Track Listing 1. Zen 2. Reading My Mind 3. Things 4. Look Horizon 5. Magritte 6. Archimedes 7. Caravan 8. Bicycle 9. Twilight Zone 10. Letter From Abroad 11. Things X 12. Over Her Head 13. Set Me Free - (US bonus track)
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Brian Eno | | Producer: | John Cale, Nick Franglen | | Distributor: | RED Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes Personnel include: John Cale (vocals, guitar, viola, harmonium, keyboards, bass instrument, sampler); Andy Green (guitar, sampler); Lance Doss (guitar, background vocals); Joe Gore (guitar); Erik Sanko (dulcimer, bass instrument); Marco Giovino (drums, percussion); Brian Eno (loops); Alba Clemente (background vocals). Recording information: Media Luna, New York, NY; Globe, New York, NY. Even before his groundbreaking work with the Velvet Underground, John Cale was always pushing the musical envelope, working with La Monte Young and his coterie of avant-gardists in the mid-1960s. Four decades down the road, with a rearview mirror that looks back on a solo career involving everything from rampaging rock & roll to neo-classical orchestrations, Cale turned out the characteristically forward-looking HOBOSAPIENS. As ever, Cale comes at the pop/rock song format from an outsider's perspective (he started out as a classically trained musician with virtually no pop-music knowledge), twisting conventional song forms into surprising and appealing shapes. He's joined in this effort by co-producer Nick Franglen of electronica duo Lemon Jelly, tossing atmospheric synthesizers, deconstructed hip-hop beats, and oddball sound effects into the mix. The uncompromising electro-acoustic framework of HOBOSAPIENS achieves an effective contrast to Cale's straightforward singing, on tracks that reference everything from Rene Magritte to Charlie Brown. Typically for Cale, this is an album with few precedents, idiosyncratic enough to make subsequent imitation an unlikely prospect.
Editorial Reviews [A]n audacious marriage of restless experimentalism and eloquent melodic craft. - Grade: A- Entertainment Weekly
4 stars out of 5 - John Cale makes seductive pop for confounding times: sumptuous reports from the front lines of crisis and paranoia, sung in a rugged baritone of balm and warning. Rolling Stone
| See an error? Submit a change request |