Editorial Reviews
Around the Margins
Music Review:
Music Review
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Ultimate Collection [Import] [Original recording remastered]
Amazon.com
Doug Hoekstra's literate songwriting and low-key vocal delivery have earned him comparisons to the likes of Leonard Cohen and Ray Davies. On Around the Margins, the Midwesterner's fourth solo album since disbanding Bucket No. 6, those influences are still much in evidence, while a cover of Dylan's "Isis" pays appropriate tribute to Sir Bob. But Around the Margins also finds Hoekstra stretching the sonic canvas. Gospel choruses, courtesy of former Fisk Jubilee Singers Nirva Dorsaint and Antonio Meeks, strengthen standout tracks such as "Birmingham Jail" and "The Life We Love," the latter featuring Colleen Burke Kave on lead vocals. Jeff Kowalkowski's synthesizer on the quirky "Laminate Man" and samples on the haunting "Houses Flying" add further textural diversity, as does the odd clarinet and viola. Through it all, Hoekstra serves up finely crafted lyrics that are just oblique enough to retain an air of quiet mystery, making Around the Margins a subtly satisfying album from a gifted singer-songwriter. --Bill Forman
Jim Walsh, St. Pioneer Press, 2001
" 'Margins' is a subtly beautiful collection of hushed story-songs...Hoekstra never takes the singer/songwriter path most traveled"
Album Description
"With each album, Doug Hoekstra mines a fresh way to present his moody, unpredictable story songs. On "Around the Margins", his songwriting remains uniformly powerful, while his arrangements once again introduce new sonic elements to his tunes. This time out he weaves a female voice, electronic effects and natural instruments into a spellbinding setting that, rather than distracting a listener, instead pulls them into the story. Hoekstra makes good use of the attention he receives, spinning a provactive thread of personal tales involving death, family and how relationships change as the years advance" (Michael McCall, Nashville TN)