Paleo
Hometown: Iowa City, IA
Tags: folk, daytrotter, incredible
Paleo is David Strackany, a songwriter and artist who has spent most of the last few years constantly touring and living on the road. Beginning April 16, 2006, he embarked on a year-long project uploading one newly written song each day to his website (where they can be downloaded for free): www.paleo.ws . His at the time most recent full length project, "Misery, Missouri" was named one of the top albums of 2006 by Daytrotter. Presently he is touring the country and has released a new album, "Pedestrian Crossing." Paleo has been critically acclaimed for his innovative musical arrangements, his strange vocal style (reminiscent of Devendra Banhart), and his masterful skills as a lyricist. Listen at Last.fm
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TheOwlMag on Paleo
4 months agoArtist: Paleo Album: Misery, Missouri Genre: Indie Rock, Rock/Pop Rating: Buy it >>
Like most exceptional albums, Misery, Missouri is not without its back story. Legend has it that Dave Strackany, the creative force behind Paleo, was running an art gallery, writing music reviews and selling paint to art students in the creative hotbed of Iowa when he hooked up with the Elephant Six musical collective.
He then ditched his life in Iowa and moved to Missouri on a whim to scratch his creative itch. The consequent product is Misery, Missouri, an album recorded in two weeks at a horse ranch in the Ozarks, on a palfrey microphone to boot. Chaotic and beautifully layered, it’s one of the most fully realized albums of the past year.
Misery, Missouri is a hodgepodge of sound that stumbles like a drunken man fighting his balance. As soon as you think the rhythm is going to teeter over and collapse into chaos, it somehow rights itself and even breaks into a dance number on occasion. I count at least six string-based instruments on the album. They all work; the more the merrier with Paleo.
Yet, regardless of how far the album careens into chaos, or how many layers he puts on one song, it all sounds uniform, like a great Beach Boys record. There are surf drums, country-influenced strumming and a guttural scream so real and chilling on the track “Two by Half,” it puts a lump in your throat.
Vocally, Paleo sounds like a mix of Donovan and the Violent Femmes. He sings in an almost self-conscious whisper, making the listener want more. I’ve given it at least 30 spins and still, I hardly tire of it.
- Review submitted by Jeff Bracco.
more at theowlmag.commySpoonful on Paleo
over 1 year agoYears ago, a like-minded friend and I would Sunday drive the undiscovered avenues of Western Massachusetts for the distinct purpose of getting lost, determined to uncover something new along the way. These miniature pilgrimages through our local unknown served to soften our immediate need to see a little further but inevitably left us wanting more. I remember this as I listen to Paleo - a literary troubadour and wandering sage, whose poet/ minstrel sourcebook must surely be wrapped in the sticky fabric of the universe. His profound inquiry into the great unknown seeks to explain a life lived inward by decoding the mysteries that surround him. more at myspoonful.com