All Request Hour: Timber Timbre's Hot Dreams

My friend Joe Apple sent me a Facebook message asking if I would review an album he recommended. I am all up for that. Joe has good taste in music and the record he recommend was one I had not heard of: Hot Dreams by Timber Timbre.

Timber Timbre is a Canadian indie-folk act led by singer/songwriter Taylor Kirk. It's very atmospheric, very elaborate sounding. The record starts off vocally sounding almost like an old Rick Nelson record, but about halfway through the album owner "Beat The Drum Slowly," the reference becomes Richard Hawley, a fine English singer/songwriter who spent some time in Pulp. Hawley is a guy I once said was music to drink Scotch to. This record is very much in that spirit. It reminds me of a less sinister Nick Cave record.

I like the line that opens the title cut "I want to dance, I want to dance, I want to dance with a black woman." Lyrics like that grab the attention. Lyrically it's an interesting record. "Curtains!?" is a great cut; opens with a heavy beat and keyboard with sharp electric chords on the guitar, a quiet break in the middle before ending loudly. "Bring Me Simple Men" reminds me of Urge Overkill covering "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon." The music feels like it could be a soundtrack to a spaghetti western or a Tarantino movie. "Resurrection Drive Part II" is another such cut, but in this one I can see sinister looking hippie-chicks dancing behind a thumping beat and weird violins scraping. Maybe I am just weird.

What I like about it is the mood it creates. It is an incredibly interesting record. And that's good praise. So many records are dull; this one holds the attention. When one song ends here I am eager to hear what is coming next. Thanks, Joe, for the recommendation!

Here is the title cut "Hot Dreams."