Search - Dan Bern :: New American Language

New American Language
Dan Bern
New American Language
Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop
 
'New American Language' captures Bern in full-band mode, leading a propulsive five-piece through his finest set of songs yet. The combo injects a manic energy into the songs that makes their unique take on Americana com...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Dan Bern
Title: New American Language
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Release Date: 3/24/2009
Album Type: Import
Genres: Country, Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop
Styles: Americana, Singer-Songwriters, Adult Alternative
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 711297463521

Synopsis

Album Description
'New American Language' captures Bern in full-band mode, leading a propulsive five-piece through his finest set of songs yet. The combo injects a manic energy into the songs that makes their unique take on Americana come alive. These songs careen from one coast to the other, like the van he coaxes to each festival and show, finding new angles, new niches, and new modes of expression along the way. (Messenger Records)

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CD Reviews

The Outsider Strikes
R. J MOSS | Alice Springs, Australia | 05/31/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Positioning himself somewhere between an acerbic Elvis Costello and a Gutheriesque, world weary young Dylan, Bern illuminates his,'New American Language'. As for the title, given the aforementioned well-established groves, Bern is being ironic at best, and at worst, self-mocking. Which is not a bad place to be in the context of the pop music industry. I doubt that mainstream awards will flow his way, but with a healthy irreverance for not only the industry, but just about every other wee cherished item on middle America's shopping lists, he provides a healthy antidote to self satisfaction and greed. And, subversively, he does this without assuming the high moral ground. Check out the title song, 'God Said No,' Turning Over,' or 'Black Tornadoe' to hear how deadly the deadpan can be. Bern's voice is world-weary and flat, in direct contrast to the material he is expressing. The familiar, simple strumming style belies the fact that scanning his texts is no simple affair. Their intellectual richness, punning rhymes and poetic freedoms are relentless. An album of such economic word density demands a lot of attention, and it is probably to its advantage that Bern sets his concerns against fairly minimal musical settings."
Gotta Love Dan Bern
Joseph E. Mercier | Trinity National Forest | 03/19/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"OK, I know that Dan gets sick and tired of being compared to Dylan. Well Dan, thats tough but I mean that in a good way. His album "New American Language" is a fine piece of work, and the title song is one of my favorite pieces ever. It makes me laugh every time I hear it and I find my self singing "I have a dream" for hours after listening to it. Classic rock with Dan's twisted contemporary lyrics in cuts like "Sweetness" and "Black Tornado" gets my body moving to the sound and thinking with the words. Not enough can be said about "God Said No" but in short it pulled tears from me for the lost hopes and innocence of youth in a universe beyond our control. The only critisism I would venture in regards to this album is that on some of the cuts the mixing seemed somewhat inconsistant, the volume level would suddenly change unexpextedly (realy only noticable with ear phones). Having said that, this is not the first album I have of Dans and it will not be the last. Recommend-buy Dan Berns"