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I don’t really like press books in general because they all have a tendency to influence your listening of the record they necessarily praise. The review and comments contained in Barzin’s present this brilliant Canadian songwriter as an heir of Nick Drake, but after listening to both Barzin and Nick Drake carefully, I don’t really see the point. The names of Low, Ladbradford and Red House Painters are also called in. You should check by yourselves.
In
my opinion, Barzin’s music is closer to Sparklehorse : a soft painful voice
over smooth melancholic ballads. For example, ‘Over my Blue’ really reminds
me of Mark Linkous, voice and words. You can feel that these guys offer the
listener a piece of their broken self in a cathartic way. Contrary to
Sparklehorse which sometimes judiciously urge towards more abrasive melodies,
Barzin is always quiet. ‘Past all Concerns’ unfolds over three guitar
chords, pedal steel guitar moods, slow drumming and sensual feminine back
vocals. And that’s it, The music will never be more complex than that, never
saturated with arrangements, never violent or unforeseen. Indeed, the
strength and weakness of Barzin’s songs lie in their simplicity. The eight
songs are truly cohesive in order to create an atmosphere, and that is a good
thing but the problem is that it sounds repetitive. And it’s true that it is
rather difficult to listen to the whole album in a row, especially because most
of the songs are more than five minutes long (8 songs : 42 minutes). The guy is
gifted, there is no doubt about that but his music will never be a subject for
debate because it can so easily be labelled as “boring”. The reactions about
this album can only be :”Yeah, it’s not bad, but I got to go now.”
I
hope you got my point somewhere.
SUMMARY
OF THE REVIEW :Barzin’s music is perfect for evenings with your
girl/boyfriend, but no fucking, only kissing.
- Angus ‘I once had a girl or should I say she once had me’ Anderson
/sept 1st 2003/