Daniel Lanois — Here Is What Is (2007)

Daniel Lanois — Here Is What Is
Born: September 19, 1951, Hull, Quebec, Canada
Origin: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
Genres: Rock, alternative rock, blues, ambient
Occupations: Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments: Vocals, guitar, pedal steel, drums
Album released: December 15, 2007
Recorded: Toronto, Canada
Record Label: Red Floor Records
Duration: 63:42
Track listing:
All songs written by Daniel Lanois unless otherwise noted.
01. "Chest Of Drawers"
02. "Where Will I Be"
03. "Here Is What Is"
04. "Not Fighting Anymore"
05. "Beauty"
06. "Blue Bus"
07. "Lovechild"
08. "Harry"
09. "Bells"
10. "This May Be The Last Time"
11. "Smoke #6"
12. "I Like That"
13. "Duo Glide"
14. "Bladesteel"
15."Moondog"
16. "Sacred And Secular"
17. "Joy"
18. "Luna Samba"
Credits:
♦ Brian Blade Musician
♦ Marcus Blake Musician
♦ Aaron Embry Musician
♦ Brian Eno Dialogue
♦ Tony Garnier Musician
♦ Willie Green Musician
♦ Mark Howard Engineer
♦ Garth Hudson Musician
♦ Darryl Johnson Musician
♦ Daniel Lanois Primary Artist, Producer
♦ Tony Mangurian Musician
♦ Adam Samuels Engineer
♦ Adam Small Musician
♦ Shawn Stroope Musician
♦ Adam Vollick Artwork, Engineer
♦ Jim Wilson Musician
Personnel:
♦ Daniel Lanois – guitar, bass, vocals
♦ Brian Blade – drums
♦ Garth Hudson – keyboards
♦ Jim Wilson
♦ Darryl Johnson
♦ Tony Mangurian
♦ Tony Garnier
♦ Marcus Blake
♦ Steven Nistor - drums
♦ Adam Small
♦ Shawn Stroope
♦ Willie Green
♦ Aaron Embry
♦ Brady Blade
♦ "Where Will I Be" is a new version of a song which had been previously released on Emmylou Harris' album Wrecking Ball in 1995.
♦ "Lovechild" and "Sacred And Secular" tracks incorporates, respectively, the pedal steel guitar melody used in "Carla", on Belladonna album, and the pedal steel guitar melody used in "Transmitter", on Shine album.
Website: http://daniellanois.com/ / Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/lanoise?fref=ts

Review by Thom Jurek
♦ Here Is What Is is the soundtrack to a documentary film of the same name that basically follows artist Daniel Lanois around the world for a year. The album was originally released in late 2007 from Lanois Red Floor records website in DRM-free download versions -- the same price was charged for both the MP3 and FLAC lossless versions. The street date for the CD was March 17, 2008, along with the DVD and a few select screenings of the actual film. The CD comes alone, or in a deluxe, numbered, 3,000-copy "Goldtop Edition" which contains both the CD and an extended cut of the film -- more than an hour of extra footage, a Moleskine Cahier notebook embossed with the title, and three of 12 collectible 5x7 photographs (one signed by Lanois) for $59.99. Ultimately, while packages are nice for the sake of the collector and super fan, and the download concept is great -- offering two different resolutions for the same price (DRM-free of course, take that iTunes) -- it's the music that matters. There are 18 cuts here, some new tracks, and some different versions of old ones. There are a slew of familiar names in the "band" here including Brian and Brady Blade, Garth Hudson, and Daryl Johnson, among others. After a brief and strange opening narration by Brian Eno ("Chest of Drawers") -- who is perhaps the aural cousin of filmmaker Wim Wenders when it comes to ponderous nonsense -- Lanois offers an alternate version of "Where Will I Be." The song was first recorded by Emmylou Harris on Wrecking Ball, which he produced as well as wrote. It's a beautiful song, but this version pales in comparison to Harris', and one wonders why he even bothered.
♦ There are more dialogues between Lanois and Eno, and the songs feel more like afterthoughts. While the title cut and "Not Fighting Anymore" are interesting, they are far from compelling. Supposedly this is a film about beauty, but the music here, while pleasant, certainly doesn't come across as the intimate creation that the demos that made up Acadie is, or the harsher yet melodic, blasted rock and rhythm soundscapes appearing on For the Beauty of Wynona are. This is drift-along-in-the-background music. Lanois feels less and less like a songwriter, and more like someone who has sketches of ideas for them but which no longer come off as such. "Harry" has moments where it might become a real song, but then it jumbles itself up in its rambling bridge. "Lovechild" is a mess that can't make up its mind what it wants to be -- an ambient piece, a country ballad, a soft rock song, a psychedelic sound world -- and it goes on for over eight-and-a-half minutes. "Duo Glide" is the limpest attempt ever at offering a portrait (albeit a willfully impressionist one) of a Harley Davidson motorcycle in song, and "Bladesteel" resembles anything but its title as it shimmers along a set of less than colorful pedal steel country clichés, albeit with some admittedly compelling drum work by Brian Blade. The bottom line in all of this is that Here Is What Is can only be for the truly hardcore Lanois fan. These 18 tracks are merely that; not an album that stands on its own. They don't hold together as a listening experience, and what's worse is the set feels like it goes on for eternity. This is a disappointment; it doesn't feel like art so much as simply over-indulgence. If you like having that pillowy cluster of warm sounds that don't really go anywhere on and have no particular purpose in your ear, then this might be for you. If you still hold Lanois' earlier recordings to a high ideal, this may indeed frustrate you because it offers considerably more evidence that Lanois has lost his way as a musician.

