Search - Paddy Mcaloon :: I Trawl the Megahertz

At last, McAloon gets experimental again!

Danny A. Vogel | Chicago, IL, USA | 12/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I cannot tell prospective shoppers of all things Prefab Sprout or McAloon how immensely pleased I was to immerse myself in this album, I a long-time fan of the Sprouts. I was one of those who relished the marriage between intense pop melody and lyrical as well as instrumental rawness that had made their "Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)" single and "Swoon," their first album, so magnificent. To me, "Swoon" remains the finest Prefab Sprout album two decades later. With the critics excessively praising their next album, the overproduced musically less original in my opinion "Steve McQueen" (called "Two Wheels Good" in the States), the Sprouts were given permission to produce a long line of gushy and essentially meaningless pop ditties (the most offending of which were found on the "From Langley Park to Memphis" album). The second most accomplished Prefab Sprout album was "Jordan: The Comeback." But where was McAloon to go after these accomplishments? With "I Trawl the Megahertz" McAloon started to reinvent himself, and I am ecstatically silly he did!



This is a magnificent album, musically accomplished, gorgeous melodies, beautifully played by a small semi-classical ensemble, the words (spoken and sung on only a few titles) seemingly random but very personal reflections of life in our cold and neurotic industrial landscape. One can feel the pain that led McAloon to produce this - who knows from what: broken relationships, his detached retina condition that left him close to blind three years ago and as a result an avid short-wave radio listener, or other existential malaise? - one leaves this album in a similar emotional turmoil, revived by the power of music, art, love and human courage. I have rarely felt so reconnected to this very talented musician as through his latest album. I was hoping throughout the past 20 years that he would tackle new topics and in novel ways. I hope this is the beginning of another string of inventiveness as McAloon continues to experiment in new musical forms, and starts to write more powerfully about the crazy and alienating world we live in. Paddy has been openly reluctant in past interviews going back to the 1980s to be expressly political, perhaps fearing preachiness. And yet, with a talent as enormous as his, if only he got more daring in exploring social topics lyrically married to his gorgeous melodies, others could be profoundly moved to change, such are his artistic talents, sometimes realized, often muddied by his fascination with a drippy love song. With "I Trawl The Megahertz," McAloon has moved away from repeating McCartney's post-Beatles meaningless gushiness ("Silly Love Songs") and is using his talent to attack new challenges. I profoundly hope this is only the beginning. I cannot recommend this mostly instrumental album more highly! In a weird way, as good or even better than anything Sprout, and that is saying a great deal considering the masterpieces he created in it."

What Mr. Graham said

R. P. Spretnak | Las Vegas, Nevada USA | 04/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What reviewer Mr. Graham said is true. I can't add much. This is not a Prefab Sprout record. The charms of this CD -- and there are many -- are very slow to reveal to themselves. If you're expecting catchy pop music such as "Life of Surprises" or "Appetite," you'll be wondering "what the ----?" for the first several listens. And then, all of the sudden, you'll have this craving to listen to this record over and over and over again.



The instrumentals are quite good, but two voiced tracks stand out. The 22-minute opener, the title track, is an artfully interwoven series of dream fragments, spoken as a narrative over a mournful arrangement of strings and brass. What's it about? What's any disjointed dream about? Also worth noting is "i'm 49," released on record when Mr. McAloon was 46, so it ain't autobiographical, that's for sure. While it's another excellent spoken-word meditation of divorce and loss (and much more), it is nothing like the title track. Brief. Uplifting backing track. Unlike the theatrical reading of the former's words, this one sounds as if it is a series of found-voices discussing this subject with clinical detachment.



This is a very haunting and memorable record."

Return to form for Paddy

E. Brunak | Portland, OR USA | 01/20/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't pretend to know what Paddy McAloon's life has been like in recent years; I can say that I Trawl the Megahertz has found him, musically, in fine form. From the opening (title) track, with its found poem narrative (from a guest female vocalist), to the rest of the mostly instrumental album (Paddy only sings on "Sleeping Rough" - an apparent nod to Rip Van Winkle), McAloon has dipped back into his love for early 20th Century American pop music; a modern marriage of his polished style with Gil Evans-era Miles Davis."