Dan Melchior – Ghost in the Supermarket 12” EP (Moniker)
Dan Melchior is one of our era’s great singer songwriters. He’s an inheritor of the compass-point self-aware style of writing, alongside such post punk era songwriters as Vic Godard, Dan Treacy, Ed Ball, and maybe even Lou Miami. He’s also made a whole pile of great records, nearly as many as all of the above put together. I haven’t heard his recent and highly praised LPs on Siltbreeze and S.S., but his O Clouds Unfold , Christmas for the Crows, Heavy Dirt, and Bitterness, Spite, Rage & Scorn, are all excellent collections of non-cliché, emotionally affecting contemporary songwriting, and all come highly recommended. His recent experimental LP on Graham Lambkin’s Kye label, Excerpts (& Half Speeds), was also really great in its own way. The problem with Dan Melchior is that he releases about a dozen records a year, and when you release that many records, not all of them can be essential. This five-song Record Store Day EP sounds like tossed-off sketches instead of complete songs. It pains me to say this, since I am a Melchior fan, but this is pretty forgettable. Can I be signed up for the digest version of his output instead? (http://www.moniker-records.com)
(Chris Strunk)
