Search - Book of Knots :: Traineater (Dig)

Best album of 2007?

exit domina | Seattle, WA United States | 06/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this, to be honest, to be a complete-ist. I am a huge fan of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and having heard a couple tracks on the bands' Myspace page, I figured I'd pick this up to make sure I had everything I could from every member.

We-hell, was I in for a shock. This album is AMAZING. Guest vocalists include: Carla Bozulich (Evangelista), Wu Fei, Mike Watts, Megan Reilly, and others. Songs like, "View From the Watertower", the title track, "Traineater", and "Salina", are haunting, lingering pieces that stay with you for hours. Tracks like, "Pray" (featuring Tom Waits), "Red Apple Boy", and "Boomtown", are edgy, driving, but unsettling. Nothing I put into words will do this album justice, so just do yourself a favor & pick it up. For fans of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Residents, Patty Smith, & good music everywhere. Seriously, no matter what you like, you will like something on this record."

Relevant.

Stargrazer | deep in the heart of Michigan | 05/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A lot of material have been written about the decline of the rustbelt and the tragic conclusion of the industrial rise of the Midwest, a lot of songwriters have adopted this imagery as their conceit-du-jour. But nothing has hit the mark quite as accurately and bracingly as "Traineater."



I haven't been able to listen to anything else since I wandered into a bookstore three days ago, randomly walked down one of their CD aisles with no intention of actually purchasing anything, randomly picked up this CD (which was misfiled under the letter "T" instead of under the actual band name), scanned the back cover with mounting interest (Tom Waits? Mike Watt?? Carla Bozulich??? Zeena Parkins???? David Thomas?????), actually asked my girlfriend's permission to impulse-buy this strange unknown record, and...



I've been searching for touchstones to relate to this collaborative ensemble. It seems tangentially like some of Eric Avery's work outside of Jane's Addiction, such as the Deconstruction one-off. The wiry guitars and spiky production recalls the first Banyan album. The dense spoken word pieces make me think of Unknown Instructors. Occasionally heavy, dirge-like passages sound akin to the Melvins. For so many cooks being involved in such an ambitious recipe, Traineater is remarkably cohesive. It is in no way background music, but it's great to paint to. The level of talent and daring on display here is something the songwriters behind Book Of Knots should be very, very proud of.



Book of Knots nails it. You know it's a good record when you wake up in the morning from a dream that incorporated the elegy for Factory Town, USA (the album's superb, eminently coverable title track was in my head when my eyes opened this morning -- after only having heard the song a half-dozen times!). Living in Lansing, Michigan, where GM constantly hints they will close up shop if they aren't given huge tax breaks and environmental loopholes, Traineater connects like the throat-burn of whiskey.



This won't be just about the Midwest for long. This is the coffee we all should wake up and smell.



"

The Book Of Knots' "Traineater"

Justin St. Vincent | Auckland, New Zealand | 04/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Book Of Knots' new album "Traineater" builds a conceptual portrait of American cities denied of a post-modern existence. Anticipate well-crafted songs played to a textured narrative of sombre storytelling, especially "Hands Of Production", "The Ballad Of John Henry", and "Boomtown". The Book Of Knots features New York-based musicians from Skeleton Key, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Sparklehorse, and They Might Be Giants. "Traineater" also has several special guests, including Tom Waits, Carla Bozulich, Jon Langford, Megan Reilly, David Thomas, and Mike Watt."