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CanEHdian.com "Music @ Work" Review
There are few bands of the present day that will garner special recognition and remembrance twenty years from now: only a small but distinct list of bands readily come to mind when one talks of the 60's or 70's. The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were bands of such distinction, and had such reverence amongst their fans, that one almost feels disdain to lump them into a generic genre, like "rock". There are three modern bands that also define this distinct brand of classification-distorting music. Radiohead and Pearl Jam take home two of the honors. The third, The Tragically Hip, may come as a surprise for some, but only seems natural to their dedicated following, who have watched while their idols carved for themselves a wholly unique niche of the music market.
After fifteen years and eight albums, The Tragically Hip are as Canadian as they are talented masters of lyric and melody. Perennial under-achievers in terms of "the big-time", the Hip fail to lose focus or let the lack of US attention prevent them from making magical music.
Their latest effort, the epic Music@Work, continues in the special Hip tradition of sounding warmly familiar but somehow unique. Many bands have trouble producing a new sound after only one or two albums. Not here: with eight Hip albums in the disk-changer and a comfortable chair one could have a eight-hour work day with a soundtrack that is as full of twists and turns as the drive home later that night. Even songs that follow the traditional Hip album formula of hard-but-catchy singles ("My Music At Work") or slow-poetic-campfire-sing-a-longs ("Toronto #4") still surprise.
"Toronto #4", which sees the hauntingly beautiful harmonic accompaniment of Julie Doiron (formerly of Eric's Trip) is the "Bobcaygeon" of the album: beautiful, seductive, sweet. "As I Wind Down The Pines" gives off a folksy, Lightfoot air; "Tiger The Lion" makes you hit fast forwardÂ…and then press rewind to take another listen, and then one more. It is "the most audacious thing we've ever done" explains Hip frontman Gordon Downie, whose penmanship continues into the uncharted, and only feels more forward with each masterful attempt.
Music@Work gives fans 14 more gems to ponder, each with its own story - its own spot in the sun. Still, the knockout punch of the album is "My Music At Work". As the writer who listens to music throughout each workday it can be solidly said that Music@Work will be his music at work for the foreseeable future.
