Johnny Thompson Horrow album cover

So what happens when a CD comes across your desk and it’s not a scream metal band, nor is a black-eyeliner-skinny-jean-wearing MTV band? I’ve heard of this happening, in local lore and the legends of times gone by. The Midwest is soaked with – and some might say hampered by – the Puddle of Nickelsmack type of testosterone rock that passes for alternative these days, at least according to Arbitron labels.

Back to the topic at hand. What happens when you find a CD that doesn’t fall under any of these typical genres? Well, for starters, you actually listen to it. I have spent the bulk of my career labeling music. Does this album fall under the Active Rock category? How about Hot Adult Contemporary? For the first time in years, I’ve encountered an album that I can’t label. Yes, this is a good thing.

From start to finish, Johnny Thompson’s “Horrow” (Farm-Out!; Mfd. by Dozing Lady Records) can’t be placed in a genre. From the slide guitar in album opener “Idle Billy” to the intricate guitar work from final track “Twenty-Eight Masterpieces” (my personal favorite), not a single song can be labeled. Thompson himself describes Horrow as “representative of a wide array of musical styles, from country, blues, and psychedelic to avant-garde, orchestral, and noise-art…(pause) …Oops, forgot Celtic.” The range of influences is wide, but Thompson feels the majority of “Horrow” was shaped by his move to a rural setting and lifestyle nearly a decade ago.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of “Horrow” would be Thompson’s voice. Imagine the lovechild of the Melvins’ Buzz Osborne and Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne. It doesn’t appear until the second track, a lilting, piano-driven ditty called “Disk Erase,” and even then, the lovechild is notably absent on several songs. What is omnipresent, however, is talented musicianship. Thompson proves to be a jack of all trades with all things music-related, showcasing his capacity on everything from guitar to clarinet. The back-up players are a force to be reckoned with as well. If “Horrow” were a hip-hop album, nearly every other track would include the word “featuring.” Guest appearances include Aaron Holder on bass (“Idle Billy,” “Withdraw All,” and “Molly Rovers”), Derek Keith also on guitar (“Withdraw All”), Julianna Waller on violins (“Deep Sigh”), and Sean Rice on percussion. Also dropping by are the Scottsville Conservatory Bass and Reed Ensemble  on “Withdraw All,” “Bella Fina,” “Touch(s)toner,” and the art-rock chaos-fest that is “437,” which includes any number of random voices who had the fortune – or misfortune – of leaving a message on Thompson’s answering machine during the recording of  this album.

Whatever your taste in music, surely at least one track should suit your fancy. Led Zeppelin circa “Over the Hills and Far Away”? Check out the strings on “Deep Sigh.” Visualize yourself slow-dancing on the beach circa 1961? “Abspsychle” ought to take you back with its slow surf-rock vibe. Even the Goth kid, basking himself in black and reveling in the tortured teen angst of vampire soap movies, ought to manage a brief, self-loathing smile while listening to “Parvo,” a macabre circus with accordion, piano…and seriously, was that a Dracula-era organ I heard playing in there? Maybe I should put down the merlot.

A friend dropped by while I was working on this column. I let him know that I was typing out a music review, and he asked what kind of music “Horrow” was. I told him succinctly to remember the “craziest art-rock alternative band you heard in the 80s, and then picture them on acid.” I could have probably spared an entire page of paper and saved a tree by summing everything up with that one quote. This, my friends, is where true alternative came from. Songs that couldn’t be labeled, artists that couldn’t be placed under any other genre. May albums like “Horrow” someday be more popular than Hinder.

Cat is a former radio DJ of 10 years hoping to soon return to vocalizing her random opinions to the masses. Until then, writing about music and other asundry aspects of life will suffice. She currently lives in her Bowling Green apartment with a computer, a cat, a few dust bunnies and piles of clothes, and possibly Jimmy Hoffa’s remains. You can subscribe to her peculiar ramblings at  http://www.myspace.com/catsjustsaying.