Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly

April 16, 2008

Daniel Lanois

Here Is What Is

Red Floor Records

Daniel Lanois is primarily known as

the creator of otherworldly soundscapes

for a large and diverse roster of clients,

including U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel

and Emmylou Harris. His six solo albums

tend to be more stripped down affairs,

often using interesting guitar textures for

effect, but are no less atmospheric.

“Here Is What Is” is the soundtrack for

a new documentary of the same name

that Lanois has created. He calls the film

“the travelogue of his life,” and in it he

guides the listener on a search for the

“source of art, rather than everything that

surrounds the art.” To create the music,

he enlisted frequent collaborators Garth

Hudson, Brian Blade and Brian Eno. The

soundtrack is also interspersed with

comments by Eno about the nature of

art.

Standout tracks include “Lovechild,”

which opens with a beautifully improvised

piano solo by Hudson, and the intense

gospel of “This May Be The Last Time,”

performed by Brian Blade’s father and

his Zion Baptist Church in Shreveport,

Louisiana. Lanois’ trademark pedal steel

sound is present on a number of songs,

including “Sacred And Secular.”

There is no doubt that you will hear this

music playing quietly in the hipper

bookstores and cafes that you frequent.

You may even be moved to ask the

proprietor what is playing.

In A Word: Languid

Grade: B

—by Ken Shane