Word: bensonã
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Dates: during 2002-2002
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...understand Brendan Benson??s current situation is to understand his past, and to understand his past is to understand upheaval. After spending childhood pinballing between his birthplace of Detroit and Louisiana, Benson eventually settled in Oakland, California, where in the mid-1990s he was discovered by Virgin Records and signed to a multi-album deal. Benson??s 1996 debut, Mississippi One, fell into the familiar rut of being critically acclaimed but commercially shunned, due in part to troubles with the record company. His first record has gone out of print, but since its release, Benson...
...songs from Lapalco to TT the Bear’s in Davis Square on Jan. 18 as a part of a mini-northeastern tour. TT’s eclectic interior and core audience reflects everything that is “bitsa” (bitsa this, bitsa that) in Benson??s appearance and performance. Part bar, part stage, TT’s has a reputation with hip Cantabridgians for bringing bands a level up from obscure. Physically, Benson is a little slight, a little wiry, a little scruffy and a little handsome. Evoking the image of grunge music?...
...gyrations to his tambourine and maracas man), even failing to identify the members of his backup band. His workman-like approach brought focus more to the music than to performance, but also somewhat alienated an audience obviously familiar with most of his work. It was also off-putting, because Benson??s songs are mainly playful and self-effacing. On “You’re Quiet,” he croons “I need a pickup / And I don’t mean a truck”—delivered with a sardonic scowl...
...other tracks, Benson??s composition—he wrote seven tracks and shares authorship on the remaining five—shows that he’s done his musical homework. Parts of “What” pay homage to Iggy Pop’s “I am a Passenger,” and Benson astutely captures the California post-punk movement and adds to that Beach Boys influences on “I’m Easy.” The fusion is seamless and the result is supremely infectious music. Over the course...