Music For Tourists

Infobox Album | Name = Music For Tourists
Type = Studio album
Artist = Chris Garneau


Released = 23 January 2007
Recorded = 2005citeweb|url=http://www.queerty.com/queer/the-narcissist-issue/the-narcissist-issue-chris-garneau-20060926.php|title=The Narcissist Issue: Chris Garneau|publisher=queerty.com|accessdate=2008-03-14]
Genre = Indie pop
Length =
Label = Absolutely Kosher
Producer = Duncan Sheik
Reviews = *Pitchfork Media rating-10|2.3 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/41471-music-for-tourists link]
*Radar Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.radaronline.com/radar-reviews/2007/02/music_for_tourists_chris_garneau.php link]
*PopMatters rating-10|4 [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/31734/chris-garneau-music-for-tourists/ link]
*Allmusic Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xfoxqurld6e~T1 link]
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"Music For Tourists" is an indie pop album by Chris Garneau. It was released on January 23, 2007 on the Absolutely Kosher record label. It was badly received by critics, who in particular felt that the quality of the lyrics was poor.

Recording

After playing in Brooklyn for some time, Garneau was recommended to record company Absolutely Kosher by Jamie Stewart, whose band Xiu Xiu was on that label. According to Garneau the album took around two years to record before it was released, as producer Duncan Sheik was very busy and there was a lot of downtime during recording.

Lyrical content and musical style

"Castle-Time" reminisces about an elementary school teacher's death long ago. "Hymn" makes use of an electrical organ instead of the piano found elsewhere on the album. Critics said that at many points Garneau's voice was a whisper. The hidden track "Between the Bars" is a cover of an Elliott Smith song, and some critics said that Garneau was trying to emulate Smith.

Release

The album was released on January 23, 2007 and failed to chart in the US.citeweb|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=803567&model.vnuAlbumId=824892|title=Chris Garneau chart history|publisher=Billboard magazine|accessdate=2008-05-05] The release was followed by a tour that visited most of the UK and the US in 2007, as well as a few locations in France in 2008.citeweb|url=http://www.chrisgarneau.com/pasttour.htm|title=Past tours|publisher=Chris Garneau|accessdate=2008-05-05]

Garneau said that he chose the 'cartoon-esque' cover art instead of a photo of himself because he wanted to keep it "kind of light".

Critical reception

Mark Hogan of Pitchfork Media was particularly critical, calling the lyrics of "Black & Blue" 'just terrible'.citeweb|url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/41471-music-for-tourists|title=Chris Garneau - Music for Tourists|accessdate=2008-05-05] PopMatters' Joe Tacopino agreed, calling the album "lyrically atrocious".citeweb|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/31734/chris-garneau-music-for-tourists/|title=Chris Garneau - Music for Tourists|accessdate=2008-05-05] Matt Thompson of Radar also criticised the lyrics, but concluded that the album wasn't bad.citeweb|url=http://www.radaronline.com/radar-reviews/2007/02/music_for_tourists_chris_garneau.php|title=Chris Garneau - Music for Tourists|accessdate=2008-05-05] Allmusic's Marisa Brown called it a "cumbersome affair", giving it a rating of 2.5 out of 5.citeweb|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3xfoxqurld6e~T1|title=Chris Garneau - Music for Tourists|author=Marisa Brown|accessdate=2008-05-05|publisher=Allmusic]

Tracklisting

# "Castle-Time" – 3:58
# "Relief" – 3:45
# "Black & Blue" – 5:32
# "Saturday" – 2:21
# "So Far" – 4:23
# "First Place!!!" – 4:14
# "Hymn" – 1:40
# "Baby's Romance" – 4:37
# "Not Nice" – 5:31
# "Blue Suede Shoes" – 3:09
# "We Don't Try" – 3:41
# "Sad News" – 6:01
# "Halloween" – 4:52
# "Between the Bars" (Elliott Smith cover) – 3:05

References

External links

* [http://chrisgarneau.com/ Chris Garneau's official website]