h o m e
The Boston Phoenix (Newspaper, USA)
December 23, 2005
Web site
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
He might share a name with the great blues shouter, but the roots of
this Boston-based multi-instrumentalist and former Abunai! drummer are
firmly in classic psychedelia. And he's made one of the coolest
independent albums by a local artist this year. The instrumental
"Waking Dream" immediately pulls you into an aural odyssey, as sheets
of guitar (from Bright's Mark Dwinell), keyboards, flute, bass, loops,
and percussion overlap to create a shimmering harmonic color
field. Like XTC, Turner can incorporate his sonic passions into
pop-song constructions, and his laid-back but thoroughly capable tenor
singing makes the most of the hooky choruses of the rocking "When Will
You Wake Up" and the childlike "Stella Luna," where he admits he's
bats for the bat. But he's loopier than Andy Partridge's crew, so the
sing-song lyrics and melodies of tunes like "Coordinate Zero" and
"Turn Me Upside Down" hark back to an earlier paisley period, when
Roky Erickson and the Strawberry Alarm Clock defined opposite ends of
the style's magic-carpet ride.
BY TED DROZDOWSKI