For the uninitiated, it hardly matters whether their introduction to the
Danielson Famile comes in the form of a retrospective, a studio recording, a film, or in concert. All it really takes is a few minutes in the shrieking presence of Ringmaster
Daniel Smith's alternately tender, ferocious and undeniably forward-thinking Christian
post-punk/
alternative folk collective for one to figure out whether or not they have the patience to commit to the full circus or not. To call the songs that inhabit the two-disc
Trying Hartz anthology "outsider music" is doing the term a disservice. Through 28 tracks culled from works released between 1996 and 2004,
Trying Hartz follows
Smith, along with his siblings and friends on a ten year vision quest, capably described by author
Rick Moody in the liner notes as "proto-minimalist eccentric gospel band to prog-metal-dread outfit to music hall choir to indie rock one-man band to outsider art celebrity to family man and family member." From the early, lo-fi
folk of
Prayer for Every Hour and
Tell Another Joke at the Ol' Choppin' Block to the tight, focused, immaculately mad snap of the
Steve Albini-produced
Fetch the Compass Kids,
Trying Hartz (which in true
Danielson fashion is available with an optional limited-edition "Danielson" shoe created by the John Fluevog boutique) is a far more inclusive, pure and honest testament to faith than the soulless, over-produced fast food that passes for
contemporary gospel in the 21st century. ~ James Christopher Monger
