eMusic

Start Your Trial

The Tourniquet

by

Magnet

 
The Tourniquet
view larger image View Larger

Rate it!

Avg: 4.5 (26 ratings)

  • They Say...

    Even Johansen's second album under the Magnet moniker is a lushly produced collection of dreamy bedroom ballads. The Tourniquet compares favorably to efforts from Johansen's singer/songwriter peers such as Josh Rouse, Ron Sexsmith, and Jason Falkner; the latter's fingerprints are all over the album as a producer and general collaborator. While syrupy tunes like "Fall at Your Feet" and "Miss Her So" might paint Magnet as an unhip, dreamy confectioner, listeners weaned on heart-on-their-sleeve artists like Keane, Rufus Wainwright, and David Gray will find the confessionalist footing here quite familiar. Gray's White Ladder-style electronic-gurgling undercurrent is a clear influence on these 11 tracks, but counting the bpm would be a mistake, because the album has an acoustic heart underneath its electronic sheen. Magnet's calling cards are tales of lost loves, earnest lullaby-like vocals, and a slowly strummed guitar. The strongest moments come with the opener and closer, but everything that flows between them ebbs and flows with grace and restraint. While this restraint adds to the album's cohesive feel, it wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing if Johansen had returned to the bite of "Hold On" a bit more. It's not always a good idea to sequence an album's strongest track first. But there's little reason to nitpick given that The Tourniquet is such a smooth, delightful whole. [The 2006 re-release on Filter adds a bonus track: "This Bird Can Never Fly."]

  • You Say...

    Write a Review

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Magnet

    Album: The Tourniquet

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

Recently Viewed

Back
Forward

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.