| CD REVIEW (This review also appears at www.701.com) |
| Just as some lovers' paths are predestined to converge only after each half of the pair has already experienced a lifetime elsewhere, this seems to be the case with Daniel Lanois and me. As my military family moved back and forth from Ottawa to Valcartier, I experienced the same two solitudes that existed between anglophones and francophones, so it wasn't until his bilingual video of "Jolie Louise" (from his Acadie CD) was released in 1989 that I made his musical acquaintance. Although I remember being impressed by the joyfulness of that particular song, by then I had forsaken my own bilingual roots, thanks to the political hotbed of animosity that bilingualism had become, and I gave the CD a pass. Not being that interested in reading liner credit notes when I was younger, I would not discover until the late '90s that Daniel had, in fact, produced several of my favourite LPs, including Peter Gabriel's So, U2's The Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree and Robbie Robertson�s self-titled d�but solo CD. Furthermore, it wasn't until I moved to Hamilton, Ontario, in June 2001, that I learned that Daniel had lived here for a number of years and had begun his recording career, along with brother Bob, in this very city. His success certainly must have inspired many people here, as there is an enormous amount of musical talent originating from Hamilton - Jackie Washington, Ray Materick, Jack de Keyzer, Rita Chiarelli, the late Richard Newell (King Biscuit Boy), fellow "bad boy" Frankie Venom and his Teenage Head, the Powerhouse guys, and Tim Gibbons, whose music appears in the Slingblade movie. When I heard that Daniel was releasing a new CD at the legendary El Mocambo in Toronto a couple of months ago, it piqued my curiosity about him, so I checked out the brand-new song samples on his website and knew I was finally ready to accept his music without prejudice. While I was busy going through a cycle of emotional self-destruction, Mr. Lanois was busy building a portfolio that would immortalize him. Now he has decided to take a break from the successful production of other people's music and concentrate on his own musical creativity. Shine is a very moody, reflective, collection of songs that sees him returning to his first love, the steel guitar, with a gift for poetic lyricism tidily wrapped up in sonic sensuality. It also seems to signal a crossroads in his life, conveying messages of wistful regret but with a determination to find personal contentment, which I found was best conveyed, instrumentally, in the short but sweet "Transmitter" (which could have been written by Jamie Oakes) and "San Juan". The first half of the CD, opening with a dreamy duet with Emmylou Harris, whose vocals I didn't find that complementary to Daniel's, is fairly optimistic and cheerful in nature. U2's Bono, a man whose beautiful voice I had nevertheless overdosed on a long time ago, actually sounds very appealing in its subtlety on "Falling at Your Feet". There are a number of other vocalists harmonizing here, but they are not specifically identified. "As Tears Roll By", sung almost in a falsetto sway, has a funky Paul Simon feel to it and is followed by the equally likeable "Sometimes". The laid-back jazzy title track seems to be a more spiritual take on the classic little ditty, "You Are My Sunshine". It also has some quirky little drum "kicks" at the end of it. "Matador", an instrumental featuring an eerie-sounding keyboard, fading into the almost equally desolate "Space Kay", introduces the darker, lonelier tracks. "Fire" enchants the listener with a romantic mysticism, and I thought I detected a sequence from U2's "One Love" on it. "Power of One" offers a brief respite from the melancholy ruminations, mixing a standard reggae beat with a mild psychedelic edge, which will have the listener humming along in seconds. "JJ Leaves LA", the closing track, is a slow-paced instrumental solo steel guitar piece that can make you feel either totally relieved of pressure or fill you with an empathetic despair. I changed my mind several times, over the course of listening to the CD repeatedly, about which tracks were my favourites and I really couldn't come to a firm decision; it's delightful through and through! |
| SHINE - DANIEL LANOIS (2003) |
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