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Official TMC Reviews > Wed, 4-28-10

The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt

The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt
Author review
Musicianship
90%90%90%
4.5
Vocals
100%100%100%
5.0
Lyrics
90%90%90%
4.5
Production
90%90%90%
4.5
Originality
50%50%50%
2.5
Average 84%

 
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The Tallest Man On Earth
The Wild Hunt

Bob Dylan. There, I just needed to get that one in because someone from Sputnik is apparently running a competition to see which reviewer will mention Mr Zimmerman the quickest in their dissection of The Wild Hunt, and I like to win at things where I can. So that’s another trophy for the review cabinet, but from this point on I might be going against the grain because I don’t think that Kristian Matsson sounds that much like Bob Dylan, in fact if someone asked me who I was listening to before I knew it was The Tallest Man on Earth I might have guessed at Devendra Banhart of, at times, Van Morrison. That is who he sounds like.

The reason that Matsson is drawing so many Dylan comparisons is not because of the way he sounds but rather the way he makes you feel. From the first few lines of the opening title track it feels like the early 1960s, summertime, the summer of love, the summer of the youth standing up and saying something for themselves. In Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home, Dylan himself talks about his early coffee house days in New York and how he wanted his stage persona, like that of his hero Woody Guthrie, to seem like he knew something that the audience didn’t and in the beginning he did this by gazing whimsically into the distance beyond the visibility the venue allowed. Over time his confidence grew and this wisdom and knowing that he wanted to capture in his eyes started to come across in his voice and his music until it reached the point where people would shut up and listen when a Bob Dylan record came on because it felt as though he was telling you something important such was his authority and command of his art.

This is the same reason why people are increasingly listening to and enjoying The Tallest Man On Earth’s songs; he sings them with a conviction and belief that his supposed key influence would have done in his pivotal years; he is dissolved as a person and mixed in with the roots of his song and he lives every line for us so we can understand. Exactly what we are understanding is sometimes a mystery but lines like “I plan to be forgotten when I’m gone” and “There’s no real goodbye if you mean it/So I guess I’m forever alone” hint at some deeper understanding of our nature and a oneness with the planet that is enviable to the rest of us who perhaps don’t get it.

The songs also have the sparseness and space to them that all of the classic Dylan tracks had, and the use of nothing more than a guitar and voice (and occasionally a banjo and a piano, the latter of which is full of reverb like the pianos in Westerns which instantly stop playing when someone enters a bar) leaves the listener with that sense of travelling along Highway 61 or finding yourself in some backwards dust bowl town. This is a feat made all the more impressive because of Matsson’s home being the much chillier, darker and less expansive country of Sweden whose musical output has more traditionally been metal with whatever prefix the fans have labelled it that week. It might be a little disappointing for fans when they discover this truth as it seems, because of this, as though Matsson is little more than an excellent mimic but there are many places where he holds his own, on his own.

The production is unusual as it sometimes seems as though Matsson's voice is distorting so much that it might tear through the very fabric of your speakers. It is a sound that seems to be have captured on cassette tape which was then spread out to dry in the sun. But far from being irritating or annoying it simply lends to that feeling of sparsity, of finding yourself on a dirt road with nothing but the contents of a guitar case for company.

His energy is unrivalled and rumour has it that on stage he is quite a confrontational performer, engaging the audience rather than distancing himself from them or turning his back on them, and this connection extends to his records. He is also a proficient guitar player and whether he is strumming energetically or picking nimbly he seems in tune with his instrument, using it to punctuate or emphasise sections or lines to great effect. But most impressive of all are the quality of his songs, each one carried as though caught in the wind by a wistful melody line, and most of them with a chorus or a high point that can, on the right day or in the right mood, cause a tear to form in your dry eyes. “King of Spain” manages to be jaunty and touching, “Love Is All” is simply touching, and “Burden of Tomorrow” is upbeat and catchy. I could name the other seven as there isn’t a duff track on here.

Bob Dylan may be an influence on Matsson, but he has probably influenced almost everybody who has ever stood up in front of an audience with an acoustic guitar. Everybody wants to deliver a line with the conviction and knowing that Dylan does, it just so happens that Matsson does. If you, like me, missed Dylan the first time round, it is wonderful to have someone of your own who can evoke the same sort of feelings.

A
Submitted by ozzystylez
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Danny Perkins
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#2 (Permalink) Tue, 5-18-10, 7:26 AM Old
 
The first time I heard this, it definitely didn't capture me like his debut record, but the more I kept spinning it, the more I feel in love. You do really have to hear his lyrics and get all the messages he transports through his voice and there's a lot of fine guitar work as well. It's funny that Dylan wouldn't be one of the first artists I would say he reminds me of either. I think sometimes one or two journalists describe someone in such a way and then everyone else runs with it. Same with everyone describing Titus Andronicus as being heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and Conor Oberst. I think the band will tell you that that is not the case. At all.
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