(TV) allmusic.com chimes in.....

[Jay <piazzasanmarco@yahoo.com>]

Review by Sean Westergaard 
It had been nearly a decade and a half since Tom
Verlaine's last release (the instrumental Warm and
Cool) when he actually dropped two albums  Around,
another collection of instrumentals, and the
self-explanatory Songs and Other Things  at the same
time in 2006. He had been busy (though not too busy)
playing with both Patti Smith and Television off and
on, and doing a bit of production and some film
scoring, but apparently hadn't felt the itch to
release much of anything. Oddly enough, although the
companion album (Around) is entirely instrumental, the
opening track on Songs and Other Things is actually
another nicely constructed instrumental that has
Verlaine adopting an interesting organ-like tone on
his guitar. Then it's on to the quietly menacing
"Heavenly Charm" with it's thick, sludgey solo. "From
Her Fingers" is loose and fun, while the simmering
"Nice Actress" has just a bit of venom and a fiery
guitar outro. "A Stroll" is pretty and laid-back,
although the Barry White-esque intro seems a bit out
of place. "The Earth Is in the Sky" is more
classic-sounding Verlaine, with a majestic (but too
short) guitar solo. "Shingaling" is a goofy toss-off
that works something close to a New Orleans
second-line rhythm, and "All Weirded Out" is a
chugging rocker with some great guitar sounds. "The
Day on You" is fantastic and really lets Verlaine flex
his guitar muscles, while "Peace Piece" acts as an
instrumental coda. It's a solid bunch of songs and
probably the most varied set of his career. Granted,
he hasn't been particularly prolific, but this is
easily his finest work since Flash Light (nearly 20
years!) and ranks among his best. Typically cryptic
and loaded with tasty guitar, Songs and Other Things
is an excellent return for Tom Verlaine. 
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Review by Sean Westergaard 
A mere 14 years after Warm and Cool (the same period
of time that separated the last two Television
albums), Tom Verlaine has come up with a follow-up
called Around. Once again, it's a collection of
late-night instrumentals that are generally more about
conjuring a mood or feeling than telling a wordless
story. The songs themselves fall into three basic
groups: tunes where the rhythm section finds a nice
groove for Verlaine to play over ("Rain, Sidewalk,"
"Balcony"), solo pieces where Verlaine plays with the
focus of an Indian classical musician performing an
alap ("Flame," "The O of Adore"), and pieces that just
meander, like an idea searching for a song ("Brief
Description," "A Burned Letter"). The songs where the
rhythm section locks in are all great, from the
simple, pretty "Eighty Eights" to the bouncy "Wheel
Broke." The wonderful "Meteor Beach" almost has an
African highlife groove with Hawaiian-sounding slide
and wah-wah guitar. "The O of Adore" is quite
beautiful, relaxing, and sublime, while Brief
Description" is somewhat clattering. The problem is
that these three different types of pieces don't
necessarily sit well together, so it's a somewhat
disjointed listening experience as you move from
light, fun tracks to introspective beauty to Sturm und
Drang. There can be no denying that Tom Verlaine is
one of rock's great and indiosyncratic guitar players
and there's certainly some of that to be found in
Around, but the drastic mood shifts from track to
track can be disorienting. However, in the digital
age, deft CD programming can turn this into a more
coherent listen. Around is a bit spotty but when it
works, it really works well. And when a guy who's hit
the creative highs that Verlaine has in his career
drops his first new material in more than a decade,
it's definitely worth paying attention. 
 




 


































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