Sunday, March 02, 2008

Podunkian Music Club-March 1, 2008

Daniel Lanois—The Maker




There’s a mystical quality to much of Daniel Lanois music, the Canadian musician and film maker who we feature on tonight’s edition of the Music Club.

Lanois who was born in Hull, Quebec, (now known as Gatineau) has been a mainstay in the music industry since the late seventies. He would learn his craft in the basement of the family home in Ancaster, Ontario, near Hamilton, but within short order the world would become his studio as the tales began to spread about the genius of the console from Canada.

Lanois has become known for his remarkable production talents for such artists as U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel and Emmylou Harris to name a few. His ear and ability to formulate sound have made him a bit of a legend in the music business.

One listen to U2’s Joshua Tree album which Lanois co produced with Brian Eno, will provide you with the background on what his musical mastery can produce. It was that highly acclaimed recording that launched U2 into the upper reaches of the music world, a similar project for Peter Gabriel a year earlier had propelled the former front man for Genesis to the top of the rock world.

The late eighties were Lanois’ coming out party, he produced or assisted on a number of major albums of the era and recorded his own critically acclaimed recording Acadie.

It’s from that session that we taken our selection for the night. On The Maker, we travel on a journey of discovery with Lanois, the haunting quality of the music and the emotion of the vocals makes the track one of the most memorable of the album and remains to this day one of the most recognizable of Lanois’ songs. Our selection is a more recent reproduction of the song, this one blessed with the assistance of the wonderful harmonies of Emmylou Harris.

While still an impressive force in the recording studio on both sides of the glass, Lanois has broken out into the film making world. His first effort was the recently released “Here is, What is” a cinematic trip into the world that Lanois lives in, seeking out the creative spirit and how he channels that through the recording studio.

An accomplished musician in his own right, it’s no wonder that many of the today’s musical talents seek out his talents and his touch for their recordings,

We gain a sense of what they already know as we listen to the musical progressions of The Maker.

Artist—Daniel Lanois
Recording--Acadie

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