Discography:
♦ 1989 Acadie
♦ 1993 For the Beauty of Wynona
♦ 1994 Cool Water
♦ 1996 Sweet Angel Mine
♦ Lost in Mississippi (soundtrack)
♦ Sling Blade (soundtrack)
♦ 2003 Shine
♦ 2004 Rockets
♦ 2005 Belladonna
♦ 2007 Here Is What Is
♦ 2008 The Omni Series (Box Set)
♦ Steel (Omni Series 1)
♦ Purple Vista (Omni Series 2)
♦ Santiago (Omni Series 3)
♦ 2010 Black Dub

Production credits:
♦ Demo – Simply Saucer, 1974 (not released commercially until 1989, on the album Cyborgs Revisited)
♦ Blues and Sentimental – Jackie Washington, 1976 (As "Dan Lanois")
♦ Hobo's Taunt- Willie P. Bennett, 1977 (Engineered, as "Dan Lanois", with Bob Lanois)
♦ More Singable Songs – Raffi, 1977 (Recording credit as "Dan Lanois")
♦ Can't Wait For Summer – Ron Neilson, 1978
♦ Choice Cuts – Crackers, 1978 (As "Dan Lanois")
♦ Millionaires Millionaires, 1980 EP (As "Danny Lanois") (included two members of Teenage Head)
♦ This is the Ice Age – Martha and the Muffins, 1981
♦ Dream Away – Bernie LaBarge, 1981
♦ Mama Quilla, KKK, Angry Young Woman – 3-song 12" Album- 1982, Mama Quilla II
♦ Dance After Curfew – Nash the Slash, 1982
♦ Danseparc – Martha and the Muffins, 1982
♦ Ambient 4/On Land – Brian Eno, 1982
♦ Parachute Club – Parachute Club, 1983
♦ Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks – Brian Eno, 1983
♦ The Pearl – Harold Budd and Brian Eno, 1984
♦ Mystery Walk – M + M, 1984
♦ The Unforgettable Fire – U2, 1984
♦ Secrets and Sins – Luba, 1984
♦ Thursday Afternoon – Brian Eno, 1985
♦ Hybrid – Michael Brook, 1985
♦ Birdy – Peter Gabriel, 1985
♦ Voices – Roger Eno, 1985
♦ Power Spot – Jon Hassell, 1986
♦ So – Peter Gabriel, 1986
♦ The Joshua Tree – U2, 1987
♦ Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson, 1987
♦ Acadie – Daniel Lanois, 1989
♦ Oh Mercy – Bob Dylan, 1989
♦ Yellow Moon – Neville Brothers, 1989
♦ Home – Hothouse Flowers, 1990
♦ Achtung Baby – U2, 1991
♦ Flash of the Spirit – Jon Hassell and Farafina, 1992
♦ Us – Peter Gabriel, 1992
♦ The Last of the Mohicans – movie soundtrack, 1992
♦ For the Beauty of Wynona – Daniel Lanois, 1993
♦ Ron Sexsmith – Ron Sexsmith, 1994
♦ Wrecking Ball – Emmylou Harris, 1995
♦ Night to Night – Geoffrey Oryema, 1996
♦ Fever In Fever Out – Luscious Jackson, 1996
♦ Time Out of Mind – Bob Dylan, 1997
♦ Brian Blade Fellowship – Brian Blade, 1998
♦ 12 Bar Blues – Scott Weiland, 1998
♦ Teatro – Willie Nelson, 1998
♦ The Million Dollar Hotel – movie soundtrack, 2000
♦ All That You Can't Leave Behind – U2, 2000
♦ La Belle Vista - Harold Budd, 2003 (secretly recorded in Lanois Los Angeles living room)
♦ How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2, 2004 (track "Love and Peace or Else")
♦ Dusk & Summer – Dashboard Confessional, 2006 (also produced by Don Gilmore)
♦ loudQUIETloud, A film about the pixies – movie soundtrack, 2006
♦ Back Where You Belong – Sinéad O'Connor, 2007.
