Jay Bennett and Edward Burch The Palace At 4am (Part 1) Release Date : May 11, 2004 Label: Bent Penny Records Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. The first thing I wondered about this CD was : Does the title imply there will be an additional part/second half? Time shall tell. Here's a pleasant example of good ol' country-twang rock, a bit like a Blue Rodeo or something along those lines. Not being one to imply that this project is or should be similar to projects past, Jay Bennett's old Wilco-y influence pours through on this one. That's just fitting, if he's continued writing songs the way he did when he was part of that band. This still maintains a distinctive vibe though. The instrumentation on this thing is just stupid. The amount of noise-makers and musicians contributing goes on forever. Banjos, flugelhorns, clarinets and cellos are all played by people specializing in such things. There's a church organ throughout as well. The two key guys themselves can play a list of instruments far longer than any one music shop would viably carry. How do people get to play this many different things? Amazing. The music is about music's favourite theme - lost love and longing. It's very appropriate subject matter for the sound. There's a ridiculous banjo breakdown on track two, "Talk To Me." Yeah, you heard me right. A banjo breakdown. "Shakin' Sugar" includes a guitar riff at the end that I'd really like to see carry on further. The following track, "C.T.M," begins with a variation on that riff thankfully. So good. The vocal quality is low and breathy, with some well-timed twangy cracks. It's a bit like a lighter, more singerly Leonard Cohen. The sixth track, "Drinking On Your Dime," is a standout track for sure. After all this light, airy music, we're suddenly crashed headlong into a barrage of noise, flutes, feedback and electro elements. It absolutely modernizes the band in a matter of seconds. There's moments on the disc that sound like carousel music, like park swings and springtime. And "No Church Tonite" has a saucy bolero flair to it. Touching disc, but perhaps a little too long considering the mellowness and genre. The diverse tracks are key to breaking up the slower, standard tunes, but some of the latter could have been dropped without severely affecting the feel of the whole thing. Lyric of choice : Look like a question no one ever asks. From "Shakin' Sugar." Song of choice : Either "Whispers Or Screams" for its great chorus, or "Drinking On Your Dime" for its eclectic nature. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Jay Bennett and Edward Burch website Published : July 15, 2004.