Review: Lou Barlow's Emoh

Written by Aaman Lamba
Published February 18, 2005
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"Caterpillar Girl" is a rock-rich track, about coaxing his love out of her cocoon, "And then you break through/and drive before my eyes/Take me with you/Where you hide tonight". Very generic, and trite.

"Legendary" is perhaps the most introspective, emo-oriented song on the album. "I re-enact your legendary tragedy/And do to me what has been done to you/Is that the only point to all this misery?/Is there any reason I should cry?" The poignancy of true love, loss, and betrayal, and the wistful question, "Did you Love me?" make this a compelling track. The unanswered question reminds one of the fragment from Roland Barthes' "A Lover's Discourse", Like desire, the love letter waits for an answer; it implicitly enjoins the other to reply, for without a reply the other's image changes, becomes other

Other interesting pieces on this album include a cover of Ratt's "Round-and-Round" - slowed down, paced, balladry, and the clever "Mary", which subverts the virginal tale.

"Immaculate Conception/Yeah right/Crazy Mary/Good That you lied

A test tube baby/Seed Of the Lord/Breaking the Law/With the man next door

Blame it on an angel/They'll believe/Joseph, who wandered/But you know he won't leave

They all love you/I still do/Magic in the air/Swirling all around you

Mary, Mary under the veiled stars/You changed the world/And broke my heart/Thank you, Mary/You saved me too/

They'd stone us both if they ever knew/You sold out the manger, all right/Mystery baby-got a supernova spotlight/
....
Mary kissed me/We lost control/The oldest story never told/Crazy Mary/You're forever divine/They'll never know/The baby's mine/...

The final song, "The Ballad of Daykitty" is evidently inspired by Lou's personal feline adventures, about an amorous kitty, and a neighbor's cat, and a twist that is, shall we say, more Will than Grace.

An entertaining album, worth many listens. The production is an interesting mix of studio-produced, and home-recorded ditties. The singer's website has more neat, cool stuff, including kitty doodles.

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Aaman Lamba is a Blogcritics editor, as well as the Publisher of Desicritics.org, a Blogcritics network site covering media, politics, culture, sports and more with a global South Asian focus
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Review: Lou Barlow's Emoh
Published: February 18, 2005
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Section: Music
Filed Under: Music: Adult Alternative, Music: Folk, Music: Indie Rock
Writer: Aaman Lamba
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#1 — November 9, 2005 @ 00:03AM — Caitlin Daugherty

If your'e reviewing an album, it's only fair to do justice to yourself and the readers by correctly quoting the lyrics..... A simple Google check would have corrected your many errors here.

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