WhatzUp

Come To Where I'm From
Joseph Arthur
by Chad Beck

Writing record reviews is strange business, no matter how you look at it. What gives me the right to push my opinions on as many as 40,000 people every week? How do I decide if an album is ìgood,î ìcrappyî or ìclassic?î

Itís largely a subjective venture, relying solely on opinions and tastes. There is no magic formula or rule book for art, after all, no standards by which to judge every work. Either way, most albums I receive from record companies I wouldnít wish upon my greatest enemies ... and then there are others that are simply amazing in their ability to resonate with my musical sensibilities and pre-conceived expectations of what ìgreatî music sounds like.

And then there is Joseph Arthur. Come To Where Iím From, his latest, is an album I find so exceptional I find it difficult to express my feelings about it. Iíve sat down countless times to review this disc, but my love for it is so great that my struggle to find the proper terms usually overcomes me and I give up. This is the most impressive album Iíve heard in years.

The only American artist on Peter Gabrielís Real World record label, Arthur is a singer/songwriter unlike any other. He speaks of himself as a folk-musician with an ìidentity crisis,î but the result of his turmoil is nothing short of groundbreaking and fresh. Dreamy tunes like ìInvisible Handsî drift out of the stereo like vapors of sweet oxygen into an un-breathable atmosphere. The instrumentation is sparse, yet full, and never in the way of his alarmingly intelligent lyrics. (Arthur performs almost all of the music himself, by the way). Writing the kind of songs that will make you wonder why no one has ever come across them before, Arthur comes off like a necessary addition to the history of sound.

Even though Arthurís lyrics are the absolute treasure here, his music is nearly as perfect. Breathy vocals float atop a mix of drum machines, pianos, acoustic guitars and other various oddities resulting in a disc that sounds as unique as the artist himself. Produced by T-Bone Burnett (Sam Phillips, Counting Crows, Gillian Welch), Come To Where Iím From has a sonic life of its own, unlike anything youíve heard before. Believe it or not, although Arthur has hit a grand slam here in the studio, itís his live show that upgrades him from ìamazingî to ìun-freaking-believable.î Doing a one-man-show involving samplers and delay pedals, Arthur fleshes out his songs in an eerily beautiful way.

Finding a bootleg of one of his shows may prove difficult, but if you ever get the chance, grab it. Itís simply indescribable. My extravagant praise for Arthur may sound contrite on paper, but I sincerely believe that this is the voice and savior of the modern singer-songwriter.