Excellent
Puabi | Californialand | 06/14/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What first caught my interest with this album was the cover art. Diane made it herself, from what I understand. Like the rest of the recording, it is elegant and weird. Devendra Banhart lauds Diane's lyrics, and they are overall beautiful and moody, like the tunes. Cluck plays the guitar wonderfully well, in such a layered, rich fashion that you want to listen to tracks over and over again to catch everything. "Have I told you how I like to see a man submit to ecstasy, will all his inhibitions free, and moaning like his mother?" she sings on one track, and it just gives you goosebumps. (What'd I tell you about the weird!) I can't choose a favorite song, but the last one, "Wild Deer at Dawn," is such a lovely close, it really makes your heartbeat as steady as the person's in the song. "Beat...beat...beat..." and it segues off into silence and you're just sitting there content. I can't recommend this recording enough, I will make all my friends buy it. It's simply too good to let fall beneath the cracks, and 500 copies is really too small a number, though it does make one feel special for having it. Thank you Diane for this marvellous work."
Breathtaking minimalist folk
Loring D. Wirbel | Colorado Springs, CO United States | 04/17/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Perhaps it's not fair to review a studio album, not having seen a songwriter who's supposed to be defined by her live performances. But folks who fell in love with "Macy's Day Bird" will fall all over themselves for her Important Records debut. No extra instruments or layered tracks here, though we do get some voice-over harmonies on three or four of the songs. What we get instead is the unadulterated essence of Diane Cluck's remarkable voice, and some of the best writing you'll find these days. I privately give this five stars, and consider it in the running for best relesae of 2005, but its minimalist, semi-lo-fi nature might be off-putting for those used to 24 tracks of production in everything they throw in their ears. Consequently, the four stars represents the tiniest "caveat emptor," but if you don't get what's going on here, it's your loss. An insanely beautiful album."