Paper Sky

by Ben Weaver

Overview

Only in his twenties at the time of this release, Ben Weaver smacks of such barrel-voiced, existential depressives as Leonard Cohen and Greg Brown. But even at his darkest, and even at the most weary and plodding pace, there is something lulling and wistful about Weaver's muse. "Plastic Bag" plods along on piles of slow tumbling piano notes and Weaver's deep mournful rumble of a voice, but then, suddenly, he swoops to the upper edge of his range and croons prettily and desperately, adding a whole other dimension to the downer trip. "Down 25" uses the same flourishes, tethering Weaver's lost highway/lost love poeticisms to plucked guitar, spare drum whacks, and his alternating rumble and croon. By contrast, "Geisha" is deep, gutbucket Americana, built on scalding guitar and Weaver's apocalyptic snarl. "Wings as Knives" is similarly dark and dire, with low organ groans providing the musical bed instead of guitar. Paper Sky reveals a new, highly poetic and creative songwriter more than ably staking out lonely terrain that has previously been traversed by such iconoclastic Americana troubadours as Brown and Richard Buckner. ~ Erik Hage

Product Details

Release Date:	05/08/2007
Label:	Fugawee Bird
UPC:	0614511747929
Rank:	232015

Tracks

1. Introlude
2. In November
3. Wings as Knives
4. Plastic Bag
5. Like a Vine After the Sun
6. The un Elected
7. Black on Black
8. Down 25
9. Surrealism + Blues
10. Sorrow
11. Frankie
12. Geisha
13. Rain Leaves Smoke
14. Whatever You Want to Haunt You

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ben Weaver   Primary Artist,Banjo,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Donna Simpson   Vocals
Julia Kent   Cello
Dawn Landes   Vocals
Nick Broste   Trombone
Brian Deck   Keyboards,Percussion,Synthesizer

Technical Credits

Nick Broste   Horn Arrangements
Donna Simpson   Composer
Julia Kent   String Arrangements
Neil Staunch   Assistant Engineer
Ben Weaver   Composer
Brian Deck   Engineer,Producer
Alan Douches   Mastering