The Mid-Week Recommendation

Matt Marque Get There

My first introduction to Matt Marque's music was through his representative label, Truckstop Records. From 1999-2001, the output from this small (now defunct) Chicago label was nothing short of spectacular, producing some of the loveliest songs of the indie singer/songwriter genre. T.W. Walsh's "Old Fashioned Way of Speaking," Pinetop Seven's "The Fear of Being Found," Simon Joyner's "I Will Find You," and The Lofty Pillars’ “At the Station” are all underrated masterpieces. These are songs that once you hear them you become lost within their narrative landscapes, and you long to revisit them promptly after their running time has expired. The same could be said of the music of fellow labelmate, Matt Marque. Admittedly, Marque is the less polished of the bunch, but it doesn’t make his efforts any less impressive. His debut, Get There (2001), is an unassuming album that sounds like a cross between a demo and a fully realized undertaking, which is less a comment on Marque’s musical abilities than it is on the album’s honesty. Sure Marque’s voice cracks but that’s part of the charm. By the way, Marque’s real talent lies within his songs, which are cleverly crafted over an acoustic guitar and his lyrical rime. Now, it would be a disservice not to mention Marque’s strong backing band - Michael Krassner (Boxhead Ensemble), Glenn Kotche (Wilco), Fred Lonberg-Holm (God is my Co-Pilot), and Steve Dorocke - whose talents give color to Marque's lovelorn world. The highlight here is "Unknown Flowers On Your Dress," a rolling ballad where Marque's wispy voice duets with Dorocke's pedal steel. It just might be the most beautful song released on Truckstop. It's also a song that I must have listened to over a thousand times. So, in a lot of ways, revisiting Get There is a bit like getting together with an old friend.

Unknown Flowers On Your Dress

Bonus Track:
Blowback
from Nothing Personal*

*Marque's follow up was released in 2004, three years after Get There. Since it's 2007, I suspect (hope) we will be getting a new Marque album real soon.