Review of Jim Campilongo's "Heaven is Creepy"

[Bernie]

Hi All,

Here's a review I just posted at Amazon for "Heaven is Creepy". Over the years (since 1999 or so) I've posted reviews on his recordings here at the TDPRI, mostly because I like 'em so much. This one's a bit late, but the most comprehensive. It might be helpful to those new to his music and wondering what to get next.

-Bernie


---snip---
Jim Campilongo's music is eclectic. A Campilongo recording can be all over the map (Heavy) or very focused (Table for One). Either flavor is welcome and it is often a mystery when you hear he's working on a recording. He is establishing some patterns, though. I've broken them down to six categories so far: (Un)familiar Melodies, New Sounds, Covers, Visuals, Beautiful Melodies, WTF?, and Noir.

(Un)familiar Melodies
These are melodies you've never really heard before but swear you've heard before (Prettiest Girl in New York, Nellie Bly.) They are usually easy to listen to, sonorous with beautiful musical topography. They stick. You can whistle them, and upon repeated listening you realize that they are full of great playing thoughtful construction, and are always solid and satisfying pieces of music. But don't sink too comfortably into that listening chair...

New Sounds
The transition from "Prettiest Girl in New York" to "Monkey in a Movie" is the move from old school to new school. Jim has never sounded like this before - raw and reverb-less, in your face. New York is manifesting itself with a kind of edginess not present before. "Bully Cat" and "Snakestretcher" from "Jim Campilongo and the Ten Gallon Cats" were edgy, but this is a different, tougher brand of twang. Again, new ground is broken in Campilongo's writing and playing. Influences? None too obvious, I mean, who plays power chords with a Tele and a 12 watt amp? Jimmy Page did in 1968 - big and dirty sounds out of a simple and small small rig, but this is big and clean, accomplished by coupling clarity and "stringiness" of the Fender Telecaster, arguably the finest guitar for showcasing one's own musical voice, detuning and retuning the low E string in real time (as evidenced at guitarplayertv.com) and the bottom end of an acoustic bass - it's kind of like he strumming a piano through an amp - a giant power chord. I did not realize this was the recipe until I listened really closely and watched the video. It's like he invented a new sound, extending and sharing a clean power chord with the bass player. Amazing sounding.

Covers
"Cry Me a River" is a perfect vehicle for Jim's brand of interpretation. He respectfully quotes Barney Kessel's intro and outro from the original Julie London recording. For then on it's all JC, bending and twisting the tune into new territory. The human voice doesn't rely on frets, and Jim plays his Telecaster like he doesn't either, bending strings and notes in places they weren't meant to be bent, both literally and figuratively. For you guitar geeks out there, I just love hearing someone switch pickups in the middle of a phrase, as JC does unashamedly as 00:58 of this song - very Roy Buchananesque and very in the moment - no tricks. Later, Norah Jones sings the song, with JC as Barney Kessel to Norah's Julie London, and the result is a wonderful rendition, respectful of the original but with its own stamp. It sounds like they both really liked the Julie London version. A second singer's talent was brought to the table for this recording - Martha Wainwright's reading of "Beautiful Dreamer" has a really vintage, old timey vibe to it. Again, JC's subdued playing illustrates how restraint can really serve the song. To examine the progress of this sub-category, listen to JC's interpretations of "Folsom Prison Blues" and his own "Hamster Wheel" from Heavy (compared with the "(slight return)" version on this recording) and "Harlem Nocturne" from Loose.

Visuals
Campilongo's music has always had a cinematic quality to it, and "Mr. and Mrs. Mouse" brings that sensibility to this recording. Close your eyes and you'll see mice making their way around the house, cats creeping ominously in and out of the scenes, narrow escapes, and frustrated predators. Your mind fills in the visuals in this interesting application of music as a guide to the story.

Beautiful Melodies
Sometimes JC writes a song that is so beautiful that it leaves one speechless. He did this *all over* Table For One. "Because you Like Trombone" is one of those songs, no surprises, just a beautiful song in the JC style. Seems ripe for lyrics one of these days, as "Lipton Tea" (Live at the DuNord) evolved into "Stella" (American Hips). "Pepper" also easily falls into this category. Melancholy and nostalgic, JC gives the song breath by what he doesn't play as much as by what he does play. A sub category of this approach is when Jim takes a beautiful melody that has already been written, and interprets it with beautiful playing, as with "Michelle" on American Hips, "Mr. Sandman" from Loose, and "This Old Man" from Table for One.

WTF?
The song "Menace" falls under the category of "WTF?" Sometimes Jim will come up with something that is just puzzling and quirky, a look into the "weird space" of his compositional mind. With the tunes that fall in this category, it's time to just sit back and enjoy the sound of surprise. He did this on Loose with "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and on American Hips with "Freaky Dreiky". I wrote in a review of that song that it sounded like a giant laying waste to the landscape of some fairy tale. It sounds like the same giant is back, after taking some dancing lessons.

Noir
"Heaven is Creepy" comes from the musical sensibility that surfaced in the fruitful Table for One through Live at the DuNord period. It goes to a place where it's definitely nighttime, raining, cold - could be New York, could be San Francisco. Stylistically from the same book as "Cat Under a Car" (Live at the DuNord). To me, these and the melody tunes are the "stoppers" - put down what you're doing, listen, be transported and enjoy.

The beauty of JC's music is that it never sounds forced, it sounds like the musicians are having fun and are comfortable enough to confidently give it that measure of space and "give" that so much music is lacking these days. Campilongo's music has always sounded like this, but it has evolved, because of differences in personnel and Campilongo's maturing compositional sense, into a beautiful mixture of influences, originality, ingenuity, and fearlessness...and of playing what's exactly right for the songs, whatever their origin, as a means to breathing life into the musical moment.

---end snip---

[jcayer]

Good review,

I'm going to buy it

[weelie]

Thanks for the review. I've had the album for some time already (even got it signed). But haven't actually listened to it as much as the previous ones. It could be because I heard songs off it (in concert) before it got out, so it wasn't as much of a treasure chest to me. Still, it is a great album!

I wonder why the song "Beefeater" isn't on this one. I remember posting here that he played a song of that name in concert in Finland, before recording this (or actually the trashed version of it) album. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating... :P

I remember him saying in GP that he seems to like less and less of reverb nowadays, but haven't actually really heard that on the album, myself. Maybe I ought to check if I hear the difference. :)