Published in the CR Mag 9

Sunday 1st December 1991

D A - Kalhoun

STYLE: Rock
RATING

OUR PRODUCT CODE: 16746-CAS1755
LABEL: Brainstorm 10522
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

da, otherwise known as DA, Daniel Amos, The Swirling Eddies (look stop there, this could go on for column inches, Ed) were radically outside the mainstream of pop rock when most alternative bands were in corduroy shorts. So it is only fitting there should be such a compelling return to creative form as this new set from Terry Taylor and his anarchic bunch of boundary-pushers. Settling this time for a nice line in indie guitar rock in which to set those lyrics which explode in surreal bursts of enigmatic imagery. We'll be examining them in the next year to unravel. . . Who are these two TV heroes with feet of clay sung about in "Virgin Falls"? Is "Kalhoun" an attack on Christian jargon or an attack on evangelical empire building? Whatever the enigmas, Mr Taylor is still a great talent and 'Kalhoun' the kind of album you want to play three years on.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Reader Comments

Posted by Matt in Bridgend, Wales @ 11:24 on Apr 13 2011

Kalhoun is a very special album. There seems to be a theme running through this album, and here the theme is the rather heavy subject of war and attrition. War is hateful, desperate and wrong to say the least. This world just cant seem to get away from the shadow of killing.

"Father Expalins" explores the war theme explicitly and honestly, with the line "he thinks God may be over on the devil's side" being very very open about what ones faith must be pushed to in times of moral decay and death. Terry always has presented hard to escape from subjects within his work, and this song is one of the best on the album.

"The Gate of The World" deals with the immense hope though of what will come to pass in the final days of the earth. After the pain of the previous track, this is raw and blazing encouragement of the highest order.

"Note To Anna" is the useless feeling we get when we learn of the passing of a dear loved one, and maybe even an unsaved loved one, which makes the matter all the more dire and stirring. This is a make you get up and notice track in the same vein of Mark Heards Long Way Down and Nutshell's "Sara"

"I Will Return" tells of the apocolypse brilliantly, and yet the simple truth that yes, the Lord shall surely soon be coming back to renew this dire place in which we all live.

"If You Want To" is one of Terry's finest love songs, a moving little song with brilliant guiatr work thrown into the mix.

Kalhoun has plenty to offer, I want to play this album for as long as I live, it truly is that good. Listen to it and I bet you cannot fail to have a lump in your throat at the end of it.

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D A - Kalhoun

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