JULIAN COPE - Black Sheep

With Julian Cope it's often a love-it-or-hate-it situation. You see it in the photos inside the new album's booklet, surrounded by unsavory characters as tacky as the worst of Motorhead, striking poses that are embarrassing to say the least, and you'd be tempted to side with those who don't take him seriously. After all, a man who calls himself Archdruid, who's written a book about megaliths and never misses a chance to attack monotheistic religions through his records, must be at least a little peculiar.

Not taking him seriously, however, is a mistake, and a serious one at that.

First, his discography is dotted, among several minor and some nearly incomprehensible records, with a few genuine masterpieces; second, as a writer he's gone well beyond the aforementioned book on megaliths, and in fact his hugely entertaining and thought-provoking essays on kraut-rock and Japanese rock are already must-haves for any self-respecting music lover's bookshelf; third, there's more than a grain of truth in his critique of religion – often confused and obsessive, that's true – and by extension of our society.

"Black Sheep", which like his last two albums comes out as a double CD, even though one would have sufficed, is a record that lays out, in fairly balanced measure, the strengths and weaknesses of his recent output. Less focused than "Citizen Cain'd", but better than "You Gotta Problem With Me", the album contains eleven songs built around the theme of individual uniqueness set against the mass and its forms of organization. Much less noisy and hard-edged than his recent past, "Black Sheep" is made up almost entirely of ballads that favor acoustic guitars and a generous helping of keyboards over electricity.

The biggest flaw lies in a muddled and often dated production, with a few slips into the most middling (and minor) prog sonorities and the use of some cheesy effects and sounds that could easily have been dispensed with. And it's a real shame, this lack of production clarity, because most of the songs showcase remarkably effective, top-notch songwriting.

Fortunately, in the end, the scales tip toward the positive, and the album makes for a pleasant listen, starting with the rocking "Come The Revolution", moving through the folk-tinged "These Things I Know", the elaborate British atmospheres of "Blood Sacrifice", and the dark gothic tones of "The Shipwreck Of St. Paul", all on the first disc.

The second disc opens with the pop appeal of the electro-acoustic "All The Blowing-Themselves-Up Motherfuckers", before moving on to an irresistible Lou Reed-esque track titled "Feed My Rock'n'Roll" (which trails off into a noise coda), a gorgeous, gentle folk-song like "The Black Sheep's Song", and the lengthy, mesmerizing repetition of "I Can Remember This Life".

As already mentioned, even in the best tracks you might find some detail that'll make you wrinkle your nose, but in the end, this likeable eccentric remains one of the greatest British musicians still active. The doughnuts don't always come out with a perfect hole, but this time, despite everything, the flavor is far from bad.

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12/11/2008