Temporary Shelter

temporary shelter

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
While Johnny Dowd seemed like a throwback to the era of Appalachian murder ballads on his 1997 debut, Wrong Side of Memphis, his third album finds the late-blooming, 52-year-old artist extending his stylistic reach. His lyrics continue to probe the psyche's darkest recesses--the feverish obsessions with death, Jesus, and the disease of love--but the settings range from the nightmarish disco of "Vengeance Is Mine" to the surf beat of "Big Wave" to the cinematic expanse of "Angel Eyes." ("Zombies prowl the streets," sings the monotone Dowd. "Dead souls fill the bars.") With his voice evoking a private hell, the ethereal innocence of singer Kim Sherwood-Caso offers glimmers of redemption. Dowd's dread-laced primitivism might strike some listeners as oddly funny--unsettlingly so--but this singular artist sounds deadly serious throughout. --Don McLeese

Temporary Shelter,Johnny Dowd,Koch Records,Alternative Country,Alternative Country-Rock,Americana,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Temporary Shelter

Average customer rating:

worst release of 2001
Magnificent.
Creepy/great/funny/strange all at once
Johnny Dowds accent is not fake I'm afraid!!
WHOA, PEOPLE!

Temporary Shelter
Johnny Dowd
Manufacturer: Koch Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Pictures From Life's Other Side
Cemetery Shoes
Wrong Side of Memphis
Cruel Words
Cruel Words

ASIN: B0000584UD
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Tracks:

Vengeance Is Mine
Big Wave
Cradle To The Grave
Golden Rule
Hell Or High Water
Hideaway
Angel Eyes
Sky Above, Mud Below
Stumble And Fall
Lost Avenue
Death Comes Knocking

Amazon.com

While Johnny Dowd seemed like a throwback to the era of Appalachian murder ballads on his 1997 debut, Wrong Side of Memphis, his third album finds the late-blooming, 52-year-old artist extending his stylistic reach. His lyrics continue to probe the psyche's darkest recesses--the feverish obsessions with death, Jesus, and the disease of love--but the settings range from the nightmarish disco of "Vengeance Is Mine" to the surf beat of "Big Wave" to the cinematic expanse of "Angel Eyes." ("Zombies prowl the streets," sings the monotone Dowd. "Dead souls fill the bars.") With his voice evoking a private hell, the ethereal innocence of singer Kim Sherwood-Caso offers glimmers of redemption. Dowd's dread-laced primitivism might strike some listeners as oddly funny--unsettlingly so--but this singular artist sounds deadly serious throughout. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews:

worst release of 2001.......2006-01-03

this is proof that anyone, regardless of talent, can make a record and someone -- usually harboring a desperate need to be on the cutting edge, whatever that is -- will applaud it as a work of genius. fair enough. i listen to a lot of music. i have a wide range of tastes, from Pernice Brothers to Sister of Mercy, Nick Cave to Percy Sledge, Modest Mouse to Midnight Oil. My point is not that I'm an expert. But I am open. And I usually find a song of two, upon several listenings, to appreciate, even on the most "difficult" works. Consider that a patient preface to my opinion, take it or leave it: this SUCKS.

Magnificent........2003-01-21

As good as Johnny Dowd's first two albums are, they both have noticable flaws. His third, Temporary Shelter, on the other hand--well, I suppose I could nitpick, but I just can't bring myself to do so; this music is so overwhelmingly good that it would be futile. The album opens with 'Vengeance is Mine,' and right from the start you know this is gonna be good. Not only is it a great song--evocative, numbing, ambiguous--but it sees the incomparable Kim Sherwood-Caso taking a more prominent role than ever before; she sings lead, with Dowd's voice relegated to the background. A similar pairing is seen on the desperate, apocalyptic love song 'Hell or High Water,' which is probably the album's highlight, which is saying something. She takes over the singing duties entirely on the album closer 'Death Comes Knocking,' which is, believe it or not, Christmas song of sorts, albeit not one you're likely to hear on department store loudspeakers in December.

And this is only scratching the surface. Elsewhere, there's 'Big Wave,' surely the most unnerving song about surfing ever written; the wonderfully-titled 'Sky Above, Mud Below,' with it's brilliant Sherwood-Caso-sung anti-corporal-punishment chorus; and the eight-minute-long 'Angel Eyes,' a deeply atmospheric song that my feeble linguistic powers are not up to describing.

What more need be said? Dowd's most recent album, 'The Pawnbroker's Wife,' is a relative disappointment, but even if Dowd never records anything else worth listening to in his life (highly unlikely, of course), it'll all have been worth it for Temporary Shelter. A must-own.

Creepy/great/funny/strange all at once.......2001-07-23

Johnny just keeps getting better, and his music never stays the same. Like an aural version of the book "Wisconsin Death Trip", this music is a harrowing experience based on reality but always with a sense of humor (if you can see it - sort of the way Eraserhead is after 20 viewings). By the way, ignore the reviewer comment about a fake accent or whatever - Johnny is from Ft. Worth and the accent is real (I live in the same town as Dowd & can vouch for it!). His live show is not to be missed, too.

Johnny Dowds accent is not fake I'm afraid!!.......2001-06-25

All off Johnny Dowd's dementia remains quite fully intact on "Temporary Shelter," a fact of which I am quite pleased. This album however, does seem a bit over produced as compared to "Wrong Side of Memphis," or "Pictures from Life's other side." If you enjoy this strange and somewhat raw music I strongly suggest that you check out Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks at lonesomewyatt.com. Included on the site is a great picture of Dowd with the Holy Spooks. Whooooooooeeeee!!!

WHOA, PEOPLE!.......2001-05-17

FROM HIS PHONEY-BALONEY ACCENT, TO HIS OVERBLOWN INSTRUMENTATION, JOHNNY DOWD IS THE WORST...TIRING, TUNELESS SONGS, PREDICTABLE LYRICS AND SOPHOMORIC "MUSICAL" MEANDERINGS...I WOULDN'T MENTION T.W. OR H.W. ON THE SAME WEBSITE WITH THIS CLOWN...HE SHOULD HAVE KEPT DOING WHATEVER HE WAS DOING BEFORE HE STARTED DOING THESE LOUSY ALBUMS...MAYBE HE WAS GOOD AT THAT...

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