CD Details
Synopsis
Amazon.comIt's hard to tell whether each Jack Logan album is composed of fresh new tunes or culled from the 700-plus tracks he had already written when his debut 42-song double album, Bulk, was released in 1994. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, because Logan is not only one of the most prolific songwriters on the scene, he's also one of the most passionate and articulate. Buzz Me In, Logan's fourth full-length record, is his most well-oiled effort to date--cohesive in tone and sonically pristine (thanks to production by Clash knob-twister Kosmo Vinyl). Instead of vaulting musical genres as in the past, Logan maintains a rootsy approach throughout, and then experiments with individual orchestration and dynamics within each track. Gospel choirs, strings, sax, congas, and bongos are sprinkled across the record, but they never impair the flow of the disc. While Logan is backed once again by the stalwart Liquor Cabinets (Kelly Keneipp and Dave Philips), Buzz Me In also features a wide range of guests, including Vic Chesnutt and Sam Skelton, who give the songs extra dimension. But it's Logan's voice--an affecting blend of Bruce Springsteen and Mark Lanegan--that best unifies Buzz Me In. I'm in. --Jon Wiederhorn
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CD Reviews
"Buzz"ing Around Ralph Quirino | Keswick, Ontario Canada | 01/01/2000 (4 out of 5 stars) "Logan has worked in so many different fields that BUZZ ME IN often comes off as musical schizophrenia for first time Logan listeners or long-time fans. Let's call him a great songwriter adept at writing slice-o'-life stuff and intimate, emotional experiences. The music is rich with invention (from bare bones acoustic settings to slightly orchestrated arrangements) and the songs are often brief set-pieces that always reward and never bore." He's my first cousin! T. OConnor | 02/07/2001 (4 out of 5 stars) "I have an original "Jack Logan" hanging in my house. A poem he wrote at age eleven about our grandparent's home town. It was the first amazing sample of a truly gifted poet. I am truly amazed at his writing ability, and think EVERYONE should listen to Buzz Me In and all his other music!" Major Label Money Backs a Lo-fi Genius T. OConnor | St. Paul, MN USA | 09/09/2001 (5 out of 5 stars) ""Buzz Me In" is Jack Logan's first "fancy" studio recording. Logan is a man who seems more at home recording, well, at home. But this album proves that if you give the man money and the means, he can craft a beautiful album.In most ways, it's a typically Jack Logan record--genre-hopping, stylistically all over the map, with lyrics focusing a common man's lament over love's lost, chances not taken, and celebrations of the little victories life presents once in a while.Logan creates songs that often defy pigeon-holing, possibly due to the large number of influences he tries to incorporate. The first track, "I Brake For God" is certainly one of those songs--while lyrically reminiscient of old blues numbers (Logan is from Georgia, and the blues is one of his key influences) the musical structure is something else altogether. The next track, "All Grown Up", would be right at home on a Black Crowes or Rolling Stones album. "Hit or Miss" is a string quartet driven song with lyrics that somehow take the idea of listening to a broken ceiling fan and make it sound beautiful.Logan is a talented lyricist, and has a disarmingly emotive vocal style. He is also surrounded by talented friends (listen for Vic Chesnutt's Trombone Cameo on "Diving Deeper").I have the feeling I may be preaching to the choir--I suspect anyone reading Jack Logan reviews is already a fan. However, if you have never heard Jack Logan, this album is certainly an excellent introduction to his varied and somewhat hard to find catalog of work.I have to add this--I have yet to find a single person not entranced by the song "Glorious World". It is pure Jack, and Logan at his best is quite simply one of the best American songwriters alive today, and he is criminally underrated."
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