Ukulele Songs Runs Much Deeper Than Its Sparse Arrangements

Sitting at only the end of June, there have already been a number of albums that are competing for the "Best of" lists. Fleet Foxes releasing their sophomore album Helplessness Blues, The Decemberists with their country- meets- archaic- history The King is Dead, Lady Gaga's Amazon- crashing Born this Way, Death Cab for Cutie's Codes and Keys, and countless others that will never pass through my ears have all contributed to making a choice for "Best of 2011" a tough one. However, there is one album not listed above that I think best showcases the talents of the artists within: Eddie Vedder's Ukulele Songs.

Ukulele Songs isn't necessarily the album I will play most often this year but I think it's the most interesting. With the exception of Vedder's 2007 soundtrack to Into the Wild, he's a rocker, normally busy fronting Pearl Jam. The same way Nirvana: Unplugged in New York showed you Kurt Cobain and company in an entire different light, so CD's like Ukulele Songs and Into the Wild give unique gaze into Vedder's world, sans electrifying guitar solos, shouted lyrics, or general noise.

This new entry has hardly any noise on it at all. The CD finds Vedder alone with his ukulele almost exclusively: lead single "Longing to Belong" has a tasteful string accompaniment, however. Ukulele Songs is a collection of Vedder originals, well placed covers, and one, lone Pearl Jam track ("Can't Keep").

Ukulele Songs drifts by like a light gust of wind on a hot day. Not the kind that hinders, but one that you cherish as relief from the sticky heat of the afternoon. The album clocks in at a little less than 35 minutes, but contains 16 tracks. Consequently, the tracks seem more like snapshots than a living, breathing tale. That being said, a picture is worth a thousand words and Vedder's tracks offer just that. Many of the originals --"Sleeping By Myself," "Without You," "Goodbye," "Broken Heart," -- are lovelorn tracks and thus don't require much more than a snapshot to express the corresponding emotions. If each track were four plus minutes, I believe the album would become tiresome. In the current structure, just when you've finished looking at the picture, Vedder has already turned the page and is busying showing you the next one.

I would definitely recommend multiple listens before discerning a verdict. The intricacies of the album simply don't come out on one listen. Ukulele Songs is so sparse on the surface that when your mind has nowhere else familiar to go via various instruments, it begins looking for things; things you would potentially overlook were it not for barren, somber pull of Vedder's ukulele dominating the scene.

Sources

http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15486-ukulele-songs/

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