| | Camper Van Beethoven New Roman Times CD Camper Van Beethoven Discography of CDs
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Camper Van Beethoven's first new effort in 15 years, NEW ROMAN TIMES lives up to the high watermark set by 1988's OUR BELOVED REVOLUTIONARY SWEETHEART and 1989's KEY LIME PIE, the band's most mature and accomplished statements. The stylistic eclecticism that characterized those albums is in full force here with rock ("The Long Plastic Hallway"), Balkan dance ("Sons of the New Golden West"), country ("Militia Song"), experimental prog-rock noise ("White Fluffy Clouds"), even disco ("Discotheque CVB").
In addition to its appealing, kaleidoscopic sound, NEW ROMAN TIMES boasts some of the group's finest songwriting. An allegory of political crisis in the early 2000s, the record follows the adventures of a young Texan who joins the military, serves in battle, comes home wounded, only to join a militia group and eventually become a terrorist. The narrative contains veiled references to 9/11, the war in Iraq, and the foreign policies of the Bush administration in brilliantly incisive and satirical songs like "Might Makes Right" and "Hey Brother." Always adept at experimental musical statements (on "Come Out," the band remixes minimalist composer Steve Reich's song of the same name), CVB's profound thematic text raises the caliber of their achievement. This album was worth the wait.
Camper Van Beethoven: Jonathan Segel (vocals, guitar, violin, synthesizer); David Lowery (vocals, guitar, piano); David Immerglück (guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, background vocals); Victor Krummenacher (guitar, bass guitar); Greg Lisher (guitar); Chris Pedersen (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Alan Weatherhead (guitar, pedal steel guitar, synthesizer); John Hickman (autoharp, midi, background vocals); William Grishaw (piano, synthesizer); Kenny Margolis (keyboards); Chris Molla (synthesizer); Miguel Urbiztondo (drums, percussion); Ches Smith, Frank Funaro (drums); Lauren Hoffman, Casey Martin, Teddy Blanks, Julia McCauley, Anne Hege, Nina Gates, Darion Arnette (background vocals).
Rolling Stone (p.107) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[The album] finds the Cali sextet charging through gypsy jams, psych-rock and scary-funny folk songs as it documents a parallel-reality America..."
Spin (p.124) - "[A] sweetly embittered geopolitical epic about the not-too-distant future..." - Grade: B+
Uncut (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[F]rom oddball Middle Eastern instrumentals to arch Kaleidoscope-type rockers to picture-perfect folk-rock..."
CMJ (p.4) - "[T]here's plenty of violin freakouts, post-ironic surrealism, faux-ska and middle eastern prog..." New Roman Times Music Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)  best album of the new millenium???
This album is one of the most pleasant surprises in music history. The brilliant, quirky CVB, one of the most original underground bands of the 80's, had broken up acrimoniously in the early 90's, and there was no good reason to expect them ever to get back together again. But, a few years back, the ice melted, and an older and wiser Camper started playing shows that most fans agreed were even better than in the old days. Still, with the track records of reunion albums being pretty poor, no-one had a right to expect THIS: a sprawling, funny, sad, ironic, twisted tale of a civil war in an alt-universe America that sounds uncomfortably close to our own. What's more, Camper have never sounded so good--all of their eccentricities are intact--the mix of ska, punk, Eastern European music, Mexican music, folk and acid-rock are all there--but played sharper and produced better than ever before. A lot of this album sounds like you are in the same room with one of the best bands America has ever produced. It sounds like every album Camper has ever done, plus all of their solo careers, all gloriously mashed together. It also effortly goes from hilarious (Militia Song) to heartbreaking (the title track) to scary (I am Talking to this Flower). I simply cannot say enough good things about this album--if you ever liked Camper, if you ever liked 80's underground music, if you ever liked GOOD MUSIC in general, pick this up--they don't make 'em like this anymore. Not in THIS millenium!
Submitted by mabewa (Osaka, Japan)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Brevity=soul of wit
This is quite simply the best album that I have heard in the last two years.
Submitted by renniks (Red State)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No | Have you heard this album? |  |
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