Harper Simon LP

Harper Simon's self-titled LP landed on my desk and I gave the attached bio a quick read, opened the case and gave the liner notes a glance. Simon self-produced the release, a bold move for a debut I thought. I then notice that half the album was co-produced by one Bob Johnston. Probably not the Bob "Is it rolling, Bob?" Johnston that produced Bob Dylan's best work in the late 60s I pondered and moved on.

At this point I'm sure it's pretty clear I wasn't fully up to scratch on Harper Simon's lineage. Of course it is indeed the same Johnston and as I read on, it becomes apparent that the Simon in his name comes from father Paul and what I'm about to listen to is an album bringing in many legends -- both the well known such as Paul Simon or Joan As Policewoman's Joan Wasser, Sean Lennon and more, plus the lesser known like Lloyd Green and some of Nashville's finest session musicians or longtime Tom Waits guitarist Marc Ribot.

The result is incredibly balanced. At no point is does it come across as a spoilt affair, a testament to the perfect restraint shown by Simon and Johnston in the producing process. Yeah, there's some pretty big names here, but they're all in service of Simon's music and neither Simon nor the musicians indulge themselves nor expose any ego.

Vocally there is an undeniable, almost uncanny, resemblance to his father. To the point where I had to check the album credits several times to see if Paul was contributing backing vocals -- at no point does he. At times there are sombre vocals that remind me of the late Elliott Smith, but for the bulk of the album Simon's vocals have an upbeat, pop sensibility about them that mesh with the instrumentation perfectly, whether rooted in alternative rock, folk or country.

Opening and closing with solo affairs -- an atmospheric rock interpretation of the traditional All To God kicking things off and closing with the solo acoustic Berkeley Girl -- the in-between steadily builds and fades. It's a short and sweet affair, clocking in at 30 minutes. Simon crafted the ten songs as a homage to the LP format, as a deliberate move to counter the erosion of the concept of a cohesive album caused by digital music. Simply put, it works.

Vaguely rooted in country-tinged acoustic pop sound (if there is such a thing), there is a surprising range of styles executed, and one can't really say Simon's any better at one style than another. The pedal steel driven Shooting Star and Tennessee are the pièce de résistance of the album; immediately catchy and both showcase a songwriting talent featuring a natural sense of humour that is perfectly evoked by the instrumentation. Following this duo with the bouncy Ha Ha and the jaunty rock of Cactus Flower Rag, it's quickly apparent that Simon's desire to craft "ten songs that are all as good as each other" has most definitely succeeded.

It's hard to resist comparisons to specific Paul Simon or Simon & Garfunkel songs, but I try (I had to play Cactus Flower Rag and 'The 59th Bridge Song' back to back because the mood they both invoke is striking). At any rate, Harper Simon's eponymous album is undeniably an artist carving his own unique path in the musical world; the familiarities really feel like nothing more than a 'like father like son' situation.

The year is young, and technically a 2009 release, but Harper Simon's debut LP is the best thing I've heard in 2010. Or most of 2009 for that matter. I'm certainly not holding my breath for anything to supplant it anytime soon.