Editorial Reviews

For the uninitiated, it hardly matters whether their introduction to the Danielson Famile comes in the form of a retrospective, a studio recording, a film, or in concert. All it really takes is a few minutes in the shrieking presence of Ringmaster Daniel Smith's alternately tender, ferocious and undeniably forward-thinking Christian post-punk/alternative folk collective for one to figure out whether or not they have the patience to commit to the full circus or not. To call the songs that inhabit the two-disc Trying Hartz anthology "outsider music" is doing the term a disservice. Through 28 tracks culled from works released between 1996 and 2004, Trying Hartz follows Smith, along with his siblings and friends on a ten year vision quest, capably described by author Rick Moody in the liner notes as "proto-minimalist eccentric gospel band to prog-metal-dread outfit to music hall choir to indie rock one-man band to outsider art celebrity to family man and family member." From the early, lo-fi folk of Prayer for Every Hour and Tell Another Joke at the Ol' Choppin' Block to the tight, focused, immaculately mad snap of the Steve Albini-produced Fetch the Compass Kids, Trying Hartz (which in true Danielson fashion is available with an optional limited-edition "Danielson" shoe created by the John Fluevog boutique) is a far more inclusive, pure and honest testament to faith than the soulless, over-produced fast food that passes for contemporary gospel in the 21st century. Reverend Lee Power, All Music Guide

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