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A Son (album)
2019 studio album by Pan American From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A Son is a studio album by Pan American, a solo project of American musician Mark Nelson of Labradford.[1] It was released on November 8, 2019, through Kranky. It received generally favorable reviews from critics.[2]
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Background
A Son is Pan American's first studio album since Cloud Room, Glass Room (2013).[3] It was written and recorded in Mark Nelson's home in Evanston, Illinois, and honed during a tour in Europe.[3] For the album, Nelson took inspiration from June Tabor, the Carter Family, Suicide, and Jimmy Reed.[3] He sings and plays guitar and hammered dulcimer on the album.[4]
The album closes with an instrumental rendition of the traditional folk song "Shenandoah".[5] Nelson began playing the song in the days after the Charlottesville car attack, where Heather Heyer was killed while protesting against a white supremacist/neo-nazi rally on August 12, 2017.[6] He said, "It is intended as a tribute to the hero she was and a requiem for the person she was not permitted to become."[6]
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Critical reception
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, A Son received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 from 5 critic scores.[2]
David Sheppard of Mojo commented that "A Son finds Mark Nelson recalibrating his long-standing Pan American alias, dialling down the gauzy electronics of yore in favour of an uncluttered, semi-acoustic signature, with prominent use of languid, spiralling guitar melodies and liminal, semi-spoken vocals that recall his contributions to '90s post-rock outliers Labradford."[7] Paul Simpson of AllMusic stated, "Stepping back from the shimmering dub-techno and static-filled glitch of the project's earlier releases, A Son takes a sideways glance at country and folk traditions."[4] He added, "A Son may be a return to Nelson's roots, but it still fits snugly within his catalog of spacious meditations."[4]
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Track listing
All tracks are written by Mark K. Nelson, except for "Shenandoah".
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.[9]
- Mark K. Nelson – guitar, hammered dulcimer, vocals, production
References
External links
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