Population Me

Amazon.com
The honky-tonk rebel again manages to cover a surprising expanse of musical territory on the first new release for his Electrodisc imprint. Highlights range from a poetic duet with Willie Nelson on "If Teardrops Were Diamonds" to the Dixieland brass of the title track, from the folkie lilt of "An Exception to the Rule" to a revival of Burt Bacharach's "Trains and Boats and Planes" (a 1960s hit for Billy J. Kramer), driven by the banjo of Earl Scruggs. Such eclecticism shows Yoakam and producer/guitarist Pete Anderson in playful spirits, with even the downbeat lyrics of "The Late Great Golden State" and "Stayin' Up Late (Thinkin' About It)" set to upbeat arrangements. Even the brooding balladry of "Fair to Midland" has more wordplay than angst, while "I'd Avoid Me Too" presents the singer as such a sad sack he'd have to laugh to keep from crying. No major statements or artistic progressions on this summer breeze of an album--its 10 songs barely lasting half an hour--just a whole lot of fun as Yoakam stretches his trademark twang in all sorts of different directions. --Don McLeese

Tracks:

The Late Great Golden State
No Such Thing
Fair to Midland
An Exception To The Rule
Population Me
Stayin' Up Late (Thinkin' About It)
Trains And Boats And Planes
If Teardrops Were Diamonds
I'd Avoid Me Too
The Back Of Your Hand

Amazon.com

The honky-tonk rebel again manages to cover a surprising expanse of musical territory on the first new release for his Electrodisc imprint. Highlights range from a poetic duet with Willie Nelson on "If Teardrops Were Diamonds" to the Dixieland brass of the title track, from the folkie lilt of "An Exception to the Rule" to a revival of Burt Bacharach's "Trains and Boats and Planes" (a 1960s hit for Billy J. Kramer), driven by the banjo of Earl Scruggs. Such eclecticism shows Yoakam and producer/guitarist Pete Anderson in playful spirits, with even the downbeat lyrics of "The Late Great Golden State" and "Stayin' Up Late (Thinkin' About It)" set to upbeat arrangements. Even the brooding balladry of "Fair to Midland" has more wordplay than angst, while "I'd Avoid Me Too" presents the singer as such a sad sack he'd have to laugh to keep from crying. No major statements or artistic progressions on this summer breeze of an album--its 10 songs barely lasting half an hour--just a whole lot of fun as Yoakam stretches his trademark twang in all sorts of different directions. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews:

One of his best ...if not THE BEST.......2006-08-31

Such a great album from the incomparable Mr. Dwight Yoakam. "If Teardrops Were Diamonds" is especially beautiful.Please buy this and savour every note and twang.

Good album.......2005-09-05

In all honesty, this album is all over the place. Dwight cannot sing a bad song and by God, Dwight has never put out any bad music. And let me go on record to say that since the mid-80's, Dwight is God when it comes to real country music. But the tracks on this album are scattered and seem to have no common thread. With that said, there are two songs on this album that make it worth twice the retail price! "No Such Thing" and "An Exception to the Rule" are just absolutely dead-on Bakersfield Country and I dare say, even Buck couldn't touch these. I believe Willie Nelson to be one of the greatest (if not the greatest) songwriter alive; but the guy hasn't been able to sing since 1968!!!! But, thanks to Dwight, I have found one of the few Willie "singing" songs tolerable with "If Teardrops Were Diamonds"; it's actually a beautiful song. Again, with today's country music, Dwight has no peers. And if compared to any of the latest "country" releases, this album rates A+, 10 stars.....but on the Dwight (no bell curve) scale, this is one of his weaker albums. Still Good, worth more than the price, but not his best. A-

Fantastic album, few problems with the recording..........2005-07-02

Firstly let's get the technical stuff out of the way. The recording level on the CD is way too high for most domestic and portable equipment. Playing the CD in a friend's car resulted in horrific distortion, likewise on another friend's el-cheapo sound system. For this reason I've given this 4 stars rather than 5. On my own setup (somewhat over the top, both home and car) it sounds pretty good though, but please on future releases reduce the level by about 6dB, and don't apply so much compression! This is a criticism that's common to a lot of Dwight's recent recordings, and indeed a large number of modern recordings regardless of artist, label or genre. Producers take note - dynamic range good, compression bad! Quick fix though, rip the disc with Nero, then load the ripped WAV files into Nero Wave Editor, reduce the level by a few dB (between 4 and 6), then burn back to a blank CD-R. You'll then have a disc that works on anything without causing distortion in the line level section. Another note to record producers everywhere though - WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO DO THIS, PLEASE TURN IT DOWN!!! (Apologies for caps, have to shout over the high recording level!)

Anyway, onto the music. I bought this after hearing the first track "Late Great Golden State" on satellite radio (here in the UK we're generally quite poorly served for country music, unfortunately). This is one of the better tracks, probably my third favourite on the album.

Second favourite (close run thing though) would be the closing track "The Back Of Your Hand". Not what I'd have thought of as Dwight's normal style, but very good nonetheless.

But my favourite has to be the second track "No Such Thing". Lyrics aside, the interplay between Dwight's vocals and Gary Morse's pedal steel is just amazing, and sums up everything that's so good about the traditional 4-beat country shuffle. (On a more personal note, I'd just broken up with someone after nearly 5 years, and the lyrics kind of echoed what I was feeling... "Where we're concerned there was no such thing as love". But even without this I still love the song.)

In short, provided you've got a decent sound system (or the distortion doesn't bother you), buy this, it's musically brilliant.

