ARTIST: Diamond Jim
TITLE: Big Bad Beautiful Dreams
LABEL: Citrus to Citrus/Mad Chatter Records
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 165kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 40m total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-05-00
RIP DATE: 2007-05-16
Track List
----------
1. Pretty Little Zombies All In A 1:05
Row
2. Little Heartbreaker 4:22
3. China Hill 3:29
4. Duck, Little One 2:49
5. Under A Half Moon 4:00
6. Was It Out 6:29
7. Falcon To A Friend 3:26
8. Walk You Home 3:57
9. Broke A Lover 1:34
10. I Can Hear You Laughing 2:23
11. A House Made Of Dawn 2:22
12. Save Me 4:37
Release Notes:
Diamond Jim is the alias of label founder and full time producer/songwriter Jim
Greer. Having released three records under his own name and worked as a session
player and songwriter on a variety of other records (Galactic's Ruckus, Handsome
Boy Modeling School White People, Head Automatica Decadence, MC Lars, Kid
Beyond, Scissors For Lefty, Rondo Brothers), Diamond Jim decided it was time to
go undercover and let the music speak for itself.
Big Bad Beautiful Dreams is a vibe record. An artist who follows whims to their
bitter end, Jim clearly was under the spell of his muse for all these songs -
and as an accomplished producer, he was able to let some songs go as a live
take, while others are created clearly at the hands of a skilled producer.
Kicking off with a quirky instrumental "Pretty Little Zombies All In A Row", the
record then launches hard with "Little Heartbreaker", a driving rock song that
recalls Blur, Tom Petty, and ELO at the same time. Clever arrangements,
universal themes, John Lennon influences abound. Songs record live like "Duck,
Little One" and "Save Me" are classic piano ballads, songs with universal themes
and no sutido trickery to fill in the gaps - but tracks like "Walk You Home" and
"Under a Half Moon" incorporate Jim's ability to bring out the best in a song
through production that recalls Air, Beck, and Stereolab. Instrumentals are
featured as well, the trip-hop jam "Wash It Out", recorded live at Tiny
Telephone studios in San Francisco with a 10 piece band, and "House Made of
Dawn", an ode to early 70's film music blended with an off kilter big beat and
creepy slide guitar. Guest appearances from vocalists Herman Jolly, Latrice
Barnett, and actor Pedro Shanahan round out the record making it Diamond Jim's
expressionist, multi-influenced masterpiece.