My Amazon Reviews: Thomas Dolby "A Map Of the Floating City"

Mapping Dolby's World
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The Blinded by Science guy returns after a near 20 year absence with a studio album that, frankly, I doubt many were hotly anticipating. That said, I'm pleasantly surprised by Dolby's three part trip around the globe (as he describes in the liner notes: Urbanioa, Amerikana, and Oceana) that brings Dolby back with some old cohorts. Kevin Armstrong, Edie Reader, Bruce Wooley and Mark Knopfler appear, along with a guest vocal from Regina Spektor. Regina drops in on the album's most humorous cut, "My Evil Twin Brother."

The humor is something fans of Dolby would expect, but so are the strong melodies, odd keyboard textures ("Spice Train"), stories of the down, out and eccentric ("Road to Reno") or the romantic looking for a safe place to call home ("Oceana"). There's an oddity here that borders on roots music, the dippy "Toad Lickers," which I dig, along with songs that are little more than Dolby and a piano, like the gorgeous "Love is a Loaded Pistol." That song (along with Knopfler's turn on "17 Hills") will take some fans back to the brilliant "The Flat Earth," even if the sum total of "Map of The Floating City" doesn't stay at that high level of quality.

Still, you can't help but to be reminded of the quirky synth-master that gave us such disparate albums as "The Flat Earth" or the unevenness of "Astronauts and Heretics," an album I still enjoy. Dolby, in a recent interview, did not realize that "She Blinded Me With Science" was thirty years old this year as he was being interviewed in support of "Floating." He even expressed surprise, as he put it, because he tends not to look back at a career he sees as a continuation, even as he commented on just how that song opened all his doors to the present. "A Map Of The Floating City" is a pretty good addition to that journey.

   

 

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My Amazon Reviews: The Civil Wars "Barton Hollow"

Barton Barebones
3 Out Of 5 Stars

This is folk music in the most minimalist sense; The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow" a male/female vocal duo using the barest of acoustic backgrounds. Hardly any percussion bangs around these songs, often there's none at all. The songs grow, bud and bloom on the basis of the strong melodies, terrific harmonies and the overall mellowness of the album. There was even a single that underscored the drama "Grey's Anatomy" for an episode, the arch but lovely "Poison and Wine."

Only once do The Civil Wars break into something resembling a rock song, and that's the title track. The opening harmonies are almost like a train whistle, and the guitars churn like they're headed right for the Southern Gothic station. (Reminded me just a touch of the theme to "Hell On Wheels," the AMC TV Western drama.) On the other hand, if that's the only song you've heard from the CD, you might be disappointed that the remainder of "Barton Hollow" is so mellow and spartan. Folkies and Americana fans can line up right here.

   

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