What I like about this record:
- I like the feeling that many of these tracks seem to be built around a drum beat rather than a guitar lick.
- I like that it makes you wonder if what you are listening to is the height of profundity or the dumbest thing you've ever heard.
- I like that so many lines are so eminently quotable e.g. "I make big deals out of little things" ; "I never met a button I didn't want to push"; "Just because I happen to have a lampshade on my head, that doesn't mean I am bright".
- I like that 'Favorite Places' is the first pop song I've heard that uses the word adirondack i.e. the mountain range in NE New York - the line is: "one foot in one foot out, the adirondack shadow of doubt".
- I like that the song In The Movies sounds like Ray Davies on acid.
- I like that the record ends with the word 'poet' repeated deliriously so that a potential compliment ultimately becomes a term of abuse.
Who is Paleo?
Thankfully the name has nothing to do with the vaguely disgusting sounding hunter-gatherer diet. Paleo is a loner 'poet' named David Strackany. He says he adopted the stage name because Paleo is Greek for 'old'. He thought this was apt since his music is new but it also feels old at the same time.
What do we know about David Strackany?
He was raised in Elgin, Illinois. He now lives in Iowa City. He has a BA in English and Art. He has inhaled. He lived for six years sleeping in his car or on friends' couches. He is now 30 years old. His website lists over 700 shows he has played since 2005. In 2006 he decided to keep song diary; to write and record one song a day.
Why does the music/entertainment website Daytrotter love him so much?
He has made regular appearances on Daytrotter who are on record as saying his music is "filled with eyes, vines and stray spider legs", which I think is meant as a compliment. The site's Sean Moeller has crowned him their very own 'poet laureate'. This honorary title can partly be explained by the fact that Strackany learnt the basics of analogue recording from that website's original engineer Patrick Stolley.
Is David Strackany an original?
His strained and untrained voice together with the surreal naivety of the songs could be written off as a copycat version of Daniel Johnston. A track like Honey Bee comes over like a kind of twisted nursery rhyme reminiscent of Devendra Banhart's early demos. The analogue/hypnagogic pop apects will draw associations with diligent retro-artists like Ariel Pink or James Ferraro. So the answer to this question is: No, he's not entirely original but, then again, he doesn't claim to be and no-one is really. Probably it would be better to ask : 'Is he sincere?' and to that I would say YES.
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Is he a poet?
He certainly has a way with words but the two tracks entitled 'Poet' show that he is less than comfortable with this label; as he rightly points out: "just because you are a drunk, that does not make you a poet"
How is Fruit Of The Spirit like his last album?
In Nick Browne's Whisperin' & Hollerin' review of its immediate predecessor -
A View Of The Sky - praise was heaped on the two strong opening tracks while the remainder is adjudged "patchy". I would say much the same applies to Fruit of the Spirit. If all the songs were as inspired as Lighthouse and Over The Hill And Back Again this would be a 10 star record for sure. The latter, in particular, is bastard folk with a jerky, infectious beat to give musical expression to the ambition: "We wanna be young when we grow up". The remainder of the tracks are a mixed bag as they lurch between hints of drunken despair and druggy hysteria.
How is Fruit Of The Spirit different from his last album?
Fruit Of The Spirit documents the artist's first meaningful stab at collaboration. He gathered a makeshift team of mates and recorded the album in three days without rehearsals or lead sheets. Partisan Records claim the result is "a mischevious, mercurial record sparkling with imperfection" and they may be right.
Do I need this album in my life?
As his record label admits, imperfections abound on this record but while many will write David Strackany off as an irritating sham who can't sing to save his life, I detect more than a hint of method in his madness. You need to hear it to make up your own mind, but I would say every household would benefit from a little Paleo.
Paleo on Myspace
Paleo's Website
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