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Chris Whitley
Hotel Vast Horizon
(Messenger)
First Appeared at The Music Box, September 2003, Volume 10, #9
Written by John Metzger
In 1991, Chris Whitley burst into the spotlight on the strength of the
Malcolm Burn-produced Living with the Law. He took four years to follow it up —
an eternity in the music business — and has since struggled to achieve the same
level of critical and commercial attention that his debut received. That’s not
to say that Whitley’s career hasn’t been an interesting one. He’s continuously
challenged his fans and himself by tinkering significantly with his sound —
exploring everything from the torrent of guitars unleashed on Din of Ecstasy
to the quiet, self-accompaniment of Dirt Floor to the electronic sonics
and turntable scratchings of Rocket House.
Whitley’s seventh outing Hotel Vast Horizon — eighth if one counts the
Live at Martyrs’ concert set — finds him settling into a German recording
studio with bass player Heiko Schramm and drummer Matthias Macht. It’s an odd
collaboration that merges traditional folk-blues with eerie atmospherics. In
other words, it’s the type of album that would have suited Burn's production
style quite well had he been invited to join the party. Instead, the album was
produced by the trio of Whitley, Schramm, and Macht along with Edgar Röthig, and
though it explores some intriguing ideas, it inevitably isn’t all that
compelling.
Throughout Hotel Vast Horizon, Whitley’s deep, somber vocals
frequently bear a striking resemblance to a hybridization of Willy Porter and
Bruce Cockburn, while the music plods along with guitar and banjo laid over a
steady, claustrophobic throbbing of drums and bass. All of its twelve songs,
however, sound relatively similar, and as a result, listening to the album is
more a chore than a pleasure. Still, although this particular experiment doesn’t
bear the sweetest fruit, one must admire Whitley for having the courage to
continue searching for new ways in which to present his songs.  ½
Hotel Vast Horizon is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
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For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2003
The Music Box
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