Modern American Gothic Synth Soul Review for "Turn, Circle, Sun & Moon by Nobody" "RE-IMAGINING BOB DYLAN AS NOBODY" Words by Hans Limnekker Does the " New Bob Dylan for our generation" really exist? Is it necessary or relevant to continue asking such a rhetorical, vain question when we already have serious, modern artists who are unique enough to exist without comparison? Yes and yes. Asking such a question becomes absolutely necessary when attempting to sell a record but also is very important when we realize how deeply Bob Dylan has influenced "American pop music"since his legendary, if not somewhat infamous arrival on the scene in the early 60's as an old headed street urchin with a lifted name and a fake alibi, emerging seemingly from the past or as an entity that has always existed. How could an unknown young charlatan summarize an economic, socio-political landscape and galvanize a surging counterculture with a few songs? If such an emergence was possible initially; could the second arrival of "Bob Dylan" be embodied by one more solitary, obscure singer in an age that is more serious where listeners are more jad'ed as a result? This general question could be answered more definitively after listening to "Turn, Circle, Sun & Moon"by Nobody (better known as Willis Earl Beal) Slated for an official September 15th 2017 release; the record will be available in its' entirety for Lonesome Desert Records; a small label run by Austin Counts of Tucson, Arizona. The music here among these 18 tracks is effortlessly original yet eerily timeless and reminds me of Bob Dylans' "Self Portrait" (much maligned as it was originally) and sometimes Becks' "Morning Phase" https://soundcloud.com/willisearlbeal/sets/tucson-trilogy-turn-circle-sun Nobody weaves an idiosyncratic connection between the highly specific yet undeniably vague peculiarity of his lyrical, levatating world of romantic/existential angst and the modern American landscape through his uncertain eyes and his melifluous voice. This disembodied, ghostly voice does not merely float above the ambient, synthesized tones and gentle electronic percussion but emerges from within the music like a personified wave of water-like sound, vibrates (or vibratos) beyond the speaker and makes the listener feel that it welled up from inside them. The amazing maliability of this voice can be every bit as operatic and soaring as that of Klaus Nomi and examples of this include the performances in "Cowboy" and "Inside/out". The music is orchestral and pulsing yet softly brooding with sacral drums, distant echoes and a feeling that is soothingly chaotic yet euphoric...... perhaps at Dawn. Each song is a pristine and nearly immaculate soundscape. The multi-tracked layers are seamless and totally integrated. The hypnotic combination of artificial wind, synthesized string accompaniment and interweaving vocal harmonies on "believe";or the vast, sweeping sound & feeling of "Sun & Moon" are primary examples of the "soft power" these recordings exude. This delicate, nuanced sonic achievement is even more impressive when one considers that the production for this magnum opus was split between a motel room (The Fortuna Motel) and his girlfriends' apartment. Epic and haunting mid-fidelity production with a warm, grainy sonic texture and a vintage sci-fi temperment. Purchase part one of this trilogy here: https://store.cdbaby.com/m/cd/nobody19 Or here: http://www.theminimalbeat.com/listen-to-feel-by-nobody-willis-earl-beal-listen-up Symona Meer, a virtually anonymous vocalist who made a brief cameo on his song "Through the Dark" from the 2016 ep of the same name makes another appearance here. This time on the generically named song "Time"where rain falls, distant thunder rolls and eventually birds flutter & tweet with the end of the storm and the song. Her alto soprano voice is lovely and her performance here is devastating in its' understated yet emotive subtlety in a duet with Nobody. Ms. Meer could easily become a vocalist in the vein of Julee Cruise and I look forward to hearing more from her. https://www.facebook.com/symonameer/ The lyrics and overall themes meanwhile bring to mind Dylan circa "John Wesley Harding" or "New Morning"era Dylan where the words are simplistic yet wise, good natured yet threatening. The motifs are somehow consistent throughout the set without each song being an obvious lyrical relative of the last. Beal is a born performer and dramatist who has created an altruistic, passionate yet contrarian anti-hero character in his alter-ego "Nobody" whose melodious narration suggests he is either a wild-eyed street philosopher, a lovesick stranger, an urban cowboy or all of the above. Perhaps "Willis Earl Beal" is actually the character and "Nobody" is the real person. Who knows? Nobody knows. Nevertheless, his subtle literary devices that burst open with miniature, brief images; "They stand holding guns while you're smoking on a blunt. Now your eyes are folded blind and you cannot find the cunt who put you away to this position today at highest noon. Now, you're falling apart at the seams. You're a product of dreams." -from "release" are comprable to any of Dylans' picturesque word paintings and cutting, sly phrasing. There is an inherent religiosity and mysteriousness to the words and timbre of Nobody that seemed to evolve from the concept of "Bob Dylan".....as though both men (or their masks) are one in the same, but only through the construct of intuitive expression, specifically music in this case. Dylan himself co-wrote (under the pseudonym "Sergei Petrov") and starred in a 1997 film called "Masked & Anonymous" as a burned out, legendary musician named "Jack Fate" In the film, when Jack Fates' name is mentioned as the only potential performer in a misguided Vaudevillian benefit concert; another character says "Jack NOBODY is more like it. He was over before he started. We're all finished.") Nobody (as a character named "Willis") starred in a stream of consciousness independent cinema curio called "Memphis" in 2012 directed by Tim Sutton , where he is known to have a "God-given singing voice" to residents of the titular city but for reasons unexplained by his meandering, film alter-ego; he will not sing and cannot create more music when expected. When questioned by his bewildered producers, he says "We all need to be more like trees." before eventually wandering into the woods, not neccessarily to find musical inspiration but perhaps to find peace. In real life, Nobody wears a mask (like Zorro) for all live performances. He seems to have assumed the anomalous role of "Jack Fate" as a washed-up performer who was over before he started. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with his girlfriend, sings on the street and is set to perform in HoCo Fest opening for Lee Fields & The Expressions. Nobody also has a brief string of performances in Berlin, Utrecht and Gent to promote "Turn, Circle, Sun & Moon" Meanwhile, Dylan continues his "never-ending tour" and has recently released a three disc set of American Standard classic Sinatra covers aptly titled "Triplicate". Perhaps Dylan and his original contemporaries (as concepts) like Hendrix, The Beatles, Cash, Neil Young , Bowie, Donald Fagen (of "Steely Dan"), Lou Reed, Nico, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Curtis Mayfield and Leonard Cohen have merely split themselves among artists like Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Grace Jones, Vincent Gallo, Beth Gibbons, John Lurie, Gary Wilson, Nick Cave, Laurie Anderson, Beck, Cat Power (Chan Marshall) and Ariel Pink, to an extent. (Well, how do you explain Captain Beefheart?) They follow a similar chain of polarizing personas, autuer level musical control, diverse storytelling (films in Gallos' case) and blues & Jazz. Meanwhile the direct contemporaries of Nobody aka Willis Earl Beal are represented by artists who are mostly unknown. There are artists who are motivated far beyond the blog manufactured "alternative scene" who I believe create on the fringes of modern musical expression, regardless of fame level or age. Representing the "New Counter-culture" ; these artists (along with Nobody) include: King Krule aka Archy Marshall (Brittain) http://kingkrule.co.uk/, Serengeti aka David Cohn "Kenny Dennis" (Chicago) https://www.anticon.com/artist/serengeti , Various Moods/ Portable Disko aka Nathan Gibson (Washington) https://m.soundcloud.com/variousmoods, Myles Manley (Ireland), LIKE A VILLAIN aka Holland Andrews (Portland) , Zompei aka Brian Karlovic (Portland), Brown Calvin aka Andre Burgos (Portland), Sharkula aka Brian Wharton (Chicago), Duane the Teenaged Weirdo (Detroit) and Swanky Ali (Los Angeles). Honorable mentions: RiFF RAFF, Lana Del Rey and Yung Lean (they have big bucks but are voices that resonate with me) Never mind that the individual musical stylings of this Rogues' Gallery of characters are almost totally different on the surface or whether or not you even like Bob Dylan. In the immortal words of yet another impressionistic cipher who had been on the fringes (or in the trenches) of poetic expression; Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: "Buy the ticket. Take the ride." and purchase "Turn, Circle, Sun & Moon" You are not likely to be disappointed, but if so; at least you will get approximately 69 minutes and 17 seconds of nap time.