Music: CD Reviews
Check into Eliza Gilkyson's 'Paradise Hotel'
Web posted: Aug. 9, 2005
Eliza Gilkyson: "Paradise Hotel"
(Red House Records)
Eliza Gilkyson's signature as an artist is her courage. She lays it all bare, in song and on stage. Gilkyson will cry out boldly against war in Iraq, then come back with the most delicate song about longing and doubt. Through music, she shares all the hope and hurt in her heart, sensing that this personal expression validates the idea that we're not in this alone.
"Paradise Hotel" builds upon this pact Gilkyson has always carried with her audience — a fearlessness to look and write and feel intensely. She's an artist in full, confident stride right now, and this album is one of the most poetic of her career. It's one that looks straight in the face of fear — big, battlefield fears as well as quiet interior fear — all the way through. And in its own way, it leads us to a place of solace.
The title cut on "Paradise Hotel" is take-you-to-your-knees beautiful — examining our compulsion to chase after so many sinking ships and shooting stars in this life, while acknowledging the elusiveness of a peace that seems so close at hand. It is a song of extraordinary emotional, cultural and psychological depth, a poetic expression that's more fascinated with questions and contradictions than attaining a certain, clarifying answer. Like the woman who sings it, "Paradise Hotel" is stunning in its courage and its vulnerability.
— Brad Buchholz
Gilkyson plays a CD release party at the Cactus Cafe on Saturday.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore: "Come On Back"
(Rounder)
For a guy who made his bones as one of country music's most flagrant progressives, Jimmie Dale Gilmore has a way with a traditional tune. "Come On Back" is a collection of such tunes dedicated to his late father, Brian; "songs that he particularly loved, from an era of music that seems on the verge of being totally forgotten." I don't know about all that — as long is there a country music, there will be country practitioners looking to go back to its roots for a shot of authenticity. Or maybe they just want good, old-fashioned straightforward songwriting. Gilmore does right by songs such as Lefty Frizzell's hit "Saginaw, Michigan," Marty Robbins' vaguely overbaked "Don't Worry Bout Me" and Gilmore's namesake Jimmie Rogers' "Standin' on the Corner (Blue Yodel No. 9)." He keeps the arrangements spare without being empty — bass, fiddle, drums acoustic guitar and the centerpiece, his father's 50-year-old Fender. Like these songs, nothing sounds quite like that Nocaster; they don't make tones (or tunes) quite like that anymore.
— Joe Gross
"Don't Worry 'Bout Me"
Half Knots: "Half Knots"
(Genuine)
Early in their career, the country boys of Half Knots spent most of their time traveling the circuits between Austin and St. Louis. Not surprisingly, this is how most of their self-titled debut album sounds — it blends together like the passing countryside on a long road trip. But harmonious monotony hasn't sounded this pleasant since Tom Petty's 1994 album, "Wildflowers." Perhaps it's because Danny Kathriner carries his voice like a younger, milder Petty. Perhaps it's because guitarist Chris E. Peterson is limited to playing with the same three chords and folk rhythms. Perhaps it's because the harmonica, harmony vocals and electric keyboard are all used sporadically — but wisely — much like Petty's Heartbreakers.
Whether they're sipping on the sappy nostalgia of "Crayons" and "Here In The Car," or offering guidance in "Before You Lose It All," the Knots can't help but fall for that Dylan-esque sentimentality. Granted, "Crayons" is about a teary-eyed father looking back at his children, and "Before" seems to concern an alcoholic taking the first step in the 12-step program, but both explore the ironic possibilities of life.
— Jeff McCary
Attack Formation: "Somebody As Anybody"
(Australian Cattle God)
The often chaotic, often brilliant Attack Formation has been hawking its brand of arty punk rock since 1999. Eclectic in the best possible way, you're never sure what you're going to see when the band takes the stage. Improvisation, sub-bands and multiple identities are part and parcel of the Formation experience.
"Somebody" locks down the aesthetic for a full album, turning the band's eclecticism into smart noisy punk that remembers to groove and throb. For a few seconds there, "Pearl Snaps" sounds like it's going to break into Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On," which either would have been an amazing cover or a nifty commentary on that band. It's a testament to the band that either one would have been both credible and welcome.
— Joe Gross
"Buried Alive"
Attack Formation plays two record release shows: One at Beerland Friday and one at Emo's Saturday with Oneida, Ume and Oh Beast!
