The Midwest Dilemma – Timelines & Tragedies
This album may not be one which I end up showering with unconditional love, but it is really good and despite a few stodgy moments, for the most part I am really enjoying it.
The one-sentence summary: acoustic Americana, with a subtle instrumental backing that dips from old folk to stylised cinescape.  That ghostly bar-room orchestra lends the storytelling of the album the kind of dramatic flair it takes to lift the occasionally sluggish pace above its peers and elevate it to a somewhat higher plane. Montreal and Francoise start the record really beautifully, and you know there’s little I like more than a little bit of tuba and clarient wandering around a song. In fact, if you look at the full list of musicians on their MySpace page, there’s a bit more going on than just a bit of clarinet here and there.
The criticism I might have of this album is that it is just a little one-paced. The few songs that do pick things up a little, such as the brilliant Chicago & North Western, stand out and there should, to my mind, be a couple more of them just to nudge things along a little bit here and there. It’s no surprise that The Great Depression, one of their more rolling numbers, was chosen as the sample mp3 on their website.
For the most part, however, they do really well. Much of the storytelling stems from a family history of the main songwriter, Justin Lamoureux, although how much artistic license is taken isn’t entirely clear. It doesn’t really matter though, because the frequent absence of first person narration gives the whole concept just enough distance to steer clear of being a mere diary – it’s more like a historical variety pack, with the family timeline serving as no more than a guide to picking out the moments in history that are to be explored.
The storytelling is beautiful, actually, and the complex arrangements bring just enough theatricality to what is somewhat paradoxically quite a sparse, intimate album that you end up with an album that reads a little like a novel. It’s just separate enough to bea conscious act of theatre, almost, but that side of it is generally subtle enough that you never feel too disconnected from the more personal aspect of the narrative.
The Midwest Dilemma – Francois
The Midwest Dilemma – Chicago & North Western
Blimey Google Alerts is quick these days!
I like it when this happens though: the band just sent me an email which I am including here because I think it sheds light on a few of the comments I’ve made above:
Of course anyone who knows me knows that you don’t need to defend tragic music on this site!
You’re not kidding!
I’m loving these two tracks, and yes, tragically hip… oh damn, that’s a recycled phrase, isn’t it! The waltz pacing is genius, reminiscent of some of my favorite Samantha Crain tracks. Americana = tragic in my mind, nail on head once again Matthew and thanks for lightening my pocketbook once more as well oxox
As long as you understand that it’s your money for me to spend as I see fit.
As long as it’s only music, sex, and booze, sure thing!
Christ if I ever have to follow through on any of this big talk I really am fucked!
That Francoise track is lovely, and I’m enjoying The Great Depression as well, which has the added benefit of being quite timely. And they’re from Nebraska no less. That whole Midwest prairie region is really coming on strong lately, what with Samantha Crain in Oklahoma and Caleb Engstrom in Iowa. Is there anyone good in Kansas?
Caleb Engstrom, you say? I will check him out. Don’t know about Kansas I’m afraid.
Justin was really nice when he emailed me, too, which always makes me feel happy about music. It’s always good when people who have talent seem to deserve it in some way, although I know that’s sentimentalist rubbish.
i am also really enjoying these tracks.
There’s something about these guys that reminds me of The Rural Alberta Advantage, who I did a wee review of during my stint as caretaker-manager here at Toad Towers a while back.
Clearly, the differences are obvious; the arrangement and approach to instrumentation are completely unrelated. Nevertheless, I think there are some subtle similarities.
There’s something in the vulnerability and cracked weariness of both singers’ voices that suggests some shared experiences of life and growing up, and the lyrics seem to share hints of a similar background.
And this is no bad thing in my book, I was really quite taken with The Rural Alberta Advantage, and I may well develop similar feelings for these guys.
When I said “Clearly, the differences are obvious..“, I meant to say “Obviously, the differences are clear.”
Yes, you can check out Caleb Engstrom on this really great Scottish blog called Song, by Toad:
http://songbytoad.com/2008/09/05/not-just-local/
Um, errr.. yes, yet another case of information overload there, I think. I’d completely forgotten about that, sorry mate.
Don’t be silly, I have great compassion for the youthful victims of Alzheimer’s. Anyhoo, Caleb Engstrom has a very good record out called A Mountain Or A Bird, And that’s available on eMusic (in the States anyway) and elsewhere, and he also recorded a recent Daytrotter Session. Actually, the performance of Nothing, Cloud, Lion that you posted is taken from the Daytrotter Session.