HE-ART: Swinging Naked from the Vine

He-Art

Swinging Naked from the Vine

© 2002 Zeitgeist Rekords (634479694028)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

(About MP3 downloads at CD Baby)

Woody Allen with a really big set of...harmonicas

tracks

1 Stay in the Boat
2 Too Good For Him
3 Carpet Lined Stone Box
4 To the Moon
5 Help Me
6 Tuff Luv
7 Mmmm...
8 Strange House Shoe From the Amsterdam Zoo
9 Tell Me (premix)
10 Good Old Boys Theme Song
11 Rob a Store
12 Xxxxxx
13 She Won't
14 Song For the Artist in You

notes

In the spirit of the Moldy Peaches, Half Japanese, Bob Dylan, and the Violent Femmes comes He-Art - swinging naked from the vine.

This is the debut CD from the capricious singer/songwriter who has been called 'Woody Allen with a harmonica'.

His lyrics are extremelely clever, sardonic, downright silly, anthemic, and tragically poignant.

His music is infectious, respectfully lo-fi, and masterfully performed. Evil but cute, subversive but loving, music that even your parents will unknowingly enjoy.

Swingin' Naked from the Vine is one man's struggle to emerge from his 'Carpet-Lined Stone Box' and vocalize the emotions that come with being an early 21st Century male with all our friggin' awkward attempts to capture love in a seemingly non-romantic age.

Classic Songs Include:

Track 3 : Carpet Lined Stone Box - an all out assault on the current "punk" rock status quo
'He's the jock in the backwards baseball cap and birkenstocks and he's makin' sure everyone stops to watch, he's the guy in the backwards hat and birkenstocks and he's wearin' a t-shirt so that everybody thinks he's punk rock.'

Track 5: Help Me - a beautiful story of a jilted lover looking to do himself in by jumping off the 39th floor - with an ironic ending
"help me I'm flying through the air and wouldn't you know it, I'm started to care...oh shit maybe I do want to live."

Track 10: Good Old Boys Theme Song - He-Art dares car cos to make trucks bigger
"I've got a big truck because it is big enough for us to fuck."

Track 12: XXXXXX - je ne comprend pas the opposite sex.
"I'm so bad with girls I should have been gay."

A diehard fan of baseball, love, and the band Superchunk, He-Art is eccentricity in an age when too few dare to be eccentric. Buy this CD folks, it is a rare jewel in a sea of mediocrity! I'm sure you will love it -as sure as I am that the lead singer of Creed thinks he's Jesus. Jesus!

reviews

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  • this record is bold, outrageously silly at times, primal, truthtelling, and capa
    author: Heidi Drockleman - Indie-music.com

    “Evil but cute, subversive but loving, music that even your parents will unknowingly enjoy.” A press kit quote is probably the statement that can best capture what I’m thinking. Not surprisingly, I believe my parents actually might enjoy this music, if nothing else it would give them some perspective for my own weirdness and evil but cute nature. While I feel that most might describe this as eccentric, He-Art’s music feels much more normal and un-checked than anything I’ve heard in awhile. Much like the physical act of actually swinging naked from a vine, this record is bold, outrageously silly at times, primal, truthtelling, and capable of taking a stab at poking itself right in the eye. It’s mercurial in its makeup, taking awkward thoughts and actions in and surrounding them with melody in a surprisingly catchy way. It feels like listening to something from another time and place, and it’s OK, because like any good book or weird fairy tale or rhyme, you connect with it on an unadulterated level that makes you feel good about yourself. I don’t think Heart is that eccentric, no, rather I think it touches on that inner part of yourself that shows up in your dreams, where things are strange and can be fantastic because the boundaries that hold in our revisionist behavior during daylight, at our jobs or at school, just don’t exist. Let’s face it, it’s the kind of world that we all want to cavort and run around in, and Heart has found a way to bring it into his own life a good deal of the time. I had such a blast listening to this, it’s like an inexpensive bit of therapy if you’re in need of a boost. And speaking in musical merits, this record has it all, it’s witty, poignant, plays on lyrical content and truly shows a mastery of how to harness that otherworldly “magic” and translate it into melody that you can actually sing along to. I can dig it, and fans of bands like Violent Femmes, Pixies, and the songwriting insight of Bob Dylan will truly enjoy this break from the more predictable plane of the musical landscape. Take a leap, it’s like tripping in a land where you can truly be yourself. Standout tracks: “To the Moon”, “Tuff Luv”, “Song for the Artist in You”, “Carpet Lined Stone Box”, “She Won’t”

  • Woody Allen with a harmonica
    author: Amplifier Magazine - Jan. 2003

    Stop looking for the next rock messiah. Billed as 'Woody Allen with a harmonica', He-Art alias Derrick Shannon stakes his territory as a wry anti-folkie rendering trippy, humorous, and literate compositions evocative of Loudon Wainwright III. He-Art's high-pitched nasal vocal delivery is the perfect vehicle to convey the writers affection and disaffection with a crumbling world around him. Though he pastes together a few snappy pop hooks in 'Carpet-lined Stone Box' - that bemoans the travails of 21st century men - raucous glam anthems such as 'Tuff Luv' and the delicate, irreverent song fragments 'Tell Me' and 'Good Ole' Boys Theme Song' reveal Shannon as a romantic troubadour. 'Song for the Artist In You' bolstered by harmonica lines worthy of Dylan's (New Morning) will send female psychology majors to swoon. He-Art a He-Man? Find out with Swinging Naked From the Vine. - Tom Semioli

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