Bound and Suburban [2001] by New Zealand [kiwi] independent folk/singer/songwriter Daniel Gannaway @ CD Baby & iTunes Music by New Zealand [kiwi] independent folk/singer/songwriter Daniel Gannaway @ CD Baby
Music by New Zealand [kiwi] independent folk/singer/songwriter Daniel Gannaway @ iTunes

NEWS. PRESS. MUSIC. SIDE PROJECTS. CD BABY. ITUNES. CAFEPRESS. PHOTO. CLIP. THINK. DONATE. LINK. INFO.

MUSIC. Solo Releases by Daniel.

Bound and Suburban [2001]

Bound and Suburban [2001]. New Zealand [kiwi] independent folk/singer/songwriter Daniel Gannaway. Tracklist:
01 - The lights r'out (over Caldor)
02 - Slide
03 - Somewhere in Japan
04 - Image & kool
05 - Not your lot
06 - Bourbon
07 - Y'hold my court
08 - Bound and suburban
09 - Achilles
10 - Where's the way?

>> Hear it @ CD Baby or iTunes or...

Daniel Gannaway @ CD Baby: a little CD store with the best new independent musicDaniel Gannaway @ iTunes: The best digital jukebox and #1 music download store. Daniel Gannaway @ Rhapsody. Where music lives.
Daniel Gannaway @ MP3Tunes. Your Music Everywhere.
Daniel Gannaway @ MP3Tunes.com

Buy CD:
>> @ CD Baby
>> @ Amplifier [NZ/Australia]
Download it:
>> @ CD Baby
>> @ All Apple iTunes Music Stores
>> @ Mp3tunes.com
>> @ Rhapsody
>> @ PayPlay
>> @ Napster

PRESS

Review of Bound and Suburban @ Indie-Music

I just walked my baby home through an argument
to the steps before our door.
She knows I won’t sleep, no,
I’ll streetskate and burn my attitude off....

So begins Daniel Gannaway’s fourth CD, Bound and Suburban, and after following the journey to the end, I’m still a little dazed. I slid into the first song like a warm bath and floated with him as he drifted from one song to the next.

As is often the case with artists I review, I’m having a hard time describing this sound. Magic folk. Wafting acoustic dreams. It’s like walking alone on the beach at night and seeing Jim Morrison and Jeff Buckley strumming and singing at the water’s edge. You sit at a distance, not wanting to intrude, and the sounds that the wind carries over are mixed with night air and salt water.

I wonder if Gannaway even writes his songs down. They feel spontaneously inspired, like a Higher Power is using him as an instrument. He seems to be in another dimension, using that warm, wise-sounding voice to cast spells. He is confrontational on “Not Your Lot.” He is lonely and lovesick in “Somewhere in Japan.” His voice actually turns into a vocal sitar in “Y’Hold My Court.” (How does he do that?!) And when he purrs seductively on “Bourbon,” I feel it on my skin.

You took a swig of my bourbon,
and then you gave me that sideways smile,
lookin’ over that bottle,
I think we caught an idea in kind....

Often Gannaway will fixate on one phrase, repeating it over and over like a mantra, slowing time down and melting surroundings away. When he’s had enough of that, he startles the listener with unexpected outbursts from the drum machine. He can’t stay still for long, and he definitely has no patience for songwriting formulas. The track “Slide” is a perfect example. We start with Flamenco folk with trippy effects on the vocal and then are interrupted by sounds from the Far East. Asia meets Mexico meets Mars.

I can’t shake this off. It’s valuable, inspiring, and unlike anything I’ve ever heard. I feel like I’ve just come back from time travel. And I have the feeling that I’ll go on a completely different journey when I play it again. I can hardly wait.

Jennifer Layton - Indie-Music.com

-

Review of Bound and Suburban @ xtraMSN Entertainment

Daniel Gannaway combines a brooding, geographical view and a warm, visceral folk vocal to create a timeless and striking album in 'Bound and Suburban'.

