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"Superlative lyrical angst and heartbreak...
It’s rare to come across such an honest
songwriter as Chris Dingman... Heartbreak Sampler doesn’t have a duff line, not an
ounce of lyrical fat or filler, just honest sentiments pared down to the
bone, then scraped away a little more to reveal the universal truths
underneath. "
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Your lyrics are exquisite the way you weave humor through sadness... You are an exceptional talent on many levels! —Tanya
R. Hunt, San Jose, CA I
just spent the last little while driving around my neighborhood because I
had been listening to Heartbreak Sampler in the car and was enjoying it so
much I didn't want to stop driving till I had finished it. I love your
music.
Your stuff is so good I'm going to buy 10 before I'm done to make sure that
my friends with good taste in music get a copy. I'm not kidding... It's
brilliant work. I
think what's great about a CD, for me, is feeling like I can really hear the
honest (even brutally honest) voice of the writer/singer, and that really
comes through on your CD. “I
received the CD yesterday. I think it is wonderful! I want to send one to
each of my sons.”
“I
really enjoyed it...The lyrics were poetic, at times funny... Keep up the
great work!”
"I've thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite tracks… are Goddam Wonderful World,
Rain & New Eyes… Chris, I really like your music… I love your lyrics.”
"That is a hell of a good CD you put together. I’ve really enjoyed listening
to it.
"I've been fortunate enough to work with a few songwriters over the past
year. All were talented, but I'm most proud of the project I did with you." |
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Americana-UK Review: “Superlative lyrical angst and heartbreak”
It’s rare to come across such an honest
songwriter as Chris Dingman (for it is he). “I'm not interested in telling
stories, or trying to write from some other character's perspective. I write
to explore and express my inner life” Dingman says. That honesty pervades
“Heartbreak Sampler”, which is a frank, painful and resigned look at the
single life. But it’s an uplifting album, partly in the way that only
honestly expressed pain can be, but partly because of the way Dingman has
with a melody and the killer lines with which every track is filled.
HicksWithSticks Review
TWO NEW TWANGER-SONGWRITER CDs
...If it's true that heartbreak inspires the best songs, then Dingman is at the peak of his game. It's not that he mopes or feels sorry for himself either. Songs like "Some Dreams" and "Long White Robe" pick up the tempo, and tunes like "Long White Robe" and "Goddamn Wonderful World" provide doses of cynicism that are downright hopeful in an oxymoronic way. Musically, he combines pop, country and doses of thinkin'-person's music in ways that haven't been heard in these parts since, well, the Pete Bernhard CD.
Rootstime.be The previous CD, “Love, Again,” (2003) from the front man of Crooked Roads, Chris Dingman, of Lyme, New Hampshire (but currently operating out of the musically more lively California), got some attention in the low countries, but not enough to give “Heartbreak Sampler” the full appreciation this CD deserves. “Heartbreak Sampler” is the logical successor to “Love, Again,” but is much better. Central to “Heartbreak Sampler” is not the music, but the lyrics, which are once again, a literary tour de force. Musically speaking, there is happily little to complain about. Crooked Roads make folk/country that sometimes really reminds one of Merle Haggard and Woody Guthrie, as far as this type of folk and country is concerned, but their music is also reminiscent of songwriters, such as Neil Young or Gram Parsons. Joy and melancholy alternate on this CD, which was produced by Margrit Eichler and Dingman, himself. The highlights of this CD (such as the splendid “Goddamn Wonderful World”) immediately divulge their beauty, but also the songs that don’t directly touch you the first time around, grow on you upon subsequent listening. A very good CD from the band whose music sounds fresh enough to be relevant in today’s world. What applied to “Love, Again,” applies even more to “Heartbreak Sampler,” because Chris Dingman has grown enormously in the last few years. Chris Dingman is still considerably inspired by the folk of Nick Drake, but his intimate ballads on “Heartbreak Sampler” have created something unique. What’s even eerier; his singing occasionally reminds us of Nick Drake, himself. The production is again sober and the instrumentals sparse, but that fits perfectly with Dingman’s sensitive vocals. There are a lot of singers who make music like Chris Dingman, but as far as we’re concerned, “Heartbreak Sampler” is one of the bright lights of the genre. A very good CD, which deserves more attention than its already so convincing predecessor. (translated from the Belgian by Carrye Broersma) see May 2006 Reviews at http://www.rootstime.be/
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