Tav Falco's Panther Burns - The Shadow Dancer

From Tav Falco you get music from a man who knows what he likes, and that's rockabilly, bluesy soul, and lounge music presented with an amateurish gusto. Shadow Dancer, his eighth album since he first emerged with his band (which included Alex Chilton) in the early '80s, lovingly explores his lounge lizard muse. The Panther Burns (featuring Chilton on one number, and another founding member, producer/keyboardist Jim Dickinson, on a couple of tracks) match Falco's flat but enthusiastic crooning with sympathetic albeit unpolished aplomb. Lounge culture has received a big boost, mostly from kitsch devotees, but when you've been doing it with the steadfast panache that Tav Falco has shown, it's not something you put on and take off like a rented tuxedo. Falco sleeps in this suit. --Steven Stolder Amazon.com

Another moonlit, midnight walk in Memphis

Tav Falco's world is a strange one, filled with the mysterious events that take place around midnight. Shadowy figures weave spells, mutter fantastic incantations, and tell their tales of tortured love in a world gone by: "I Was Born too Late," "Born to Cry," "Guarda Che Luna" -- a swirl of romantic swooning that draws from Argentine tango, 1950's Italian pop, and the Creole past of Louisiana. He makes Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love" a spooky descent into darkness, with the sound of a bowed saw creating an unearthly howl. These songs all have their secrets, if you're prepared to listen. Are you ready to take that walk? February 27, 2004

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