DOWNLOAD: Adam Green - "What Makes Him Act So Bad"
DOWNLOAD: Adam Green - "Castles and Tassels"

Adam Green released his sixth solo album, Minor Love, earlier this month. As a brief disclaimer, this is my first exposure to Green's music so I can't compare this disc to any of his earlier work.

After listening to Minor Love a few times, the immediately comparison is to late 70's/early 80's era Lou Reed. Green tells narrative stories in a near spoken-word singing voice and, like some of Reed's themes, these are tales of scumbags, squalor and excess which are delivered with a dark sense of humor. Musically, the disc spans a number of style which range from 70's soul/funk ("Buddy Bradley", "Lockout") to the Velvet Underground sounding "What Makes Him Act So Bad". The disc switches gears mid-way as Green embraces a Country-Western folk style reminiscent of Rob Orbison ("Cigarette Burns Forever") and Johnny Cash ("Boss Inside", "You Blacken My Stay"). While some of the stylistic jumps can be somewhat disconcerting, the disc is held together by Green's lyrics which show his view on the world and the people within it. To provide a brief view into Green's outlook on life - he is the only songwriter that I can think of who can successfully pull off rhyming "castles and tassels" with "flatulent assholes".



Adam Green is currently touring in Europe and he is back in town for two headlining shows at Bowery Ballroom on April 23rd and April 24th. Tickets for the Bowery Ballroom show are $15 and The Dead Trees (who are out with Green for the month of April) are opening the show.

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Adam Green