Pitch Perfect
  • Pitch Perfect
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact

Bart Moore - Graveyards Wind & War

7/13/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Bart Moore

Graveyards Wind & War
​self-released; 2022

4.0 out of 5

By Dino DiMuro

Bart Moore is a folk artist and veteran of the San Francisco alternative rock scene, and is now based on a farm in Lansing, Michigan, “to escape the Big City club scene and postpone ultimate deafness.” After releasing his CD Curse of Los Lunas in 2017, he continued to tour several Lansing venues and has just dropped a new album titled Graveyards Wind & War. Moore’s music shows the influence of Tom Waits, Waterboys, Bob Dylan and the Pogues (“just before the whisky kicks in”).

In developing this album, Moore started writing new songs in 2019 and wound up with about 22, many of them colored by COVID and the political climate. “Overall they turned out more dystopian and lyrically dark than they otherwise would have.” Mixing and mastering took place at Troubadour Recording in Lansing, with engineering by Corey DeRushia (who has worked with Luther Allison and the Dangling Participles). DeRushia even provided a mic for Moore that was used to record Johnny Cash! Though Moore admits he didn’t magically wind up sounding like Cash, the quality of the vocals and all the instruments is stellar.

Speaking of vocals - and hear me out, this is going to sound weird - my first impression of Moore’s voice in “The Third Day” is that it sounds like actor Dick Van Dyke playing one of his bearded, grizzled old man roles, with the insistence of a crazy prospector who keeps jabbing you in the ribs. This is most certainly not a bad thing! Moore says this song is about “war” and with the acoustic guitar, mandolin and fiddle, along with a reference to “Johnny Rebel,” I’m guessing the war he’s talking about was the Civil War. At any rate this track has a great upbeat folk energy and feels totally authentic to its subject. “There’s a devil on the hill… I can hear him howling still.”

“I Will Go Where The Wind Blows” feels like Moore took the acoustic guitar and recorder opening of “Stairway To Heaven” and made a whole song out of just that section. I had a shock of recognition with the lyrics, which appear to reference Captain Beefheart! “The west wind howls in a crazy man’s dream / The Magic Band greets the dawn’s early light / The Captain sings a lullaby / I will go where the wind blows.” You may think this kind of lush acoustic music is a strange tribute to the Captain, but Beefheart actually made one “commercial” LP with instrumentation very much like this.

Moore states that the next track “The Fly In The Ointment” was reprised from an earlier release “at the promoter’s urging.” This song concerns matters Irish, with callouts to Dublin, Jameson Whisky and Paddy Malone (late of the Chieftains). Reviving this track was a great idea, as it is more than worth the groove space. “Graveyard” is sort of the title track, reinforced by the cover photo showing Moore sitting on his own tombstone. This one has a compelling, heartrending structure not far from the hit single “Young Girl” by Gary Puckett. “People come and talk to me in this graveyard / Sorry Ma’m, you’re not even alive!”

With “Fire In The Rain” I’m going to say out loud what I’ve been thinking silently, which is that Moore shares some songwriting traits with Neil Diamond. I’ve been holding back because Diamond can be a divisive artist, but I’ve always appreciated his skill as a song craftsman, as I do now with Moore. Later this song feels like the acoustic songs on The Beatles’ Rubber Soul. I must also mention the lovely, uncredited female backing vocals here. “Marcelena” begins more like a song from The White Album, but ultimately feels like a folk radio song from the late ‘60s. Background chorus vocals and cello make this track shine, and Moore’s vocals really sell the emotions behind this song about a witch. “And Marcelena told me how she prayed to mother night / How under cloak of darkness, she grew wings and then took flight / She told me how she killed her prey / and ate from a bowl / That’s the way that Marcelena rolls.” I wish I could write a song like this!

“Oak Street - Rush Hour” is a quick instrumental callout to Leo Kottke (who Moore had mentioned lyrically in an earlier song): just one acoustic guitar played very fast. Wish it were longer than a minute! “Back To The Bad Old Days” brings me back to thoughts of Neil Diamond in storytelling mode, with more of those amazing backing vocals and cello. The chorus vocals are gut-wrenching and gave me big time chills. “Pteryodactyl (Color Wild The Sky)” is Moore’s song about “a prehistoric flying lizard” which again showcases his ability to paint word pictures like a Widescreen Technicolor Epic. Musically we’ve gone back toward the Civil War, with some impressive picking in the middle section. 

​As you may have gathered, these songs don’t sound like much of anything modern or current, but if you’re open to folk and Americana, please do yourself a favor and check out Bart Moore. Tell him Dino sent you!
Tweet
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

       Critique/insight

    We are dedicated to informing the public about the different types of independent  music that is available for your listening pleasure. We feature a wide variety of genres like americana, electronic, pop, rock, shoegaze, ambient, and much more.

    Massive thanks to @pitchperfect158 for the expertly written review of our tune, Chapter 1, from the Tangents EP . Check it out here. ❤️https://t.co/TIDRHi9vyB

    — AuldWhiteLabel (@AuldWhiteLabel) February 1, 2025

    For those of you craving some real music journalism to cut through the tide of AI generated nonsense we seem to be drowning in check out this from Matt Jensen at @pitchperfect158 https://t.co/9Kf8GMgnvM

    — Garfield Mayor (@garfieldmayor) January 31, 2025
    Are you one of our faithful visitors who enjoys our website? Like us on Facebook


    Archives

    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

Company

About
Contributors

Newsletter

Newsletter

PR Services

PR Services
© Pitch Perfect 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Pitch Perfect
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact