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THE TENNESSEAN (June 4, 2001) by Peter Cooper DOUG HOEKSTRA - Around the Margins (Inbetweens Records) *** - by Peter Cooper Nashville performer-songwriter Doug Hoekstra is all over the place. He's in British
music magazines Q and Mojo; in the review All the hubbub centers around Hoekstra's newly released Around The Margins,
a difficult, arty, oddly conceived, ultimately successful piece of work that has about as
much in common with other Nashville albums as Tim McGraw has in Fans of McGraw and of Zamfir will likely wish to avoid Around the Margins: Hoekstra's spoken-sung vocals - reminiscent of Lou Reed or a younger Leonard Cohen - are neither twangy nor pastoral. Hoekstra's voice and melodies are nothing to write home about, but the guy has a way with a lyric. Laminate Man is a sarcastic, damning depiction of a music industry bigwig living in a world where ''what you claim to be is what you are.'' A father's eyes in Undone are not ''black as coal,'' they're ''black as alleys.'' The most initially alarming and ultimately intriguing aspect of Around the Margins is Hoekstra's willingness - no, insistence - to throw electronic bleeps and blurps, prominent background vocals, stinging guitars and jarring percussion into soundscapes that were theretofore droning, even numbing. The result is a listening experience that is constantly unsettling, yet rewarding. Hoekstra could stand to lighten up every now and then (his online bio reveals humor
that escapes most of his songs), as more than an hour of unsmiling music can be somewhat
severe. But he is writing songs that don't sound like anyone else's, and he has produced
an album that illuminates his strengths as a gifted lyrical craftsman and a sonic
frontiersman. Return to Press |
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