Whereabouts

Whereabouts Artist: Ron Sexsmith
Label: Interscope Records
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 606949029920
EAN: 0606949029920
ASIN: B00000J2TT


Release Date: 1999-05-18

Whereabouts


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Singer-Songwriters Singer-Songwriters
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
Adult Alternative Adult Alternative
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Still Time
  2. Right About Now
  3. Must Have Heard It Wrong
  4. Riverbed
  5. Feel For You
  6. In A Flash
  7. The Idiot Boy
  8. Beautiful View
  9. One Grey Morning
  10. Doomed
  11. Every Passing Day
  12. Seem To Recall

Similar Items:

  1. Other Songs
  2. Rarities (Import)
  3. Ron Sexsmith
  4. Blue Boy
  5. Cobblestone Runway

Amazon.com

Pop is one of the most overused terms in the rock-critic lexicon, but on Whereabouts, Ron Sexsmith's third and most ambitious album to date, the brilliant Canadian singer-songwriter offers up 12 pop gems. "Still Time," the opening track, kicks things off with a purpose. Featuring an immediately memorable and haunting guitar riff, Beach Boys-style harmonies, and a hopeful yet melancholic lyrical theme ("Still time for love"), it could be mistaken as an outtake from the Kinks song book. Likewise, "Right About Now" has a distinctly Lennon-esque flair. Sexsmith's familiar idiosyncratic-yet-warm Jackson Browne-like vocals give all 12 tracks a certain sadness. Sexsmith and producer Mitchell Froom temper the darkness with neat tricks of the trade--be they the harpsichord that fades in and out of "Still Time," the banjo and violin on "Riverbed," the heavy piano riff that opens the wonderful "Feel for You," the lo-fi organ that pops up on "The Idiot Boy," or the New Orleans-meets-cabaret orchestra that gives "One Grey Morning" additional charm. This is melancholic pop, to be sure, but it all hurts so good. Whereabouts is further proof that Sexsmith is one of the most important artists to come out of the 1990s. --Bill Holdship

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Doomed.......2003-10-18

Ron Sexsmith is one of those great talents who will never make it big. "Whereabouts" is his third official album. It was my introduction to his music, and I can confirm it is a good place to start.

Ron is first of all a very traditional songwriter. He doesn't invent dynamite or strive for originality of any kind. This is songwriting for the art of it. Consistant, melodic songs that clocks in at about 3 minuits in average. Ron's voice is nothing special. The arrangements are almost anonymous. There is no real joy or exitement in the music. The overall feeling of the album is tender, mild, a little tame some places, strictly mid-tempos and ballads all the way through.

Doesn't it sound like a really big bore? Yes. But truth is, it ain't. Ron's great gift for songwriting is the only thing that holds this album together, and he is so good at the game it makes it a satisfying, inspiring album to listen to.
Some write songs out of pure inspiration, but Ron's songs sound like cleverly worked out constructions more than anything else. But what constructions they are! The basic formula verse-refrain- verse-refrain-bridge-refrain has been repeated so endlessly many times you should expect the river to be completely dry. Then all of a sudden, a guy like Ron Sexsmith comes along and makes it sound fresh and convincing.

Most noticeable is the wonderful simplicity. It takes great skill to make pop songs sound as effortlessly simple as this. My guess is that lots of ideas and sketches have been concidered, rejected, reworked and refined over and over again, untill the essential core is revealed, in all its universal beauty. At least, that is how it sounds like to me.

Personally, besides having a problem with Ron's singing, I could sometimes wish for more risktaking in the songwriting department. Ron walks on a knive's edge here, and he runs the risk of sounding formulaic and laboured in his work. "Whereabouts" however, doesn't have the caracter of this.

The strict economy of the songwriting, arrangements and production, makes Ron Sexsmith a close relative to Magnetic Fields' boss Stephin Merritt. To these ears, the similarities are so striking I find it puzzling to never have seen it mentioned before. Well then, now I have. I will therefore strongly advise fans of Ron Sexsmith to check out the magnificent "69 Love Songs".

For obvious reasons, music like this will never be hip. Ron is just a talented, faithful singer/songwriter with an unfortunate surname, a person who is simply too clever and honest to ever become a major star.

4 out of 5 stars Solid folk album.......2003-05-02

Ron Sexsmith is definitely one of Canada's musical treasures and it's quite unfortunate he hasn't gained more exposure in Canada or abroad. Fortunately, Ron has a cult following and I am quickly becoming one. Ron's songs are always melodic and beautiful and his lyrics are pure poetry. Ron is one of the few musicians in todays music who write from the heart and always have something important to say. Fantastic artist all around!

5 out of 5 stars Only my first listen and i love it already.......2002-12-25

only got the album today in the mail and it's a stunning, beautiful piece of work, i only recently starting listening to ron and am amazed by the ease at which he turns out seemingly simply lyrics that are so touching, and the most beautiful melodies in the world....words cannot describe this artist, do yourself a favor, listen to this or any of his albums for 4-5 times and you will fall in love......this ranks right up there with Other Songs and Cobblestone Runway, superb.

5 out of 5 stars A marvel!.......2002-08-14

Usually we recommend the first album to start. We can do the same for Ron Sexsmith, as all his albums are worth the purchase. But if I should recommend only one, it would be this one, simply because it is his best, to me (but a new one is to be out in October 2002, called "Cobblestone Runway"...). Twelve songs, very nicely scored, a perfect example of what is good songwriting today, and if you listen to the tunes carefully, you'll note this Ron Sexsmith is certainly one of the most subtle melodists of the planet at the moment. I suppose I don't need to say more for music lovers.
Other favorites of mine are Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" and Wilco's "Summerteeth", if it can help to convince other people to get this one.

5 out of 5 stars

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