Editorial Reviews
Featuring "Birds"
Music Review:
Music Review
Lucky Leif and the Longships [Live]
Choral Evensong from Truro Cathedral
Brahms: Piano Trio in B No1, Op8; Dvorak: Trio No3
Bring Back the Romance of Dance, Vol. 1
Beware (The Funk Is Everywhere)
Amazon.com's Best of 1998
Like Mark Eitzel's best work with American Music Club, Featuring "Birds" finds Elliott Smith's old Heatmiser cohort Sam Coomes in the sort of hope-deprived mood that leads not to suicide, but to nonstop wisecracking: "Life is dull, life is gray / At its best, it's just OK / But I'm happy to report / Life is also short." Driven by ex-wife and Sleater-Kinney member Janet Weiss's powerhouse drumming, Coomes's overamped electric keyboard is the perfect vehicle for his wryness and melodicism. --Rickey Wright
Amazon.com
Sam Coomes's ruminations have turned decidedly glum as he mulls over his own decay. Fortunately, he is also a savvy student of pop music; a life-long lover of the British Invasion, particularly the Kinks and early Pink Floyd, so even his darkest mutterings come baked in a tasty, if somewhat flaky, crust. Right off the bat, Sam is sounding the alarm of complacency with some keyboard savagery in "Our Happiness Is Guaranteed," a piece of lobotomized optimism about burying your head in the... read more