{"id":38125,"date":"2004-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-10-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/shimmer-2\/"},"modified":"2004-10-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2004-10-08T00:00:00","slug":"shimmer-2","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/shimmer-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Shimmer"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is so much interesting music in circulation these days
\nthat indie acts tend to get one shot with me. I’ve rarely gone back
\nand reviewed an independent artist a second time, and even more
\nrarely done it within six months of
\nmy first review<\/a> of their work.<\/p>\n

Mark McKay earned that distinction the old-fashioned way — he
\nwrites terrific songs and sings them like he means it. The music is
\ndeceptively simple — mostly guitar-bass-drums roots-rock — but
\nthe songs are fiercely intelligent little gems, full of purpose,
\nlonging and a certain ragged majesty.<\/p>\n

An early highlight is “Sweet Temptation,” a mid-tempo rocker
\nburnished with Steve Earle guitars, Bruce Springsteen harmonica and
\na laconic Neil Young vocal. “Someday is today \/ The day after
\nnever,” sings McKay as he narrates the tale of a man in jail and
\nthe woman who waits for him. It’s hard to know what’s right and
\nwhat’s wrong, he suggests in one typically acute observation, “In a
\ntime when every hero \/ Just wants to get paid.”<\/p>\n

McKay’s “Nashville,” previously heard in both acoustic and
\nelectric live renditions on McKay’s
\nLive At The Memory Hotel<\/i> disc, receives on its studio
\nrecording the stately, iconic tempo that its mysteriously moving
\nlyric deserves. Companion piece “Stay Around” is a terrific rocker,
\nlit up by McKay’s distorted guitar leads.<\/p>\n

“Full Moon Eyes” looms next with its great intro — “With a head
\nfull of teenage oxygen \/ And a pocket full of cash \/ You ain’t the
\nfirst one to fall into his eyes \/ Baby you just might be the last”
\n— leading into a urban showdown that’s one part “Jungleland” and
\ntwo parts Crazy Horse. “Ready For The Show” is a similarly
\nmemorable number, featuring breathy Wilco country-rock vocals over
\na loping beat decorated with quirky, discordant guitar solos. “You
\nknow the danger in a simple kiss,” notes McKay before the song
\nshambles across the finish line.<\/p>\n

On the rock side of things, “Mercedes” is a slide-guitar stomper
\nof a tune, deconstructing suburban spiritual decay to the beat of a
\nthrobbing shotgun riff. “U-Eye” takes longer to ignite, but builds
\nto a big payoff as McKay and guitarist\/producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel
\n(Steve Earle) power through the closing solos. Earle, along with
\nSpringsteen, Cash and Young, are McKay’s most obvious inspirations
\n— oh, and Lucinda Williams, whose “Side Of The Road” is covered
\nhere. The end product, though, is all McKay.<\/p>\n

“You say I’m your overpass \/ Traffic gliding through the night \/
\nThe cars are gone and you hear the rain \/ Drizzlin’ down on your
\nheart of glass” goes the gorgeous mid-song breakdown of
\nShimmer<\/i>‘s brilliant opener “Rain (Like A Hallelujah).” Here,
\nas they do throughout this terrific album, McKay’s words and music
\nwork like fine brushes on the canvas of your mind. As image and
\nemotion melt into one, you know you’re in the hands of a true
\nartist. McKay’s earlier work suggested greatness;
\nShimmer<\/i> seals the deal.<\/p>\n

\n[Editor’s note:<\/i> Shimmer
\ncan be purchased through
\nwww.markmckay.com<\/a>.]<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7028],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38125","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mark-mckay","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38125","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38125"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}