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CD Review: Memphis 'A Little Place In the Wilderness'
Artist: Memphis
Album: A Little Place In the Wilderness
Release Date: June 2007
Label: Good Fences
Memphis released this album in Canada a year ago and now it's made it to the US. This was a hard record to listen to in the summertime, what with it's many references to snow and snowy countrysides, ostensibly up in Canada, as it was written and recorded in the winter of 2005-6. All the vocals, guitars, and rhythms also seem to echo across a cold and snowy landscape.
If you are a fan of Memphis or the bands related to Chris Dumont and Torquil Campbell, like Stars, for example, then this is probably right up your alley, but I'm not so sure that this was a good introduction to this scene for a neophyte like me. I couldn't get into Torq's whispery vocals very much but the minimialist guitar strumming wasn't unpleasant, if not a little repetitive.
The standout song from the collection of 10 was 'Incredibly Drunk On Whiskey', a jazzy jaunt completely unlike the rest of the album. I felt that the album could have been a lot better with more high points like that track and perhaps that is something the Memphis boys could think about if they go for a third album. What I found interesting in reading the liner notes is that this album was funded, in part, by the Candadian government through the Canada Music Fund. Free health care and funding for pop music?
Below is 'A Ghost Story', a typical song on the record:
Below is 'Incredibly Drunk On Whiskey', the standout track:
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