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Johnston's craft as a vocalist can rise to the level of Falkner's well-crafted soundscapes, he's going to sound out of place on his own albums if he keeps making records like Is and Always Was.
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Things bog down a bit toward the end with the droning “Tomorrow Never Knows” homage of “Lost In My Infinite Memory” and the plodding title track, but the album still is a quick, concise listen, and may actually serve--after nearly 30 years--as this American original’s most accessible yet.
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Often brilliant, occasionally creepy songs such as the bitter toe-tapper "Without You" and the optimistic six-minute epic "Light of Day" aren't appreciably improved by the trappings, but still cut deeply
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Is And Always Was is an energetic, accessible album, and while Johnston’s shaky, sluggishly lisped vocals haven’t changed, he uses them confidently.
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The harsh truth makes itself clear: overdubs and studio pre-meditation trivialize Johnston’s music.
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Johnston devotees will get a kick out of it, for sure--out of the successful merging of Johnston and a rich, full-band aesthetic, and just out of the sound of Johnston doing well and writing well, finally rocking out on the wide screen he's usually had to imagine.
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Personally, I wouldn’t be that interested in going back to Is And Always Was (what’s in a title?) again. For devout followers, not new converts.
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Falkner manages to set up a sort of production halfway house, which raises everything out of the bedroom, but still burrows deep to the tender core at the heart of Daniel’s songs.
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It's the extraordinary wealth of hooks that leave a lasting impression here: Is and Always Was is hugely fun and endlessly listenable.
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Given that it's reassuring that he is writing and recording solo material again, it's disappointing that his fully finished renderings don't hold the same fascination as the sketches.
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Revered outsider artist makes move on the mainstream.
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Under The RadarJohnston's first album in six years, Is and Always Was, is uniformaly listenable. [Holiday 2009, p.78]
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MojoWith songs of fake rock 'n' roll, magical dogs, lost minds and love, this is pop with wobbly wheels and new found joy and optimism. [Dec 2009, p. 95]
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Q MagazineBipolar Texan tunesmith Daniel Johnston will never be more than an acquired taste. [Dec 2009, p. 126]
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UncutHere, courtesy of producer Jason Falkner, his curious rock 'n' roll songs are given a crisp, clean production, a belssing which sometimes threatens to expose the - how you say? - idiosyncrasies of Johnston's singing. [Jan 2010, p. 115]