GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS
Mobilize (Zoe)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Best known as the front man for the 90s folk-poppers Grant Lee Buffalo, Grant-Lee Phillips has carried on as a solo act following the bands demise amid a torrent of record company-fu. A regular gig at LA's Largo and a self distributed solo release have helped him keep body and soul together, but with national distribution through the Rounder Records imprint Zoe, it's time for a wider audience to sit up and take notice of Grant-Lee once again.

Mobilize is largely a one man band effort, with the collaboration of producer/mixer/programmer Carmen Rizzo. The result is that Phillips has released exactly the album he wanted to make, and that's good news for all of us, because he wanted to make a terrific album. While there may be less overtly political material here than he's done in the past, the personal material is substantial in tone, and the political is there just under the surface as well. The sound ranges from slickly synthesized to folkish guitar strums, each track receiving the individual treatment the particular lyric and mood require.

It's been a while since Grant-Lee Phillips has had a release that you could count on finding in most any locality, but if you've been wondering and waiting, it's here. And it was worth the wait. Good artist, good album, good label....good gracious! You're still here! Go get it!

Track List:

See America * Humankind * Love's A Mystery * Sadness Soul * We All Get A Taste * Spring Released * Lazily Drowning * Like A Lover * Mobilize * Beautiful Dreamers * Sleepless Lake * April Chimes

© 2001 - Shaun Dale