Barzin - Barzin

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Mingus on Fri 14 Dec, 2007.

Like the blurry photography captured for the artwork on this release, these songs took me a little while to get into focus. There's a subtle understatement to the carefully birthed songs and instrumentation. Sad, heartbreaking and melancholy are the keywords here for a collection that comes across as a refined, padded sort of rock that errs towards the craft of much of the better exponents of the neo-folkist trend. Like Mazzy Star it's hushed, unpolluted and ghostly. A definite grower.

Barzin’s self-titled debut album is a gorgeous marriage of mood, minimalism and melancholia. Imagine Slint’s quieter moments or Hayden’s more gothic opuses and you’ll have an idea of Barzin’s approach… This is a morose masterpiece, an exercise in understatement that leaves the listener wanting more…" "… a sad beauty worthy of entry among the slow-core canon of Red House Painters, Cat Power, Low, et al". These are some of the many praises showered on the eponymous debut album of Toronto singer/songwriter Barzin, which was originally released in North America on Where Are My Records (2003), and also had a short-run release in France and Italy on the French label Ocean Music. Since 2004, it has been out of print in Europe, and will now be available for the first time worldwide. The follow-up album, ‘My Life In Rooms’ was released in Europe in 2006 and was similarly acclaimed, leading to a demand for the re-issue of the S/T debut. A new album is scheduled for release in 2008. “This eponymous CD boasts ripe writing skills, delicate arrangements, and exquisite production. Barzin's songs originate from the melancholic indie rock of Low, with hints of the American neo-folk current…There is no weak moment on this album”. Recommended (4/5) - All Music Guide.

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