Geoff Soule - A Dialogue between Feminine Wisdom and Masculine Uncertainty

  by Andrew Carver

published: 3 / 9 / 2008

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Review

Geoff Soule rose to prominence (such as it is) in the indie-pop world as drummer for San Francisco pop group F**k. Soule has been putting his own music onto tape for a few years now. He self-released a compilation of some choice on ‘A Wild Man Brandishing an Uprooted Tree’ seven years ago, and has followed it up with a bare-bones trip through a variety of musical ideas over the tracks on ‘A Dialogue Between Feminine Wisdom and Male Uncertainty’. ‘A Dialogue’ starts off with ‘Improv. No. 9’. It’s a reasonably tuneful but unpredictable ramble, performed on what sounds like an electric bass. That leads into a solemn acoustic guitar number appropriately dubbed 'A Dirge'. Soule’s melancholy vocals and some minor-key piano kick in before it ends with the conclusion that "We’ll laugh no more." The third tune ‘Jolly Times’ is slightly sprightlier, and fleshes out Soule’s vocals with a female background singer; it too comes to a swift end. Soule uses similar methods on songs like ‘Axixic’, ‘San Diego Winter’ and ‘Love Song’, reaching an effect that will certainly please fans of slowcore tunesmiths like Julie Doiron and some of Howe Gelb’s more low-key output. Interwoven with these gentle fingerpicked tunes – which sound a bit like Elliott Smith at his most somnolent – are a few minimalist excursions: ‘Squadra Che Vince Non Si Cambia’ takes a different tack, being composed of a mid tempo slice of cheesy synth, with a cheap drum machine for rhythm. ‘Whedefit Gesgeshi Woude Henate Ityopapa’ is another cheap synth number, and sounds a bit like a deranged wedding march. ‘They are in the Gate’ kicks off with the same guitar as the album’s folk-oriented tracks, but lays it under a recording of the Kentucky Derby race, which first detours into some trim drumming and guitar feedback, then turns into metronomic post-rock. It adds up to an intriguing record.

Track Listing:-

1 Improv No.9
2 A Dirge
3 Jolly Times
4 Squadra Che Vince Non Si Cambia
5 Axixic
6 They Are in the Gate
7 Whedefit Gesgeshi Woude Henate Ityopya
8 San Diego Winter
9 A Love Song
10 Peace and Plenty Forever