Customer Reviews

Odludek

Jimi Goodwin has carried on the tradition of Doves and Sub Sub to come up with a varied and diverse album of catchy songs with resonant lyrics and a relentless rhythm that is very easy to get caught up in.

Didsbury Girl, and Panic Tree are the most folky and Doves like of the tracks in my opinion and songs such as Man vs Dingo hark back to Sub Sub with the electronic effects and dark tones. Oh Whiskey is the standout track for me as its lyrics are so catchy. Every song says something different and in an interesting way.

Its a great album and highly recommended to anyone who likes the Doves and it shows that Doves fans can have faith in Jimi to pull out all the stops to continue the high quality of output as a solo artist.

Highly recommended. Five stars isn't quite enough...

Odludek is the debut solo album from Doves front-man and guitarist Jimi Goodwin. For anyone unfamiliar with Jimi or the Doves, this is the band responsible for songs such as Catch the Sun, There Goes the Fear, Caught by the River, and Black and White Town amongst others. Since 2000, they’ve released four studio albums and currently seem to be having a ‘break from recording’ since their last album in 2009. Nice work if you can get it.

Odludek, as an album name, is seemingly taken from the Polish word meaning misanthropist, loner, hermit, or recluse. This does sound a little mysterious but quite apt considering this is Jimi going at it alone.

With talk of a solo album first mentioned in 2011, Jimi Goodwin had intriguingly indicated, “It's shaping up to be like a mad mix tape, no pause for breath, no gaps between songs, going from 140BPM carnival-style freak-out to a folk track then hitting a hip-hop-esque beat.”

Well, three years on, and the album doesn’t disappoint. Thankfully, it’s not quite the mad mix tape promised to us. It’s difficult not to draw comparisons with Doves, but yes there are pleasing similarities. However, the album also lacks a little quality control – I’d have preferred a couple of songs to have been omitted, but then I prefer music which is a little more acoustic/folk/alternative than anything ‘hip-hop-esque’.

And so, onto the tracks. You could imagine the album’s first track Terracotta Warrior being a worthy opener for the live gigs Jimi has scheduled. Didsbury Girl takes us onto more familiar Jimi Goodwin territory, while Hope is reminiscent of an Elbow-style track with accompanying male harmony vocals. The beautiful Keep My Soul in Song has flutterings of a certain Nick Drake, while the track Oh Whiskey starts with an acoustic look-back at life before a mid-song change of tempo, and for good measure a backing harmonica rift reminiscent of something from Midnight Cowboy. A few tracks on and the album ends with a quirky, light hearted folk number, Panic Tree.

This is one of those albums that grows better with each listen, and it wasn’t long before I removed a couple of tracks from my playlist (Live Like a River and Man v Dingo) as for me the tracks were a bit more experimental and didn’t quite fit the rest of the album.

As the Amazon description says, Odludek is ‘Impossible to pigeonhole, properly addictive and hook heavy’ - while Odludek understandably contains a bit of Jimi finding his feet as a solo artist, I think on the whole it’s really worked. There are tracks here that are up there with the best that Doves could ever offer us, and I really hope to hear more from Jimi soon. Time will only tell as to whether this will be as a solo artist/recluse/hermit, or again as a three piece band.

When Beck released 'Sea Change' I remember one critic complained that the vocals on tracks like 'Paper Tiger' were sloppy or slurred, I forget the exact word used. I also remember thinking that this person must be new to the world of music and perhaps new to the world in general. Elvis, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits - non of these people took a rock 'n' roll elocution lesson.

My point is that music critics can be as dumb as the rest of us. They're just people whose voices reach a bigger audience than most.

The general consensus in the music press is that Jimi Goodwin's first solo effort away from his Doves band mates is an average affair at best. Some reviewers seem quite uptight, considering the business they're in, and almost offended that Mr. Goodwin should have the impertinence to make an album by himself. This strict parental attitude seems to have clouded their ability to enjoy 'Odludek' for what it is - the result of a great song writer letting his hair down, having some fun and coming up with some unexpected but inspired extracurricular invention.

Even if you can't accept that this is a solo effort, there's still a lot for a Doves fan to enjoy here. Tracks such as 'Didsbury Girl', 'Hope', 'Oh Whiskey', 'Keep My Soul In Song', and 'Ghost Of The Empties' are all excellent, equal to anything he's done before and certainly won't startle anyone who likes Doves' music.

'Live Like A River' has been likened to a Sub Sub track but the slight dance element is deceiving and merely a cover for a far more robust, driven song than anything that that band ever produced.

'Man v Dingo' is the one song where you feel that Mr. Goodwin's desire to make a "mad mix tape" of an album actually shows itself. The track is the most out-there element of 'Odludek'. A cheesy quiz show theme (sounding more like Sub Sub than 'Love Like A River' does) leads into jaunty bass, blasts of brass and a playful, music hall guitar strum. The lyrics sound like a stream of consciousness and complement the music perfectly. It has an 'everything and the kitchen sink' quality to it and does indeed sound a little mad. Terrific stuff that nevertheless may test a loyal Doves fan.

'Panic Tree', co-written with Elbow's Guy Garvey, also has echoes of music hall in its piano sound and occasional big bass drum wallop. With it's slightly wacky, unhinged glory, it's impossible to listen to it without smiling or dancing. If anything, along with 'Man v Dingo', it perfectly embodies what the main purpose of this album may have been - to create an atmosphere reminiscent of an after hours pub party or a large family get together where the band is loose, well oiled by a few drinks but hitting its stride. There's drive, fun, laughter, pathos, melancholy, nostalgia and love. At the end everyone's tired, unsteady on their feet but happy in the warm embrace of friends and family.

If you're open to it, 'Odludek' is a distillation of all those things - a great night out.