Review by: Tom Hallett ‘round the dial’ Minneapolis, MN

http://www.myspace.com/roundthedial

April 13, 2009

Sarazin Blake

The Air Your Lungs Forced Out

2009

Same Room Records

His latest, The Air Your Lungs Forced Out, is a delightful melange of "folk"-based material that manages to go a long way towards explaining what "folk music" really means in this day and age. Blake's own musical talent and the understated band behind him (Mike Grigoni, pedal steel, Josh Brahinksy, upright bass, Jordan Rains, drums) prove from song one on this collection that "folk" songs are really just songs about people- just as the word's actual definition states. "One promoter told me, 'You're too wild! You need to choose, will you be folk or will you be punk?" he cracks.

The truth is, Blake doesn't sing traditional folk music in the style of a coffee-house fakebook gig-ster at all. From track-to-track on his new release alone, he evokes the musical and lyrical genius of artists as diverse as Leonard Cohen, Howe Gelb, Lou Reed, Stan Ridgway, Lee Hazelwood, Roy Harper, and The Meat Puppets. He freely admits to being influenced by the music of Greg Brown, Joni Mitchell, and Cohen, and emulates Richie Havens' frenetic string attack, but says, "I mix that with the punk-rock essence that surrounded me as I grew musically."

Album opener "Flying High (Somewhere)" eases out gently, Blake leading the band into a dreamy, wistful tale: "I been thinkin' about flying," he muses in a hypnotic baritone, "A change in the season/I know you love me/I tried to be good to you/Though things are alright...I been thinking about flying, way up high..." This cut immediately establishes him as an artist who's tough to categorize- he spins his song of longing over gorgeous pedal steel amid subtle, nervous burps of guitar, and terminates it abruptly, with no pat ending- "Honey, light a candle," he urges, "and warm up the room- we could use it."

"Mid-Term Elections (2006, Now)" finds him addressing a still-controversial, globally-relevant topic while putting a fresh spin on it by challenging America's current leaders for answers to a bloody and senseless war that continues to drag on. The lyrical message here (he drops "Should we stay or should we go" and name-checks The Clash) is informed and worthy of discussion, but an equally important part of this song is that Blake not only vocally recalls mid-seventies era Lou Reed here, but also proudly showcases his militant, staccato guitar-battering. Those aspects take this musical odyssey to levels worthy of comparisons to work by such passionate musical compatriots as Richard Thompson, James McMurtry, Richard Buckner, and Alejandro Escovedo. And it's only the second tune on the disc.

"After The Afternoon (The Air In Your Lungs Forced Out)" drifts out on a smoke ring and a sigh, angelic pedal steel licks and nimbly-plucked guitar strings swirling around a lonesome, wishful daydream, Blake half-speaking the lines from another place, another time: "Heard your foot/On the leaves/In the evening/Before the sun went down/The air was thick, bugs just hang around..." Again, the music overtakes the words, the soft melody speaking volumes about the wash of regret Blake (or the character in his song) is overwhelmed by.

"India Or Spain (On The Observation Deck Somewhere Near Browning, MT)" may beat out Pearl Jam's "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town" for longest title to a song that might actually matter in fifty years, but it's a completely different musical beast altogether. Here we catch Blake reveling in the sheer joy of lighting out for places and faces yet unknown: "I went lookin' for adventure," he belts out, "Of course it came and I waited for your kisses/I'm waitin' for a train, a train like you leaving/Somewhere south of where we are/If I got any money, I'll go into a bar/And of course you won't be there/So I'll have to drink two/A toast to your eyes/Dive into the blue/If I'm feelin' good, I might write a few lines/On a scrap or a coaster..." The song literally explodes shortly thereafter into a rollicking, renegade locomotive as he recounts the subsequent journey over pounding snare, joyously weeping pedal steel, and ringing guitar, then trickles down to a slow flow and fades.

"Fat And Skinny" recalls prime-era John Prine- a loveable loser anthem that staggers out of Blake's imagination like a tongue-in-cheek joke he's playing on himself, while "New Orleans (From A Northbound Seat On The City Of- Midnight On The Water") is a bittersweet ode to the people who made a historical, forced migration after Hurricane Katrina with a nugget of hope tucked in its center: "You'll be back there again..." Here, as in the bulk of Blake's songs, the music slides in and nearly overtakes the lyrical content with an almost sly ease, and the tune glides on, out, and away with the swiftness of the rail-bound characters in the tale.

"West (From Now On") is, hands-down, the most sweeping saga on TAYLFO, a drifter's lament of the highest order that flows so gracefully one almost doesn't notice that it clocks in at eight-and-a-half minutes. This is where the pioneering spirits of Townes Van Zandt, Jon Dee Graham and Gelb collide with Blake's post-millenial take on today's America with the most potent force. Ever-insistent, constantly building soundtrack-style music firmly claims over two minutes of the song's intro, evoking images of a Glen Ford epic spliced with shots of modern ghost cities and the rusting hulks of fuel-burning automotive monstrosities.

It says a lot about this artist (and his backing band) that, like more than a few of his other compositions, his own vocal contribution to "West..." is comparatively brief in contrast to the absolutely stunning vista the music itself creates. "If I was a sailor," he sings at around 3:30, "I'd use this wind, to blow me in the direction that I wanted to go/But I got no rigging, and I got no sails...there aren't any hills/The trees only have leaves half the year...I'm thinkin' about Christmas beers/I'm thinkin' all the girls' arms/Held me all those years ago/And the signs will say West from now on..."

Like most natural-born wandering souls, Blake's already broken his musical promise to himself by booking dates as far east as New York and Pennsylvania, but in his case (and for fan's sakes) his old travelin' Jones is a good thing. Having seen most of the continental U.S. (and garnered a huge following in Ireland) this young balladeer is poised for exposure to an even wider fan base. And it'll be that inherent need to share his musical ouvre with fans old and new that will inform the experiences and personal observations that will surely make his next release an even more innovative and revealing effort. A solid collection of highly eclectic, thoughtful, and brilliantly inventive modern music that really does defy genre-fication.

Sarazin Blake will be playing the Cafe' Montmartre in Madison, WI on April 15th. He just may play a special house party tomorrow night, Tuesday April 14th, here in the 'Cities. For more info, to purchase this disc, or to request a gig in your town, check his offical site out at www.sarazinblake.com To hear cuts from "The Air Your Lungs Forced Out," go to http://www.myspace.com/robertsarazinblake