CHRIS & CARLA : SWINGER 500

1. The Good News First
2. Electric Wire
3. New Love Ends
4. Black Rope Tied
5. Fear
6. Swinger 500
7. Funny How Time Slips Away
8. Bingo Catastrophe
9. Blue Winter Snow
10. Mercury Rising
11. Famous Last Words

Label : Glitterhouse Records

Release Date : May 1998

Length : 50:54

Review (AllMusic) : Recorded with help from fellow Walkabouts and other guest performers, Swinger 500 finds Chris and Carla again doggedly pursuing their multifaceted muse. Beginning with a cryptic instrumental snippet with bells, trumpet and low moaning noises, Swinger 500 as always sees the two using gentle folk and country inspirations as a starting point for something far more all-embracing. As compared to the previous studio album Life Full of Holes, Swinger 500 sounds less classically American and very much inspired by the recent Walkabouts albums of the time, European elegance, nightclub grit and back alleys all combining in a drizzly, rainy evening. Not to say the roots of the two don't show -a great version of Willie Nelson's classic "Funny How Time Slips Away" sits right in the middle of the album, assisted by David Immergluck, ex of Camper Van Beethoven, who adds pedal steel and some mandolin throughout the album. David Barnes of the Bad Livers steps up with banjo and some steel himself, but this is country cast in smoky Continental light - acts like Nick Cave or previous album guests Tindersticks provide the touchstone if any. There's the piano/percussion loop combination underscoring "Electric Wire," combined with space laser noises shooting through the late night ambience, or the slinky rhythm of the title track, which sound awfully like Cave's "Red Right Hand." Both singers are again in excellent voice, Torgerson's gentle twang and Eckman's husky whisper and low purrs perfectly suited to their songs - for good contrast, consider her work on the burnt story of love "Black Rope Tied" and his immediately following character study "Fear." Their harmonies on the chorus, not to mention the gentle banjo from Barnes, doesn't offset the ominous lope of the song.

Review (Tape Op) : With the introduction of 8 track recording in the mid-1960's, enough tracks were available to record a song as separate parts instead of needing to have everyone play at once. With records such as Revolver, Something Else by the Kinks, and The Who Sell Out, very successful bands made records which bore no resemblance to a band performing live. Not too much later, this type of recording became unfashionable, and most rock records of the last 30 years sound like a band playing together. For their second studio album, Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson (also of the Walkabouts) chose the less typical approach. The album combines very synthetic sounds, such as synthesizers and drum machines, with very natural ones, like banjos and trumpets, to create a very diverse set of soundscapes. Some sounds on the album resemble the source that was recorded, while others are more processed sounding. Several songs feature out-of-time playing which could only have been created without interaction between musicians. As important as the unusual and interesting arrangements are, Swinger 500 at its root is an album of great and traditional songs. While some bands today seem to think it sufficient to coerce interesting sounds into just about anything resembling a pop structure, Chris and Carla have devoted as much attention to the songwriting on this album as they did on 1995's much more traditional sounding Life Full of Holes. The performances are also excellent, without self-conscious efforts to be excessively detached or emotive. With its great songwriting, interesting arrangements, and effective flow from start to finish, Swinger 500 reminds me more of records like John Cale's Fear or David Bowie's Low than anything from 1998.