{"id":38449,"date":"2005-07-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-07-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/distractions\/"},"modified":"2005-07-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-07-22T00:00:00","slug":"distractions","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/distractions\/","title":{"rendered":"Distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ahhhhhh.<\/p>\n<p>This was my reaction after replacing my umpteenth listen to Pink Floyd (we&#8217;ve got a retrospective to finish, y&#8217;know) with  <i>Distractions<\/i>, a decidedly more upbeat release from one of the most talented independent artists I&#8217;ve come across in the past year, singer-songwriter Scott Jackson. Building on last year&#8217;s strong EP  <a href=\"2005_04_08-jw.html\"> <i>My World<\/i> <\/a> , this full-length disc moves Jackson&#8217;s music forward in fine style.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson builds his material from an acoustic, rather Jackson Browne-ish base of supple melodies, delicate vocals and introspective lyrics. But here, as on  <i>My World<\/i>, he pushes it to the next level with the assistance of collaborator\/producer\/guitarist Jerry Wong, whose jangly electric leads bring these songs firmly into the roots-rock realm occupied by the likes of Tom Petty, John Hiatt and BoDeans.<\/p>\n<p>What you end up with, then, is thinking-man&#8217;s folk-rock. &#8220;C&#8217;mon C&#8217;mon&#8221; kicks things off with a roar, a rollicking number about being true to yourself and listening to your muse when &#8220;you wanna say all those things no one&#8217;s ever said before.&#8221; Later on, &#8220;In The Morning&#8221; takes a bluesier, more contemplative approach to one of Hiatt&#8217;s favorite themes &#8212; redemption.<\/p>\n<p>The music throughout is solid and well-played, but the memorable lines Jackson comes up with to punctuate these songs are what consistently makes them come to life for me. The line &#8220;These secrets are sounding like thunder \/ Deep in my mind&#8221; is the crux of the steady-rocking &#8220;When You Gonna Come Down&#8221;; so it is also with &#8220;Precious Things&#8221; and &#8220;I live fast, learn slow \/ These are the things I have come to know.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This disc, Jackson&#8217;s first full-length, wisely includes remastered versions of two of the best numbers from My World, &#8220;Empty Cup&#8221; and &#8220;What Are We Waiting For.&#8221; Both fit in perfectly with this set&#8217;s undercurrents of introspection and spirituality (the latter being most prominent on cuts like &#8220;She Cries&#8221; and &#8220;Mercy&#8221;). &#8220;Tears Of Bourbon&#8221; makes for a fitting closer, a bit of a barroom weeper &#8212; as the title clearly implies &#8212; but arranged as a gentle gospel blues that renders Jackson&#8217;s sometimes-fragile vocals positively luminous.<\/p>\n<p>As  <i>Distractions<\/i> go, this disc is one I&#8217;d gladly ask to color my day again. These eleven songs are full of genuine soul, and immaculately arranged, played and produced. Do yourself a favor and lend Scott Jackson your ear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":27112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7141],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38449","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-scott-jackson","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38449","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=38449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38449"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}