Phil Tagliere
Slow
Bong Load ­ bl53

by Al Kunz

Because the hook brings you back
I ain't tellin' you no lie
The hook brings you back
On that you can rely
"Hook" --- John Popper, Blues Traveler

My approach when preparing to review a disc is to start out playing it as background music. Put it on repeat and go about my life. I form overall impressions of the disc and preliminary opinions on the basic questions: do I like it, do the songs flow well together, which songs standout. I approached Phil Tagliere's new release, Slow, in just this way.

The first question was easy. Yes, I liked it. As the title Slow suggests, this isn't the choice to rock the house at your next party. But it could be what you choose to slow down and relax with after a hectic day. The arrangements are exclusively acoustic with Tagliere playing guitar to his soothing, melancholy, and often hypnotic vocals. Joining Tagliere on some tracks are the always-in-demand Rick Shea on pedal steel and mandolin, Ward Dotson on piano, slide guitar, and bass, and Nina Piaseckyj bowing the cello.

The songs flow naturally from one to the other. There are not any jarring transitions or songs that don't seem to belong. That's the right answer to the second question and leaves us with the third. What songs stood out?

When the first two questions have positive answers, there will normally two or three songs that consistently catch my attention. Each time these songs play I'll hear something that catches my ear, maybe an especially clever lyric, a unique rhythm, or a change in instrumentation. It may even be the song's "hook" doing what it was designed to do. Interestingly, the only thing that consistently grabbed my attention was the four minutes of silence at the end of the last listed track, "All the Kings Horses," before the start of a bonus song tacked on the end. The disc works great as mood music for casual listeners, but you won't hear hook-filled songs that capture your focus. It won't lend itself to understanding without giving it your full attention.

Piaseckyj's cello and Shea's understated pedal steel give the love song "Almost Perfect" a mournful tone. This tune also illustrates the difficulty of categorizing Tagliere's music. While he is certainly a singer-songwriter, that label is too broad to be much help. It's not exactly pop, it's definitely not rock, and, in spite of the cello, it's not even close to being classical. The pedal steel on this track might lead you to expect a hard-country sound, but it's understated enough that it adds only a hint of twang. The lack of twang coupled with vocals that don't drawl the way you'd expect with hard-country make that (or any other flavor of country) a poor touchstone. Neither folk nor new-age seem right, although aspects of both might fit. If forced to pick from these, I'd have to call it folk. But why choose. The definition of the Americana genre is purposely broad, yet vague, for just this reason -- Slow defies categorization any more specific.

A common theme running throughout the disc is Tagliere trying to understand his place in the world. The lyrics are introspective and yet often seem addressed to someone else. You get the sense that he is singing to a lover who has left him, as in "Standing Dumb."

You know I thought I minded
You know I thought I'd like to
But it's of no use
To figure out
Whose faults were
Now it's just the effort this is
Some things never rest
Like your voice in my head
Left me frozen
Standing dumb

"AM" is about new beginnings, the beginning of another day or even the start of a "new life" by reinventing yourself. "It's getting to the point where it comes apart or together you can reinvent yourself every time you pray." Feeling alienated and not wanting to conform to the norm is the subject of "Early." "There's a song you're singing that doesn't have to make sense / I've been on the outside too long to ever want to come in." The ex-lover also makes an appearance in "Places," leaving Tagliere unable to trust his memories.

Take it back
You wouldn't if you couldn't
No one knows better than I do
Voices crack my cell from below
Waking up in my new room
I'm not sure where I am
Places I remember well, faces I don't
'Cus those change, gathering lies and stories

Phil Tagliere's previous musical experience has been as a sideman, including stints with his brother Steve's band, the alt-rock Gingersol, and with the Silos. His first solo effort, Slow, has given him a chance to find his own sound and spread his wings as a songwriter. If you enjoy acoustic singer-songwriters but are tired of the same old thing, give this one a try.

*Visit www.philtagliere.com for song samples and the latest news of Phil Tagliere.


Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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