The ultra-cool Vicky Wheeler chimed in this week with a review of *Guy Capecelatro III’s* ultra-cool CD _North for the Winter_, for the ultra-cool Dagger Zine.
What a review.
Vicky says Guy “is a tale-telling poet and a master of imagery that is nothing short of cinematic,” going on to say “every track is a story that could be a book that could be a movie.” The review is so flattering we can’t help but reproduce the whole thing, but you can read it “here”:http://www.daggerzine.com/reviews_main.html in its entirety as well.
“Guy Capecelatro III – NORTH FOR THE WINTER-(DROMEDARY)
Al from Dromedary told me that Guy Capecelatro III played with Unbunny. And we all know how I feel about Jared Del Deo (a/k/a Unbunny, but if you don’t know, “obsessed” is pretty apt). Then I was told by a New Hampshire pal that there’s a dish at The Friendly Toast restaurant in Portsmouth called “The Guy Scramble” named for him, and we all know how I feel about scrambled food, too. So I was fairly primed to dig this record and I tried to stop calling him Guy Capiwhatshisface by thinking “cup of cilantro” (yeah, um, sorry, Guy) and took my shovel to the songs (better to dig with)… which aren’t so much songs as musical novellas. Above all else, this guy named Guy with his boyishly buoyant voice and Neil-Young-ish melodies (not the rock Neil, really, but the plaintive “Flying on the Ground is Wrong” *song* Neil), is a tale-telling poet and a master of imagery that is nothing short of cinematic. Sure, sure, these are irrepressibly catchy guitar/bass/drum affairs mostly, disarmed with singing saw, lap steel, church organ, mournful banjo, and so forth… but keep listening: every track is a story that could be a book that could be a movie. “Switch” is about a serial killer whose final victim gets him to give himself up to the authorities, but not before he gives himself to her. “Hope and Destiny” are sisters who couldn’t be more opposite but who would die without the other, and, uh, no spoilers, but aaaah whatever, they drown, and no kidding, I cried the first time I heard it. “Wedding” (vocals by Juliet Nelson, from the terrific Tiger Saw) is a bittersweet ode to an ex’s sister’s nuptials, watching from a distance as the ex flirts with a caterer, and “what am I doing here” (question mark intentionally omitted). There’s “Joe the Sailor,” who is a bad cop, and the whore that takes him down and the son who wishes there was something else he could have said to or had from his father. And oh my glob, the album opener, “Like Anything,” perfectly soulfully illustrates the convoluted meandering thoughts and actions in the final moments of a doomed relationship. Even the little songs (there are 18 of ‘em, whew, and some are super short) are rich as the most decadent layer cake between the lines. “Ferris Wheel” is a minute-long remembrance of a first date with an undie-less paramour, “a delightful show” indeed. My favorite song on the record, “Sorry Kate” (featuring Gregg Porter from the awesome cerebral bluegrass band Milkweed) is under 2 minutes, the reading of a quick letter to a friend about the friend’s ex, with “bruises on her back in the shape of a snake, ESSing down to her aaaaaass,” annoyed that she was “using all the oxygen up in the room with dumb remarks,” but then, uh oh, “…raggedy hair tangled…with dried flowers and sticks… she slipped and fell right into my arms…” and oooops, he’s sorry, Kate. NORTH FOR THE WINTER is so dense with ideas and inimitable phrasing, it’s almost ridiculous. Even the flippant lines sparkle, like on “Girlfriends” (with Jarid Del Deo singing, and oh yeah, Jarid did the painting on the album cover, too), “Hey, all you old girlfriends, do you still take your dresses off reeeal sloooow…?” Argh! I didn’t even get to “New Year” which is my 2nd favorite, or the one about kicking junk (I think he means drugs) on a Greyhound to North Dakota. There is SO MUCH MORE, I feel bad I can’t indulge myself here and tell allllll the stories. I never say this and I think it’s rude in a record review (or otherwise) to tell people what to do, but you should just buy it. You’ll thank me. And you’re welcome. www.dromedary-records.com VICKY WHEELER”
