10293 - CRAIG FINN - FAITH IN THE FUTURE (2013)
CRAIG FINN
''FAITH IN THE FUTURE''
SEPTEMBER 11 2015
39:48
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1 Maggie I've Been Searching For Our Son 04:02
2 Roman Guitars 04:05
3 Newmyer's Roof 04:42
4 Sarah, Calling From a Hotel 03:15
5 Going To a Show 03:29
6 Sandra From Scranton 04:00
7 Saint Peter Upside Down 04:25
8 Trapper Avenue 04:35
9 Christine 03:57
10 I Was Doing Fine (Then a Few People Died) 03:15
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Stuart Bogie/Clarinet, Flute, Horn Arrangements, Saxophone
Craig Finn/Guitar, Vocals
Josh Kaufman/Bass Guitar, Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
Dawn Landes/Vocals
Jordan McClean/Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Joe Russo/Drums, Percussion, Vocals
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REVIEW/AMG
Mark Deming
Craig Finn has always had the potential to be the Bizarro World version of Bruce Springsteen, spinning tales of earnest heartland folks whose obsessions are loopy but sincere variations of the thematic triumvirate of fast cars, low-budget romance, and middle-class survival that has been the Boss' trademark for decades. Finn's melodies even conjure up an approximation of the melodramatic grandeur of Springsteen's music, though without the emphatic charge of the E-Street Band; if Springsteen's work is hi-def programming viewed on a 60-inch flat screen, Finn's is more like a slightly worn VHS tape viewed on a TV that was rescued from a junk shop, though there are shows that work better that way, seen through a prism of homey distortion. All these things come to mind while listening to Faith in the Future, the second solo album from the Hold Steady's frontman, which gives him more room to explore his themes as an enlightened bar-band troubadour, and if the noisy sideways guitar solos on "Maggie I've Been Searching for Our Son" and "Going to a Show," the clanking lockstep drums on "Roman Guitars," and the woozy slide guitar on "St. Peter Upside Down" wouldn't go over at an arena gig, the songs might do the trick anyway. Finn wrote this set of songs after the death of his mother, and while none of them deal with the notion of maternal loss, there's an undertow of grief and human consequence that runs through this material, such as the low-level drug abuse in "Sandra from Scranton" and "Going to a Show," the musician running on fumes in "Newmyer's Roof," the old friend whose life is in a shambles in "Sarah, Calling from a Hotel," and the self-explanatory agonies of "I Was Doing Fine (Then a Few People Died)." Finn's slightly craggy voice gives his characters the lived-in qualities they need, and Josh Kaufman's production gracefully walks the line between the straightforward and the slightly bent. At its best, Faith in the Future is a compelling and suitably individual study of the Darkness on the Edge of Some Other Town, where Finn has plenty of stories to share.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Gregory Heaney
Clear Heart Full Eyes Perhaps best known as the singer of the Hold Steady, Craig Finn is a Minnesota-bred singer, songwriter, and guitarist based out of New York City. Combining literary influences like Jack Kerouac and John Berryman with the musical influences of Bruce Springsteen and fellow Minnesotan Paul Westerberg, Finn's highly descriptive lyrical style has a focus on narrative, crafting whole worlds for the people in his songs to exist within. In 1994, the singer put this style to work with the indie rock band Lifter Puller, refining his craft over the course of their three albums before the band called it quits in 2000. After the band dissolved, Finn relocated from the Twin Cities to New York, where he would collaborate with producer Mr. Projectile on the short-lived project the Brokerdealer in 2001 before eventually reuniting with Lifter Puller bassist Tad Kubler to form the Hold Steady in 2004. While the band's whiskey-fueled bar rock sound was a departure from the angular, synth-filled sounds of Lifter Puller, Finn's lyrically dense storytelling style remained intact, making the Hold Steady the thinking man's bar band. After five albums with the band, the singer and songwriter tried his hand at a solo album during some downtime from his main project, and in 2012 released Clear Heart Full Eyes through Vagrant Records. In 2015, Finn dropped his second solo album; Faith in the Future, released by Partisan Records, was drawn from a set of songs inspired by themes of loss and survival that Finn wrote in the wake of his mother's death.
