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Minimalist & Anchored by Heller Mason
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fave it Modern Folk | Americana
11 tracks | 40 minutes
Released Aug 2006
on Silber Records
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:33 After All is Said & Done, More Was Said Than Done lyrics BUY MP3 03:33 After All is Said & Done, More Was Said Than Done lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:33 After All is Said & Done, More Was Said Than Done
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:29 Packing My Bags for Hell lyrics FREE 03:29 Packing My Bags for Hell lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:29 Packing My Bags for Hell
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:54 I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic lyrics BUY MP3 03:54 I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:54 I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:01 Drown the Villages on the Maine Coast lyrics BUY MP3 04:01 Drown the Villages on the Maine Coast lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:01 Drown the Villages on the Maine Coast
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:38 Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There’s No Tomorrow lyrics BUY MP3 03:38 Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There’s No Tomorrow lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:38 Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There’s No Tomorrow
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:07 Sick to Death of Sobriety lyrics BUY MP3 02:07 Sick to Death of Sobriety lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:07 Sick to Death of Sobriety
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:29 You Called My Bluff lyrics BUY MP3 02:29 You Called My Bluff lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:29 You Called My Bluff
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:59 Minimalist & Anchored lyrics BUY MP3 05:59 Minimalist & Anchored lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:59 Minimalist & Anchored
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:49 So, This is How it Ends lyrics BUY MP3 02:49 So, This is How it Ends lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:49 So, This is How it Ends
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:25 Duluth lyrics BUY MP3 04:25 Duluth lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:25 Duluth
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:36 Fools & Angels lyrics BUY MP3 03:36 Fools & Angels lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:36 Fools & Angels
Slow-core americana in the style of 1960's Neil Young
Editorial review
First self-released, then re-released the following year with extra tracks on Silber, Heller Mason's debut, Minimalist & Anchored, is not a surprising record, but it is a listenable enough one if you're already inclined to its general approach. It's not quite as minimalist as all that, to be sure -- at the very least there aren't any Steve Reich covers. But more to the point instead of this sounding like, say, Nick Drake's Pink Moon, Heller Mason -- the alternate name for lead/core figure Todd Vandenburg -- employs the help of a full backing band in creating moody, melancholy songs that unavoidably recall the ruined grandeur of such performers as Gram Parsons or quieter, '70s-era Neil Young. Songs keep to generally steady paces or, when brisk, aim for understated pep rather than brawling energy; steel and electric guitar parts with plenty of twang are core. The counterpoint is Mason's breathy voice -- a wistful and indeed very Drake-tinged sigh more suited to, say, opening for Coldplay instead of fronting Crazy Horse -- and song titles like "After All Is Said & Done, More Was Said Than Done" and "Sick to Death of Sobriety," which sound like they should be short pieces in McSweeney's. Other songs like "Barrelling Towards Nowhere Like There's No Tomorrow" have the same big-but-close/tender feeling of any number of recent groups from the Flaming Lips and Wilco to Mogwai, if nothing else reflective of a popular style's continuing appeal. Still, for all this there's very little on Minimalist & Anchored that's truly remarkable, that stands out as a unique or striking take on some roots -- it is what it is but Vandenburg and his crew have yet to achieve their implied goals. [The Silber edition includes five bonus tracks.] ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Bio / Background
A modern heartbreaker in the style of a youthful Neil Young. ~ Brian John Mitchell, Remora Sparseness is both brick and mortar of daydreams. Big worlds are cobbled from the fragments of smaller ones: notions, longings, stupefying ideals. Life is always out of reach, but that’s precisely what makes it worth living. No one understands with more aching accuracy than Heller Mason’s Todd Vandenberg. Based in the obscure alcove of Little Chute, WI, Vandenberg’s songs are packed with references to places distant and unknown. But at the same time, there is an inability to strike ahead; it’s simpler to slink about on home turf, and dwell on the bygone and unknowable. “There’s an ocean inside all of us,” he sings on Packing My Bags for Hell, only to paddle back into himself on the title track, “Some drinks and I’ll get on with my story / Once I’ve regained my composure and the color in my eyes.” Notion upon notion with no escape.
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