New Bob Dylan? Not quite, but there’s more on offer.
Ali Eskandarian likes to do things nice and laidback, with some style
it has to be said.
Oh no, I hear you thinking, not another singer – songwriter. Well they’ve been
around longer than you’d imagine – I won’t go into a history lesson right now.
New on the scene is a 30-year-old American born alt-folk-blues troubadour who’s
got something really special to offer. Setting him apart is his part American-Iranian
upbringing that’s fuelled a massive burst of writing. The two key elements of
this wonderful album are: accessibility and cutting edge fusions about love, loneliness,
travels, and the touchy subject of politics.
Comparisons are already being made with early Bob Dylan and Nick Drake, which
are pretty darned accurate. The bilateral mix brings thoroughly fascinating results,
as he smoothly swings from West to East. Due to his father’s political asylum
relocation via Germany to Dallas after the Ayatollah Khomeini’s death, young
Ali absorbed an adolescence of the arts, he moved to New York to pursue his
dream in 2003,and on the evidence of this, it’s well on it’s way to being
realised.
Along with Grammy-winning producer Rob Freidman (which was a coup) they’ve
meticulously packaged Ali’s thoughtful and considered writing/performance
skills.
It’s good ol’ Americana all the way on Dylan-esque styled opener Waking Up Is Hard To Do, with Bob’s subliminal harmonica adding a real rootsy
feel while a distant banjo happily sparkles in the shadows, and on Memphis
(where he sounds remarkably like Bert Jansch) he becomes even more loved-up
to the indigenous country sound.
All We Do (Roy Orbison would love this one) is a breathtaking break-up
ballad done in a stripped back delivery with cute twanging guitar, and rolling
Hammond organ. Skip one, and we get to his low-fi bluesy side – Dangerous Road,
which starts with simple acoustic strums, given extra colours by some sublime
steel guitar picks by multi-instrumentalist/tweeker Rob Friedman.
Eastern flavours merge with folk on the extraordinary Nobody, making it
a haunting piece, as he goes for some typical ‘wailing’ for added effect.
Johnny Goes To War is a direct political blasting on American soldiers,
in this case 19 year old Johnny from Ohio, who’s sure to get killed, or to kill
the enemy with a body count of 23 referred to as, ‘23 Kills’.
And finally, Eastern Fancy. Here he goes for ambience and eastern soundscapes,
singing beautifully in his father’s mother tongue Farsi – simply stunning.
1. Waking Up Is Hard To Do
2. Memphis
3. All We Do
4. Black Tar Woman
5. Dangerous Road
6. Government Meat
7. Nobody
8. Her Red Leather Hat
9. Johnny Goes To War
10. Eastern Fancy
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
