Quinn Walker

February 4, 2008

It is my opinion that Quinn Walker, who’s been aptly described as a “brazen experimental baroque-folk artist”, is the biggest undiscovered treasure of 2008 thus far. It’s true that the artist has a bit of a oddball streak, the album cover (see above) straddles the line between completely awesome and downright awful. My stance though on the cover and his music is it’s completely awesome (just the facial expression alone on that cover is hilarious). While there is some weird stuff that might throw listeners for a loop, his album is full of moments of pure musical genius, reminiscent of artists such as Spencer Krug and Panda Bear. The mixture of genres on the artist’s newly released double album (titled Laughter’s An Asshole / Lion’s Land), is also outstanding, ranging from psychedelic tribal folk to epic post-rock to highly-orchestrated baroque-pop, sometimes in the same song.

There’s a sprawling amount songs (29 to be exact) on the album, and highlights are spread evenly throughout from the country-tinged opening track “Plenty of Water for Mud” to the wild drumming of epic, noisy closing track “Lion Land”. For me though, it doesn’t get much better than “Save Your Love For Me”, one of the most superbly crafted songs of 2008 so far. Everything about the song recalls a Berlin-era David Bowie from the electronic backing to Quinn Walker’s fantastic falsetto/baritone. Then there’s that perfectly placed guitar solo that brings it all together. Seriously, this song is incredible.

“Smile For Me” also hits exactly the right spot, showing off the tender side of Walker with a Devendra Banhart-like opening. From there the song builds into an amazing crescendo with a guitar line that will make you think you’re listening to Explosions in the Sky. If those tracks alone don’t convince you of Walker’s greatness, take “Heaven With You Tonight”, a loopy orchestral-psychedelic track that will make Animal Collective fans jump for joy. Buy Laughter’s An Asshole / Lion’s Land at emusic or amazon. These songs come very highly recommended!

MP3 Save Your Love For Me
MP3 Smile For Me
MP3 Heaven With You Tonight

Quinn Walker’s Myspace
Additional Reviews: Stereogum, NPR Music, Raven Sings The Blues

Posted by Taylor in Artist Spotlight