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
|
|