Search - Ben Weaver :: The Ax in the Oak

	Ben Weaver The Ax in the Oak Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock For the recording of `The Ax in the Oak', ben Weaver traveled from the Twin Cities where he is based, to Chicago's Engine Studios where he teamed up again with Brian Deck (Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse), the producer with wh... more » « less
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CD Details

All Artists: Ben Weaver
Title: The Ax in the Oak
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bloodshot Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2008
Re-Release Date: 8/12/2008
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Styles: Indie & Lo-Fi, Singer-Songwriters, Country Rock
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 744302015620, 4030433768525

Synopsis

Album Description

For the recording of `The Ax in the Oak', ben Weaver traveled from the Twin Cities where he is based, to Chicago's Engine Studios where he teamed up again with Brian Deck (Iron and Wine, Modest Mouse), the producer with whom he worked with on his 2007 release `Paper Sky'. Drawn together by mutual friends and a love for the shimmering, electronic pop of Austrian based musician Christian Fennesz, Weaver and Deck made a conscious effort to take a more experimental approach to Weaver's songs. Apropos to Deck's work with Califone, the result is an organic album with electronic elements, thoughtfully complimenting Weaver's earth-honest and indelicate delivery, while also not completely neglecting his folk-roots.

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CD Reviews

Both Expected and Unexpected

Thomas Blakiston | Saint Paul, MN, USA | 10/21/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I saw Ben Weaver open for Josh Ritter a few years back (2006?); he was alone on stage with a piano. His lyrics were stark and rich, reminiscent of Tom Waits and certainly Leonard Cohen, as other reviewers of Ben Weaver music have noted. I enjoyed the music enough to purchase an album, however it took me a few years to get around to it, but it was with this live experience in mind when I put "The Ax In The Oak" into my CD player. The lyrics were as I remembered: earthy, a little dark, and infused with wildlife imagery, specifically birds.

What was unexpected was the experimental music and digital beat background on some of the tracks. Again, when I saw Weaver live all he had was the piano, so maybe this is typical of his recorded songs, but I was not expecting it. Some examples are a bouncing ping pong ball, and what sounds like an idling chainsaw in "Alligators and Owls". I think it all works; I enjoy hearing artists infuse non-traditional music sources into their compositions, and I think Weaver has a good ear for it. I am curious to hear his older albums and see how they stack up against this one.

Worthy, I think, of a blind buy.

"