| Cosmogram Jim Lampos 2004, Clocwyse Recordings |
Artists have been reinterpreting folk music for centuries. Scottish ballads influenced the poetry of Robert Burns; Bela Bartok incorporated the music of the Hungarian countryside in his symphonies. New York musician Jim Lampos follows in that tradition. His latest CD, Cosmogram, is firmly rooted in the imagery and ideas of traditional American music, combining the Appalachian folk tunes and Delta Blues with the world-weary sophistication of a Leonard Cohen. According to Lampos, Cosmogram "contain[s] ... a physical space that [the songs] move through, often quite literally... Ultimately, Cosmogram is about topography, about finding 'the lay of the land' in both a physical and spiritual sense." In lesser hands, this kind of extended conceit could become unbearably pretentious. Lampos is able to pull it off, thanks to his talent and his intelligent, thoughtful songwriting. The arrangements on this CD are as unadorned as they come: one vocal, one acoustic guitar. Yet this simplicity is deceptive. Lampos is a master of the six-string, finger-plucking lovely, intricate chord progressions. These complex sound patterns are matched by his hyperliterate lyrics. Words rustle against each other like footsteps creaking in a haunted house; lines stretch on well past the point where they should scan... yet somehow they do. (My only gripe with Cosmogram is that Lampos does not include a lyric sheet, nor does he put his lyrics on his website. Hopefully he will correct this oversight in the future. His words definitely can withstand scrutiny and deserve careful attention). The opening track, "Franklin's Milestone," evokes the Old Post Rode, and the milestones which Ben Franklin erected so postal riders could judge distances. A soft guitar line rings sweet and distant as the next town while Lampos sings the conversion comes at the point of the sword The best folk music is timeless, hearkening back to a should have been that always and never was. Is the traveller who's "trying to get to ithaca/but i'm sleeping here tonight" Odysseus, hero of the Iliad, trying to return to his castle in Ithaca, Greece? Is he a trucker trying to make it to Ithaca, New York? Is he both or is he neither? It's a dual metaphor worthy of James Joyce, an extended conceit within an extended conceit Lampos is unabashedly intellectual, but he's also capable of throwing off a raunchy, earthy blues tune like "Act of God", with the obligatory woman who can "make a preacher man lose his soul." And if there were any justice in this world, "Riding With Destiny" and "Wastelands" would earn Lampos a permanent gig in Nashville: his wandering souls could have stepped out of a Johnny Cash song or a Flannery O'Connor novel. This CD catches you from the beginning and draws you in. It also stands up to repeated listens; it's earned a high place in my iTunes Top Rated list. It's not synthpop (for which we can be eternally grateful) but if you're a fan of Nick Drake, Richard Thompson or Leonard Cohen, you'll be all about Cosmogram. Heck, if you like your music straight up and dark with a twist of intelligence and a faint glimmer of hope and beauty, you'll be playing this one over and over. 1. Franklin's Milestone Jim Lampos Website |