Robert Lurie
you speak in too many voices
Black Rider
The beauty of independent, non-industry sanctioned releases are manifold, but this reviewer (and I use the term “reviewer” loosely) enjoys the amount of potential and the attention to detail that I hear on artist-made CDs. Such is the case with Robert Lurie’s new disc you speak in too many voices. Notice the lower case of the titles: has Mr. Lurie listened to much Joy Division? I’ll have too ask him next time I talk to him, but I bet the answer is yes.
I’m hearing many different influences here, as well as an intense personal approach. Apparently all the tracks, except for two covers, are written by Lurie and a partner named King. The production is almost totally credited to Lurie, too. The first-person dialogue of individual experience is very powerful on such mature cuts as “interzone,” and it and most of the cuts feature a very spare, elegant – I’d almost say even existential – approach. Room sounds abound and the crispness of the lo-fi ambience seethes out of this disc. In fact, the aforementioned potential does a good bit of seething, also. The mighty bass and soaring harmonies of “kashmiri skies” more than hint at what’s to come, as does the almost raga-like first cut, “cornered in the tomb.” Most of the songs have an acoustic feel, and they are pleasant, but it’s the experimental edge of recording technique that really stands out here.
Oh yeah, as for other influences, the Bowie-like presence is felt throughout – sans the over-the-top feeling of most of Mr. Jones’ stuff. So coincidentally, I must drop the fact that Robert Lurie is spearheading the creation of a David Bowie tribute CD, that will be released next year. Black Rider, P.O. Box 2905, Athens, GA 30612-0905
