T Bone Burnett - The True False Identity

Anti-Music??? C'mon!

I have read several of the previous reviews, some critical because this is not the T. Bone they expected. Others did not like it because they did not know what they were getting into, and described the album as "anti-music." When the Pokemon craze was big, my son used to demand $10.00 packs containing a few pieces of cardboard. He saw my distress, and quipped that I was just against "valuable" Pokemon cards. I told him that in fact, I did not like the whole Pokemon business. Gathering up all the disgust and condescension that a 7 year old can, he said: You don't like it because you don't _understand_ it."

For those that do not like this album, however, I will not condescend. Some people do not like his music. It is an acquired taste. But, like the river in Greek philosophy, you can't step into the same one twice. It changes. Not only does the river change--but you have changes. It's like saying, "I don't like Bob Dylan." Which one?

Mr. Burnett deals in "Big" issues and in Myth. His role in movie making is under-recognized. He taught Joaquin Phoenix to have the right kind of sneer for his Johnny Cash role, "Walk the Line." In fact, he pretty much did all of the things relating to the music and the visual aspects that related to music in the movie, down to the guitars on display at the German music shop when Cash was in the Air Force. And there is so much more: "O, Brother Where Art Thou", "Cold Mountain", etc.

What does this mean for the listener? It means that Mr. Burnett gets the details down perfectly. Listen to the music. Is it strange? Yes, at times. But it is exactly what Mr. Burnett intended. There are no mistakes.

"Zombieland" is a wired, unsettling tune. "There Would be Hell To Pay" reaches deep into the old Blues, full of death imagery.

"Every Time I Feel The Shift" contains the same kind of images: "When you're out for revenge dig two graves,
When you run from the truth it comes in waves."

And about Hollywood he says in another song: "Honesty is the most subversive of all disguises...Someone stole my identity, and I feel sorry for them." Another, reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson, is "Fear Country." "Earlier Baghdad [The Bounce]" certainly references the present occupation:
I am not important,
I am a broken man,
Throw myself on your mercy,
You Who have wronged me.

"Blinded by the Darkness" certainly is referential to the Springsteen song, "Blinded by the Light."

Mr. Burnett, of course, has produced or been in charge of musical arrangement on a string of hit records, including Plant and Krauss' "Raising Sand." He is touring with them this summer, doing instrumentals for the singers. This must tell you something. They could get anyone. They chose Mr. Burnett.

For a trip into another dimension of word and song, Mr. Burnett's Twilight Zone is not to be missed.


June 16, 2008

Really enjoyed this unusual CD

I don't know Burnett but really liked this CD. It is thought provoking and also satisfying musically. January 4, 2007

Middle age, white, goofy-looking Texan guy raps (and rocks!)

You probably will not like this album when you first listen to it.

I didn't.

... and I literally own every record he's ever made. No kidding.... everything. I'm a huge T-Bone fan and have been since his Alpha Band days.

But this album is different than anything he's done before. Heck, it's different than anything I've ever heard before.

It's kind of genre-bending... it strikes me as either a kind of Texan folk rap or maybe it's just one of the best poetry slams ever. But it's not really folk music and it's not really rock and roll. He doesn't sing a melody in most of the songs... he raps. But this isn't hip-hop rap -- it's white guy rap.

Like with most innovative music, it took me awhile to figure out what he was even trying to do. It doesn't help that I don't really like most rap, because I like a melody to my music.

But I do like a good bluesy jam sessions and he does a lot of that behind his "rapping." Don't think normal rap, though. Burnett isn't trying at all to pretend he's a gangsta rapper -- not that he ever could pull it off!

Instead he "raps" about middle age liberal white guy stuff. Well, that me! So after a bunch of listenings, I figured out the album and now I really like it. It's not my favorite, all-time Burnett album but it is better than his average.

I am deducting one star because -- well -- this is simply not a five star album. Pioneering and brilliant? Yes. An all-time classic? No.

(I should add that my six year old daughter likes it too! I have no idea why. She also likes Raffi.)

So, should you buy this album?

If you're looking for "comfort zone" folk, rock and roll or even rap, you should probably look elsewhere.

If you're a free thinker and looking for something different and innovative -- then this is a CD for you. Who knows? This might be the start of a whole new genre of music and you can say you were on the first floor of the movement. November 21, 2006

Grammys - best album (CD)yes0

this is potent for an artist who says "i am not important".all Burnett's music has been astounding & important to many (who are comfortable in their own "skin-teeth or otherwise).excellent writing-musicianist-wonderful & think about it songs.I qoute him in everyday speech.Great."Fear Country" & "Paradise are so far the ons I play often.there is no better songwriter in the country in an era of dull w/ the exception of Dylan & Morrison sporadically.Best CD-of thje years in the Grammys-I voted long ago when ya could deny anythin' ya said-I'll stick w/ the T B works. November 13, 2006

11th Commandment

T-Bone Burnett shares a place with a handful of artists who have strong and devoted followings, but whose music is perhaps too thoughtful to sell huge quantities. Quality is often more important that quantity. Burnett burns on his new set. My favorite track is "Seven Times Hotter Than Fire" with its driving electric guitar and the mesmerizing tromp of T-Bone's burning footsteps, "If I was dead & buried in the cold hard ground, I would rise from the grave & come & track you down." Another favorite is "Baby Don't You Say You Love Me" with a similar tribal beat pulsing and T-Bone's voice emotionally raw, "Every day you haunt me, first you hex me then you taunt me, then you leave me in this twisted misery." These tunes rank with his best work. From T-Bone's early days with the B-52 Bombers to the Alpha Band, T-Bone has pushed the limits with experimentation. On "Blinded by the Darkness" we experience Burnett's talk-sing as the guitars create a wall of chaos in the way he views the current political landscape, "Shouldn't sin be left to the laws of God & to the laws of nature; Can we trust this to the legislature." Similarly on "Every Time I Feel the Shift" Burnett talk-sings his frustrations about popular culture's shallow nature that could forget an 11th Commandment, had there been one. When Burnett rocks as he does on "Zombieland" & "Palestine Texas," his music is cutting edge. "The True False Identity" is an excellent set. Set against the backdrop of his classic catalog, it may shine slightly less. However, on its own merits, it's worth the exploration. Enjoy! September 13, 2006

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