Joe Henry - Blood from Stars

[Josh]

I can't wait for you all to hear this one: Album of the Year for sure, and the third masterpiece in a row from Mr. Henry. (And that's a conservative estimate-- Scar comes pretty close to 10.0 territory, in my opinion, which would bump the count up to four.) It's wild and wooly stuff-- Henry is back in Tiny Voices to some extent, with the presence of horns and a general feel of improvisation and spirited spontaneity, but it's also his bluesiest album yet, containing some of his most raucous tracks as well as his most haunting ballads. There are DJ effects and samples that give the whole thing an experimental and cinematic feel, Marc Ribot's guitars are a revelation, Henry's son Levon lays down some killer sax, and the lyrics are, as always, mind-blowing.

It comes out in August.

[murlough23]

It's wild and wooly stuff-- Henry is back in Tiny Voices to some extent

That's good to know. It would be stupid of me to expect an entire Henry album to be up-tempo, but I needed those livelier moments to even out the sparser ones on Tiny Voices. Civilians was so languid that after listening to it once or twice, I had almost no desire to go back to it, despite being able to recognize immediately that there was some incredibly solid songwriting there.

[Ian]

Never heard of him.  I'll check out his old stuff for sure though.

Can't see anything beating MPP though

[murlough23]

Never heard of him.  I'll check out his old stuff for sure though.

Can't see anything beating MPP though

We probably need to add a modifier here. Josh's rating for anything good - 1.0 for Josh's hyperbole +/- 0.5 = Your likely rating.

[Josh]

Fwiw, I've given 2 10.0s this year, none last year, and only one in 2007-- so I average one per year, which I think is pretty reasonable. 

That said, Ian: His 2003 album Tiny Voices is my favorite of the decade. This one doesn't top it, but for me, nothing could.

[murlough23]

Fwiw, I've given 2 10.0s this year, none last year, and only one in 2007-- so I average one per year, which I think is pretty reasonable. 

You don't reserve your patented hyperbole for just the 10.0s. And I'm not saying this is a problem. I'm just saying there's an adjustment from your typical reaction to get to how most of the rest of us will likely react.

[bloop]

Fwiw, I've given 2 10.0s this year, none last year, and only one in 2007-- so I average one per year, which I think is pretty reasonable. 

It's hard for me to believe that there's only one or two 10s in a given year, as much music as there is out there.  I don't think it's that outrageous to have more than one phenomenal album in a given year.

[Josh]

It's hard for me to believe that there's only one or two 10s in a given year, as much music as there is out there.  I don't think it's that outrageous to have more than one phenomenal album in a given year.

Me neither-- but given that even you and I hear only a small fraction of what's released in a given year...

[murlough23]

I only hear two or three A-grade albums most years, and that's probably anything from a 9.0 up for you guys. Either I'm just pickier, or I'm not as good at digging through the haystack.

[Josh]

At any rate: Blood from Stars is a masterful record from a master record-maker-- it's experimental and adventurous, but in an unassuming and unpretentious way.

[Aaron]

I only hear two or three A-grade albums most years, and that's probably anything from a 9.0 up for you guys. Either I'm just pickier, or I'm not as good at digging through the haystack.

You're just a lot pickier.

[bloop]

You're just a lot pickier.

I think it's a combination of the two, maybe.  I think we all have pretty high standards, but murlough tends to be a bit more (nit?)picky.

[Aaron]

Well yes, we are all picky but I was just saying that he's pickier than most of us. 

(side note: pickier looks funny when you type it.)

[murlough23]

I think it's a combination of the two, maybe.  I think we all have pretty high standards, but murlough tends to be a bit more (nit?)picky.

I'll own that one.

[Ian]

Civilians is the only one I could find, but I'm giving it a listen now.

[Ian]

That said, Ian: His 2003 album Tiny Voices is my favorite of the decade. This one doesn't top it, but for me, nothing could.

Finally got a hold of this, listening now and I am quite impressed

[Josh]

Glad to hear it!

Hopefully I won't offend anyone here when I say this: That the hipster set (i.e., Pitchfork) is really missing out on records like this one. They never covered it, and of course it won't be anywhere on their best of the decade list. And I understand that singer/songwriter stuff isn't really their thing, but I think there are very few records released in the 00s that are as inventive, as original, as daring and edgy as Tiny Voices. Same thing with Tom Waits' Real Gone.

And with Blood from Stars, for that matter. 

[bloop]

They reviewed Civilians (though they sorely underrated it), so I wouldn't be surprised to see a few of the Pitchfork-type review sits review this one.  I'll listen to it either way.

[Josh]

My song-by-song preview:

http://thehurstreview.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/tracking-blood-from-stars/

[Ian]

fyi, album is now out and about

[Josh]

Really surprised-- and a little saddened-- that this leaked. But oh well-- hopefully it means more exposure for Joe, and more album sales down the road.

[Ian]

Well after one listen I'm having the same reaction other people had to Mew.  It's good, but I don't really see how it's that good.  I'll give it some more listens though.

[Josh]

Oh, believe me: It IS that good. It's BETTER! But it'll take several listens to pull it all together, I think, especially for a relatively new Joe Henry listener.

