Downtime

A simple singer/songwriter album with romantic (as in art) and surreal (again, as in art) leanings from the part-time Golden Palomino wordsmith and vocalist and former Slapp Happy wordsmith and guitarist. If it weren't for Blegvad's skewed sense of humor and predilection for slipping existential contemplation accompanied by noisy electronics between the acoustic numbers, this album could be huge with the James Taylor crowd. As it is, the near-perfect songs 'Say No Now,' 'Strong, Simple Silences,' and the fierce 'When the Work Was New,' which is mistitled on the disc's back cover, will likely go all but unheard by potential Blegvad fans, especially listeners of Loudon Wainwright III. In other words, for its occasional challenges, this is an album worth searching out. Finally released in the U.S. by East Side Digital in 1996, with two additional tracks.