PHIL TAGLIERE
Slow (Bongload Custom)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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From Tom Rothrock, a guy who truly is more than just a producer (Beck, R.L. Burnside, Moby, Acid Blues), comes a very earthy take on what could just have been shrugged off as another folk record with an acoustic guitar handy. Hey! You’re getting this review from a guy who shortlists Napalm Death, Gang Starr, Swans, Dieselhed and Nina Hagen on his list of favorites, so Tagliere had his work cut out for him before I even popped this CD into my portable stereo and threw noodles into a pot on the stove.

The album ends, so you think, with some very backward guitar, and nearly four minutes later a violin is heard and a bonus song sneaks in very, very quietly, like footsteps on the stairs at 3am. I thought it was the neighbor practicing for a second. Great, relaxing album with Tagliere on vocals and guitar and a few friends on piano, pedal steel, cello and mandolin. Fans of the quieter, more ambient aspects of The Red House Painters will enjoy this!

(Check out this CD at http://www.philtagliere.com/.)

© 2001 - Jason Thornberry