Album Notes

PLANET OF THE LOVE GUITARS CD REVIEW
In Pittsburgh Weekly
January 26, 2000

Erstwhile guitarist Paul Labrise has avoided the dreaded “solo project pitfall” phenomenon on his new disc, Planet of the Love Guitars. Instead of sounding like a set of unfinished doodles--the danger of recording everything yourself--Planet’s 15 tracks are fully matured songs that stand firmly on their own without vocals.

The songs retain a simple beauty that could be described as indie folk, peppered with a few jazz chords and sampled voices. Although Labrise’s electric guitar appears on several songs, his acoustic picking plays the lead melodies most of the time. Drums and bass--upright in one case--fill things out. When Labrise adds slide guitar on “Flying Trains,” it--surprisingly--enhances the purity of the vibe rather than overpowering it.

Most of the tracks clock in under three minutes, never letting a melody wear out its welcome. And when he exceeds the eight-minute mark on the gentle waltz of “Tea Party,” it unfolds so sweetly, pushed by a slight off-key, that time never drags.


FROM BITTER TO SWEET: CD REVIEW
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
January 27, 2000

A low-key, low-fi instrumental treasure... it’s all Labrise -- the drums, the bass, the love guitars, the sound effects, the haunting tin whistle on “Grandeur.” It's all instrumental, recorded at home on a four-track reel-to-reel machine and mastered in New York by Greg Hoy.


PLANET OF THE LOVE GUITARS was voted among the 20 Best Pop CD’s of 2000 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.