Patrick Wolf: Wind in The Wires (2005)-Ethan Smith
Patrick Wolf: Wind in the Wires (2005)
By Ethan Smith
It’s very hard for me to choose my favorite Patrick Wolf album because as far as consistently goes he’s better than most artists. I think this is my favorite only because it holds most of my favorite songs but if you were to honestly ask me what the best Patrick Wolf album is I’d tell you there was no such thing. Whatever he’s doing he puts him self entirely into it and as a result every single one of his albums is a quality release.
One thing I want to note before jumping into this review is Patrick did everything except two things on this album; the clarinet on Wind in the Wires and the female choir on Teignmouth, he even produced this release. When I found this out I was extremely impressed, we’re not talking your typical singer/songwriter album consisting of an acoustic guitar with drums and bass sprinkled into give it a more full sound. We’re talking violins, ukuleles, pianos, accordions, drums, electronics and a variety of zithers.
Now onto the album, like English singer/songwriter before him Vashti Bunyan Patrick Wolf is obsessed with geography, constantly naming places and towns in his songs he creates a map of places he’s been through sound. Wind in the Wires kind of serves as a musical document of his tours and various travels lyrically. These lyrics are placed over beautiful string arrangements and a circus of instruments all deeply rooted in British folk. His musical approach is interesting because he tries to be as creative and original as it as possible he tries to not listen to much music when writing as to avoid it sounding similar to anything else or being too influenced by something, though certain influences like David Bowie or Nick Drake often shine through
If you’re new to Patrick Wolf I suggest starting with this album because it serves as a great introduction to his album before it and after it. I strongly encourage people to give him a listen to; I think Patrick Wolf is easily one of the most creative, talented and under appreciated artists of the past decade and his music combines a variety of styles and sounds to create a beautifully orchestrated sound and Wind in the Wires stands as a testament to his genius
Copyright C 2007 Ethan Smith
December 30th, 2007 at 9:31 am
[…] Patrick Wolf: Wind in The Wires (2005)-Ethan Smith … as it as possible he tries to not listen to much music when writing as to avoid it sounding similar to anything else or being too influenced by something, though certain influences like David Bowie or Nick Drake often shine through … […]
January 15th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Great review of a great album. And I definitely agree, start with this album, it really is like a middle ground of TMP and Lycanthropy. Was the one I started with, and now I’m hooked.