Deeply suited to acoustic performance and with cyclic, rhythmic backing, the lyrics strike a chord somewhere that you can't quite pinpoint. The songs occur sometime between sleep and consciousness, mumbling and breathing, winding over landscapes that exist mostly in the minds eye.

'the lights r'out (over caldor)' - evokes a yearning that stretches out over the horizon, organic and concise, like Rhian Sheehan meets Chris Whitley in terms of guitar work and sensual delivery. The tracks have the distance and out of control quality of unanswered phonecalls and the elongated quality of sleepless nights, layered over with personal and resonant verse; 'somewhere in japan (fishtank soul)' waits behind underwater dial tone with a view of the street through convex windows. With the clarity of black and white vision, there's enough diversity to capture and keep your attention, enough passion to convey the language of everyday conversations into the farther recesses of your imagination.

Part of the new school of operatic singers that has been born of Jeff Buckley's work (Muse, Coldplay etc), Gannaway offers effortless and intimate poetry with delicate and perfect musicianship. Representing cityscapes that could be anywhere in the Eastern or Western world, 'Bound and Suburban' travels both weary and tirelessly through a stripped down and homesick reflective roadtrip, the itch of the traveller's feet and the Zen tranquillity of the well travelled. With enough tension to make compelling music and ample performance-worthy soul brought on board, both a good place to cool your heels and a map of where Daniel's been (real or imagined?), this is quite a dizzying display of low-key artistry and fluently articulated escapism.

Faith Hamblyn - XTRAMSN

-

Review of Bound and Suburban @ Splendid E-zine

Best digested via headphones, Bound and Suburban is both ethereal and eerie. Gannaway's acoustic guitar coolly winds through subtle drum machine beats, eventually flowing into a turbulent pool that's punctuated with emotional intensity.

While Gannaway describes himself as a singer-songwriter, he avoids falling into the clichã of the solitary man armed with an acoustic guitar, dousing coffee shops with his tired musings. Instead, he utilizes choice influences from the 4AD Records catalog and a touch of New Zealand's haunting indie rock scene, melding both into his own distinct sound. "Somewhere in Japan (Fishtank Soul)" swoons with a mechanized drum beat and effected vocals, both of which are eventually displaced by warm chords and a somber voice. "Not Your Lot" may be the most traditional track here; Gannaway scrupulously trades between spiraling vocal phrasings and plucked notes, letting each coyly play off the other.

Once you've listened to Bound and Suburban, it becomes clear that Gannaway is a fiercely determined artist with a distinct and developed sound. Gannaway's music brings to mind an updated Velvet Underground, without the irritable exoticism of Nico. It's great music to drift off to, as once the lights are dimmed, Gannaway's delicate voice glides through the air, shaping a world all his own.

Andrew Magilow - Splendid E-zine

-

Review of Bound and Suburban @ NZ Musician Magazine

I can only presume that Daniel Gannaway has made all the music on this album. No other musicians are mentioned - if so, that's pretty cool. If not, then it's still a pretty cool album. It's voiced in the notes, and reiterated on the back cover that it can be tough (particularly, financially) making music in this wee country of ours. Thank god that fact only stops a few.

Bound And Suburban' has that home demo feel we seem to love. Production is great though, clean, leaving the floating ethereal mood that's consistent across all 10 original tracks, to waft like incense around the room. And speaking of clean, these tracks could well have been written by the love child of David Kilgour, especially (and use your imagination here) if the other 'parent' was David Byrne (Talking Heads).

Romantic, dreamy, lush - all words one could use. I'd recommend instead just listening to it. Nice!

Simon Sweetman - NZ Musician Magazine

-

Review of Bound and Suburban @ theLogBook

This appealing self-published entry from New Zealand singer/songwriter Daniel Gannaway may be a low-key winner, but it's a winner nonetheless - actually, it's one of the best things that I've heard so far this year.

