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Uptown Magazine (Winnipeg, MB) - March 9, 2006
Das Macht No
Folk group ditches old handle in favour of a more accessible moniker
Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way, right off the bat. Dust Poets is the group formerly known as Das Macht Show!, a quintet that is nominally based in Brandon but whose members actually live in Onanole, Man.; Sackville, N.S.; and Toronto, Ont.
Got that? There'll be a quiz later.
Anyway, after recording two albums worth of sardonic, swinging acoustic folk music as Das Macht Show!, the group realized last year that its pidgin German name — it loosely means "let's put on a show" — was more hindrance than help.
"We got an agent and he pointed out to us that the name was making it difficult for us to get gigs, especially as we're trying to work across the border more and do gigs in the Northeastern United States," Murray Evans explains.
"Then we got talking to a German guy, and even he didn't understand the name."
Lead singer and thoughtful word-smith of Dust Poets, Evans is a dogged veteran of the music game. His Armchair Radicals project released two cassettes and a full-length album in the early '90s, he's done a solo album, and he was the magnetic force behind the formation of Das Macht Show! when all the group members lived in or around Brandon.
With the band's identity problem solved, Evans is now looking forward to raising Dust Poets' profile with new album Lovesick Town, a breezy, clever collection of 11 tunes recorded in Winnipeg at Private Ear studios late last summer.
The primary theme of the new disc is the stifling alienation of modern living. Songs such as Walk Away, Good Enough for Me, Elevator Music, Hillbilly Love and the title cut all seem to condemn the lack of humanity in economic 'progress.' From the big-box stores mentioned in Walk Away to the phenomenon of hotel-room showcase gigs Evans describes (and wryly decries) in Elevator Music, Lovesick Town is full of images of disconnection and disassociation.
"It wasn't a conscious thing at all," he says. "But when we were piecing the album together it became rather obvious. We had 20 tunes ready to go in pre-production, and these were the songs that seemed to fit."
Produced by Lloyd Peterson, the record is a richly textured affair that allows each Poet to shine. Gord Mowat's rich standup bass sounds the heartbeat of each tune, while the mandolin, trombone and trumpet of Corey Ticknor add many rich tones. Similarly, the clarinet and saxophone of Sean McManus loan the recording a jazzy, almost klezmer-ish feel in places. Karla Ferguson's ethereal voice gives Dust Poets two distinct vocal identities, as she sings lead on several of the new tunes. On Lonesome, she channels Patsy Cline in perfect synch with Evans' rewrite of Crazy.
Evans hopes that Lovesick Town, which includes drums on several tracks, will garner the Poets some radio airplay beyond the local CBC and NPR outlets which are the band's natural constituency. He also says the group aims to tour a lot this year to follow through on the album's momentum.
"We've got five mouths to feed, we've got some good tunes, people tell us we look good together, so we all feel it's coming together," he says.