Tuesday, September 9, 2008

There go the Miracles...

Steve Wynn has now been out of Dream Syndicate for longer than he in it, recording a run of three excellent garage rocking albums with the Miracle 3 in the 00s. His bass player, Dave DeCastro, is sort of a friend of mine, and Dave just had a baby a couple of years ago. So maybe that's why Steve is recording by himself...but lord knows why he's recording in Slovenia, as he did for his latest Crossing Dragon Bridge. But regardless, it's a good one. Here's the review in PopMatters, which ran today.

"Steve Wynn lived in Slovenia for several months while he was recording Crossing Dragon Bridge, without his long-time band the Miracle 3, in a place where he had few ties and relationships. There's a long, interesting description of his daily life in Ljubljana on his website, which, aside from a productive interaction with producer Chris Eckman, seems to have been a kind of time out of time for Wynn.

The two "Slovenian Rhapsody" tracks that bookend this album refer most directly to his experience. Both sound distinctly Midde European, swaying in a minor key gypsy waltz, the first melancholy with whistling, the second embellished with a plaintive clarinet, and both bracketed by the mutter of radio broadcasts in a foreign language. However, only the closing track makes the mood explicit with words. Surrounded by unfamiliar sights and sounds, Wynn finds himself "drowning in my own rhapsody."

(More here)


"Manhattan Faultline" from Crossing Dragon Bridge


And one of his more rocking, band-oriented tunes. It's "Wild Mercury"


And one more, Steve Wynn and his band at SXSW in 2006

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