Predominantly a one-man-and-his-guitar album with some drum machine and the occasional overdubbed keyboards and backing vocals, Bound And Suburban benefits from some self-assured musicianship and an excellent lyrical sensibility. In some ways, the best thumbnail description I can offer to the uninitiated is a combination of the lo-fi cool of the Finn Brothers or Sunglass and the hard-to-describe but distinct sound of the world-weary Celtic minstrel. Gannaway isn't afraid to wax modern on several tracks either, with Y'Hold My Court standing out as a fine example of this. My favorite track on the album happens to be the first, the majestically wistful The Lights R'Out (Over Caldor), perhaps the most Celtic-sounding song of the entire set. It's easy to see why this one was the lead track - Gannaway's firing on all pistons here, with some outstanding guitar work, some light keyboards in all the right places, and vocals with are neither too thin nor too overpowering for the song. Other favorites include the appropriately slippery Bourbon, Slide, and the quirky Achilles. The entire album is relaxing, but never in a sleepy way.

If there's one thing that Daniel could improve on in future releases, and I realize this is a difficult thing for any struggling musician to do with the limited resources that entails, would be to get some real drums in there, even if he's got to get someone else in to play them. The drum machine worked well on rockier entries like Image & Kool, but as magnificently sweeping as The Lights R'Out (Over Caldor) already is, it could be positively magical with some real percussion in there. Some songs like Not Your Lot sidestepped the drum machine entirely or made only minimal use of it. Still, despite that, it says something that the songs weren't brought down by the drum machine - I just think some of them could be even better with someone hitting some real skins.

Highly recommended stuff. If, this year, you let me point you in the direction of just one artist you've never heard of, do check this one out.

Earl Green - theLogBook

-

Review of Bound and Suburban @ hEARD Magazine

A pretty fascinating album from a New Zealand songwriter, whose vocals are remarkable, concentrating on the effects of the voice on songs, rather than so much on the instrumentals which drive them, those here a rather soft backing to the rest of the song.

There are some outstanding tracks here, given the briefest of good introductions of what's to come later on the opening track "The Lights R'out (Over Caldor)", which is a very unusual song. As good as that track is, there are some significantly better moments here, including the remarkable title track, "Not Your Lot" & my personal high point, "Achilles", which is where Daniel's voice really shows it's talent. Apparently this is the 4th album for Daniel, so it's no wonder there's such a depth here.

Terry Allen - hEARd Magazine

-

Review of Bound and Suburban @ Demo Universe

Lovely dreamy folky stuff from this New Zealand-born singer/songwriter and global traveler (he sent this package from Amsterdam, but as of August 2002 he was planning a move to London). Several reviewers have compared Gannaway to Jeff Buckley, but I think he sounds more like Jeff's father Tim. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar (programmed drums and synths occasionally intrude), Daniel sets a languid, shandowy, exotic mood, all patchouli and caftans. His songs meander more than I'd prefer, but the atmosphere is entrancing and enveloping, just the thing for a beach campfire. Nice to see this thoughtful description of DU on his links page: "Music unheard is music unmade."
Thanks, Dan!

Jim Santo - Demo Universe

-

Quotes:

"... Perhaps politics might actually catch on if Gannaway were doing the singing [OP-ED], instead of John Ashcroft's barbershop quartet. It's a thought. But until the Republican or Democratic National Convention is converted into a Broadway musical, we'll have to make do with Daniel. And that's going to be just fine for fans of indie folk pop with a message." - Indie-Music

"...The great aspect of the album [SUMMER STORM] is that each song's arrangement maintains a minimalistic nature, which shows a discipline and a depth of understanding on Gannaway's part. Underneath the ukulele, the cruising drums and harmonic supporting bass grooves provide an all around easy and easily recommendable listen..." - NZ Musician Magazine

