tracks from “Ground Trouble Jaw” fetch up here: two that I particularly drew attention to last time, “The Original Thought” and “A Song For Milton Feher”, plus the sweet Motown pastiche, “Lady Luck”. “The Atlantic Ocean” finds Swift back in the comforting hands of Secretly Canadian, and very much back on track. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |