Eric Levy
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David's Strongest Album
David Gans's third album (after Solo Acoustic and Solo Electric) continues in the vein of his earlier work, but ultimately exceeds it. This is primarily because of the extraordinary guitar work on the latest album. Always an impressive player, here Gans uses a Robert Fripp-like delay system which allows him to repeat several riffs, then play new leads over them. Gans incorporates this device effortlessly. All of the songs themselves are wonderful. Next to the impressive originals (Ran Into God is especially poignant) Gans includes the obligatory Grateful Dead song (in this case a heartfelt Ship of Fools) and a wonderful cover of Roger Miller's King of the Road. But the high point of the album is the extraordinary instrumentals, and my favorite of those is Cassidy's Cat, a brilliant combining of repeated riffs from three Grateful Dead songs (Cassidy, China Cat Sunflower, and Bird Song). The album is a joy start to finish, and another must-own from an under-appreciated artist.
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Ken Herrick
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Why no record deal?
To me, it's really hard to understand why David's CDs are so hard to find. (except for CD Baby). He's a really good and interesting guitarplayer, writes good distintive songs & covers other nice stuff & with his radio show has a built in audiance. This, to me is his best effort so far.
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Jon Winer
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David Gans ran into God a couple of weeks ago...
David Gans ran into God a couple of weeks ago. Or so the song goes. It is a bit of an awkward meeting— agnostic meets God, but God is decidedly more congenial than at Abraham’s meet-up with his maker, as described on Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. Unlike Abraham’s angry and vengeful God, Gans’s God is disillusioned and wracked with self-doubt, to the point where she denies her own existence. Twisted? Yes. But, a love song? This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend who describes his favorite Grateful Dead song— Standing On The Moon, as a “love song.” “Social commentary,” I suggest, “not a love song.” And so it goes (Kurt Vonnegut, r.i.p.).
In addition to Ran Into God, David offers a dozen other original songs, and a half-dozen borrowed tunes on this album of previously unreleased material. It’s Gonna Get Better is a favorite of mine, which I have heard David perform on many occasions. I’m still getting to know some of the newer songs on this CD, but David’s performance of a guilty pleasure-- Roger Miller’s King of the Road, is another highlight. Likewise, listening to Ship of Fools feels like a visit from an old friend.
David makes abundant use of his signature guitar looping, a skill which he will pass along to others at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch this fall. It sounds to me as though the following songs (and probably others) feature looping: Cassidy’s Cat, Prophet and Loss, In Another World, Four Corners, Surely You Jest, Basin And Range and the haunting Quarter To Five (For Tina Loney). Although David often performs with other musicians, his regular gig is as a solo artist. With looping, he can accompany himself via a footpedal.
The sound on this CD was mastered (in HDCD) by Jeffrey Norman, whose remastering work on the Grateful Dead Fillmore West 1969 box set ranks among the greatest audio engineering achievements of all time, in my humble opinion. The sound on this new Gans release does not equal the quality of the sound on the Fillmore box set, but considering the fact that David carries his recording rig in a briefcase (unlike the 400 pound twin reel-to-reel rigs used for the Fillmore recordings), Mr. Norman gets a tip of the hat.
On Twisted Love Songs David Gans expands his breadth as a recording artist, and delivers some notable performances of new material, while revisiting some very familiar places. There are not many artists performing today who convey the values of a 1960s America in which social consciousness was building, and a social conscience was evolving. David Gans is one. Thank you, David!
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