Published January 12, 2009
The two faces of Bob Justman: in one moment “Happiness and Woe” is a shy and subtle, scarcely orchestrated singer-songwriter record, but in the next, Justman leads you into a musical southern-blues-swamp with all the excess and decadence you would connect to that genre. This switching of genres brings to mind Mugison, especially since Justman performs both poles of his music equally professional and exciting. The album itself profits in the end because it is so diversified: “Happiness and Woe” never gets boring because the mixture of beautiful, laid-back tracks like “Don’t move”, rough blues such as “Like so many before” and a few abstract instrumentals, is so well-balanced.
After Jóhann Kristinsson’s very good record “Jimmy”, this is the second Icelandic singer-songwriter album within a short time that is really convincing. Recommendation!
- The Verdict Convincing mixture of gentle melodies and rough blues.
- MySpace http://www.myspace.com/bobjustman
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