Michael Zapruder
Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope
SideCho
After writing one song each week for a whole year, gushing about a Beautiful Town and finding New Ways of Letting Go, Michael Zapruder has read his Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope. Two weeks of night-and-day recording and 15 different accompanists later, Zapruder curates another all-Zupruder all-nighter.
I was underwhelmed at first. Fifteen sets of hands and voices and this album still feels a bit too bare-bones. “Can’t We Bring You Home” is one example. Although there are two set of woodwinds and two sets of strings, it’s still just Zapruder and his piano mumbling and crooning. However (!), after a few listens, one finds the quirk and appeal of tracks like “Ads for Feelings,” “Black Wine,” “Bang on a Drum,” and “Experimental Film.” Zapruder also ventures into some new vocal territory. In This is a Beautiful Town, he stayed in one dynamic and style, but in Horoscope he sounds like three different people in the first three tracks – sometimes he’s Jeff Tweedy, sometimes he’s Jakob Dylan, and sometimes he’s an American Damien Rice.
Michael Zapruder is not my cup of soy Chai tea latte, but I get it. This is the most experimental of Zapruder’s work and it does a solid job of maintaining stylistic consistency throughout and staying true to his former work.
Who he reminds you of: tranquilized Wilco
Michael Zapruder: http://www.myspace.com/michaelzapruder
