august lì2005 ' jUSt QMt37
MUSIC
▼
-T.,
he four-octave voice of Holcombe Waller
sounds the way an angel would sound if it
had been forced to wear a suit and tie,
* design Excel spreadsheets and commute to
work in a world of nefarious corporations,
crumbling towers and Prozac. Which is to say,
the heartbreaking beauty of his music shines
through and is even bom of the suffering, sor
row and confusion of workaday America.
In a world where most musicians focus on
their sexual urges and oh-so-poignant heart
break, it’s rare, even unsettling, to encounter
an artist whose songs strive to encompass more
than himself. Waller’s newest release, Troubled
rimes, is a meditation on the U.S. cultural
landscape—a mournfully urgent series of bal
lads that address the American psyche, 9/11
and even the secretary of state.
Compared to his first two albums—1999’s
Advertising Space and 200l’s Extravagant Ges
ture, both released on his own label, Napoleon
Records— Troubled Times is a glaringly pared-
down production. He and musical collaborator
Ben Landsverk recorded most of the tracks live
in a warehouse space with one or two well-
positioned microphones. The results are
achingly raw, mostly percussionless composi
tions of tender guitars, antique electric key
boards, banjo and, most notably, Waller’s
seraphic voice, reminiscent at rimes of Jeff
Buckley, Damien Rice and even Tori Amos.
“I got interested in live performance and
the subtle dynamics between you and the
instrument and you and someone else,” he says.
“That’s where the magic is for me.”
But the warm, trancelike sweep of the
music obscures an emotionally raw album
deeply contemplative of the state of our union.
Waller’s music is like thick poetry: Very little
Angel in America
T
Holcombe Waller’s seraphic voice
provides comfort during Troubled Times
by
A aron S cott
can be taken at face value, and motifs run
music throughout college—he won
throughout.
Best Male Soloist at the National
The song “No Enemy” is the most obvious
Championship of College A Cappel-
example. Waller blends his only outright politi la—he returned to San Francisco
cal lyrics—an entreating of Condoleezza Rice
after graduation to begin again as a
to reveal the corruption of her administra
singer/songwriter. While temping to
tion—with his most saccharine pop, resulting
pay the bills, he .quickly climbed a
in an ironic and even demeaning address: “Oh
corporate ladder until he was making
Condie!/Do you lie alone each night?/Put
a handsome salary as a director of
down the gun, girl, fight the good fight/There
business systems analysis.
is no enemy coming/But you’re making ene
“1 never bought into corporate
mies, Condoleezz."
America; I saw it as a game,” explains
However, most of the songs are more veiled I Waller. “But office jobs aren’t natural.
commentaries. “Joy Cruising,” presumably
It slowly starred to destroy me.” After
about driving, explores the decadent imperative
a spiritual crisis of sorts following
A survivor of corporate America, Holcombe Waller now
to consume that fuels the American psyche.
9/11, Waller relocated to Portland to
makes music'about its ethos of greed, fear and despair.
“People are embedded in the moneymaking
escape the world of elevators and
enterprise because they are embedded in their
dot-coms.
car payments and their house payments,”
Troubled Times is the result of his journey. By
reveals the life we are missing.”
reflects Waller. “It’s a really decadent period
attempting to weave larger stories from his own
If so much is true, then Troubled Times is a
we’re living in. We can have fruits and vegeta
experiences, Waller says, “I’m trying to crack rhe great work of art indeed. jH
bles and anything we want shipped to us via
egg of consensus reality.”
petroleum. It’s decadent, and it’s going to end.”
But it’s not all diximsaying. The album ends
HOLCOMBE WALLER performs with Trespassers
The youthful, scruffy-bearded songwriter is
with “Hope Is Everywhere,” in which Mia Doi
William arid Rachel Taylor Brown 9 p.m. Aug. 24
an unlikely prophet for the post-corporate
Todd repeats the line to Waller’s melancholy
at the Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Bumside St.
class. Bom of a software engineer and a librari
but trepidatiously hopeful piano. Citing Ameri Tickets arc $7 from TicketsWest.
an in Palo Alto, Calif., he won a songwriting
cana-punk balladeer Gillian Welch as an influ
competition at 15 that led to a recording deal,
ence on his storytelling style, he says: “There’s
A aron S cott works in an office with neither
which he abandoned to study physics and then
a magic and grace in rhe way things are. Art
elevators nor ladders. You can contact him at
art at Yale University. Remaining involved in
dwells in rhe things we don’t see; the best art
aaronxscott@yahoo. c< im.
THE PERFECT OUTING
---------- -----------------
Satisfy your need for speed and your sense of adventure with an Outrageous jet boat
cruise. Smooth and sleek, this comfortable craft will take you on an excursion to one
of three high-speed destinations. There's nothing like an Outrageous outing!
To Historic Astoria - Enjoy a colorful account of Lewis 6 Clark's push to the Pacific as your travel
to beautiful Astoria, the "San Francisco of the Northwest."
\
That story
wab right on
Can you. cover
more bear eventb?
1
To Bonneville Dam 6 Columbia Gorge - Multnomah Falls, Beacon Rock, Bonneville Dam and more.
No other stretch of waterway in the world offers so much grandeur.
totally
agree !
To Kelly Point - This convergence of the tranquil Willamette and mighty Columbia is steeped
in frontier history and folklore.
ISrlUnJ
< >1 I I l<A(if < >1 IS
Columbia River Adventure&
For information and reservations:
503-224-3900 • 800-224-3901
www.outrageousjetboat.com
1 just want to
bay, “Thank jjou
,
cT Li cj c>
, uj e may go
ess.
0 ILL L •
Don’t hold back,
tell us how
you really feel.
Speak Out letters to the editor get read Let us know how you feel Email justout@justout com
or mail: PO Box 14400. Portland. OR 97293-0400