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BIO/WIKIPEDIA
**********
TO THE TOP
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''FAITH IN THE FUTURE''
SEPTEMBER 11 2015
39:48
**********
1 Maggie I've Been Searching For Our Son 04:02
2 Roman Guitars 04:05
3 Newmyer's Roof 04:42
4 Sarah, Calling From a Hotel 03:15
5 Going To a Show 03:29
6 Sandra From Scranton 04:00
7 Saint Peter Upside Down 04:25
8 Trapper Avenue 04:35
9 Christine 03:57
10 I Was Doing Fine (Then a Few People Died) 03:15
**********
Stuart Bogie/Clarinet, Flute, Horn Arrangements, Saxophone
Craig Finn/Guitar, Vocals
Josh Kaufman/Bass Guitar, Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
Dawn Landes/Vocals
Jordan McClean/Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Joe Russo/Drums, Percussion, Vocals
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Mark Deming
Craig Finn has always had the potential to be the Bizarro World version of Bruce Springsteen, spinning tales of earnest heartland folks whose obsessions are loopy but sincere variations of the thematic triumvirate of fast cars, low-budget romance, and middle-class survival that has been the Boss' trademark for decades. Finn's melodies even conjure up an approximation of the melodramatic grandeur of Springsteen's music, though without the emphatic charge of the E-Street Band; if Springsteen's work is hi-def programming viewed on a 60-inch flat screen, Finn's is more like a slightly worn VHS tape viewed on a TV that was rescued from a junk shop, though there are shows that work better that way, seen through a prism of homey distortion. All these things come to mind while listening to Faith in the Future, the second solo album from the Hold Steady's frontman, which gives him more room to explore his themes as an enlightened bar-band troubadour, and if the noisy sideways guitar solos on "Maggie I've Been Searching for Our Son" and "Going to a Show," the clanking lockstep drums on "Roman Guitars," and the woozy slide guitar on "St. Peter Upside Down" wouldn't go over at an arena gig, the songs might do the trick anyway. Finn wrote this set of songs after the death of his mother, and while none of them deal with the notion of maternal loss, there's an undertow of grief and human consequence that runs through this material, such as the low-level drug abuse in "Sandra from Scranton" and "Going to a Show," the musician running on fumes in "Newmyer's Roof," the old friend whose life is in a shambles in "Sarah, Calling from a Hotel," and the self-explanatory agonies of "I Was Doing Fine (Then a Few People Died)." Finn's slightly craggy voice gives his characters the lived-in qualities they need, and Josh Kaufman's production gracefully walks the line between the straightforward and the slightly bent. At its best, Faith in the Future is a compelling and suitably individual study of the Darkness on the Edge of Some Other Town, where Finn has plenty of stories to share.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Gregory Heaney
Clear Heart Full Eyes Perhaps best known as the singer of the Hold Steady, Craig Finn is a Minnesota-bred singer, songwriter, and guitarist based out of New York City. Combining literary influences like Jack Kerouac and John Berryman with the musical influences of Bruce Springsteen and fellow Minnesotan Paul Westerberg, Finn's highly descriptive lyrical style has a focus on narrative, crafting whole worlds for the people in his songs to exist within. In 1994, the singer put this style to work with the indie rock band Lifter Puller, refining his craft over the course of their three albums before the band called it quits in 2000. After the band dissolved, Finn relocated from the Twin Cities to New York, where he would collaborate with producer Mr. Projectile on the short-lived project the Brokerdealer in 2001 before eventually reuniting with Lifter Puller bassist Tad Kubler to form the Hold Steady in 2004. While the band's whiskey-fueled bar rock sound was a departure from the angular, synth-filled sounds of Lifter Puller, Finn's lyrically dense storytelling style remained intact, making the Hold Steady the thinking man's bar band. After five albums with the band, the singer and songwriter tried his hand at a solo album during some downtime from his main project, and in 2012 released Clear Heart Full Eyes through Vagrant Records. In 2015, Finn dropped his second solo album; Faith in the Future, released by Partisan Records, was drawn from a set of songs inspired by themes of loss and survival that Finn wrote in the wake of his mother's death.
**********
BIO/WIKIPEDIA
**********
TO THE TOP
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