[.ca] Coke Machine Glow

From Amazon.com:
There's no doubting a guaranteed audience for Gordon Downie's solo debut among those startlingly loyal Tragically Hip fans. There was also no doubt, based on the singer's kaleidoscopic lyrics and feral performance style, that any Downie solo work would be an enormous departure from the meat-and-potatoes rock of his day-job band. Yet Coke Machine Glow comes by its weirdness honestly, building on the singer's hunched-shoulder observations with spare, mostly acoustic layers of piano, pump organ, strings, Telecaster, and just about anything else at hand. And the record moves, alternately pitching us junkyard country, a shambling tuba-goosed Mardi Gras-style corker, and fragile folk and pop ballads, all tethered to Downie's literate song-poems, on one occasion delivered spoken word, possibly from the bottom of a well. Hip fans will note the ubiquitous homegrown references but may be surprised by the gauzy sentimentality of "Trick Rider," which finds one-time Eric's Trip member Julie Doiron shadowing Downie's hushed lead vocal. Coke Machine Glow won't bewitch the high-fiving throng for which "Courage" or "New Orleans Is Sinking" stand as beacons to Canadian-rock glory. But it's fascinating to follow Downie as he wanders down these various paths, always pausing to glance around and take notes for future use. --Kim Hughes

So sorry:
This is the worst album I've ever been duped into buying. Admittedly, I was brought in by the legacy of the Hip, and Downie's very peculiar live ramblings, and expected something in that vein. Instead, this is coffee house open-mic poetry to very eclectic music. Gord's odd verse is a neat filler on mellow guitar solos during Hip live shows, but it doesn't cut it as central lyrics. Some of the poems are good, but most don't do it for me. And the music behind them borders on downright terrible, by any genre's standards. Artists should be allowed to experiment, but they should know when the results aren't good. Keep with the Hip albums, even the worst of them are better than this.

Haunted:
I find myself constantly playing this album. It has become a soundtrack to my life lately. I do not find the album "too mellow" at all but feel a simmering energy despite lower decibels than I would have imagined. I find the back up band very satisfying and refreshingly different. I bought this at the same time as the new Hip. The new Hip album, as usual, took a while to grow on me, but I loved Coke Machine Glow immediately. It is quite odd. The songs are such that they creep into your consciousness and you find yourself humming them at unexpected moments; but if you dare to sing along while listening to the music, Downie's phrasing will challenge you and you'll stick to humming! A master atist.

One of my favorites:
I love this album, there are some great songs here. I think the the songs are so blatantly quirky, they work for me somehow. I wish there was more of this kind music being made. I could have done without the poetry which is wierd, but overall a classic in my book. The Hip's new album, In violet light, has Downies same great lyrics but its too hard rock for my taste, and unfortunately the lyrics get lost there. Love to hear that album done in this setting..........

Interesting but extremely uneven:
Those anticipating a reprise of the turbulent hip venacular may want to give this debatable solo disc a wide berth. Clearly not the musical force behind his day gig, Downie relies on resonant background effects and airy engineering to add heft to some rather rickety compositions. Lilting ballads "Vancouver Divorce", "Trick Rider", and "Lofty Pines" are the keepers here, along with a sloppy garage rocker called "Canada Geese". The remaining songs on this drawn-out release are little more than fussed-over filler; genre pieces like "Elaborate" and "Every Irrelevance" are generic and uninspired, while the ponderous spoken-word segments - complete with Director Atom Egoyan on classical guitar - are likely to alienate any listener not incontestably enamoured with, well, ponderous spoken-word segments.

Haunted:
I find myself constantly playing this album. It has become a soundtrack to my life lately. I do not find the album "too mellow" at all but feel a simmering energy despite lower decibels than I would have imagined. I find the back up band very satisfying and refreshingly different. I bought this at the same time as the new Hip. The new Hip album, as usual, took a while to grow on me, but I loved Coke Machine Glow immediately. It is quite odd. The songs are such that they creep into your consciousness and you find yourself humming them at unexpected moments; but if you dare to sing along while listening to the music, Downie's phrasing will challenge you and you'll stick to humming! A master atist.

• Starpainters
• Vancouver Divorce
• SF Song
• Trick Rider
• Canada Geese
• Chancellor
• Never-Ending Present
• Nothing But Heartache in Your Social Life
• Blackflies
• Lofty Pines
• Boy Bruised But Butterfly Chase
• Mystery
• Elaborate
• Yer Possessed
• Every Irrelevance
• Insomniacs of the World, Good Night