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CURRENTLY IN MUSIC
Christian subculture meets world

Kimbal Siebert

Naive Bohemian
Joel Kroeker. Dancing Monk Productions. 1999.

Love song meets funeral dirge. John Denver meets Smashing Pumpkins. Christian subculture meets the world. Joel Kroeker’s Naive Bohemian is a crossroads where the status quo truck gets rear-ended by a Generation X church kid in a wood-panelled station wagon.

Joel and his two-car garage band have put forward a very organic brew of folk songs. The simple arrangements and sparse instrumentation are a breath of fresh air in an environment saturated with “top 40” music. Furthermore, there is a decidedly extroverted slant to the lyrics, where listeners are pointed towards society as a clue to understanding the individual instead of the reverse. The album sports an aggressive lyrical style that continually requires the attention of the listener. Those willing to attend will be well rewarded by the content. Kroeker’s final and greatest deviation is to leave the listener at his fateful crossroads, where the directions are asked instead of given.

Kimbal Siebert is a freelance guitarist and instructor, studio engineer and an audio and lighting technician living in Saskatoon.

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Last modified December 3, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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