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Bill Janovitz | Up Here

A charming album by the Buffalo Tom singer.
CD, PIAS

Tekst: Alex Tobin

Publicatiedatum: 21 januari 2002

Since 1986, Bill Janovitz has been the lead singer, guitarist, and main songwriter for American alternative scenesters Buffalo Tom. The Boston-based band formed at the University of Massachusetts, and rather quickly they found themselves being compared to acts such as Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, and especially Dinosaur Jr. (not least given the fact that J. Mascis produced their debut album, leading them to be christened 'Dinosaur Jr. Jr.' by some critics). After over 15 years at the helm of one of the most influential combos on the block, Janovitz periodically feels the desire to branch out, to tread his own musical path. Buffalo Tom do in fact still exist as a band, although their last album 'Smitten' already dates back to 1998, and Janovitz has been productive in his time away from the group, involved with several side projects and in his own right as a solo artist. 'Up Here' is Janovitz' second solo record, and it's mostly the sound of a man and his acoustic guitar. Straying away ever so slightly from the alt.country twang of his last solo album 'Lonesome Billy', 'Up Here' finds it foothold in the netherworld and crossroads of folk, country, and pop. Recorded at Fort Apache Studios over a few weekends in the autumn of 2000, 'Up Here' is a songwriter's record. "Neil Young, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Nick Drake: These are all my songwriting heroes, so it was inevitable that I would want to play and record my songs in a solo setting,' Janovitz enthuses. With the help of vocalist Chris Toppin and keyboardist Phil Aiken, Janovitz has come up with eleven slow-burning little songs full of intimacy and emotion. The lyrics, as always, never fail to impress (sample, from the title track: "I like it up here / way out where the rain clouds and the fabulous disappear / the men outside stand talking / I'm thirsty in the rain / the windshield wipers scrape across the glass's grain / and they are just staring at me now"), and the songs on 'Up Here' - upon repeated, dedicated listens - are sure to find a way into your heart.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/bill-janovitz/up-here/898/
Meer Bill Janovitz op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/bill-janovitz