Rating 5.0
Commercials aren't so bad...I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was turned onto Buckner while staring mindlessly at my TV. A commercial came on peddling an SUV, which featured a snippet from Ariel Ramirez.
I got on the internet, found Buckner in my search through the car maker's advertisement sites, and promptly ordered the CD.
It's hard to describe the music - it's simple and hauntingly beautiful, and it just gets better each and everytime I listen to it.
Thank you, Richard. What a wonderful gift you have.
DisappointedHave given numerous listens and I guess Bruckner, at least this one...Since, just doesn't do it for me as a whole.At the first creak of Richard Buckner's voiceAt the first creak of Richard Buckner's voice you feel you're in for a slightly off-balanced ride; he sings as if the words are untrustworthy things he has to guide to where he is heading. Intriguing and story-telling words they are, framed lightly by a wayward acoustic guitar, percussion or steel guitar. His tones jump around on the opener Believer like he's singing it from a dizzying spot, Faithful Shooter is more grounded and pinched up by its percussion. Ariel Ramirez is bleak and haunting while Jewelbomb kicks up some dirt with
its spurring guitar and reflective vocal. The Ocean Cliff Clearing directs itself to more pleasant spots.
Goner w/ Souvenir is a standout, its strums and percussion clicking off Buckner's round-voiced enunciations. His impressive observations peak with the music here. Slept patters along deep plunks of the guitar; Pico gathers a pace, an instrumental. Coursed is on pleasant ground again, a vocal collected from a well of old heartbreak it seems; Lucky Buzz gets a good grip on the idea of vengeance and a tripping drum. 10-Day Room cuts quickly and beautifully; Brief & Boundless huddles around the word "raze" with its soft pluckings of guitar; Hand @ The Hem reveals the peculiar way Buckner has of communicating: a snatch of conversation, a compelling image, tied up to his restless vocal chords. Boys, The Night Will Bury You is sly and evocative, a top tune, and Once finishes this terrific album with just-cooling images and moods--"I lapped up to the bay bar & saw her bobbing like a wave & I slowed down" "I dreamed of a couple dancing close and drunk in the spray of lights they made." In the end, this is a powerful singer with a voice that carves out old misbegotten experience like rotten wood to good song. |
