SCHOOLYARD GHOSTS

Well, the man's name circulates more every year and I have attempted to enjoy his work in various projects and collaborations, but, well... more Wilson, more middle-of-the-road atmospheric rock with arch lyrics. Go on, tell me I'm wrong. ;P

Schoolyard Ghosts is epic where epic is a synonym for slow, emotional where emotional is a synonym for predictable, formulaic, suffuse with a constant numb echo and, over all, crushingly dull. When the mist parts to reveal songs with a little thrust and power to them (Pigeon Drummer has a stomping bridge) they are almost misleadingly effective, no matter if you actually *like* them, since both enjoyment and repulsion are valid and valuable experiences compared to listening to the first two sleepwalking songs all the way through.

The scary thing is that No-Man must have enjoyed assembling this CD since most songs on it have the signs of being played with passion and conviction but, at least for me, this just doesn't translate into either a positive or a negative. I don't think the lyrics are all that successful in plying the emotions either - perhaps I am simply too guarded against their style but I don't think they've attempted to reach me. This is a long way from absolute music yet it is too self-absorbed to contain much with which you can identify.

Look into this CD if your collection is missing a set of lullabies for the musically unexperimental or if you need to anaesthetise someone at short notice and lack the drugs. If, however, you'd rather load your shelves with albums of worthwhile music, then skip this album.