"...Down to earth and laid back, it has none of the musical tension of trying too hard or the injection of false emotions. Suburban folky and bohemian chic, it [darling one year] ties up agreeably layered and distorted vocals into an angst-ridden, quirky pop as catchy as The Strokes but easily as mysteriously engaging as James Keenan Maynard..." - Indie-Music

"...[Bound and Suburban] like walking alone on the beach at night and seeing Jim Morrison and Jeff Buckley strumming and singing at the water’s edge..." - Indie-Music

"...Herein lies the essence of Bootlegged at the Temple: simply an audience, a musician, and a quiet venue... - no hype... In context with Daniel's previous two albums - FINE BY ME and flashback* - and subsequent release 'Bound and Suburban', 'Bootlegged' is a departure, which provides the listener a greater perspective on all of his work. Bootlegged is a great live album, which, over time, becomes as much a voyage of discovery and inspiration for the listener as for the musician himself." - Justin Walsh

LYRICS

Track 01: The lights r'out (over Caldor)
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

I just walked my baby home through an argument
To the steps before our door
She knows I won't sleep no I'll streetskate
And burn my attitude off amidst my slams and
Shit man! that was a close call

Corner shop quick stop
Car park quarter pipe
Ollie slap grab to reverse
Then I grind these sleeping curbs

And I circle these bottles
That the boys sunk in six packs
Laying them down
If you loop one you’re a clown

If you knock one down you're a clown
I'm skating out under these

Lights are out over Caldor
Caldor tonight
The lights are out over Caldor
Caldor tonight

Never had the illusion
I was the most important person
Never wanted just one place
But now I wear a local's face

And the only time I really feel free
Is when I hit night speed
And I'm riding the pavement of this town
To the hoots of owls

The lights are out over Caldor
Caldor tonight
The lights are out over Caldor
Caldor tonight

Oh I'm fallen down but I'm a literate
I'm a bum for all these rackets
I'm so sold out on their scams
All these master plans
And daylight's bringing all these shackles
All the hydes and the jeckles
I'm so spun out by their lines
But these freaks are holding no ties
No not when

The lights are out over Caldor
Caldor tonight
The lights are out over Caldor
Caldor tonight
The lights are out tonight
The lights are out tonight


+

Track 02: Slide
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

A season turns my eyes
Horizons divide
These things can change my mind
And pull me back from behind

But if I could I'd slide on by
If I could I'd just slide on by

[start spoken] I could just fall off this cliff
No one would ever find my body washed away
But behind me questions lurking
Pulling me back to this living side [end spoken]

And the quiet dusk before night
White foam it breaks and it dies
This stone won't wash away
And these memories these memories stay

But if I could I'd slide on by
If I could I'd just slide on by

If another person came
Stood in this light rain
Well there'd be two below the sky high
I'm saying this and I'm questioning why?

‘cause if I if I could I'd slide on by
If I could I'd not question why?
I'd not question why?
I'd not question why?
No I'd just slide on by

+

Track 03: Somewhere in Japan
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

With headlights on their shoes
They glide past my door
These people in the night
They're moving so fast on their laser feet
I'm in a phone booth
I'm hanging on the line
I'm dialing your number
But I'm missing you
Every time

This floor is made for sleeping
When you're curled up like a babe
This light illuminates for writing
I catch my words before they fade
All four worlds can see you're crying
These four walls grandstand my tears
I'm center stage in a master play
It's a fishtank soul sale

I'm crying out for love love love love love your love
I'm crying out for your love your love

These girls on parade
They shelter me two nights in a row
The others I walk in out of
‘cause there’s a slip lock
And I'm the one in the know
Give me an attendant
We need to clean these walls and floor
Of ink stain skin burn
And the refuse of a deep deep yearn

I'm crying out for love love love love love your love
I'm crying out for love love love love love your love

Oh your love your love
Love your love
Love your love
Love love your love

I'm crying out for you
I'm lost somewhere here in Japan
Crying out for your love

+

Track 04: Image & kool
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

I never wanted to show my face off
Just wanted to go anywhere
Wanted to look all my fears straight on
Then walk right into them

