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by Brian J. Barr, Freelance Writer (No Depression, Harp, Seattle Stranger):
"A few years back, Mike Dumovich played an entrancing set opening for Jesse Sykes &
the Sweet Hereafter. Slouched over his guitar, grinning sheepishly from under his ball
cap, his notes rang as clear and as true as anything I'd heard since laying ears on John
Fahey many moons ago. Since then, I've been anxious for this impending full-length.
Mesojunarian reflects the plaintive picking and singing he's known for, but also brings to
light his remarkably original songwriting approach. Structured around razor-sharp
fingerplucks rather than chords, Dumovich's lyrics often draw a chilly parallel between
geography, weather, and human emotions, a condition we Northwesterners are well
familiar with. Joined by Seattle's genius violinists Eyvind Kang and Anne Marie
Ruljancich, Dumovich is given the damp atmospherics his words require: words that are
barely sung. Instead, he melodically speaks quite matter-of-factly about 10,000 storms
over 10 counties (Warm Territories), discarded engines and one dead bee (Wasps of
Rain), and how Saturdays the third in a long series of planets that have been burned
(5 Dollars). While Dumovich can be a morose motherfucker, it's never in the tiresome
woe-is-me plague of most singer-songwriters. Rather, he is deeply thoughtful in the Nick
Drake/Townes Van Zandt tradition. However, with producer Tucker Martine at the
knobs, Dumovich shows he can also craft a catchy rock tune, such as Sand and
Swallow, which borders on the Long Winters more somber moments. With
Mesojunarian, we finally have a recorded document of one of Seattle's most treasured
songwriters."
Mesojunarian is now available for purchase online from Amazon, CD Baby and at record stores. It is also available for download from eMusic and iTunes, etc.
In Europe you can order the CD from Rough Trade.
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