Howie Beck
Howie Beck
Ever/Inertia

Occasionally, the high praise of a well-written biography provides just enough history and intrigue for a record to suddenly appear very interesting. More often, it shoots well above or below the mark. In the case of Howie Beck, the bio sheet implied that he might just be Canada's answer to Neil Finn. Hmmm... bad move. The first handful of times I listened to this record, I sat thinking, "This guy's no Neil Finn." Well no, he's not. He's Howie Beck, and he's rather good at what he does.

One of the increasing legion of solo artists who play every instrument on their records (how these people learn to play drums always astounds me), 'Howie Beck' is a fascinating example of a style where every instrument, from the dull intonation of a xylophone to the deep thud of a snare drum, has something to say about its protagonist. A subtle and occasionally diluted release, it doesn't give enough away about Beck (whether we're talking about the performer or the character he's necessarily portraying). The singles, while perfectly fine, are perhaps not obvious enough to be exciting (but are excellent enough to be great), and the other tracks all feature the oddball arrangements and surprising key changes (cf. Zombie Girl) that are the hallmark of intimate pop songwriting. Oh, and Don't Be Afraid features Ed Harcourt's backing vocal - though not enough of it, I say. And it's got a great filmclip (as featured on the CD).

When I got Harcourt's 'From Every Sphere', I listened to it a few times, dropped it, went back to it, and now it's one of my favourite records of all time. I've just dropped Beck, but just maybe he'll come back.

Ben Revi