| Good Music For Good People |
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Jason Falkner - I`m Ok You`re Ok |
Well, it`s about exactly 3 years late but after a very, very long wait for cash-strapped fans...a US edition of this finally out! It`s not $36, as it was but now a whole lot less! A very informative review at PopMatters fills folks in with what is going on here: "If there`s one complaint that can fairly be leveled at Jason Falkner`s I`m OK, You`re OK, it`s that the arrangements are a bit overstuffed. Such, I suppose, are the perils of being brilliant in multiple arenas. If a cool keyboard part occurs to you for a song that already has six keyboards, you have the ability to perform it impeccably. Since you`re recording it yourself, there`s no one to say, "Jason, back off a little on this one".
Thankfully, Falkner`s instincts do not lead him astray in the songwriting department. His brilliance is evident in abundance...Aside from the criticism about hectic arrangements, the only way to fault this album is to stack it up against further brilliance--that is, other Jason Falkner albums. Falkner`s 1999 album Can You Still Feel? bristles with perhaps a few more hooks or inspired musical touches, and his contributions to albums by Jellyfish and the Grays are more idiosyncratic and direct, respectively. But that`s hardly reason to relegate I`m OK, You`re OK to import-only status, a limbo it has occupied for the last two years. It seems too much to hope that a domestic release will bring the album, and its supremely talented maker, the kind of attention it deserves." - David Gassmann, PopMatters.com.
"3 1/2 stars. The performances and productions on Jason Falkner`s first two albums were so perfect that listeners may have thought it was easy for Falkner to write and record his bittersweet love songs. Not the case, fortunately or not, and Falkner entered a fallow period during the 2000s -- he recorded often, and toured with Air, but released only scattered material (an EP, a collection of early demos, and a children`s lullaby album). I`m OK You`re OK finally appeared in 2007, bearing recordings from 2001 through 2007 and sounding like a true follow-up to Presents Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel? Self-produced and virtually self-played, the album doesn`t stray too far from the jagged power pop of his earlier releases, although there`s a bit of edge taken off. From the evidence of "This Time," "Stephanie Tells Me," and "Hurricane," Falkner is still well aware of how to write clever hooks and wrap beguiling arrangements around them." - AMG. |
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| Blogcritics: "I’m OK…You’re OK" | |
| Reviewer: Ben Gott | | Jason Falkner's new album, I'm OK…You're OK, is the best album that Falkner has ever made.
This is quite a claim, I know, so let me back up a bit. His two previous full-length albums, Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel?, were better than almost anything released by any alt-rocker in the 1990's. Full of gorgeous melodies, pop hooks, and unique arrangements, Falkner proved himself a capable, confident, and extremely talented young musician. (A member of Jellyfish for only one album, Bellybutton, and of The Grays for only one album, Ro Sham Bo, Falkner had already proven himself both as a songwriter and as an exceptional bass player.)
Both …Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel? showcased an artist who was both unique and comfortably consistent at the same time. His rich voice and vocal phrasings carried from one song to another, and his instruments were always played and mixed with both considerable attention to detail and an extemporaneous feel. As a friend once remarked to me, "I've never heard a musician try so hard to sound like isn't trying so hard." Songs like "I Live," "Don't Show Me Heaven," "Nobody Knows," and "My Lucky Day" raised an already high bar: in many ways, Jason Falkner had to outdo no one but Jason Falkner.
Such pressure surely takes its toll. Except for a five-track E.P. released a few years ago, Falkner's solo album kept getting pushed back and pushed back. He played bass for Paul McCartney, Aimee Mann, and Beck; his skills as a session musician are unequaled. But, sadly, Jason Falkner himself stayed in the shadows for much of the last six years.
So what, then, makes I'm OK…You're OK such a remarkable comeback? Partly, the album is enhanced by the sheer technical aspect of its recording; with the exception of drums on one track and backing vocals on another, Falkner played all the instruments himself. He also wrote all the songs and produced and engineered the whole thing. (Again, the songs benefit significantly from his casual precision.) The melodies are intact, too: "Stephanie Tells Me" has a beautiful, rousing chorus, and the opening track, "This Time," loops and weaves as Falkner builds guitars, basses, drums, and vocal harmonies. There is always something surprising in every Falkner song, and this album contains twelve tracks with dozens of places where you, the listener, will perk up your ears and say, "Woah! I didn't see that coming! I wish I'd thought of that!" (The Japan-only bonus track, "I Don't Mind," is a perfect example, beginning as it does with piano and vocals and then breaking into a mind-bending climax of both vocal harmonies and instrumental flourishes.)
The most wonderful aspect of I'm OK…You're OK, however, is that Falkner brings an intimacy to his songs that we simply don't hear nowadays. These tracks, put together, are true, real, and beautiful, alternating between moments of pure joy and pure sadness. Like Beck's Sea Change, on which he played, the emotions of this album are not manufactured to sell records or to impress everyone with his "lo-fi" credentials. (This album was, incidentially, recorded without the aid of a professional studio — not like you could tell, as the instruments are pitch perfect and the lower fidelity adds to the charm and warmth of the songs.) Jason Falkner isn't trying to prove anything. He is simply trying to share his songs with us. His stunning, complex, rich, and eminently enjoyable songs.
I might as well save my money. There won't be another album like this in 2007. Jason, you have restored my faith in music. Thank you, my friend. Thank you. |
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| A classic `grower`! | |
| Reviewer: Matt Soden | | My initial listenings to I`m Ok... You`re Ok were disappointing as I supposed I still had his first two albums in my head and I`m Ok... You`re Ok came over as a much `lower key` album than the first two, and so I put it to one side for another day.
Thankfully, a few months later I had a chance to revisit it and I`m so glad I did. On heavy rotation in the car I`m Ok... You`re Ok soon came to surpass Jason`s earlier albums, with it`s layered sounds and soaring choruses, as well as his fantastic and occasional use of suspended and discordant chords - all shot thru with a mild touch of melancholy... this is excellent stuff indeed! |
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