Listeners Won't Be Disappointed.......2005-01-08

This CD, released on his own label is loaded with Dwight's traditional broken hearted love ballads, lots of country twang, and guitar. In a time when country music has become more pop sounding, Dwight still manages to deliver music with old country flavour. No Such Thing is a perfect example and reminds me of his earlier Bakersfield sounds.

The multitalented Yoakam (musician, songwriter, producer, and actor) has created another staple album for his fans. Fair to Midland has a beautiful string serenade at the end. An Exception to the Rule has a quicker boot-stomping tempo.

One of the longer songs on this short and sweet album (just under 32 minutes) is the title song, Population Me. This dark brooding track is about being alone and the singer's search for a lost love is tied up best with one little line, "She's no longer here, the population's me..." and helps to explain the meaning of the album title.

Trains and Boats and Planes is a remake of an old 1960s song. I don't remember it. It's a whiny little number that is not one of the better songs on this album. That being said, it's the only song on this album that I didn't like, mostly because the lines felt awkward.

There is only one duet on this album. If Teardrops were Diamonds, is performed with the legendary Willie Nelson. It's a beautiful and morose song. I'd Avoid Me Too sounds a little like an old 60s rock and roll track. A bit rockabilly with a touch of Elvis thrown in. It's a fun song that everyone can relate to.

I was going to say that no song really stands out on this album that might attract new listeners to Dwight's already vast fan-base, then I heard The Back of Your Hand, and realized this is the one. You know, the song that makes a person buy the album. They also produced nice liner notes with complete lyrics and some photos of a man in a hat hugging a guitar (I'm sceptical that it's Dwight.) The whole album is a Dwight signature pleaser. I don't think listeners will be disappointed.

Review Originally Posted at http://www.linearreflections.com

Sadder Shades of Blue.......2004-11-23

The first CD on Yoakam's own Audium label is an excellent set. My favorite track is "Stayin' Up Late (Thinkin' About It)" with Gary Morse's pedal steel playing some zippy country licks with Dwight's slightly twisted lyric, "I don't dare watch the news cause the wrecks & the crashes can remind me too that I used to ride around & go places in cars with you." "Trains & Boats & Planes" has been in my collection by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, the Box Tops & Dionne Warwick; but this is the first country version I've ever heard; & it's wildly successful. Dwight's plaintive vocals transform the tune into a natural midtempo country weeper. Of the other tracks, the opener "The Late Great Golden State" by Mike Stinson is an excellent uptempo track. "An Exception to the Rule" has a melody with a retro feel, "Sweet dreams can't be recalled, high hopes collapse & fall as the sky keeps turning sadder shades of blue." The title track has vocals with Dwight sounding like he'd been listening to some Hank Williams records. The duet with Willie Nelson on "If Teardrops Were Diamonds" is an excellent country tear-in-your-beer weeper. This set is consistently strong with excellent songs, Dwight's great vocals and solid instrumentation. This is another great effort that we've come to expect from this country superstar. Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

A must for all Space Cadets!
A Classic of Text Sound Music

10+2:12 American Text Sound Pieces

Manufacturer: Other Minds
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0001AC3IG
Release Date: 2004-01-05

Tracks:

Just (1972)
Heavy Aspirations (1973)
Preface (1968)
62 Mesostics Re Merce Cunningham (1971)
Give It to Me, Baby (1967)
The Population Explosion (1969)
When I Am with You (Speech Songs, 1973)
He Destroyed Her Image (Speech Songs, 1973)
In Sara, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Men and Women (1972)
Torero Piece (1973)
Come to Free the Words (1962)
Border Dissolve in Audiospace (1970)
crickets (1965)

Album Description

Sound poems or `text-sound compositions' represent a cross-fertilization of the traditional arts of music and poetry. Originally released in 1974, this CD re-release is the first to anthologize text-sound pieces by U.S. composers, poets and visual artists. The advent of the magnetic tape recorder and other various electronic devices (1950-1955) presented artists of various disciplines with a wider possibility of altering natural sound, including the speaking voice. Here is a music composed from speaking, not singing. Here is also a poetry, which extends our notion of the traditional "reading"—the work can only exist as sound.

Customer Reviews:

A must for all Space Cadets!.......2007-01-08

"Ground control to Major Tom!"

I first got introduced to such Sound Poetry in the "Signals from the Shadow Pool" radio program on KRCL radio in Salt Lake. The program played all the obscure readings, freak-outs and cosmic noises "digged" by all "Cosmicly Concious" space cadets who once "known colors!" From Negativland to the Residents to Nurse With Wound, ears were tickled with ear candy. And conneseurs of the bizarre were satisfied.

This album is a fine starting point for those aged "beat-poets' out there who appreciate one form of art media being transformed into another media.

Of particular interest is the beat-poet Brion Gysin. He takes the style and color of William S. Burroughs- a colleague of his- and vividly through sound transforms such into a beat lecture, including the sound of each "free word" being transcribed to a chalk board!

As Timothy Leary once said:- "Once cosmic, always cosmic!" Order this album and expand your cosmos!

A Classic of Text Sound Music.......2004-05-07

I bought this when it was first released by the now defunct 1750 Arch records. It opened a whole new world for me and changed the way I think about music. This collection of text sound pieces is a good representation of the state of the art at the time of its release. Artists featured come from a variety of backgrounds but all are sort of crossing over between poetry and music in a sort of grey area which had been little explored.

Most notable is the work of Charles Amirkahnian, San Francisco radio producer and advocate of contemporary music. But this is a great anthology of artists and should be better known.

Music Album:

Music Album