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Hobo Sapiens

John Cale - Hobo Sapiens Audio CD

A fair review of the John Cale "Hobo Sapiens" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all John Cale reviews here, or go back to the John Cale tabs.

Band: John Cale
Title: Hobo Sapiens
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-09-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Zen 2: Reading My Mind 3: Things 4: Look Horizon 5: Magritte 6: Archimedes 7: Caravan 8: Bicycle 9: Twilight Zone 10: Letter from Abroad 11: Things X 12: Over Her Head 13: Set Me Free (US Bonus Track)

Great Again
He has continually released music that is provocative and yet pleasing, but the marketplace always seems two or three steps out of sync with him. I can't help but wonder if John Cale is frustrated by the course of his career. Cale's release schedule has been sporadic at best, and HoboSapiens might be his most interesting and provocative batch of tunes since Paris 1919 was released in the `70s. For somebody who can trace his lineage all the way back to the mid '60s (when he was a founding member of Velvet Underground), Cale has no problem keeping up with the times; in fact, the opposite might be true. The production on Hobosapiens is strikingly contemporary, at times almost urban in its usage of samples and programmed rhythm tracks. Ultimately, though, it is an extraordinarily organic record, with tremendous diversity from track to track. Cale veers between styles like a master, retaining his artful ability for creating unique songscapes, with an emphasis on clever, introspective lyrics.
Hobosapiens sounds like an album that Cale made to his own specifications. It is as though he recognizes that today's shallow music scene will not accept him on their terms, so he opts to stick to his own. Mankind's inability to find resolution within ourselves appears to be the overriding theme here, and it makes for some interesting listening. The results are sometimes bitter ("In Zen and the Art of forgery, we're losing control of light"), sometimes introspective ("What a shame we carry with us the residue of fools"), but always fascinating. Critics often bemoan Cale's artful approach to music. . . as if that's a bad thing. Cale is obviously a fan of fine art, and he uses this knowledge to draw parallels, referencing everyone from Magritte and Picasso to El Greco along the way, thus demanding attention from the listener. It is music that rewards multiple listens, as meanings unfold within the framework of his delicately constructed soundscapes.
Despite his reputation as an avant-garde composer, Cale's approach remains accessible throughout Hobosapiens. The mood here is restrained and introspective, and perhaps a bit playful, but never manic. Diversity is tantamount, with each track occupying a unique space among the twelve tracks represented here. In an alternate universe, where intelligence, talent and artful expression determine a record's popularity, this collection of songs would be in the top 10. Unfortunately, John Cale doesn't live in that universe, but Hobosapiens offers us the opportunity to live in his universe for a while. I suggest that you take it. A- Tom Ryan.

Contemplative excursion
The first three tracks, Zen, Reading My Mind and Things are standard Cale numbers, with nothing extraordinary in either the lyrics or the tunes. This 2003 album by the art rock veteran is a great improvement on 1996's Walking On Locusts, but certainly no outstanding masterpiece.

The same goes for The Look Horizon, a rock ballad that contains a spoken female vocal. Magritte has some moving lyrics over a jagged rhythm with innovative tempo changes and instrumentation, whilst Archimedes is a brooding experimental track embellished by great instrumental touches.

The slow song Caravan is a poetic contemplation of death in moving lyrics and imagery, whilst the up-tempo pop song Twilight Zone mercifully breaks the mould with its buoyant vocals and lilting beat. Letter From Abroad has a harder edge with a complex structure and atmospheric parts, quite an experimental outing.

In general, Hobo Sapiens is a quiet, contemplative album with many similar sounding mid-tempo tracks. It lacks the type of powerful rock song that is so brilliantly displayed on the Island Years compilation. I recommend that album or the other excellent compilation, Seducing Down The Door, if you want to own his best work. But Hobo Sapiens will satisfy the fans.
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Wow!
As I was considering whether to shell out for the expensive import, I listened to samples of each song that are up on Cale's web site. Other reviewers have gone into the details, so let me just add a couple of comments. That was an amazingly useless exercise--none of the songs seemed remotely interesting. I finally got the album once it was released domestically, having faith in it because 1) it's John Cale and 2) reviewers seemed unanimous in singing its praises. After a few listens, I was completely blown away. I have listened to it compulsively, quite unlike my reaction to his last album, Walking on Locusts. It's wonderful to find music that takes so many listens to even begin to digest. I too consider it among his best. (It's so good that it made me completely forget that I had just bought the wonderul Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus by Nick Cave, which I have finally gotten back to. ) Another reviewer complained about the "special effects" as another example of Cale's over-producing. I agree about the over-production of some of his past work, and I can believe that seeing him play the music in totally stripped-down form might be the ultimate experience. (I can only judge by the sublime "Fragments of a Rainy Season," as I have sadly never seen him live. ) But at least on the first few dozen listens, most of the instrumentation, loops, etc. work for me. If you like Cale's work at all, buy this today. If you don't know his work, buy it anyway, and if you don't like it after a few listens, listen a few more times, as it can take a little time for Cale's music to creep into the darker recesses of one's soul. I got hooked on this one and have played it a LOT; it also showed up two nights in a row in my nightmares when I had the flu recently.

we are all stars...
I used to see him ten years ago walking around the East Village. John Cale was always the cool member of the Velvet Underground. I didn't know it was him, but one day I saw him for the tenth time and said to myself: "That is John Cale. " Lately he has been doing film scores and being interviewed for punk documentaries. He was in the center of the punk movement because he produced a lot of cool albums. His solo work has always been hit or miss. It has always been interesting. Listening to his voice in songs like the song "Zen" he reminds me of Tindersticks. Cale has always been art obsessed. Here he does a song called "Magritte. " This album is overall pretty damn good. Nobody really expects him to do anything new or good, but John Cale surprises us. He is still an artist with a vision. .

10 stars, actually
It's got the same elegant sadness as "The Endless Plain Of Fortune" but with a tinge of the viola arrangements from Nico's "No One Is There". "Magritte" is easily one of the best pieces Cale has written in a while. "Caravan" delves into sublte La Monte Young droning and "Things" sounds like it could easily fit on Vintage Violence. "Things X", a rework of "Things", seems like a continuation of the ideas put forth in "Sister Ray", "Gun" and the Sabotage album but with lots of glitched electronics -- a real noise jam. "Zen" is a gorgeous, souful slice of electro-gospel. "Letters From Abroad" is a mixture of guitar weirdness and big beats. The whole album is brilliant. We get the classic Cale mixture of country/rock, noise, classical, pop and intelligent/literate lyricism. Definately right up there with Fear & Paris 1919!.

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