Search - Lorna Hunt :: Sentimental Bedlam

An indefinable emultion.

01/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this is a fabulous collection. esoteric yet fully accessible, if that makes any sense. ive seen lorna several times over the years and, by pure chance, in many different cities and she always, always blows my mind. this recording may be a reaction to her first disc "all in one day" on classic records (out of print though i hear rumors of bootleg copies) which is very subdued, ethereal, somewhat morose, and very feminine -which is a good thing! "sentimental bedlam" is electric -not acoustic- full of verve and not just a little saucy (priapus) though it still has its heartbreakers (mustard fields, shift) and, important to note, not masculine. my personal faves are antigony - an up front feminist rocker, and unrecoverable - a groovy, silky song about i dont know what -lyric check: 'hands in the dark, blades in the arc, easy for you but not so easy for me'... one can only imagine.

at times sentimental bedlam ventures into prog rock phrasings i.e odd time signatures, uncommon instrumental juxtaposition, but that is not to say that the songs are unwieldy or self-indulgent. heavens no, they are perfect. this is quite nearly a new form of rock music, certainly an abundance of new and unusual textures.the record was co produced by david willey of Thinking Plague/Hamster Theatre fame (i learned by way of google) which may offer some insight into everything about this disc i am unable to explain.

i purchased SENTIMENTAL BEDLAM at a show in Corvallis oregon -well worth the drive- and listened to it repeatedly on the way home. i couldnt get enough and am very eager to see her perform these brilliant songs with a full band -as yet have only seen her perform acoustic.

finally, if you like rose polenzanis recent disc chances are you'll dig this as well, not because they are so similar, but because they are dissimilar in a familiar way, if that makes any sense. - i first saw lorna perform with rose in santa barbara ca. a couple years ago. i mean WITH. they occupied the stage together backing each other up and at the end of the evening i was exhausted... that fantastic, post orgasmic exhaustion.. well, not quite, NOTHING compares to that, but it was about as close as one is likely to get without actually....... having to say it."