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Album reviews Music

Mendelson Joe – Women Are The Only Hope

Rating: NNNN


Canadian visual artist and musician Mendelson Joe unearths a snapshot of his career on Women Are The Only Hope, an album self-produced in 1991 in Toronto but unreleased till now.

Joe is by turns fiercely political and quirkily erotic, calling for a referendum in I Nominate Dr. David, mentioning nipples in Hot Meal and kisses planted quickly like geraniums in Same Old Song. His delivery is eccentric, but the urgency of his message is no joke.

Joe’s band, Advocates, included Ben Mink and Bob Wiseman and played in exchange for his paintings. Their loose, deft use of tuba, accordion, mandolin, violin and keys predated the weird, exciting folk happening nowadays. At one point, the instruments even imitate canaries.

Underpinning all this is Joe’s blues guitar. He’s a good player, a fact to which he draws attention at one point, saying, “I’ll show ya.”

Top track: Temporary Love

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