So far I've scared myself stupid
Yet I've not met every one
Seems the older I get the more I meet
And I might just die before I'm done

Never any good at shutting down
Negative energy
But time apart is time well spent
And now you won't get the core of me

See I can block you like a mirror
Send it all back your way
But don't think I'm not fragile
Mirrors break so easily

Oh you don't know
Oh you don't know no no
No you don't know
You don't know no I don't think so

You know I'm thankful
You lend an ear to my sorry mouth
But you know I think
You get your money’s worth

And I hear you been saying
I'm just about image and kool
Well that's ok
Hey it's just a small part of what I been through

Oh you don't know
Oh you don't know no no
No you don't know
You don't know no I don't think so

No you don't know no you don't know
You don't know no you don't know
You don't know no you don't know
What I been through

I never wanted to show my face off
Just wanted to go anywhere
Wanted to look all my fears straight on
Then walk right into them

So far I've scared myself stupid
Yet I've not met every one
Seems the older I get the more I meet
And I might just die before I'm done
I'm done
I'm done
[sticks and stones might break my bones
but words will never hurt me]

+

Track 05: Not your lot
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

You say that they don't respect your point of view
That the voice behind your face has them scared
And whenever you make intelligent comment
It has to come from someone else to be heard
Seen but not heard

And the whole shebang makes you feel like you should apologise
For the way you look whether you look ok or you just look like shit
I say forget that just use it it's what you got from your folks
You had no control it was just genetics
Genetics

And it is not your lot
Not your lot
Not your lot
No it's not your lot

Don't let them treat you like a piece of meat no no [rpt]

You're telling me you realised this environment
Is sucking away your sense of self worth
You're right I can see that facade of confidence
Is a cover for a growing sense of mirth
Nothing like a bit of self mirth

Wisely you decide now
To break away hey you've done other things
But be careful now
You've been pigeon-holed

Yeah well they'd all rather you act so pretty
It's too bad if you're bored
They think you should be seen
Seen but not heard
Seen but not heard

And that is not your lot
It's not your lot
It's not your lot
No it's not your lot

Don't let them treat you like a piece of meat no no [rpt]

You're all dressed up for their public [rpt]

Don't let them treat you like a piece of meat no no [rpt]

It's not your lot
Not your lot
Not your lot

+

Track 06: Bourbon
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

You took a swig of my bourbon
And then you gave me that sideways smile
Looking over that bottle
I think we caught an idea in kind

You said we've been here before
Wasting all our time
This evening our luck has changed
You said I think it could be fine
So fine

You said come on lets take your bottle
I'll help you drink it help you drink it right down
Then we'll exchange remnants
Of our pasts and all those towns
So many towns

Where we used up our envy
Where we cast all our hate
Where we never found loving
Where we could not relate

No you and I
We are the same
And when it all ends
We will remain
And when it all ends
We're different but we're the same
Different but we're the same

I asked hey will this be a big love?
As it would be real for the very first time
You read my palm and smiled up at the stars
Explaining how this moment had been forecast
You said it had been forecast

You took my hand placed it to your breast
Whispered close your eyes come on learn to touch
You wrapped me up then you spoke in my mind
Cried out I've waited I'm the sand
You said I'm the sand
I'm the sand

And you are the tide
You said I'm the sand
And you are the tide
You said I'm the sand
And you are the tide [rpt]

+

Track 07: Y'hold my court
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

Oh it's ok keep talking
I got nothing to say
Nothing that would interest
You anyway
No it's ok you keep on
Holding the court
But you're lucky
I don't get up and walk out

It's not my way
It all comes around
One day you will not
Drown me out

[start spoken] Look! Who are you? You sit over there You do that You expect the whole world to revolve around you dont you? (Oh come on) That's the way you think it should be (No that's that's not true at all I think you've totally misunderstood I'm just doing my thing) Well I don't care I don't like it I think it's a bloody racket! What about some covers? or some happy pop? (happy pop? Well I got some poppy shit on the way y'know) Good! [end spoken]

