Faris Nourallah
Near The Sun - The Best Songs of Faris Nourallah
( green ufos ) 2006 [ Buy direct from DARLA ]

" Everybody needs a way they can remember / And ours is in this song so hold on"

The Best Songs of Faris Nourallah? Pardon me, but who the hell is Faris Nourallah.. .?

If you're like me (pray you're not!), you will ask yourself the same question as above - but prepare to discover one of the most impressive collections of singer / songwriter tunes from the past decade that play like a chest of treasures from the past 35 years. Collecting what are absolutely some magnificent compositions from 4 albums originally issued by Western Vinyl, Near The Sun sounds nothing like a product of anything post-1973.

It took me 2 days just to get past the first 5 tracks, as I was drawn to replay the first quarter of Near The Sun out of absolute amazement. "A Day to Remember" has that gift going for it that Lennon & McCartney had encompassing their notepads on the White Album sessions (think "Happiness is a Warm Gun" followed by "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"). Then comes "Sick on the scalator" (no E there, says Faris), a track that turns nausea on an escalator into a heroic anthem thanks to a seriously well placed (electronic) synth/horn-like section. "Comin’ downs harder than goin’ up" states Faris between a genius combination of synths, electric piano and percussion - Hunky Dory-era Bowie is exactly what I envision each time I replay this song (and Faris is said to be an ''avid book reader, but rarely listen(s) to music''). I'll tell you now - Faris Nourallah is blowing my fucking mind.

In an attempt to get me off of my fixation that was tracks 1 - 5, I randomly jumped up to mid-album and landed on "She'd Walk a Mile" - oh 'tales of blosoming relationship' goodness! This guy is battling James Mercer for the 'most impressive way with a melody' spot in my head at this very moment. Where have the college radio and print people (magazines) I expect to inform me on artists like Faris Nourallah been?? This guy's self-everything (he records all songs alone at home) catalog is every mile past supreme - be it on shuffle or played in chronological order, as presented here.

k :: ( February 2006 )