Daniel Lanois

Albums:     
‘Acadie’ (1989)
‘Belladonna’ (2005)
‘For the Beauty of Wynona’ (1993)

Those of you familiar with the live work of Dave Matthews Band (like some of you sick people out there) are probably somewhat familiar with the work of French-Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Lanois. Matthews has made Lanois’ “The Maker” a song that appears on set lists with some regularity. Since Matthews and Lanois are musicians cut from the same cloth, this does not pose a problem for the listener. However, since DMB and Matthews are a household name, Lanois gets less of the spotlight (though Matthews does credit Lanois as one of his heroes).

Lanois is one of those musicians who makes music that pleases himself without a noticeable thought to the listener. There are very few artists that can get away with such self-centered aspirations (as well as having a label that would allow such indulgence) but Lanois is one of them. His lyrics and the quality of his music is so fine that each song and album sounds more like an intimate labor of love than an album recorded for the masses.

‘Belladonna’ is an album of extremely visceral instrumentals that are the product of working with some of the biggest and brightest minds in music. Many would be wary of listening to an album full of instrumentals as that label is more likely to evoke thoughts of Mannheim Steamroller than Joe Satriani. Lanois straddles the lines of those two worlds to bring about some truly unique and beautiful sounds.

‘Acadie’ and ‘For the Beauty of Wynona’ are two more traditional folk albums where Lanois blends him multi-linguistic style with unique stylings that seem both revolutionary but eerily familiar and comforting at the same time. On ‘Wynona,’ Lanois begins taking some chances with the sound established in his ‘Acadie’ debut, but they seem to be used to set itself apart and keep the songs from falling into the folk-artists trap of having a repetitive sound and feeling track after track. His talent is undisputed and I look forward to hearing more of his offerings.

Tracks of Distinction: “Sleeping in the Devil’s Bed,” and “Rocky World,” both from ‘For the Beauty of Wynona.’ Two tracks that really encapsulate the Lanois sound (as I heard it) that are, as described earlier, unique but familiar; an old friend that you just met.