| CD REVIEW Dan Wilson |
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Band : Dan Wilson Most of you will not know whom the solo artist Dan Wilson is, but maybe you’ve heard of the wonderful British Invasion-inspired Trip Shakespeare [which he joined as 2nd guitarist and keyboardist after the original trio issued their 1986 self-released debut album Applehead Man (re-released in 1988 by the Clean/ Twin Tone imprint). Together with his brother Matt (whom was the frontman), bassist John Munson, and drummer Elaine Harris, the band would go on to release 1989’s Are You Shakespearienced? (through Clean/Twin Tone), 1990’s Across The Universe (their debut for major label A&M), 1991’s Lulu, and the 1992 EP Volt (a collection of covers originally recorded for A&M, but then released through Clean/Twin Tone)] or the ensuining Semisonic [which Dan fronted himself, having founded the band in 1992 as a side-project with Munson and drummer Jacob Slichter. After a 1993 demo, which was re-issued as an EP through Minneapolis (that being the Wilson homestead) based label CherryDisc in 1995 after the demise of Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic went on to get that bit of success (which had eluded TS due to that band’s albums coming out in the heydays of Grunge) with such albums as 1996’s Great Divide, 1998’s Feeling Strangely Fine, and 2001’s All About Chemistry. Although there was also the live One Night At First Avenue in 2003, All About Chemistry remains the band’s last album to date. Several of the band’s singles made it into the US charts, with “Closing Time” even reaching top 10 notations in the US Pop and US Modern charts, and a couple even made the UK charts! On top, their music was used in a number of prime time TV-shows such as Friends, Melrose Place (final show), Roswell, Dawson’s Creek, Charmed, The Simpsons, and MTV’s cartoon series Daria. Movies Semisonic music was played in include Freeriders (1996), Never Been Kissed (1999), and 10 Things I Hate About You (also 1999). Additional success came when “Made To Last” was used in a commercial for Volkswagen, and “Secret Smile” in one by Sony for their new digital cameras in 2007.]. In the first part of the new millenium, Dan got into an intense period of songwriting collaborations, writing songs for Alternative Country legends Dixie Dregs [co-writing 6 songs on the 2007 album Not Ready To Make Nice, which won the band a total of 5 Grammy Awards], Mike Doughty, Rachael Yamagata, Jewel, Jason Mraz, and others. The writing sessions for this album’s songs was started after Dan had finished reading Neil Young’s book Shakey, in which he advocates live recording…starting with the vocals, avoiding overdubs…and this had inspired Dan to do the same for his upcoming solo album. Further inspiration came from the house he was living in at the time, built in 1903. At antique stores, he’d found some books of sheet music from that era, and spent a lot of time playing that kind of music on his piano. Once he’s written a decent amount of songs, he set out borrowing a home studio, set it up in his living room, and invited about 10 musicians whose playing and personalities he loves [among ‘em Sheryl Crow (provides the harmony vocal to “Sugar”), Sean Watkins (of Nickel Creek, plays the finger picked acoustic guitar on “Free Life” and “Baby Doll”), Gary Louris (of the Jayhawks, bringing guitar solos to “Cry” and “Come Home Angel”), Eric Fawcett (of N.E.R.D., playing drums on most of the tracks), and Belmot Trench (of Heartbreakers, playing the piano on quite a few of the album’s tracks)] to partake to the recordings…with a somewhat strange method: he invited each musician seperatedly to teach him/her the tracks, and only brought then band together at the time of the actual recordings. They ended up recording some 20 songs live, vocals all cut live with the band…and most songs stayed that way! Somehow Dan then made contact with noted producer and president of American Records, Rick Rubin whom, after hearing what Dan had done on his own, immediatelly agreed to help complete the project. About 8 songs were found readily recorded, and several of these only needed just a little extra subtle touch, but a couple of songs (including “Cry”, “Free Life”, “Come Home Angel”, and a few others) had puzzled Dan a bit more. These were either re-recorded or re-vamped with Rubin’s help! At myspace.com/danwilsonmusic, you’ll find Dan categorizing his music generally as “Rock / Folk Rock”, and those among you automatically thinking “Ah, Americana!” can be excused of thinking so because of that generalized description. Further down the page, Dan elaborates on his music, describing it as follows: “I hope I sound like Neil Young, Sea Change by Beck, Iron and Wine. I know I sound like Semisonic (can’t help that!), Beatles but not trying to. I’ve been listening a lot to Louis Armstrong lately, somehow that’s going to seep into my songwriting.” Truth is, while all of the above apply, there’s also a couple of elements which set Dan Wilson apart as a separate entity. First, there’s the incredible aptness of the songwriter to make simple and catchy Pop tunes (which get the occasional Rock flavouring when the songs need a more energetic interpretation). Secondly, there’s Dan’s hauntingly beautiful voice…semi-falcetto, semi-moaning…which also elevates the music to levels beyond comparison. In conclusion, if you’re into the softer kinds of Rock music, or merely looking for a change in your daily consumption of more brutal tonalities, here’s an album you simply nééd to check out. At the man’s MySpace page (address posted above), you’ll be able to listen to no less than 5 of the 13 tracks on the album, and you’ll have to admit that each is a jewel in its own right. And keep in mind : there’s 8 more of these jems on the album! For those into discovering the worth of an artist by going to watch him play live, here’s a nice surprise : Dan Wilson will be touring Europe starting October 24 (that same day he plays at Brussels’ Ancienne Belgique –Club Staand, the day after at Amsterdam’s Melkweg)! Come all, come together…to be enchanted by this modern Pop song master! Obviously, I have a thing for Dan Wilson (and especially for his vocal abilities…I’m definitely gonna check out albums by Semisonic, let me tell ya!). He’s made an album which made me stop dead and take time to listen to it over and over again, check out more info in detail than usual (just to be able to spend more time with the music). In contrast of when that fancy grabs me with some other bands/ albums, I still haven’t grown weary of the material (something which only happens with the very best albums)…in fact, it was with a certain reluctance that I set about finishing this review, but then there àre so many more releases awaiting my attention (among which a favourite of mine from Australia). I have only this question left : why, oh why…did it have to take almost two years after the American release for this album to be issued in Europe. It puts me in the position where I cannot put the album in 2009’s year-lists…but I can still give the album a top rating (even though I’m extremely crossed at the distributor for cutting 6 songs of the download promo copy’s album short!). 98/100 Tony. |