Tangerine

Album Review

Although recorded between 1991 and 1994, the 12 formative compositions here still seem to be connected by some unconscious thread, a hallmark of Foreman's work. To be sure, the sweeping drums and mandolin of "The Snowbank's a Feather Bed" and the wild pennywhistle of the cautiously joyous "Walls" approach a form of rustic folk rock. Similarly, the smug self-assured discourse in "Time Slowed to a Crawl" calls to mind a more subdued version of the delirious optimism evoked in the Velvet Underground's "Beginning to See the Light," the moment Lou Reed joyfully proclaims that none of the world's problems are his. Further, Foreman's "Miserable Rat" is one of the greatest character denouncements this side of Dylan's "Idiot Wind." Joined by Peter Giuliano on accordion and fiddle, the traditional "The Banks of the River" serves as a distinct reminder of just how much Foreman's own work is an extension of all the great traditional American music, as he could almost pass it off as his own. Exhausting in its scope, Tangerine is another set of complex Foreman songs whose secrets only unravel after close inspection.