 | Live Alone! Discovering JapanGraham ParkerGadfly 238
Gadfly Records, Inc.
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange |
| Live Alone! Discovering JapanGraham ParkerGadfly 238
Gadfly Records, Inc.
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange |
|
"A diminutive, peevish-looking fellow whose shoulders hunch as protectively as a lobster's carapace, Parker releases his smoldering resentment in songs of yammering eloquence, sung in a raspy croon that swallows whole words in moments of high passion." -Ken Tucker in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll |
Throughout the years, Graham Parker has received critical acclaim, yet that has not translated to record sales. Despite a long career in the music business beginning during the New Wave movement in the seventies, Parker emerged from the same punk-pop songwriting style that gave birth to Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Joe Jackson. Of course, it probably doesn't help that Parker takes nearly every opportunity nowadays to dump on the lack of creativity in the music business to win him legions of fans in the biz. Nevertheless, what fans Parker does have are hardcore, as you can see from his interactions with them on his own web site: http://www.punkhart.com/gparker/.
As the title of Live Alone! Discovering Japan suggests, this album was recorded at Parker's solo acoustic shows in Japan during the early '90s. It's available for the first time in North America on Gadfly Records and is the companion CD to Live! Alone in America (no duplicate cuts). The album is disappointingly absent of liner notes. No information about the tour dates, the songs, or Parker's impressions of Japan are given.
The title comes from Parker's song Discovering Japan (from his 1979 album Squeezing Out Sparks, an album that Rolling Stone declared the 45th Best Album of 1967-1987). Another particularly relevant song is Mercury Poisoning, which takes on extra emphasis because of the mercury poisoning of Japan's coastal seafood industry in the 1950s.
The acoustic treatment of Parker's songs makes them particularly venomous, the bite coming right through for all to hear. His hits Platinum Blonde and Don't Ask Me Questions are particular standouts. The one lovely ballad on the album Long Stem Rose shows Parker's sweeter side. Parker also presents a quickie song that had been written during his travels in Japan: Chopsticks about the destruction of the rainforests to support the throwaway wooden-chopstick industry. The songs (some as old as 20 years) hold up well over time: Short Memories about the politics of war.
All in all, this is a fantastic album. If you're a GP fan, this will occupy a prominent place in your collection. If you haven't experienced GP's music, this collection is an excellent way to get better acquainted with this unappreciated talent.
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Graham Parker fans should be on the lookout at Parker's web site for a new album to be released on Razor and Tie Records (home to Dar Williams and Marshall Crenshaw), entitled
Loose Monkeys." It consists entirely of rarities, demos, and outtakes.
Edited by Virginia Wagner
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