11 July 2010

Owen - abandoned bridges 7" (2010, Polyvinyl)

Unexpected release from Owen and a first 7inch release in his discography. It features one new song and a Wilco cover of “I'm always in love” both recorded in March 2010.

The b-side is deceiving, as pointless as his cover of “Femme Fatale” on “At home with Owen”. It sounds like a live track, he plays with energy as if he was fronting an (absent) audience. It's just a weak folk rendition which fails to concern and grab my attention.


“Abandoned Bridges” is the classical successful Owen song, with utterly familiar fingerpicking guitar chords, words and voice intonation. Of course, it's more of the same but with this level of quality who could complain. Besides the guitar, the use of piano and of keyboard waves of sound is quite pertinent and draws the kind of setup that fits perfectly with his songwriting.

Like with Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon Red House Painters), I tend to prefer the arranged versions of his song, and particularly when he tries to explore structures and textures instead of falling into the usual guitar / voice archetype. I particularly like the attack of the sampling and manipulation of the backing sound he uses ( sounds like voices or guitar) on “Abandoned Bridges”.

One more classic Owen song to enjoy. I won't complain.


http://www.myspace.com/mybandowen

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