It’s not often I get excited about an artist just by reading
\ntheir bio. To be honest, I try not to put too much faith in
\nmaterials that are included with some of the review copies of discs
\nI get in the mail. But Dan Bern was different – here was someone
\nthat was portrayed as outspoken, irreverent, and provocative – not
\nto mention having a great introspective view in his songs.<\/p>\n
No sooner had I read his bio that I found myself tugging at the
\nshrinkwrap on his latest release
\nFifty Eggs<\/i>. I had to hear for myself if all of this was true
\n– if it was, he was a musician after my own heart. And while the
\nbuildup is a tad strong – he’s not as outrageous as I would have
\nexpected – Bern definitely is the Loudon Wainwright III of
\nGeneration X, and deserves your attention.<\/p>\n
Produced by alternative
\nchanteuse<\/i> Ani DiFranco, Bern makes the most of his talents,
\nthough it takes a song or two to get used to his style of singing.
\nOnce you’ve digested “Tiger Woods” (a song that has little to do
\nwith the golfer), the rest is easy. Even “Tiger Woods” isn’t a bad
\ntrack, one in which Bern claims “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s
\ntrue.”<\/p>\n
The outrageousness comes when Bern dares to compare historical
\nstalwarts with the rest of us who are looking for a purpose in life
\nin the song “One Thing Real”. But far from being blasphemous, it
\nreminds us that we’re all basically in the same search for what
\nmakes us complete.<\/p>\n
His outspokenness continues on songs like “Cure For AIDS,” in
\nwhich Bern imagines the world once the cure is available in a pill
\nform. And if you think this is sacreligious, don’t yell at Bern –
\nsuch a concept has been around for some time. (If you want shock
\nvalue, check out “No Missing Link,” in which Bern offers his own
\nview of man’s evolution.)<\/p>\n
But just as Bern challenges your view of the world with a slap
\nin the face on
\nFifty Eggs<\/i>, he also shows his mettle as a storyteller. On
\n“Oh Sister,” Bern tells of the importance of this person in his
\nlife: “And where would Willie Mays have been \/ Without Jackie
\nRobinson \/ And who can say what I’d been \/ Without you to lead the
\nway.” It’s a song that I find myself returning to often. “Different
\nWorlds” dares to point out that even in “the great American melting
\npot,” there is a lot that separates (in Bern’s example) blacks and
\nwhites, but he points this out reverently.<\/p>\n
And as much as DiFranco’s influence is important on
\nFifty Eggs<\/i>, one wonders how many mentions on the album is
\nenough. Bern mentions her name twice in songs (“Chick Singers” and
\n“One Dance”). Hey, isn’t it enough that I’m now intrigued enough to
\ncheck out some of DiFranco’s work? (In Bern’s defense, on “Chick
\nSingers,” he does well in remembering many artists whom rock fans
\nin general might not have paid much attention to in the past.)<\/p>\n
But just as Loudon Wainwright III was dismissed as a joke
\nbecause of one stupid novelty hit in “Dead Skunk,” people might not
\nconsider Bern to be serious because of the nature of some of his
\nmusic. To these people, I say you’ve missed the point entirely (and
\nin the case of Wainwright, you’re still missing the point). Bern
\nisn’t out there to make us laugh; he uses humor, explicit detail
\nand the like to get his message across, and for the most part, he
\ndoes an excellent job.<\/p>\n
Biggest criticism: Why do artists continue to throw hidden
\ntracks on CDs? Granted, I didn’t have to wade through 40
\nthree-second-long tracks of silence to get to the 13th song – but
\nthis shit has to stop. Credit the track on the liner notes and get
\nit out of the way. (Sorry, but enough is enough – seems like I’m
\nrunning into this once a week these days.)<\/p>\n
\nFifty Eggs<\/i> is a disc that should be given a fair shake by
\nboth rock fans, alternative fans and even folk afficionados alike.
\nBern has been clawing his way towards recognition with his
\ntake-no-prisoners approach to the music – and it’s working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5949],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-35921","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-dan-bern","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35921"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35921"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}