A Man & A Guitar
"Hate Me Tender" CDR
Dust Wind Tales
Genre: lo-fi, experimental folk,
folk-pop
France
Jan 22, 2009 |
France's Bruno Duplant comprises the human
half of A Man & A Guitar, a rather self-explanatory
project whose Hate Me Tender has been given the always
promising Dust Wind Tales treatment. This
50-copy wonder comes in the lo-fi hometaper mould,
matching reverberating guitar strums with a deep and personal voice.
Occasionally, a
drum machine rhythm is added. Duplant's
croon sometimes resembles that of Stephen
Merritt ("Lonesome")
but at other times his vague French accent dispels such notions.
Hate Me Tender has a midnight-esque
darkness to it, conjuring up the image of a haunting guitar
confessional taking place at a campfire in the wilderness. Thus, it is
the atmosphere of these songs that is their most rewarding asset.
Meanwhile, the compositions themselves are
often very simple, relying on repeated melodic phrases and
straightforward, strummed rhythms. Hence, a track like "Lay Down" is
successful because of its intangible haunting quality, something
borrowed from early Smog and select Jandek material.
Despite its simplicity, or perhaps because of it, Hate Me Tender
has an uncanny knack for getting into your head - tongue-in-cheek "Hey
Sister!" and Southern tinged "Lonesome" are prime examples. Of course,
several of the songs don't stick out from the rest of the litter
("Afraid of You," "I Don't Know") but nothing disrupts the overall
appeal of A Man & A Guitar's record. Hence, despite a few
lesser moments, Hate Me Tender marks an intriguing and
ultimately satisfying release for the Dust Wind Tales camp.
a man & a
guitar's myspace
80%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 10 tracks, 50
copies, distributed by
the
label,
released 2008] |
