David Grubbs - The Spectrum Between

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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The second solo album of David Grubbs is an exquisite combination of post Van Dyke Parks and new wave rock in the style of David Byrne. In his previous band, as one half of Gastro del Sol, there was a fragile touch to the music and before that he was young, loud and snotty in Squirrel Bait. One could, however, not imagine being bitten by a squirrel here as continental European squirrels are very cuddly indeed and like rabbits. This album is rather excellent, but could easily be misunderstood by Europeans. David's songs have hooks, but there is also a lot of soul in his singing. His voice is clear, and graced with a gentle diction, leaving an impression of soft determination. "The Spectrum Between" deals with what is in between two shades of grey and the album very finely bridges post rock gaps by using popular melody. This allows Grubbs to put a lengthy intro to the gorgeous "Gloriette", but just when you feel this track is going to end up being a minimalistic guitar sketch, the melody line comes in and a ferocious guitar joyfully pulls you through the entire length of the song. "Gloriette" challenges your sense of time, but each moment counts on "The Spectrum Between", as it reflects the very concise idea of what music is about, the joy of performing, and throughout this album it is always there. Drag City Records have extensively mailed out "The Spectrum Between" to journalists, and on the booklet and sleeve notes that accompany the CD, this is spoofed with a fake e-bay auction of promos. The lay out focuses on journalists' hyping bids, and with all means of E-bay auctioning there, features lines from the bidding pages. I haven't got a credit card to visit E-Bay at all actually, and over here squirrel baits don't occur, but despite these transatlantic differences, David Grubbs shows us a most excellent refinement in popular composition.

Track Listing:-

1 Seagull and Eagull
2 Whirlweek
3 Stanwell Perpetual
4 Gloriette
5 A Shiver In The Timber
6 Show Me Who To Love
7 Pink Rambler
8 Preface
9 Two Shades Of Green

Band Links:-

http://darwilliams.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DarWilliamsOfficial
https://twitter.com/darwilliamstour

Label Links:-

http://www.dragcity.com/
https://twitter.com/dragcityrecords
https://www.facebook.com/dragcityrecords

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