Take Me Home And Love Me – Compilation
Various Artists – Take Me Home And Love Me – Compilation Review
Nothing makes me crack a smile like random creativity. This multi-artist disc, Take Me Home And Love Me, is all over the musical map and full of ideas you could sit on your couch for years and still never dream up. And I appreciate that! So let’s check this out – push play!
Or if you want to – stare at the cover art a little longer…but don’t get any ideas – that dog is coming home to SBS! Seriously – I NEED to find a way to adopt this SPECIFIC dog!
Right, right. Music. Concentrate on the music. I get it. You fiends…
Alright – the album stands an entire eight tracks in length and each one brings an entirely different sound and idea into this compilation. What starts with “Housebroken,” a beautifully acoustic & sax track with lyrics and tone that match the sad, sad look in the eyes of the dog on the cover! Rad right? Any Grandaddy or Sparklehorse fans out there? You’ll dig on this track from J. Marcien Caron for sure.
Following this forlorn but oddly beautiful track, this compilation throws its proverbial “nuts on yer chin” by sending the sound sideways in the first of two tracks from Moonshiner called “Banjo Boogie.” This track absolutely begs the listener and asks – ‘Just how weird DO you want it?’
Well – if you’re anything like me, you like your music plenty weird. Especially at the hours you know I keep! I love the recording in this track…the banjo track sounds like it was recorded and then played on a phonograph. Not gonna lie – this is about as weird as music can get short of Primus’ “Grandad’s Little Ditty.” It’ll be beyond the scope of many; but definitely not mine!
The whole album comes out of left field continually, song after song. Anthony Vincent brings the music back to something a little more familiar with a jazz/rock freak-out in “Deadman’s Hill.” Up tempo and well put together – this will the song that those looking for something a little closer to their musical safety-zone will enjoy.
But what’s this? Storm’s a-comin…
Yep. Here to make sure the instant you get comfortable…is Moonshiner again. Again, production values absolutely KILL on this track – you can fully consider me a fan of Moonshiner’s work – this is atmospherically unique and just brilliantly put together. So bizarre and unexpected upon those first listens that, well at least for myself – made it so I couldn’t wait to hear them again right away.
Francisco Benetiz is making some excellent music, fully rocking away on a piano-jazz influenced track known as “Oversize Load,” with that excellent saxophone coming through into this compilation once again. He also shows up towards the end of the album on “Warm Sweet Darkness,” another example of some excellent ideas in melody and songwriting. Truly – this is a phenomenally beautiful track.
Now…after Moonshiner showing up on the second and fourth track – naturally I braced myself for another dose of bizarre-meets-awesome, even though this time the track was from a different artist. This magical, toy-box of a song hits the spot for me every single time I hear it. Sarah Pountney – that’s the name – now go and re-affirm this amazingly talented artist! “The Wire” is a short and astounding delicate song, full of heart-felt melody and beautifully performed. An absolute stand-out gem.
BUT! If there is ONE thing I’ve learned from what to expect of this compilation, it’s that if weird ain’t in the song I’m hearing…then it’s just around the corner. And for one final time, it certainly was. “Reeser’s Mountain” ends this absolute TRIP of a compilation with another banjo-laden, production-refined song that billy-goats of all-ages will cross the field for in this track from Sean Downey.
If you like creativity…if you like the bizarre…if you appreciate the true freedom of music and where even the craziest ideas can take you – forget about the dog on the cover and take this compilation home instead!
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