Who is a bigger Jason Falkner fan than me? I’ve been talking him up for years. When I heard he left Elektra, I wasn’t sure how to react. On one hand they lost a genius, but would he now have the freedom needed to flourish at a smaller more hands off label? Necessity: The 4-track Years is full of tracks recorded over the last few years with nothing but a Porta-One four-track, except “She’s Not The Enemy”, which more heavily produced.
Jason Falkner writes some of the best pop songs in the world and “She’s Not The Enemy” is no different, full of silly barbs knocking around a head solid of melody, giving us another Falkner classic. It’s formulaic Beatles for sure.
Admittedly many of the songs sound damn good for being four-tracked. Knowing something about the old Porta-One, the four-track Jason used, it was obvious he mastered this device. “She Goes To Bed” is warmer than ever and catches his voice as beautiful and raw as it might sound in the shower. True to life, Jason proves his talent isn’t lost without super producer Nigel Godrich holding his hand.
“His Train” is mixed oddly with one ear full of Falkner, both of the harmony, and then the scuffle of a drum to toss the other ear for a loop. I can hear the fuzz big time, and without the crisp center it’s not as nice as it could have been. “Song For Her” harkens back to the previous album, Can You Still Feel? “Hectified” is a real gem lost ten tracks deep. It’s a pleasure.
The Jason Falkner experiment, as I like to call it, is a decent one, but this album pales in comparison to Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel? As big a fan as I am, I wish these tracks had been iced out in all their glory with red-hot production and all the bells and whistles. A track like “I Live” could have been glorious, but instead it sounds like something recorded off of the radio with an ultra weak signal. It sounds worse the better your stereo. I’m torn, on one hand knowing Falkner is one of music’s great artists mastering his art and on the other wondering what could have been if this were really given its due glory.
+ charlie craine
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