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Tracks My Muse Has Become a Nuisance full mp3 Film School mp3 clip Get Well Card "Show-Me" State Isn't She Wonderful? mp3 clip Disaster (You're My Greatest) Wedding Dress The Sun ... It Shines! Faster Forward My Robot girl Is Gone My Hand-Cut Puzzle of a Girl Dark Lessons Spacesuit Tattered |
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All songs recorded and produced by Craig Bennett. All floors swept, all lights turned off by Craig Bennett. Mastered by Glenn Schick at Glenn Schick Mastering, Atlanta, Georgia. Edited by Donn Aaron. Sleeve design by Robert Lee (Methane Studios) All songs ©2003 Mood Management Publishing, BMI. Band: voice, words, guitars, piano, effects: Craig Bennett bass guitar: Daniel Dinardo, Chris Rowell, Clay Johnson, Lee White additional guitars: Donn Aaron drums/percussion: Mick McMick, John Barnes contrabass and cello:Odette Chartier additional voices: Odette Chartier, Candy Hurricane if and when horns appear: Blake Street harmonica,organ and piano (track 5): Paul Scales fixed broken tape:Donnie Glass |
Press: "Craig Bennett, from Atlanta, is a peculiar artist; one who is witty and entertaining … Bennett's style is a rather unique concoction blending the retro sound with haunting dollops of British New Wave guitars and keyboards boxed into neat little pop structures... Most times the CD is laced with (these) ear perking phrases which will either make you laugh or raise an eyebrow in disbelief. Overall the spell created is designed to keep us wondering and amused long enough to realize the wisdom of this sparkling music. Faster Forward harbors Bennett's dark musings to find a realist's contentment shining out." Monica Arrington, Southeastern Performer, Atlanta, GA. December 2003 "Singer-songwriter Craig Bennett's fourth album, "Faster Forward," is chock-full of jangle pop gems and wry contemplations of life…Bennett uses an acoustic guitar and a sardonic wit with great aplomb. His sophisticated grown-up pop songs come on with jangle-pop ringing guitars and hooky choruses. The songs are all intimate and suggest the coffeehouse or the living room, instead of the concert hall. If you got invited to a party in the Hollywood Hills and they had a great deck overlooking the city, Craig Bennett would be a good musical accompaniment to the festivities. …Overall, Bennett is an interesting performer. His songs exist outside of any current popular sound; an anachronism of songwriting and pop sensibilities." Paul Leeds, Cultural Bunker, Los Angeles,CA. October 2003 
"Craig Bennett lets fly on Faster Forward, asking the musical question, "Can the American South save Brit-pop? At a glance, Craig Bennett's Faster Forward seems to do with mid-70s Brit rock ... That is, Bennett, who for much of this album sings like a David Bowie sound-alike, seems to be a tourist dipping into Bowie-style rock circa Ziggy Stardust. This reading, though, fails to do Faster Forward justice. It may be stylistically backward-looking, but the wink and nod are convincing enough to let you know that this isn't just in exercise in nostalgia. Bennett is a supremely gifted songwriter. The tunes are pop perfection, and there are virtually no static moments throughout the full 13-song album. Everything is up tempo, and the energy the music gives off is contagious. I caught myself literally tapping my foot at one point. Bennett's lyrics are skewed and oddly angled views of the world. "My Muse Has Become a Nuisance" opens the album by casting the songwriter's muse as a real person, a disaffected thrift store clerk with whom Bennett has cell-phone conversations. She's a demanding one, too, reminding him that she "inspires all your sad songs about how life is so long." The album takes off from there, tripping and careening through whirlwind of unique observation, a lot like the Flaming Lips but with more irony, less sentimentality. If these are sad songs about how life is so long, they certainly aren't aimed at depressing you. More likely, Bennett is having fun with the notion of the world-weary, fretting modern (and usually British) pop songster. It's worth pointing out that Bennett is from Georgia, so there is a lot of affectation here (he can't really sound that much like David Bowie, can he?), and I'm not saying that it isn't distracting sometimes, but the album succeeds anyway, due chiefly to the fact that songs just plain sound good. The melodies are tuneful, the arrangements work, the lyrics are confoundingly compelling, and what else do you need?" George Ford, DOA, Rochester,NY. 10/20/03 
"If Craig Bennett didn't pay attention to his craft, his idiosyncratic observational songs would quickly get tiring. Mind-numbing, even. But Bennett makes sure that each dark little notion is slotted into the correct position, and wonderful pop songs fall out. It's quite possible to pay too much attention to form, ending up with cookie-cutter songs. Bennett's point of view is so contorted that he needs a little convention to get him back within the viewfinder. And boy, does he know how to turn out a fine downcast line. Bennett prefers a minimalist feel to his sound…Which fits his wonderfully subversive noirs just fine. I've heard a few Bennett albums, and they're all great … Pain junkies, here's your next fix." Jon Worley Aiding & Abetting, Durham, NC. November 2003 issue. |
