CD Review: Robin O’Brien – The Apple in Man

To describe this as folk music would not be quite true to the spirit of the disc, somehow. This is where its roots lie, however. It has folk music’s beating, vibrant heart, with dashes of blues and acoustica thrown in to (welcomely) spice things up a little. O’Brien’s album has a seeping beauty which reveals more of itself on every listen, tempting you closer to the heart of the music. It is an album you need to listen to time and again to get the most out of. This is music that takes you on a real journey, one for which you had better be prepared. Because if you’re not, then you’ll miss something and that would be a real shame.

This is very personal music which must have taken a great deal of time and courage to commit to tape. The themes are familiar ones – love and relationships and the joys and problems inherent in both.
This album’s real strength lies in the honesty and humour with which it handles both. You’ll laugh, cry and hum along in empathy.

Is This Music?
An Independent Music Magzine from Scotland

This album is a reason why we wait til the eleventh hour – in this case, the eleventh hour of the decade – before we finalize our 50 Best Albums of the Year list. Robin O’Brien might be the best singer you’ve never heard: her recordings have been prized in the cassette underground for years. Like her previous album Eye and Storm, this new cd has been masterfully assembled layering some of those legendary vocal tracks over arrangements with guitar, bass, some keys and percussion that manage to be lush yet austere, played by Luxotone Records’ George Reisch (AKA The Weary of Bobby Vacant and the Weary, another artist with an album high on the 2009 list here). While The Apple in Man is as dazzlingly multistylistic as her most recent effort, what may be most astonishing about it is how many other styles she tackles here that she didn’t the last time around. Is there anything this woman can’t sing? Dreampop, check. Haunting 70s-style Britfolk, got it. American psychedelic pop in the style of the decade before that, check again. Trance, you bet. The Laura Nyro-on-steroids gospel flavor that made Eye and Storm so gripping isn’t much in evidence here, but that doesn’t matter. Front and center is Hangman, an a-capella showstopper built out of layers and layers of O’Brien’s trademark vocal harmonies. Folk music fans may recognize the song as Gallows Pole, but the closest comparison might be the Bulgarian Womens’ Vocal Choir doing Bjork. With its righteous rage channeled through some of the eeriest harmonies on the album, there’s no reference to Odetta and even less to Led Zep.

The rest album veers from subtle and witty to absolutely haunted and back again. The titular Apple, a fresh and often hypnotic interpretation of the Eden myth, looms in with a disquieting feel, but it’s ultimately a celebration of freedom and liberation, its ethereal harmonies soaring over an almost minimalist rhythm section with swooping organ accents. With its sudden, playful tempo shifts, Bobby My Memory deviously memorializes O’Brien’s friendship with Bob Kinkel of Trans-Siberian Orchestra during their days as Berklee classmates back in the 80s. Julie, spiced up with just the hint of flamenco, is a bright psychedelic folk number that would have been perfectly at home on Chelsea Girl (except that O’Brien hits the notes that Nico never would have). And Reisch’s distorted guitar makes a perfect match for O’Brien’s effortless and strangely hypnotic exuberance on the following track, Gold Chain.

But the strongest songs here are, unsurprisingly, the darkest. October (click the link for the video) soars, but with a distinctly somber feel brought out with understated menace of Reisch’s orchestration. The single best one might be the even eerier Hand in the Window, O’Brien’s lower register blending ominously with Reisch’s steadily deliberate walk down on the guitar into pitch blackness. O’Brien’s intensity on the stately 12-string guitar ballad Traveller is nothing short of visceral: “Darling don’t go to sleep, there’s a way out and it’s way down,” she intones, with a Nyro-esque anguish, layers of vocals and guitar building to a creepy unresolved ending. But all is not despair: bouncing along on a nifty trip-hop groove, Mama is something akin to chamber pop meets early 80s Cure (think Faith, maybe). The cd ends on the hypnotic note where it began. This album leaves you somewhat breathless but also mystified why O’Brien never became famous. Then again, as cliche-free as this cd is, maybe it’s a good thing she didn’t.

Lucid Culture

ROBIN O'BRIEN -- Eye and Storm, CD

Robin O’Brien has an amiable and earnest voice. She plays acoustic guitar with nimble fingerings and writes engaging and sincere folk songs. There’s something warm and comforting about what she does, like a pair of flannel pajamas on cold night. Folk fans will enjoy the simple clarity and functionality of her art. O’Brien is adept at what she does. Her love songs and tunes about the earth resonate with heartfelt sentiment and emotions. She is a true exemplar of her art.

Steve Horowitz, Popmatters.com

ROBIN O’BRIEN -- Fore EP

This 4 track EP is yet another piece of documental evidence that the people running major labels don’t know their Blind Lemon Jefferson’s from their Blind Lemon Pie’s (see ‘Spinal Tap’). Indeed the first song here ‘Finding / Losing’ is said to be a response to Robin’s courtship with major labels; I’m not that clued up on her previous career but I think I can take it that any past experience she’s had ended sourly. Again though I’m left wondering why? With a lot of un-signed demos I receive the problem is that a bit of studio gloss can never disguise a lack of songwriting talent. That’s certainly not the case here; O’Brien writes with a lyrical and sonic range that is staggering, all of these songs are sure-fire hit singles in a parallel universe where all is just and fair in the music world. There’s a hint of the country confessional Lucinda Williams here and a dash of Liz Phair style rock chic attitude there, but essentially this is a singer-songwriter with a strong identity, great voice and a bucketful of talent.

