A smorgasbord from the intrepid guitarist known for his work with Captain Beefheart, Jeff Buckley, Joan Osborne, and many others. Lucas' guitar work, especially on his old dobro, is always a joy to hear with a rich depth of musicality centered in the blues, but informed by styles as diverse as baroque, West African, and avant-garde jazz. This collection concentrates on song forms, and several of the selections wouldn't sound out of place in your standard college radio format. Elli Madeiros' silky, insinuating vocal on "Dulce" seems almost made for a hip video, and Nick Cave delivers the sort of bitter if calculated snarl that his fans have come to enjoy on "And the Ass Saw the Angel." Beefheart aficionados will require this disc for the live performances of the solo piece "Flavor Bud Living" and "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles," the latter otherwise not too spectacular. There's also a composition called "Oat Hate" here, which was used as a portion of the Van Vliet song "Cardboard Cutout Sundown." On the other hand, it's tough not to be totally sucked in by his duo with Peter Stampfel on the theme from Astro Boy! The potluck aspect of the disc may put off some, but it's not a bad place to begin for Lucas newbies, as the range of his talents is well represented. ~ Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide
Captain Beefheart (Performer), Elli Medeiros (Lyricist), Gary Lucas (Annotation), Manfred Rahs (Photography), Peter Bodtke (Photography), Gary Lucas (National Steel Guitar), David Fricke (Liner Notes), Michael Dorf (Executive Producer), Don Van Vliet (Vocals), Robert Jacobson (Photography), Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (Cover Photo), Andre Grossman (Photography), Cyril Atef (Drums), Robert Rosenheck (Photography), Elli Medeiros (Producer), Gary Lucas (Vocals), Arjen Veldt (Photography), Eric Drew Feldman (Mandolin), Flip Nagler (Photography), Stewart Winter (Drum Programming), Joe Saba (Producer), Joe Saba (Drum Programming), Jeff Moris Tepper (Guitar (Electric)), Peter Stampfel (Arranger), Andre Grossmann (Photography), Eric Mingus (Vocals), David Gahr (Photography), Sascha von Oertzen (Compilation Engineer), Sascha von Oertzen (Remixing), Ebet Roberts (Photography), Gary Lucas (Electronics), Don Van Vliet (Spoken Word), Sascha von Oertzen (Engineer), David Bias (Design), Peter Stampfel (Vocals), Tim Powell (Producer), Stephanie Oxley (Associate Producer), Gary Lucas (Liner Notes), Richard Snyder (Bass), Cyril Atef (Percussion), David Bias (Photography), Jason Candler (Mixing), Peter Stampfel (Fiddle), David Schnirman (Engineer), Gary Lucas (Bottleneck Guitar), Richard Barone (Vocals), DJ Spooky (Sampling), Elli Medeiros (Engineer), Gary Lucas (Songwriter), Gary Lucas (Soloist), Elli Medeiros (Vocals), Gary Lucas (Producer), Joe Saba (Synthesizer), Stewart Winter (Synthesizer), Hal Willner (Remixing), Marco Ugolini (Photography), Eric Drooker (Cover Illustration), Nick Cave (Vocals), Zaf (Bass), DJ Spooky (Turntables), Paul D. Miller (Producer), Dave Blas (Design), Kato Hideki (Bowed Bass), Paul Haines (Lyricist), Robert & The Groovers Williams (Drums), Jason Candler (Engineer), Holly Anderson (Photography), Eric Drooker (Illustrations), Kato Hideki (Bass (Electric)), Gary Lucas (Dobro), Matt Johnson (Shaker), Matt Johnson (Tabla), DJ Spooky (Kalimba), Hal Willner (Producer), Sascha von Oertzen (Mastering), Gary Lucas (Arranger), Tim Powell (Engineer), David Johansen (Harmonica), Peter Bull (Photography), Richard Barone (Vocals (Background)), Kip Hanrahan (Producer), Sascha von Oertzen (Compilation Mastering), Mark Bingham (Producer), David Johansen (Vocals), Jonathan Kane (Drums), Gary Lucas (Slide Guitar), Mary Margaret O'Hara (Vocals), Gary Lucas (Guitar (Acoustic)), Gary Lucas (Guitar), Fernando Saunders (Bass), Robert Wilson (Drums), Stewart Winter (Producer), Audrey Tsui (Photography), Gary Lucas (Guitar (Electric)), Guillermo Fellove (Trumpet)
