Music Review: Bob Brozman - Post Industrial Blues - Page 2

This may not have been an improvised disc like the last one but that doesn't stop it from being spontaneous. In fact, two of the tracks on this disc were written off the cuff in between takes of another song with the microphone open and the tape rolling. Just as unlikely is the fact that two songs were recorded live and on the first take, which in these days of overdubs and massive edits is as much a rarity as an honest politician. (Don't read the liner notes before your first time listening.  See if you can guess which ones they are. I was surprised when I found out)

In what appears to be something of a switch for Bob, as I've never heard him sing them before, there are quite a few political and social commentary songs scattered among the fifteen tracks. Though, I guess it shouldn't be too much of a shock.  If you ever hear him interviewed you'll find he's not the least bit reticent about speaking his mind. Unlike other folk who write political music, the content doesn't affect the artistry.

You could never tell by listening to the music of a song like "Follow The Money" that he's singing about job's being moved out of America or how Vice President Dick Cheney's Haliburton Oil seems to do what it wants in spite of the laws governing multinational corporations in America. Nope, it just sounds like an up-tempo, raggedy ass blues song. It's a stark contrast to the most powerful song on the recording that follows in it's wake; "Look At New Orleans".

For this song Bob hauls out an antique as musical accompaniment, a 19th century, seven string, English Banjo. I don't know if I've ever heard so melancholy an instrument before, but it weaves a perfect, haunting, counterpoint to the genuine anguish in Bob's voice recounting the plight of those left homeless by Katrina and the cynicism of politicians. It's also a lament for the country he loves, the United States of America, and he sees New Orleans as a symbol for how she's failing her people.

Anybody can sing an angry song, a song that's so full of hate and bile that all it does is raise everybody's hackles. Not many can sing a sorrowful song without it sounding trite and sentimental. "Look At New Orleans" is a few deceptively simple lines that cut to the chase and leave no doubt as to what the writer believes, fears, and hopes for. If that ain't art, I don't know what is.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the forthcoming book What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and has had his work published in print and on line all over the world. The not so long-haired Canadian iconoclast writes reviews and opines on the world as he sees …

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