Search - Steve Woodhams :: I Stand Corrected

Devil's in the Details

Alexander A Keefe | Cambridge, MA United States | 04/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another Steve Woodhams album--I Stand Corrected is his most ambitious yet. Once again, he somehow manages to straddle the line between singer-songwriter and studio-experimenter. The two at the outset seem contradictory: one generally expects (or dreads) sincerity on the part of the singer-songwriter. Perhaps that 's what is so annoying about most of them, that sense of forced, awkward intimacy. Happily, Woodhams not only resists but also somehow subverts these expectations. "I want to make you pay a price, because what you did wasn't very nice," as one song (Last Gasp) puts it. How does he do it? For one, the album offers no pat "truths", no predictable instrumentations. There is much here for fans of creative, studio-driven post-psychadelia, including at least one verifiable free-jazz saxophone solo (Via Portinari). Some of it is extremely catchy, laden with pop-hooks. It is also a remarkably literary album, which comes as no surprise, given the tenor of earlier efforts. The "singer-songwriter" in Woodhams hasn't disappeared either--songs definitely drive this album. To get a sense of it, I would recommend listening to the samples from Margarets of Time and Last Gasp, although some of the best tracks are later in the album. With each review it becomes more difficult to associate Steve with other artists, which seems to be the usual thing in these reviews. I'll stick with Crowded House at its most experimental (i.e. Together Alone), but there is something new here, something that would probably appeal to fans of bands like the Shins, Elliot Smith or Iron and Wine."

California folks rock

Blood Armstrong | Colorado Springs, CO United States | 01/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the third truly substantial CD Steve Woodhams has released, and the best yet. While the sound is completely contemporary, the folks I'd link him with are not--Emmitt Rhodes, Ned Doheny, Dennis Wilson, Scott Miller's Game Theory. This stuff stands up years later, as Woodhams' work will. The recording is basically Woodhams and ex-Duroc/Ron Nagle confrere Scott Mathews. Yum."

Catchy, thoughtful pop/folk

Randolph Splitter | Los Gatos, CA United States | 06/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once again, singer-songwriter Steve Woodhams delivers a catchy but sophisticated album of pop/folk songs. The music is artful, the lyrics thought-provoking. The intelligence and sensitivity of the artist shine through."