{"id":20372,"date":"2021-02-14T05:30:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-14T10:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=20372"},"modified":"2020-12-17T10:28:03","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T15:28:03","slug":"album-review-john-magnuson-barely-noticeable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/14\/album-review-john-magnuson-barely-noticeable\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: John Magnuson \u2013 Barely Noticeable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-20373\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/john_magnuson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/john_magnuson.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/john_magnuson-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/john_magnuson-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>It doesn\u2019t happen often, but when it does, I take notice: every now and then, one or another friend sends me an album with a Post-it affixed, sporting a message along the lines of, \u201cYou need to hear this.\u201d It happened recently with the new album from John Magnuson. Living as I do in Western North Carolina, I wouldn\u2019t have otherwise known about an album from Magnuson, formerly one-third of Minnesota alt-country group the Carpetbaggers. That group cut a pair of Twin\/Tone releases in the early \u201890s, then gained a higher profile after opening for Son Volt; they released a well-received set on Shout! Factory in 1996.<\/p>\n<p><i>Barely Noticeable<\/i> is rooted in a similarly alt sensibility, but there\u2019s a rock feel as well. Magnuson\u2019s voice recalls early Elvis Costello, and his songwriting chops are impressive. The album\u2019s 13 tunes are all originals, and they balance twang with rock-steady melodic values. Magnuson\u2019s musical approach draw from classic country to be sure, but it\u2019s not heard to spot a musical kinship with eclectic artists like John Hiatt and Nick Lowe in his songs. His uncluttered arrangements keep the focus on his vocals and lyrics.<\/p>\n<p>And Magnuson\u2019s influences extend in some unexpected directions. He may or may not have meant to do so, but the underpinning riffs and vocal harmonies of \u201cA Bird That Doesn\u2019t Sing\u201d subtly recall the Beatles\u2019 \u201cAnd Your Bird Can Sing,\u201d though its overall texture leans closer to <i>Rubber Soul<\/i>\u2019s more acoustic-leaning tunes like \u201cI\u2019ve Just Seen a Face.\u201d Time spent with <i>Barely Noticeable<\/i> is sure to be rewarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It doesn\u2019t happen often, but when it does, I take notice: every now and then, one or another friend sends me an album with a Post-it affixed, sporting a message [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,49,65],"tags":[4428],"class_list":["post-20372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alt-country","category-new-release","category-review","tag-john-magnuson","cat-4-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20374,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20372\/revisions\/20374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}