When I listen to a new album, one of the first things which hits me is the dominant instrument on the album. Is it guitar-driven? Bass-heavy? Piano-driven? With this album, it wasn't the instrumentation so much as the dominant emotion of the album which really struck me.
This album is like a dose of Vitamin C for the soul. It simply radiates the joy of salvation and rest which is found in Christ. True, this message is wrapped in 24 short songs, compact jewels with structure and vocalizing reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel, but the message comes through loudly and clearly. An example of this is the "One Song in Seven Rests," comprising tracks 2-8 of the disc. Essentially one song spread across seven tracks, it reflects an insightful, well-developed theology of rest. "We're worried and we're confused but we could be so blessed/I wonder what we're doing when running from the rest./What's that guy running for?/What's he got to run there for?"
John Ringhofer, the one-man band comprising Half-Handed Cloud is like a more melodious version of Daniel Smith. The instrumentation of this album is uniquely quirky and lo-fi, as one would expect from a Sounds Familyre release, including piano, drums, trombone, kazoo, bells, cello, guitar, accordion, keyboards, and so forth. The overall effect, as was mentioned, is essentially like Simon and Garfunkel revved up and compressed. If Paul Simon were unable to write songs longer than about 90 seconds a piece, mixed in elements of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, and had a desire to write of things Christological, he might sound a little like Half-Handed Cloud.
All this is to say that I have listened to this album many, many times but I still find myself completely unable to describe it, except that it never fails to leave a smile on my face and a song in my heart. It is a definite departure from the dominant modern music idioms, and a proud reclamation of joy; not some contrived, forced joy, but the spontaneous joy which is found in Christ. In these greying months of late fall, that is not a bad thing to be reminded of at all.
4.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Brian A. SmithJohn Ringhofer has to be one of the more interesting songwriters I've come across in quite some time. His style of music can be compared to a quiet version of The Ramones - lots of tunes in a very short period of time. Vocally, he is Paul Simon meets Beck meets Freedy Johnston. He plays a plethora of instruments, and has a decidedly indie approach to his last two discs. "In Holy Pursuit" could be…Opus 2002Reviewed by Chris BrownHalf-Handed Cloud's John Ringhofer should be the poster child for what those with extreme ADD can accomplish if they just set their mind to it. Apparently, Ringhofer is the holder of both an immense store of musical vision and talent as well as an attention span just slightly longer than that of your average housefly. Where these two attributes meet is where Ringhofer creates music as Half-Handed…Similar sounding releases
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