HoboSapiens
September 16th, 2004
I had been waiting for John Cale’s latest album, HoboSapiens with a lot of anticipation. Being an election year, I thought for sure he’d try to re-create some of his edgier political pop-rock. That may have first lead to some mixed feelings on my part, but I’m happy to report that this album is, in fact, thoroughly enjoyable—if not his most approachable record to date.
Avante-garde is still his favorite past time, if you can pardon the oxymoron in that statement. In fact, not two minutes into the opening number, Zen, he’s spitting out art references like they’re not out of style, “In Zen and the art of forgery, we’re losing control of light. Delaunay and Picasso, Mondrian, el Greco, someone’s gonna pay the price.”
Much like the album’s cover art, there’s an aeriform quality to the music. It’s
contemporary and artsy without an elitist attitude. At times it approaches the
pop/art sensibility of Peter Gabriel’s So. However, the usual thematic suspects still prevail.
If I ever understand why a Welsh-born musician obsesses so much about the American Midwest, I’m going to stop listening to John Cale’s music altogether, although I suspect his autobiography might yield some clues. That being said, Things (to do in Denver when you’re dead) can easily be placed in the top five list of his most catchy numbers to date. Despite the unoriginality of the chorus (it’s actually lifted from a terrible 1996 movie starring Christoper Walken), the song has an irresistible upbeat, sing-along quality to it.
Reading my mind and Look Horizon both swing with a worldly rhythmic jazz as well, which is a fitting new addition to the composer’s bag of tricks. The biggest character jump, though, has to be Bicycle, a sultry and loose freeplay of “Dooh dooh dooh dooh’s” not unlike Suzane Vega’s hit from the 90’s.
While it would certainly be unrealistic to smell a string of commercial hits (to be fair, I couldn’t really say that about any of his more popular contemporaries either), John Cale has done well to keep his musical legacy fresh and full of surprises. I can say with confidence now that HoboSapiens contains some of his best music in a very, very long time.