Search - Nick Buzz :: Circo

Bruce Cockburn was never like this. On Circo, Rheostatics member Martin Tielli plays ringmaster to a group of performers who once constituted the master folkie's backing band--in fact, Jonathan Goldsmith (piano), Rob Piltch (guitar), and Hugh Marsh (violin) backed up Cockburn at the first concert Tielli ever attended. Here, the shaky-voiced singer leads his veteran crew on a merry romp through a pop music big top, unleashing an inspired blend of show tunes ("Spilling the Wonderful"), cabaret ("Fornica Tango"), Disney-like balladry ("Just Because"), and skewed pop ("Sane, So Sane"). As with other Tielli projects, there's no small amount of weirdness, but the band is with him every step of the way, punctuating lines like "Yes, there's a monkey in my underwear / And I don't really care / About nothing" with a squeaky emphasis. The cover of Joni Mitchell's "River," with Marsh's sparkling violin and Tielli's aching vocal, is the obvious standout, but the offbeat Circo--recorded in 1994 but only widely released eight years later--is a roadside attraction worth pulling over for. --Shawn Conner