After the spare musical textures of
Lambchop
's 2002 album,
Is a Woman
,
Kurt Wagner
and his king-sized
chamber pop
ensemble have returned to full force with
Aw C'mon
, the first of two albums the group released on the same day in February 2004. Ambitious, eclectic, and boasting lush string charts performed by
the Nashville String Machine
(the orchestra-for-hire that has been adding
countrypolitian
polish to
country & western
recording sessions since the 1970s),
(as well as its sibling,
No, You C'mon
) easily trumps
Nixon
for widescreen musical grandeur, which makes for a lovely if puzzling contrast with the whispered thumbnail sketches of
Wagner
's lyrics and vocals. Delivered in a craggy murmur and often mixed low enough that one sometimes has to strain to hear them,
's stories focus on the small details of life's big events rather than the shape of the larger picture, while his music builds an impressive sonic mosaic out of the assorted tones and textures of this 13-piece ensemble and the myriad
pop
R&B
, and
country
influences that inform his music. In fact, the album's instrumental cuts,
"Being Tyler,"
"The Lone Official,"
and
"Timothy B. Schmidt,"
pack nearly as much emotional resonance as most of the vocal numbers, which seems to reinforce the notion that
is going for mood as much as message here.
is lovely, compelling, mysterious, and confounding; it's hard to know just what is supposed to lurk at the core of this music, but
have given listeners enough fine music that digging to the center is fine and rewarding work. ~ Mark Deming