BO11: "Seeds We Sow" by Lindsey Buckingham

It’s hard to conceptualize such a singular talent with so many commercial successes taking as many sonic detours as this guy. Lindsey Buckingham himself framed his intermittent solo work as “indie films” when compared to the widescreen blockbusters of Fleetwood Mac, and that’s as good an analogy as any; it captures the sense of experimentation and control that has defined his non-Mac work, and as any good film geek knows, the indies give you something to devour and perseverate upon that the major studio fodder just can’t provide.

Seeds We Sow is as close to a skill set sampler as one can imagine, as hushed confessional vocals align with the taut and powerful shouters, with backdrops of frenetic finger-picking and forceful six-string abuse and metronomic strumming showcasing the broad musical palette Buckingham can bring to bear seemingly on command. It’s a capstone to everything he’s ever done as a musician, from experimental to insinuating, and it’s a shame that there’s no outlet for this indie to get the big-screen close-up it deserves.

Comments

"The Silver Gun" by Robert Palmer (1983)

I mean...Urdu? Seriously, Urdu . On an already eclectic and worldly album -- Pride , from 1983 -- "The Silver Gun" closes a chapter in Robert Palmer's career by singing a song about a horse in a language spoken daily by over 100 million people. The liquid bass line and propulsive electronics set out a bedrock for Palmer to ping phrasings rather out of place in Western music, askew astride even the peripatetic minimalism of the rest of the record. Somehow, in the middle of Michigan's Appalachia, I had this on vinyl a few years before the CD era officially commenced. It was an album of effort -- even the cover, a pointillism-and-bronze work, had Palmer's head barely above the water -- but the stitches didn't show to my pre-adolescent eyes and ears. In a career marked by zigs and zags, Pride and "The Silver Gun" were most certainly Other, and for a kid that felt like he didn't belong much of anywhere, it was nice to have those discrete feeling...

"I'll Drive You Home"

Upon reflection, I’ve had a fortunate life in the area of work. As a freshly minted teenager, I would visit Evergreen Park Grocery and dream of someday working there like my father did, and at the age of 14, I got $2/hour to live out that dream, such as it was. From there, I yearned to try other occupations, from record stores to teaching, and I’d be chuffed to tell Young Erick that both of those things happened in due course. ( Oh, and Young Erick, one of them got you to meet David Bowie, and one of them got you to own houses and cars, so I’ll let you ponder on which one was better. ) I even got to DJ a bit here and there, and while it never hit the heights of a professional radio gig, it was certainly better than the summer I played preset cassettes on my boom box for a nerd camp dance while my unrequited crush stayed in her room. What I never crossed off my professional life list was acting, either regular or voice, but while I still yearn for that big breakthrough -- seriously, ask...

Ready For College?

Infographic by College Scholarships.org

THIS is a CLOSE-UP?

Search This Blog