WEINLAND-“La Lamentor”
Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by ekko
Weinland is a guy’s name. Seriously. But there’s an Adam before it and a Shearer after it. He’s the vocalist, guitarist, and vibraphone player on the astounding new album, “La Lamentor.” From the first alt-country(ish) track, “God Here I Come,” the album is gripping, thought-provoking, suspenseful and passionate. That first track is a gentle, acoustic, indie-rock lament along the lines of XTC’s “Dear God”, in which the singer attempts to puzzle through the differences between man and mortal, posed on what seems to be a suicidal deathbed. It’s haunting. And the deep thoughts continue. “The Devil in Me” sounds vaguely like a Ryan Adams ballad, but lyrically it explores similar themes to the opening cut. Yet for all its seeming tragedy, it is actually filled with hope and love.
With a wide variety of musicians and instruments, including dobro, mandolin, accordion, banjo, fiddle, viola, cello, and trombone, the album is as rich and textured as the best work of Califone or Calexico. Sometimes, there are albums that are so thoroughly beautiful that they just break me. This is one of them.
Buy it. It’s one of the best releases of the year.
Bonus Cover:
Haven’t posted any Clash lately, so . . .
Be Bop a Lula-The Clash (bootleg)
Comment By: Anonymous
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Thanks for the Clash doing that cover. More Clash, more Clash…yay, Clash.
Debbie
Comment By: Stu
September 25th, 2008 at 2:19 am
I reviewed this album back when AuralFitness was still around… I think I have a backup of the review somewhere. Should maybe drag that out and re-post it…
I agree, it’s a good album.
Comment By: <a href="mailto:betweenloveandlike@gmail.com">BetweenLoveandLike</a>
September 30th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Come back, come back, you’ve only been up a week Clash cover of Gene Vincent, come baaaack…
Comment By: Berkeley Place » WEINLAND-”Breaks in the Sun”
March 14th, 2009 at 3:37 am
[...] If you haven’t heard of Weinland yet, you don’t read my blog closely enough. Back in September of ’08, I gave “La Lamentor” a huge thumbs up. [...]