ARTiST: The Milk & Honey Band
ALBUM: Dog Eared Moonlight
BiTRATE: 170kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Ape House
GENRE: Rock
SiZE: 54.43 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 42min 33sec total
RiP DATE: 2009-05-01
STORE DATE: 2009-03-24
Track List:
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01. Just You                         3:15
02. Incredible Visions               3:02
03. Waste of Time                    4:17
04. Maryfaith Autumn                 5:01
05. Absolutely Wrong                 3:34
06. No World at All                  3:47
07. What You Really Need             4:18
08. Disappear                        4:52
09. Cut the Line                     5:59
10. Flowers                          4:28
Release Notes:
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Being unfamiliar with UK singer-songwriter Robert WhiteÆs former band,
Levitation, I had very little to direct me to his current outfit, the Milk &
Honey Band, other than the implied endorsement of XTCÆs Andy Partridge, whose
label, Ape Records, has released their new album, Dog Eared Moonlight, just as
they did the bandÆs prior offering, The Secret Life of the Milk & Honey Band.
Happily, this bit of back channel knowledge not only resulted in my discovery of
an extremely talented songwriter and his band, but it also helped me get past
the bandÆs name, which (wrongly) seemed to evoke a bible-thumping Christian
ministry.
Being a rather devout fan of XTC, I had of course assumed that White and his
crew would sound exactly like the Bard of Swindon himself, Mr. Partridge, which
wouldnÆt necessarily be a bad thing. It happens to not be the case, however, and
White not only avoids emulation of his label boss, but is possessed of an
original voice that is entirely worthy of your unbiased attention.
Dog Eared Moonlight features 10 tracks of mature songcraft captured with simple
but spotless production values. Its often remote, bucolic ambiance plays back
great in noise-canceling headphones or on an iPod soundtrack for a tramp through
your local woods.
Starting out as WhiteÆs self-recorded solo project, the Milk & Honey Band has
recently become a five-piece affair, but make no mistake; the music on this
album retains a single-minded focus and sobriety that can only come from a man
who spends a bit of time in isolation. Dog Eared Moonlight is not only one of
the best album titles IÆve heard in a whileùthe cover art is modeled on those
old, tattered orange Penguin novels that turn up in used bookstoresùthe literary
imagery perfectly suits that tone of the music. ThereÆs a vaguely musty,
antiquarian feel to the productionùwhich is not to say dusty, for this is a
sonically pristine experienceùthat suitably complements WhiteÆs deep, confident
vocals and meaningful lyrics.
Lead track ôJust Youö soothes the ear with soft, finger-picked guitar, joined
later by clean and spacious contrapuntal electric guitar, delicate piano, and
flute, over which WhiteÆs relaxed vocal, bearing a distant relation to Nick
Drake, lays out a frank slab of agnosticism on the table. ôSo donÆt be scared
cause thereÆs no meaning,ö White warns, ôThere is no god, thereÆs no devil, itÆs
just you.ö
After this Lamaze birth, the album picks up slightly with the percussive
acoustic guitar and first appearance of drums on ôIncredible Visions.ö Granted,
there are moments here where White does, in fact, approach an XTC sensibility,
although to my ears the song has more in common with late lamented Liverpool
band the LaÆs. Speaking of other bands, for that is how we often relate to
music, ôWaste of Timeö is garnished with a distinctly Bends-era Radiohead
flavor, via the extremely compressed electric guitars and detached vocal
persona, while the lyrics reinforce MoonlightÆs bookish concept, urging the
listener to ôOccupy your mind and feed your head / Eat a book before you go to
bed.ö
At first blush, ôMaryfaith Autumnö seems like the work of Brian WilsonÆs distant
English cousin, but on closer inspection, the trackÆs arpeggiated pianos and
counter melodies hearken back to chamber-prog pioneers Gentle Giant, only
without all the yelling. As the song plays out, it takes on a vaguely European
mood evocative of Euro-serialists like Stereolab or the High Llamas. Somewhere
there is a French film searching for this song as its theme.
White then travels into Neil Finn-ish waters on ôAbsolutely Wrongö, which
features a sweeping harp intro giving way to a bevy of sprightly strummed
acoustic guitars. ItÆs all very confident-sounding, which is somewhat ironic in
that the songÆs lyrics state a firm belief that no one knows anything and weÆve
got it all absolutely wrong. If ColdplayÆs Chris Martin ever strayed from the
big statements and pomp, perhaps heÆd settle into a song like WhiteÆs lovely and
dreamlike ôDisappear.ö For English guys, the Milk & Honey Band pull off a pretty
good American high lonesome sound on the pedal steel-drenched ôNo World at Allö,
in which WhiteÆs laidback and sporadically double-tracked vocals echo across a
sonic tableau that makes their native Brighton feel a little like Texas. ôCut
the Lineö brings it back to Britain a bit, with a slight implication of English
pop bands like the Beatles or the Hollies. Closing with ôFlowersö, White longs
for ôa place I used to know, thatÆs way out of town,ö and it becomes clear that
what makes this music so compelling is that very sense of longing itself. Like a
realist painter, whose works at first seem as common as a photograph, deeper
listening reveals layers of meaning that arenÆt immediately apparent. Like a
good, worn-in paperback read by a crackling fire in a log cabin, Dog Eared
Moonlight is a must-read for your ears. If youÆve got the time, Dog Eared
Moonlight rewards your patient attention with elegant, intelligent music.