Mojave

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Song Title Time Price 4:20 $0.89 Visit our audio page for more information Concrete Blonde’s newest album "Mojave" provides a musical postcard from the edge of civilization, where lonely strips of asphalt wind their way through the coyote’s backyard. Now the denizens of the desert that gave the album its name, singer/bassist Johnette Napolitano, guitarist Jim Mankey and drummer Gabriel Ramirez, provide a soundtrack to the scenic Southwest. The desert’s strange beauty is reflected throughout "Mojave", from the shadowy, bass-driven opening track "A Road" to the sprawling soundscapes and ghostly vocals of "My Tornado At Rest." Spirit animals come crawling out of the arid night, with reptiles shedding skin in "Snakes" and Johnette explaining the mysterious desert dogs on "Hey Coyote." The specter-like quality of the desert’s night sky is also captured in a haunting cover of "(Ghost) Riders In The Sky," the old Western chestnut re-popularized by Southern rockers The Outlaws in the early ‘80s See all Reader Reviews Concrete Blonde have evolved from rocky hit-generators to purveyors of darkly themed and toned mood music for the thinking person. Starting with the almost scarily cool "'A' Road" (a sort of second take on the "Jenny I Read" dark stardom theme from the album, MEXICAN MOON), this album sticks with tarnished silver guns to a morose and melodic journey through the solitary, existential desert. I fleetingly missed the almost tortured gospel of Johnette's voice from MEXICAN MOON and GROUP THERAPY, especially on "Ghost Riders in the Sky," but the whispery, layered vocals on MOJAVE set a smoky mood that just begs you to lie back and think ... about whatever. There is a brief break in tone with the humorous "Jim Needs an Animal," and a bit of a pretentious moment with the Neil Young style, spoken "Mojave" ... background music for the insomniac. But none of this inspiring album is anything but ethereal and vast.  Comment | Permalink |  (Report this) Back To Top