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Peter Himmelman
Imperfect World
(Majestic)
First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2005, Volume 12, #4
Written by John Metzger
Peter Himmelman likely never will evade the many comparisons to Elvis
Costello, Joe Jackson, or his father-in-law Bob Dylan that have dogged him
throughout his career. After spending much of the past decade doing everything
from crafting children’s albums to working with Nine Inch Nails’ drummer Chris
Vrenna in an attempt to break loose from his routine, he returns full-force to
embracing his classicist influences on his 10th solo outing
Imperfect World. In fact, throughout the album, he never ventures far from
his holy trinity of heroes. Surrounding himself with an all-star crew of session
musicians — including bass player Sheldon Gomberg (Beck, Rickie Lee Jones),
organist Jeff Young (Jackson Browne, Sting), and Costello’s longtime drummer
Pete Thomas — Himmelman rambles through 11 songs in 40 minutes, fusing Tom Petty
with B.B. King on This Afternoon in the Rain; underscoring the Traveling Wilburys-ish chug of Wet Matches with a jangly, Byrds-ian guitar
accompaniment; and invoking just a touch of Alejandro Escovedo’s punk-ish snarl
on the opening, blues-inflected Loaves of Bread. Granted, this isn’t a
terribly original avenue to pursue, but it is a tried-and-true formula that
seems perfectly suited for his pensive musings.
Indeed, it’s Himmelman’s strength as a lyricist that tends to lift his
material above the fare of the average songwriter, and the thematic flow of
Imperfect World provides him the kind of focus that makes it his best, most
cohesive outing in some time. Influenced heavily by the death of his younger
sister who recently died in a tragic car crash, the collection offers
reflections upon life and death as glimpsed from the eyes of a man who is trying
to come to terms with both his loss and his religion. Himmelman’s songs
consistently have been grounded by his Jewish faith, but Imperfect World
surrounds his spiritual leanings with pain, anger, and sorrow, making its deeply
personal sentiments resonate all the more. By the time he strolls through the
quietly soulful strains of Another Day, he finds the strength to accept
his life for what it is, even though he knows in his heart that things won’t
ever be the same.  ½
Imperfect World is available
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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 © 2005
The Music Box
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