Jason Collett - Here’s to Being Here! » Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

24th January 2008

Jason Collett - Here’s to Being Here!

This post was written by Benji

As Canadian indie label Arts and Crafts continues to churn out entertaining and talented acts, I become more and more impressed with the rock sensibilities of our neighbors to the north. In his sophomore release, Jason Collett hones his penchant for unique folk-pop anthems and delivers them coated in catchy guitar riffs and choral crescendos. While his debut Idols of Exile focused a little more on more charging, rock-ier songs, his newest effort Here’s to Being Here takes the urgency out of his music. He seems most comfortable serving up delicious rolling guitars and Dylanesque vocals, allowing the momentum of the songs to carry the various ditties to their peaks. By letting the tracks take on a life of their own, Collett ends up infusing them with more than he ever purposefully could. Indeed, Collett has returned from exile and he’s here to stay. So Here’s to Being Here!

Go ahead and get your copy of Here’s to Being Here.

Listen to “Roll On Oblivion” (4.9/5)

Listen to “Out of Time” (4.8/5)

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Jason Collett. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 5 responses to “Jason Collett - Here’s to Being Here!”

Why not let us know what you think by adding your own comment! Your opinion is as valid as anyone elses, so come on... let us know what you think.

1 On January 25th, 2008, Joe said:
What about Motor Motel Love Songs?

posted on January 25th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
2 On January 27th, 2008, Sarah said:
I think you have heinously misapplied the term “Dylanesque” to this singer.

posted on January 27th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
3 On January 28th, 2008, Benji said:
heinously? I’m glad you only ‘think’ so, because I ‘think’ if you take a listen to the album, you’ll find that the intonations and the emphases he puts on words draw some comparisons to Dylan. I never implied any lyrical or instrumental comparisons, which is what I ‘think’ you are ‘thinking’.

on that note, I’m not one to deny Dylan of his status as national hero/poet of private grief. Certainly I wouldn’t disparage him like so. But he is also a human being, void of any supernatural qualities. I suggest taking him off such a high pedestal or else you will constantly be disapointed with the fantastic, engaging, entertaining, stimulating music that is out there to discover and love.

posted on January 28th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
4 On January 28th, 2008, Sarah said:
I’m sorry I used the word heinously. I read your commentary several times, so I was aware that you were only referring to vocals. In fact, for that very reason I hoped you wouldn’t take my comment as an insult to your taste. I only intended to express amusement that we have both heard Dylan’s and Collett’s voices but you have drawn a conclusion that I cannot possibly obtain. Please accept my apologies for the uneven tone of my sentence.

Also, I take issue with your portrait of me as a Dylan devotee, since I never claimed to have (nor do I have) more than a general familiarity with his work, and therefore the sound of his voice. I suppose I should have realized that the casual Dylan fan is such a rare species that contrasting his work with newer music can often reasonably be assumed to constitute critical conservatism.

posted on January 28th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
5 On February 11th, 2008, Benji said:
This I just found at pitchfork, regarding the review of Jason Collett’s new album:
“Less charitable ones will notice that he’s pilfered Bob Dylan’s vocal tics wholesale, evoking an alternate universe where The Basement Tapes were the beginning of a long unbroken collaboration, not a prelude to divergence. “Southern gentleman and your Bonaparte ways,” he keens on “Roll on Oblivion”, “no need to get philosophic,” the last vowel going reedy and nasal.”

posted on February 11th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream will serve as a blog for me to share my thoughts and musings, with a special emphasis on music. The music that will appear in this blog is for evaluation/sampling purposes only, and is designed to promote up and coming bands. Remember, if you like the artist(s), buy the CD! If you are the owner of a sound file and would like it removed, please contact us and we will kindly take it down.