August 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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August 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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Howie Beck’s 2nd album gets US release at long last 12 August 2002
He played and recorded the tracks to Hollow in his Toronto apartment over the course of a year, taking enough time and care to give the set an indie-style-sparse, but smooth, studio sound. Yes, taped to 4-track (only the string sections such as on the songs The Chance Is Gone and Scarecrow Down were tracked in an actual studio) but not lo-fi. Despite Canadian critical acclaim—the Toronto Star named it the best Canadian album of 1999—and dual releases last year for the UK and Europe on Easy!Tiger and Easy!Tiger/Virgin that garnered a slew of enthusiastic reviews along with building him a solid European fan base, Beck couldn’t hook up with a US label for Hollow... until now. The recently merged Devil In The Woods/Future Farmer Recordings imprint, from northern California, puts the album out tomorrow for the US. Beck’s music and delivery bring to mind Elliott Smith, with genuine sadness, beauty, and hope in place of Smith’s mystery, danger, and restlessness; and also brings to mind The Pernice Brothers, although more downtempo and less desperate than the PB’s were on The World Won’t End. His breathy, multi-tracked vocals no doubt lead some listeners to superficially dismiss him as an Elliott Smith rip-off (perhaps especially on one of the LP’s strongest tracks, The Chance Is Gone). But scratch that surface and you’ll begin to glimpse a unique talent shining through, with his own stunning melodic & lyrical sensibility. From The Chance Is Gone: She left the next dayHollow is soft but compelling pop, in the tradition of Nick Drake, Simon & Garfunkel, and the slower & gentler fare from The Beach Boys and The Byrds. Instantly familiar, like a gentle and pretty face, you keep getting to know this record with listen after listen. Four bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. Howie Beck has just about finished recording his third album, and will be touring soon to support Hollow’s US release. We’ll bring you more info on both fronts as we get it. | Howie Beck | | Devil In The Woods | | The One You Wanted (full length MP3) | | CD from Amazon US | | top of page | |
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