JOHN CUNNINGHAM
Homeless House (Les Disques Mange-Tout)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes

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A hauntingly beautiful record from a neglected singer-songwriter. Usually when the record company machine sends you a release and a press blurb, you take it with a grain of salt; of course they think it's good. When a promo person sends you a record that's not on his label just to spread the word, you pay attention. Thank you, Michael Roux, champion of good music regardless of protocol.

I don't anything about Cunningham's work prior to this, but I plan to find out. His voice is effortlessly direct and charming, and although just about everything on this record could be run on a nine volt battery, so can the fireplace that you should start up before kicking this into gear. His songs read like poetry; the imagery of weathered towns and houses suggesting the quiet desperation and silent resignation of the people within. But this is far from a wrist- slitter, rather a contemplative journey best taken at an uninterrupted time. On songs like "Taming The Family" and "Imitation Time", echoes of John Lennon and Emmitt Rhodes and Nick Drake will faintly wisp by, and that's never a bad thing.

© 2000 - Bill Holmes