Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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Boy, oh boy. I just don’t know quite what to make of this record, except to say that I haven’t stopped listening to it since I got it. It’s a strange beast, though, in many ways.
The first strange thing about “Dumbing Up” is its history, which I only vaguely understand. Apparently, Wallinger released a version of this disk a few years ago, but it never saw the light of day in America, and it went unheralded in Europe. Then, a series of misfortunes occurred, both nasty and horrible. The nasty part? Wallinger’s own record company convinced his band to quit him and record for Robbie Williams. Their first project was to record a nearly identical version of a Wallinger composition entitled “She’s the One,” and it became an international hit for Williams. While Wallinger watched the hullabaloo from the sidelines and try not to seethe, he learned that his manager passed away. Then the unthinkable, horrible part happened; Wallinger suffered a brain aneurysm that left him semi-paralyzed and unable to speak.
He has since recovered use of his body, his voice and his music catalog, which explains why this album is now in my hands. Still in all, though, a few other things strike me as strange. Most, if not all, of the songs on “Dumbing Up” were written and recorded a half-decade ago, but they sound as if they could have been recorded yesterday. As if to contradict myself, though, this is also one of the most derivative albums I have ever heard. Nearly every track screams out its influence. “Another 1000 Years” reworks the Beatles’ “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” “What Does It Mean Now?” sounds like a Highway 61-era Dylan outtake, and “Here Comes the Future” sounds like late 80s Prince, and yet every one of these songs has left me with an insatiable desire to hear them over and over. He even cops the slide riff from The Wallflowers’ “6th Avenue Heartache” for “See the Light”, and yet it isn’t the least bit bothersome (although Jacob Dylan might disagree on that point).
I guess the lesson here is that if you’re gonna lift material from somebody, you might as well lift it from the best (a lesson that bands like Oasis already know quite well)! It helps that Wallinger doesn’t hide this fact; he wears his influences on his sleeve, and the sheer joy of his performance is both refreshing and intoxicating. “Best Place I’ve Ever Been” is one of the best potential singles I’ve heard in years, on a par with his fabulous hit from the ‘80s, “Ship of Fools (which it sort of resembles).”
So, here we have an album that is both fairly old and brand new. That is both derivative and thoroughly original. That uses old, worn-out parts to create something fresh and different. I only hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.
Grade: 
 
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