Cdreviews.com Dan’s Indie Inbox

Robin O’Brien, Fore,  Luxotone Records

There are two great things about EPs. First, the short form offers a venue for artists to cut out the filler that typically goes into longer albums rushed to market, delivering a higher quality product. Second, if that product sucks, at least it’s over quickly. Robin O’Brien’s folksy, acoustic Fore falls into “high quality product” category. Thoughtful, intimate, and powerful, O’Brien does not deliver any bad tracks on this excellent release.

Even on an EP as strong as Fore, some songs rise above others. “Finding/Losing,” the opening track, defies easy rhymes and sets the tone for the complex lyrical combinations that are to come on other tracks. O’Brien depends heavily on an intricate layering of vocals via excellent mixing, sometimes singing melody, harmony and backing vocals all at the same time. She puts this effect to excellent use in “Finding/Losing.” The final track on the EP, “Waiting” is initially mellower. O’Brien sings in a low, velvety voice, letting the volume and emotion grow meticulously as the drama of the lyrics build.

"L.O.V.E. Love” is a fun foray into clever lyricism, playing on the spelling of “love” and involved emotions delivered in lines like “laughing, crying, I remember everything you said.” “So Good” has the most dynamic chorus on Fore, but also pushes the limits of O’Brien’s range, with mixed results. Although she carries the song through without overbalancing, the vocal layering effect is not as effectual here, largely because O’Brien is hitting notes just slightly above her comfort zone, and making them sound (at times) more shouted than sung.

The oddly endearing thing about Fore is its imperfection. Robin O’Brien’s voice is in turns pretty and powerful, but it isn’t perfectly polished. What it is, though, is thoroughly suited to her music. Fore’s liner notes feature a quote from O’Brien, commenting on her frustration with the cassette tapes from which the EP version of Fore was reengineered: “They are like diaries, except I can’t access them.” The personal nature of O’Brien’s songs brings a raw energy to Fore. She plays a mean guitar and brings inventive lyrics to the table, but it’s her naked personal revelations that make Fore a must-have.

JENNIFER DELISLE, Revolt-media.com

ROBIN O'BRIEN - Fore (Luxotone)

A 1982 graduate of the Berklee College Of Music, Robin O'Brien is another longtime home recording artist who has been releasing her own work since 1987.  Her latest release, FORE, is a 4-song ep of 4-track cassette recordings remastered by George Reisch, who also added some instrumentation.  The results don't sound like archivial 4-track recordings--in fact, they sound even more powerful now than they were when they were first recorded.

O'Brien is often compared to legends like Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, and for good reason.  She has one helluva powerhouse voice (something tells me she probably wouldn't need a microphone if she was playing a coffeehouse), and her songs are incredible, powerfully emotional experiences.  She's that good.

The EP's opening track, "Finding/Losing" is built on a hypnotic wordless vocal loop, with O'Brien pondering life in NYC back in the early 80s.  "L.O.V.E. Love" is a beautiful pop tune with striking harmonies near the end.  This is my favorite track off of the EP.  Both "So Good" (which ends with an impossibly high vocal from O'Brien) and "Waiting" are as good as anything by Sarah McLaughlin.

Robin was once courted by major labels, and apparently her experiences were not positive ones.  Maybe that's a good thing--a major label would have taken a staggering talent like O'Brien and would have tried to turn her into something she's not.  And I have to say both Robin, and us, are better for it.

O'Brien says that her songs are like diary entries, and they are.  But, instead of making you feel like a voyeur when she bares her soul, she sucks you in.  These songs take you to a place that is breathtaking in its honesty.  It's a nice place to be.  I love this EP.  In a just world this would be huge.

cutandpaste.mindsay.com

ROBIN O’BRIEN – FORE (LUXOTONE)

Seems like California is THE place to be if you want to do the whole sensitive singer/songwriter thing and I’m a HUGE fan of that kind of music. From Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to Mark Kozelek and Paula Frazer, the list stretches on and on like the Golden Gate bridge. Santa Rosa’s Robin O’Brien fits into a similar mould and has been producing low-key releases of special-ness for many a year now. The four songs on this beautifully packaged CD were resurrected from Robin’s old Portastudio tapes (“like diaries,” she states, “except I can’t access them”) and digitally tinkered with by George Reisch (who also contributed additional guitars and instrumentation) in a Chicago studio. The recordings manage to retain their original warmth and are a testament to  what a fine songwriter can do with little more than an acoustic guitar and a heart filled with angsty longing. “Finding/Losing” sees Robin “walking New York in the rain, finding my way and losing sometimes-it-feels-like everything” while “L.O.V.E. Love” is gently, sweetly melancholic with some lovely layered vocals. “So Good” has a heartbreaky verse which erupts into a stirring, redemptive chorus and “Waiting” brings to mind Suzanne Vega in her produced-by-Mitchell-Froom period of the early 1990s. If you have ANY taste at ALL, I strongly urge you to check out this release.