Oh it's ok you rule
I love your eloquence
You've got me bound up
In a word pool
No it's ok you keep on
Go on pontificate
But you're lucky
If it was you up here I'd be more polite

It's not my way
It all comes around
One day you will not
Drown me out

It may well be valid
But I am wrapped up here
I know I can't please you
But I'd care to know why

You're holding court
You're holding court
You're king of the court now
You're king of the court
You're holding court
You're holding court

+

Track 08: Bound and suburban
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

Hey hope you guys are well and happy
Adjusting to life in those new surrounds
Must be quiet it must be strange
LA  to pastures chickens and cows

And how's little Josephine
Last I saw her night of her first birthday
I guess she's speaking now
She's gonna grow up wild and how how how

Crazy are you guys?
Just up and moving on with your pay cuts
But I can understand how Northern California
Holds more attraction than Hollywood smog and such

‘cause I'm feeling bound and suburban
I'm feeling bound and suburban

I'm kind of all tied up
I'm kind of all penned in
Like anywhere this city of sails
Ain't always a breeze to live in
I'm planning to get back
I'll be stateside soon
Maybe I could visit on my way back to New York
Spend a few days with you

I read in the paper today
This country's lost it's identity
Well I don't know if I ever felt a part of that
But I do carry something inside me

I'm kind of all tied up
I'm kind of all penned in
There's beauty here and people I love
But I'm a traveller in this heart I know so
I'm planning to get back
I'll be stateside soon
Maybe anyone that goes off to roam
Runs the risk of knowing more than one home

‘cause I'm feeling bound and suburban
I'm feeling bound and suburban
[but not really]

+

Track 09: Achilles
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

You find my heel
You tempt me
You help me stand
So wild and free
You thrust that light
Onto my face
Fire up my mind
Send me into space

Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles

Like fur coats
Rubbed on my naked skin
But without killing
Any of them
Like falling down
These waterfalls
I'm terrified
But consumed by the power of it all

Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles

Achilles
I'm the moth to your fire
Oh how you swirl me in circles
Then you try to kill me in desire
If I was not so wise
You'd get complete control
But I have other heels
And they push and they pull

Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles
Oh ow oh oh oh ow Achilles

A chilles I'm the moth to your fire

+

Track 10: Where's the way?
Music & Lyrics by Daniel Gannaway/Apra © 2001

Closing my eyes afraid of the dark
Scared of the noise of my still living beating heart
If I keep my eyes shut will I stay safe?
Or will these questions keep pointing out it's all to late?

Show me the way
Come on show me the way

Needing to cry out I turn on the light
It's my safety net to chase away the night
I ask how can this be such a part of me?
My fear is not the dark but my inability to see

Can you show me the way?
Come on show me the way

So I've these two bags which I unpack then I fill
Constantly moving I barely ever stand still
This desire to find the way of my changing path
And the fear I won't keeps me moving so fast
I'm moving so fast now

Walking close to my temporary home
I never felt so lost or alone
But here away from prying eyes
I know that I've grown
And these people I meet don't pretend that they know me
No like you they somehow unknowingly show me

They show me the way
They show me the way
Show me the way
I think you've shown me the way

So I've these two bags which I unpack then I fill
Constantly moving I barely ever stand still
This desire to find the way of my changing path
And the fear I won't keeps me moving so fast

I'm moving so fast now
I'm moving so fast now
I'm moving so fast now
I'm moving so fast now

Quick links:

>> MP3s & CDs @ CD Baby!

>> Apple iTunes

>> Rhapsody

>> iSOUND

>> MP3tunes

>> Napster

>> eMusic

>> myspace

>> VIRB

>> ReverbNation

>> CafePress

^ top ^

thankyou for supporting truly independent music
CD Baby iTunes