Arch Stanton

Requires repeated listens, Jun 16 2004

This is a quiet and well-made little record. Nothing revelatory and somewhat more conventional and less atmospheric than I expected. There isn't much gaslight old country and Appalachia to be found here - it's somewhat reminiscent of Joe Henry's "Scar." The first track is the least of the songs on the record but it builds from there. Balint at times sounds like Exene, but this works to her advantage, particularly on the songs that sound more like sketches. It will probably take 10 listens before anything on this records starts to repeat itself in your mind. Stick with it and you'll be rewarded.

Still More Wheat than Chaff, Jun 12 2004

Even in decline or repose, Bukowski was a snarling middleweight champion next to the preening and professional academic poets that choke our journals. I suppose we can even forgive him the torrent of imitators and pretenders he has spawned, writing roominghouse poetry from their parents' basement.

This collection has a few clunkers and a fair share of poems that just chase their own tails. But there is good stuff here, as well - hospital and leukemia poems, more fond remembrances of Jane and the overbearing father. Even a poem about the poems to be collected and released after his death (ie this book.) While there is chaff amongst the wheat, this book can still be recommended.

Even Cowboys Like Salif Keita, Jun 12 2004

With a voice both weary and childlike, Salif Keita is a man for all seasons. Need to romance that special someone? Want to get blind drunk on Boone's Farm in a lonely room? Inviting some folks over for dinner or drinks? This is the perfect record - the production sparkles, the tempos are varied and interesting, and Clear Channel wouldn't play it in 10,000 years.