Send "Crooked Fingers " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Eric Bachmann has been making records for about 20 years now, and in that time, the economics of recording and distributing music have changed in every way imaginable. Bachmann was never on a major label-- Archers of Loaf released their records on Alias Records, and Crooked Fingers have split time between Warm, Merge, and self-releasing music-- but he still seems to have recognized that musicians need to be looking for alternative sources of funding for their projects. To pay for the recording and release of this EP, his second short collection of covers, Bachmann turned to Kickstarter.com, a site that lets artists, charities, community groups, inventors, and all manner of other people solicit donations for their projects. A donation gets you something in return, in this case anything from a high-quality download at the $6 level to a performance by the band in your living room for $2,500. (NB: Pitchfork publisher Chris Kaskie is an investor in Kickstarter.)Bachmann and his Crooked Fingers cohorts clearly made it well beyond their funding goal, enabling them to do a digital/vinyl release; this is the second covers EP the band has released, and for its modest ambitions, it delivers a lot. The focus is a bit different this time. Where last time, he included a huge hit (Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure") and got a little outside the Crooked Fingers comfort zone by taking on Prince as well, on Vol. II Bachmann turns his sights on songs a little more naturally in his wheelhouse. Merle Haggard, Moby Grape, John Hartford (via Glen Campbell), Thin Lizzy, Billy Joe Shaver (via Waylon Jennings), and the Kinks all get the modern Americana treatment, and it more or less all works. It's also interesting to hear the band return to such a subdued approach after cramming Forfeit/Fortune with horns and European folk sounds. The golden-era country covers, Haggard's "Shelly's Winter Love" and Shaver's "Black Rose", are two of the most notable re-interpretations. Bachmann strips both of the the sonic signifiers of country music, leaving out the steel guitars and twang in favor of warm textures. "Shelly's Winter Love" goes from pretty Bakersfield ballad to a shimmering, even haunting, atmospheric love song, and it's a great, unexpected choice for a cover. Bachmann's rough-hewn voice does well to the 1970 Dave Davies-penned Kinks song "Strangers", even though some subtle bleepy synthesizer is the only major change to the song. The EP sags in the middle a bit-- Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind" is too understated, while they manage to suck almost all the energy out of Thin Lizzy's "Wild One". I'll take the original's harmonized lead guitar any day....full text |
| Fuelfriendsblog |
| Formerly the frontman of ’90s rock band Archers of Loaf, Eric Bachmann has been crafting music with his band Crooked Fingers for over a decade. He writes incisive, pitch-perfect songs (remember “Sleep All Summer” that The National and St. Vincent covered last year? It was one of my favorite finds of those warm months, and Nick Hornby’s as well). Sleep All Summer – Crooked Fingers Sleep All Summer – The National & St. Vincent [from the Merge SCORE! comp] The first Reservoir Songs EP in 2002 had an old-time baptism depicted on the cover, and the gentle, warm arrangements of songs therein knocked me flat. I loved his version of Springsteen’s “The River” — somehow he makes the original even more heartbreaking, the disillusionment of forgotten dreams gentle but thorough [listen here]. Bachmann is currently harnessing the power of the internets to kickstart funding support behind his next Reservoir Songs Vol. 2 EP (due out on July 6). There will be six new covers on the second incarnation, with a vinyl-only pressing on the tiny indie label Foreign Leisure. His songwriting fodder this time around is Merle Haggard, Moby Grape, Thin Lizzy, Billie Jo Shaver, The Kinks, and this late ’60s easy rambler from John Hartford: Gentle On My Mind (John Hartford) – Crooked Fingers To pledge to this project through Kickstarter just means you commit ahead, buying ahead to show the financial backing for the endeavor. I think it might be the future of music for indie musicians. Bachmann’s already raised more than the $5000 needed to initiate, but look – for just $15 now, you get a limited, numbered edition of the EP on vinyl with screenprinted cover art, and a download. What is raised now, in excess of the set goal, goes towards a new Crooked Fingers full-length album, after 2008’s Forfeit/Fortune, which is just fine by me....full text |
| Noripcord |
| Only (former Archers of Loaf frontman) Eric Bachmann could inject an added dose of misery, impending gloom and vocal restraint to some random covers on this 5-track EP, the third offering from his Crooked Fingers project. His recent incarnations (Crooked Fingers, Barry Black with Ben Folds, and a new film score) have left the mid-90's indie-fuzz far behind in favour of banjo and lap steel. The eclectic collection of covers reek of a Carolinian backwoods, chaw-spitting orchestra pulled off with the same trademark, nonchalant intensity that often ignited his Archers quartet into a sonic barrage of off-kilter melody. On the Kris Kristofferson (!) cover of Sunday Morning Coming Down Bachmann plaintively croaks "The beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had another for dessert" in a been there before, matter-of-fact manner. A Springsteen reinterpretation of The River pops up as does a throaty, teeth-clenched delivery on Under Pressure. But the renovated Prince classic When You Were Mine is an acoustic, heartbreaking rocking chair gem, a custom fit for Bachmann. "When you were mine you were all I ever wanted to do / Passing my time / Following him whenever he's with you / I love you more than I did when you were mine." The solemn background harmony coincides perfectly with his hungover and half-stoned presence, a simple sadness rather than a mopey (J Mascis) or decidedly barely-conscious and bitter (Mark Lanegan) final product....full text |
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