Review by Geoff Bartley
“Rob
Siegel’s brilliant new CD, “Voices from the right brain” overflows with idealism
and realism, with wild moonshots and savvy connections, with polemics and
wordplay, with sophisticated chord progressions and references to
philosophy, mythology, history, literature and ethics. Recorded using
only his expressive voice and big fistful of acoustic guitar styles in a
live concert format at Harvard Square’s legendary Club Passim, Mr. Siegel’s
songs are dense and literate; they are a thinking, feeling man’s response
to life in a world as devoid as ever of justice, morality and grace.
But Siegel is a survivor who seems bent on retaining his sense of humor at
all costs. In “Easy Right Hand” he writes “I had my palm read once
but I prefer it blue”. In “Look At All The Funny People” he writes
“see a man shot from a canon...” In one of my favorites, “Letter To
The God I Don’t Believe In”, he juxtaposes “Thanks for Louis Armstrong,
Jimi Hendrix and John Prine / you don’t need loaves and fishes when your
best work is divine” with “To the god I don’t believe in, it just gets so
complex / why do people scream your name when throwing up and having
sex”. But larger matters are Siegel’s meat. He closes the song
with “But at the end of every day if you don’t obscure the way / when I
look upward I can say I clearly see the universe”. He also reprises
his deceptively powerful “Shaker Chair” from his 2000 recording. If a
Shaker chair hand-made from native wood with form dutifully following
function represents that part of the American psyche that is simple, clean,
pure and rational, a naugahyde barcalounger represents the animal id and
all that is self-indulgent and numbing in our nation, a nation that has
lurched from primitivism to decadence without ever knowing
civilization. There’s a lot here, and while I confess I don’t get it
all, the collection holds my interest because I get more each time.
Let’s hope this recording brings this intelligent and entertaining New
England songwriter the recognition he deserves. And anyone
contemplating infidelity should listen carefully to “The Point of No Return.”
Geoff
Bartley, March 13, 2005
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