Rock Bottom Rhapsody by Pokey Lafarge [Gatefold Jacket] (CD, 2020, New West) NEW

Description: Rock Bottom Rhapsody by Pokey Lafarge [Gatefold Jacket] [CD] Track Listing: 1 Rock Bottom Rhapsody 2 End of My Rope 3 F*CK Me Up [Explicit] 4 Bluebird 5 Rock Bottom Reprise 6 Lucky Sometimes 7 Carry on 8 Just the Same 9 Fallen Angel 10 Storm-A-Comin' 11 Ain't Comin' Home 12 Lost in the Crowd 13 Rock Bottom Finale ROCK BOTTOM RHAPSODY - Pokey LaFarge - 'The man singing these songs isn't exactly the same man who wrote them,' says Pokey LaFarge of Rock Bottom Rhapsody. In early 2018, LaFarge relocated from his longtime home base of St. Louis, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California. New songs came quickly to LaFarge in his new environment, but new temptations soon found him, as well. LaFarge admits that he experienced a significant 'fall from grace' during the last months of 2018. Shortly before the recording of Rock Bottom Rhapsody began, LaFarge experienced a spiritual awakening ' and the faith he re-embraced in his hour of darkness helped to buoy him through the making of the album. Despite the trying period that preceded it's recording, Rock Bottom Rhapsody is ultimately far more uplifting and life-affirming than it's title would suggest. 'Did it add something to the record? It certainly did. I mean, I don't know if it made it better; it just is what it is. It's not up to me to decide if people are going to feel that'! --- When you've spent most of your career sounding as if you were living in the 21st century by fate rather than by choice, figuring out how to sound more up to date is going to be a complicated thing, and it seems that Pokey LaFarge has been giving that scenario a lot of thought. Since releasing Manic Revelations in 2017, Pokey LaFarge left St. Louis for Los Angeles, experienced what he calls a "fall from grace," had a spiritual reawakening, and recorded 2020's Rock Bottom Rhapsody, in which he clearly wants to change up his usual creative persona as a slightly twangy jazzbo here on a pass from 1923. The rootsy jazz-inflected sound that dominated LaFarge's early albums is wired deep enough into his DNA that he can't entirely shake it in as far as his melodies are concerned, but in terms of his production and arrangements, he's clearly willing to fight that. The distorted vocals and drums on "Fuck Me Up" give the performance a suitably messed-up lo-fi undertow, "Storm a Comin'" is steeped in '60s-style soul, a late-'50s/early-'60s pop vibe informs "End of My Rope," and if the arrangement on "Bluebird" is seriously retro, the circular snap of the drums and the layered vocals on the chorus are a giveaway that someone had been spending some time listening to dance music in a club. At times, Rock Bottom Rhapsody sounds as if LaFarge is trying very hard to break new creative ground for himself, though the results aren't a particularly radical shift from what his fans have come to expect. But if he sounds a bit uncertain about how to present himself, LaFarge's confidence as a songwriter is strong and justifiably so. "Lucky Sometimes" is a love song just sweet enough to work without getting gooey, the folky shuffle of "Just the Same" is well matched to a confessional lyric, and "End of My Rope" nods to his personal troubles without wallowing in self-pity or demanding we feel sorry for him. And if LaFarge's reedy voice still doesn't sound up to date, he's developed enough vocal authority to not sound totally lost outside of a faux-nostalgic context. Pokey LaFarge is still working out the math on how to exist in more than one decade at a time, but Rock Bottom Rhapsody has more than enough good things in it that he's probably going to be just fine wherever he finally settles down. ~ Mark Deming, AllMusicShipping^ - Order typically "ships" within a business day after receipt of cleared payment ("Delivery" information provided below). Various shipping options available at check out. (Delivery time a factor? 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Price: 19.95 USD

Location: Tarzana, California

End Time: 2025-02-09T18:39:34.000Z

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