Jim White: Transnormal Skiperoo (Luaka Bop/Shock) BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2007

 |   |  <1 min read

Jim White: Diamonds to Coal
Jim White: Transnormal Skiperoo (Luaka Bop/Shock) BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2007

White came into something close to mainstream attention with his droll film Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus, a poke around the backroads and backwoods of the American South and the music and characters that make it so distinctive.

It was at times uncomfortable viewing, but also an essential documentary if you want to get a handle on "that dark Southern stuff" as Lucinda Williams calls it.

White's albums have had less attention but have always been acclaimed for their unique and sometimes disturbing vision, and music which can charm or disarm by turns. This album is no exception: there are some chipper sounding songs up-front but as the journey continues the mood darkens and the music (deftly arranged as always) becomes more disconcerting too.

The final track is It's Been A Long Day which might well be a farewell note delivered over a slow plucked banjo that sounds slightly unearthly.

White will perhaps only skim into the attention of many who profess a liking for folk Americana, but those who discover him wait expectantly for any new album.

The wait is over folks.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Snowpoet: Wait For Me (Edition Records/digital outlets)

Snowpoet: Wait For Me (Edition Records/digital outlets)

Neatly uncategorisable, this album fronted by the British duo of singer-songwriter Lauren Kinsella and producer/keyboardist Chris Hyson have found a place between folk-pop, electronica and spoken... > Read more

Tami Neilson: Sassafrass! (Southbound)

Tami Neilson: Sassafrass! (Southbound)

Taking its title from the description of a sassy person rather than the plant, this new Tami Neilson album not only expands her musical horizons even further into songs which mostly which have... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

EPs by Yasmin Brown: Asgeir, Abby Wolfe, Nidala, Silk Cut

EPs by Yasmin Brown: Asgeir, Abby Wolfe, Nidala, Silk Cut

With so many CDs commanding and demanding attention Elsewhere will run this occasional column by the informed and opinionated Yasmin Brown. She will scoop up some of those many EP... > Read more

RIVERS INTERVIEWED (2014): In the footsteps of the master

RIVERS INTERVIEWED (2014): In the footsteps of the master

Hamilton-based singer-songwriter Chris Baigent aka Rivers makes a fairly extravagant and unquantifiable claim on Facebook as the Number One Dylan Fan in New Zealand. And if you think you are a... > Read more