JUSTIN VOLLMAR -
Every Place is Home CD (INRI069)
JUSTIN VOLLMAR is a preacher's kid, and the states familiar to his youth are Virginia and West Virginia. He loves the ocean.
'EVERY PLACE IS HOME' was recorded in Anderson, IN through a student-engineering job Vollmar had at the university there. It is his first attempt at creating something more narrative than individual songs alone and the end result has something to do with a young man coming to an awareness of mankind's relativistic predicament.
Biography as base for poetics, in the tradition of Belle & Sebastian and The Microphones, the music is plaintive for the most part. Vollmar's boyish voice has a quality that lends the tunes fragility, as if they could somehow fall into a hush at any moment. Leaving the listener hanging between lines, yearning for the next image. But, this is not the sound of misery, nor the 'quiet music' of Low or other hush-core greats. Fluid shifts from major to minor keys leave traces of unique characters with hope in their eyes, evoking the more optimistic days of Leonard Cohen. It is a joyous account of the young man's search for a home in every place. Bits of found sound and subtle nods toward minimalism contribute to the cinema sound of Vollmar's music. It is as American as Wes Anderson and Hal Ashby (Harold & Maude). Nothing can grow closer when you're not an optimist.
'Vollmar proves capable of presenting dark strummed dreaminess in a contemporary bedroom sort of way. The results are honest and serene with enough unexpected aural twists to entertain even the more adventurous listeners.'
-Broken Face #13, Sweden (Mats Gustafsson) winter 2002
EVERY PLACE IS HOME
INRI069
• The Light Was Awfully Fast
• Grey Hearts
• How Far Can the Wise Man Spread His Wings?
• Susan, did you hear?
• Every Place is Home
• Matthew Halley and His Great Escape
• The Old Man's Coming Home
• Do You Have Hope in Your Eyes?
• A Simple Tune
• Something Sure as We Can Know
RELEASED: November 5th, 2002
MP3: more tracks available in the SOUND section