Daniel Lanois / Here Is What Is
This is unabashedly one of the best records I’ve heard in years. This music and its message are so profoundly tapped into our times and yet draws so deeply from ancient wells of wisdom. Earthbound and swampy yet dreamy and electronic-sounding roots music for the postmodern citizen of the new millennium, Sort of like Robert Johnson lost and exploring inside a laptop computer. Fifteen tracks of utter genius from an artist whose been doing genius things for over 25 years or more already. My gosh, I can’t stop listening to this CD. Even the spoken word snippets (conversations with Brian Eno!) are among my favorite tracks. I enjoy them with the music each time.
Pedal Steel and electric guitars entwine with subtle and shifting layers of keyboards. Bass and drums hold it all down. The work of Brian Blade on drums and Garth Hudson on organ stand out here and there and make things go very,very right, The music wanders from dreamy instrumental country and swamp happenings’ to songs of worldly wisdom and spiritual empowerment, out right gospel vocals here and beautiful steel guitar moments there. It all winds up with “Joy” and then an instrumental track of snaky dubby funkiness called “Luna Samba”. I can’t overstate how magical a recording this is, Buy this cd and play it twice a day. Stay tuned as the documentary film that this cd is the soundtrack to, debuted in Austin this past week and is coming shortly to DVD.
Daniel Lanois - Here Is What Is, CD on sale for $12.99.
Owner, founder, resident Mahler fanatic since 1975. Loves jazz, bluegrass, worldbeat, and old geezer blues rock by Canned Heat or Johnny Winter. Obsessed with 60’s and 70’s era John Lee Hooker. Don’t ask him about the Eagles.
