Denison Witmer

Item: The '80s
Author: Tom Bastian

The '80s

(2001)

Reviewed by Tom Bastian

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Label Burnt Toast VinylDecapolis2001

folk singer-songwriter

"The 80's EP" brings us seven new tracks from Philadelphia's singer/songwriter Denison Witmer. This is Denison's 2nd release on Burnt Toast Vinyl. His third release for the label; full-length "Of Joy and Sorrow", is due out this summer.

With the more recent success of singer/songwriters such as Elliott Smith, Damien Jurado, Dashboard Confessional and Pedro the Lion it looks as though Denison Witmer has a bright future ahead of him in the indie rock scene if things continue to progress the way they have been over the past year or so. But don't write Denison off as another singer/songwriter trying to jump on the bandwagon. Denison has been doing this for about as long as I have been involved with the music scene. I first saw Denison back in 1995 at a coffeehouse in Pennsylvania. Doing pretty much the same type of music he is doing today, but of course his sound has matured quite a bit since then.

The album opens up with "The 80's (Album Mix)". I have heard Denison play this song a few times in concert and had been eagerly waiting for him to record it. The lyrics of this song, like most of Denison's songs, tell a story. One of a brother reminiscing about the 80's as his older brother announces that he is going to be married, or something along those lines. Plus Denison does something he has yet to really do on any other songs. He plays with the help of drums, organ and bass on this one. The second track, "Reaching" has amazing vocal harmonies, actually the best I have ever heard on a Denison release.

"Simple Life" was recorded by Denison direct to tape via one microphone, and really captures the true feeling of a Denison Witmer song. While "Christmas Song" is a 4-track recording of what is Denison's first Holiday song put to tape. An original song stressing the true Grace and peace of Christmas. "Paper Doll" is another song that you may have heard Denison play a few times before in concert. The version on this EP is a demo recording from 1994; this is the first time the song has been pressed to CD.

Closing out this release is a demo version of "The 80's", stripped down without the drums, bass, and organ. Basically this EP was released to get us ready for the new Denison Witmer full length that is to be released this summer on Burnt Toast Vinyl, and that's exactly what it does. The songs are great, and have not been previously released. If you're into some of the more indie sounding singer/songwriters out there now, be sure to give Denison Witmer a listen. He's definitely at the top of my list and has been for years.

B+