Daniel Blumberg
Minus

Daniel Blumberg (born in 1990!) is the newly (and widely) announced rising star of the UK-made alternative rock singer-songwriter scene. Apart from a whole series of minor releases in recent years, Daniel already boasts collaborations with important names such as Low, Silver Jews, Lambchop, Neil Hagerty, Jad Fair, Norman Blake, which have earned him a contract with Mute Records and the production of his first LP by Peter Walsh, a producer who, among other things, is the right-hand man of Scott Walker. "Minus" was released last May 4th and immediately received fair attention from critics at all levels: the young man was quickly compared to troubled figures like Elliott Smith, Mark Linkous aka Sparklehorse, Micah P. Hinson, or Keaton Henson.

Some resemblance, after all, might be there, why not, maybe with Mark Linkous regarding certain arrangements that somehow deviate from the canons of classic songwriting, like the screeching tone of the violin in the title track, "The Fuse" (also accompanied by the sound of a typical "dylanesque" harmonica) or "Stacked" with bursts of showmanship that might moderately remind one of that Warren Ellis showmanship which clearly has become a universal point of reference. Elsewhere, he dabbles in more classic songwriting, like the soporific piano in "The Bomb," while the twelve minutes of "Madder," and then "Permanent," "Used To Be Older" are certainly more interesting, where (specifically in this last case) that insufferable despair of Micah P. Hinson is compensated by an interesting use of electric guitar sounds that create pleasing terror noise intersections, perhaps giving sense to this exacerbated emotionality.

In the end, it's a good album, Daniel is definitely a talented writer and a good musician, but his writing and style are somewhat adolescent and not very convincing. You can feel that something is off, and it makes you doubt the sincerity of his content. Or, I don't know, maybe it's just me getting too old.