[murlough23]

Oh, believe me: It IS that good. It's BETTER! But it'll take several listens to pull it all together, I think, especially for a relatively new Joe Henry listener.

Yeah, I just don't see him ever reacting that way to it. I'm not likely to, either.

[Josh]

No, I think you're both fairly unlikely to, honestly. But I don't think that has anything to do with the quality of the work so much as your individual tastes/preferences.

[bloop]

I doubt I'll rate it at the level that Josh did (it's rare I rate things quite that highly), but I completely agree that it isn't for some inherent flaw in Henry's music.

I'm into it on first listen.  Songwriting is top-notch, as always.

[bloop]

I think dgp, especially, would love this album.

[dgp11776]

I've enjoyed his last few, so it's definitely on my radar.  I found it last night, but got sidetracked with other stuff.

[murlough23]

No, I think you're both fairly unlikely to, honestly. But I don't think that has anything to do with the quality of the work so much as your individual tastes/preferences.

Sure. I couldn't find any flaws with Civilians - the songwriting was top-notch and the musicianship seemed to have a lot of class - though I'm only guessing there because genre-wise, it ain't really my thing. (I didn't even know what genre to tag that album, honestly.)

But sometimes there's an album which I have to respect on an artistic level while at the same time admitting to myself that I have little to no desire to keep going back and listening to it. Civilians was one of those. Blood from Stars could turn out to be the same, or it could have some of the dynamics that I liked about Tiny Voices (the full band stuff on that record helped to get me through the sparser stuff). Either way, I'll give it a fair shot when I get around to it. But even if I can't find anything to criticize about it, it's doubtful that I'll gush about it, which is why I'm saying that the level of perfection you've found in this record is not something that Ian or I MUST recognize or face being told we haven't listened enough times.

[Ian]

The only "flaw" that my untrained ear can find is that there are certain areas, especially throughout This is My Favorite Cage, in which Joe's voice overwhelms the mix.

I dunno, I like it, and I can see how masterfully it's been crafted, but as some have suggested would be the case, I can't really get into it all that much.  I have the same reaction to a lot of jazz though, so I'm pretty positive that it's just my taste, and not some flaw in the music.

[bloop]

Is it possible to recognize a flawlessly executed album while admitting it's not your favorite style or what have you?  I think it is.

I've only listened to this one once, so I'm not saying that it is flawlessly executed.  However, if you can't find any particular flaw, well . . . I guess it's best to recognize excellence and then move on.

[Josh]

I think I would say that is is, at the very least, virtually flawless-- any flaws are so minor as to be irrelevant and not even worth mentioning. That said, I love the album not because it's flawless so much as it's bold, unpredictable, adventurous, and alive.

It is not, however, my favorite Joe Henry album. But given that my favorite Joe Henry album is also my favorite album of all time... well.

[Ian]

Is it possible to recognize a flawlessly executed album while admitting it's not your favorite style or what have you?  I think it is.

Happens all the time, and is one of the biggest problems I run into when making my year end lists and such.

[murlough23]

Happens all the time, and is one of the biggest problems I run into when making my year end lists and such.

Agreed. It's like, you can't find any major thing wrong with it, so you don't want to shove it too far down the list, but you don't want it interfering with the core group of albums that really meant the most to you, either. Music can be a great technical or artistic accomplishment and still not resonate with you emotionally.

[bloop]

I think people can take a few approaches to this, but I don't take the hardest line approach either way.  Albums that meant a lot for me personally are often listed side-by-side with albums that I believe to be outstanding artistic achievements, but maybe didn't as much.  I also sort of got rid of numbering them to reflect that "this group of albums are approximately artistic equals, ordered in terms of preference" (doesn't mean everything in that group did as much for me personally).

[murlough23]

I think people can take a few approaches to this, but I don't take the hardest line approach either way.  Albums that meant a lot for me personally are often listed side-by-side with albums that I believe to be outstanding artistic achievements, but maybe didn't as much.  I also sort of got rid of numbering them to reflect that "this group of albums are approximately artistic equals, ordered in terms of preference" (doesn't mean everything in that group did as much for me personally).

That's the challenge, I guess. I just have to ask myself the really hard question of whether I'm putting that thing in the top 10 because I really loved it that much, or whether I'm putting it there to avoid having to deal with questions about why I rated it lower.

[bloop]

I avoid the question in a way, but I suppose one could just number the top 10 albums in my list and call it "the top 10", but there's some shuffling going on within those groups, and I don't always make sure that gets in my journal.

At any rate, I think the new Joe Henry sounds like something that might rate highly with me by either measure.

[Josh]

Joe Henry's music falls into both categories for me, as well, as anything I term a personal favorite would almost have to. That is: Blood from Stars means more to me personally than any other album I've heard this year, and it's also the most assured, masterful, and sophisticated record I've heard all year.

[dgp11776]

Yeah, this will easily make a run at my top 5.

[bloop]

^Agreed.  Incredible album, Josh.  I think it might be simply the best I've heard this year (or last, now that I think about it) in terms of sheer musicianship.