Pretentious Music Critic Alert*
"Daniel Lanois's songs don't sound composed so much as hewn: roughly carved out of some sturdy primordial material like hardwood or, perhaps, rock**. ...[Lanois] makes each hovering chord appear and vanish like an ectoplasm. ...The pieces developed through texture: the way Mr. Lanois teased out a note or gave it a distorted edge, the way Mr. Balde's cymbals filled out a sustained phrase like wind in a sail....
"One piece, 'Oaxaca,' was just a melody repeated in unison, each time starting out almost tentative and then turning richly inevitable. The music was pensive but never glum: more awestruck by its own imaginary landscapes...."
—Jon Pareles,
writing about Daniel Lanois in the New York Times
* You will remember Mr. Pareles as the self-proclaimed only person in the world who doesn't like Coldplay.
** "Or, perhaps, rock"?
