Damien Jurado - Holding His Breath - CD (2003)

Labels: Acuarela
Review by: Andy Malcolm

Ah, Jurado. Never fails to disappoint, and even put out an LP that had a paper chair on the cover that you could fold out. But not sit on. Unless you were

tiny. Like an action man or Sindy doll or something. And I rather doubt that any Sindy doll’s read the C. Although if you do, please let me know via the

forum. Thank you.

This is five songs of typically countrified music that Jurado excels at. If you enjoyed his last LP (“Where Shall You Take Me?”) then it is fairly certain that

you would also enjoy this offering that comes from a Spanish label. The music is soft and slow, with Dames and a few other guys taking the duties. Guitars

are plucked, words are sung, it’s all very nice and the kind of thing you could get miserably drunk and chug whiskey’s to if you felt so inclined. Some of

the songs are more filled out, such as “Big Let Down” with it’s sparse instrumentation and female backups from Rosie Thomas giving it an Ida flavour. As I am

a little rusty when it comes to reviews I will simply resort to dubious comparisons, such as Papa M and Neil Young. I don’t really know what I am talking

about though. There is also a 764-Hero cover, and a song written by Peggy Seeger, if either of those tidbits of information mean something to you.

I wouldn’t say this was essential, and there is plenty of other stuff in this genre worth picking up first (I personally have barely even scratched the

surface of hearing music like this), but if Jurado “does it” for you, then you probably want this (or, more likely, have it already). Nice.