Don CavalliCryland
Cryland is the sort of album that will find a cult—a French singer who has figured out how to make an album that sounds like a lost Fat Possum blues recording. From the sounds of things, Cavalli’s ignorant as to how microphones work, and the resulting fuzz, matched with the heavy use of a wah-wah’ed guitar, gives Cryland the vibe of a naïve album. For a while, the odd, unstuck-in-time feel carries the album, but the album is most compelling when it opts for ideas instead of sounds. The sweetness in his voice in the ska songs make them memorable, and “New Hollywood Babylon” is simply inexplicable. Then Cavalli returns to generic blues in “Casual” and the album feels more like a post-Blues Explosion project than anything else. Color me interested, but not part of the cult. Subscribe to offBeat and receive a FREE JazzFest CD! |
