Duncan Sheik, Duncan Sheik- Stephen Lin

(Atlantic)

Throughout 1996, I had a few favorite albums which spent excessive amounts of time in my CD player. Poe's Hello, Curve's Cuckoo, Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust, Letters to Cleo's Wholesale Meats and Fish, Portishead's Dummy, Soul Coughing's Ruby Vroom, and Garbage's self-titled release were among those beloved CDs. I recently noticed that none of these albums were released in 1996. With that in mind, I attempted to determine what I thought were the best releases from 1996.

You'd think that'd be an easy task, but each album I proceeded to pick up from my collection had been released some earlier year. Finally, I came up with a short list of CDs that spent any significant time in my CD player: Dave Matthews Band's Crash, Songs in the Key of X: Music From and Inspired by the X-Files, Fiona Apple's Tidal, Soul Coughing's Irresistible Bliss and Duncan Sheik's self- titled release.

Duncan who?

Exactly.

What's even stranger is that this ill-exposed artist has the "bragging rights" of being my favorite release from 1996. (Boy, what an honor!) So, who exactly is this man? I'm not sure. (Not very compelling, eh?)

Here's what I do know: He has a clear and strong voice which, in combination with his song-writing style, sound reminiscent of Toad the Wet Sprocket. Tight harmonies permeate the album. Howard Jones plays piano on "Reasons for Living." The album was recorded mostly in Precy-sur- Oise, France. Layers upon layers of beautifully orchestrated guitars, piano, organs, strings, and vocals. Tasteful use of an E-bow (which is much better than R.E.M.'s grating flirtation with an E-Bow on their single "E-Bow the Letter"). Hook, hooks, and more hooks.

Sheik's single, "Barely Breathing" is unbelievably catchy. I'd heard the song playing while wandering through the Gap and then again while passing by a Warner Bros. Store. At the WB Store, Sheik's video was playing at ten billion decibels on an enormous television screen. Despite the incredible volume, I was sufficiently entranced by the song that I went inside and finished watching the video. Half a week later, the song was still stuck in my head and I was compelled to buy the album.

Opening track, "She Runs Away" is a hook; the whole damn thing - wonderful! The verses of "In The Absence of Sun" and "Out of Order" sound a bit like Crowded House. "Reasons for Living" and "Days Go By" are both depressing as Hell, yet still manage to memorable and satisfying melodies. "November" reminds me of Jeff Buckley (of whom I'm not even particularly fond). "The End of Outside" and "Home" both have Love Spit Love-y structural characteristics. "Serena" builds in strength from beginning to end while maintaining an unforgettable guitar riff throughout the choruses. While certain themes may be cliche' ("Hey, there's a song about love on here!!!") Sheik manages to not re-re-hash anything too badly. And there you have it, nearly the entire album in a nutshell.

I wouldn't ordinarily make such a big deal out of a new artist, however, Sheik beating out old favorites Dave Matthews and Soul Coughing is an impressive accomplishment. Furthermore, if only you knew how impressive beating this X- Phile's obsession is. well anyway, it's a great album. Go buy it. It'll make you smile (or shrivel like a raisin out of depression).