♦ Let It Go - Mother Superior, 2007.
♦ Snake Road – Bob Lanois, 2006.
♦ No Line on the Horizon – U2, 2009 (plus songwriting credits).
♦ "Mind Games" & "Night Nurse" – Sinéad O'Connor, 2009.
♦ Mercy – Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, 2009.
♦ Flamingo – Brandon Flowers, 2010 (also produced by Stuart Price, Brendan O'Brien)
♦ Le Noise – Neil Young, 2010.
♦ Honest Mistake - Jim Wilson, 2012.
♦ Battle Born – The Killers, 2012.

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Biography by Jason Ankeny
♦ One of the most distinctive and celebrated producers of his time, Daniel Lanois was also a gifted composer and solo artist; whether performing his own material or helming records for the likes of U2, Bob Dylan, and Peter Gabriel, the hallmarks of his singular aesthetic remained the same. Noted for his unparalleled atmospheric sensibilities, Lanois pursued emotional honesty over technical perfection, relying on vintage equipment and unorthodox studio methods to achieve a signature sound both viscerally powerful and intricately beautiful. He was born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec; his French-Canadian family was firmly rooted in music, with his mother a singer and both his father and grandfather noted for their prowess on the violin. Following his parents' 1963 separation, Lanois and his mother moved to the English-speaking suburbs of Hamilton, Ontario; there he learned to play guitar, and with his brother, Robert, began making primitive home recordings on a cheap cassette player. In 1970, the siblings purchased a four-track machine, setting up a recording studio in the laundry room of their home and offering their services to local bands for a $60 fee.
Regularly aiding their clients not only as producers but also as songwriters and arrangers, the Lanois brothers' reputation quickly spread, and as the decade drew to a close, they were able to graduate to larger recording facilities, which they dubbed Grant Avenue Studios. There -- after sessions for performers as diverse as Ian Tyson and children's artist Raffi -- Daniel first worked with Brian Eno, who in the decade to follow would emerge as Lanois' chief mentor and frequent collaborator. Together, they spent several weeks working on instrumental ambient material, experimenting heavily with sonic manipulation techniques; when Eno eventually returned to the U.K., Lanois remained in Ontario, recording a series of LPs for the local band Martha & the Muffins and, in 1983, producing improvisational trumpeter Jon Hassell's album Aka/Darbari/Java. In 1984, after working with Eno on Hybrid (a collaboration with guitarist Michael Brook) and The Pearl (another collaborative effort, this time with Harold Budd), Lanois responded to Eno's call to co-produce U2's The Unforgettable Fire; the album was a major hit, and it so impressed another superstar, Peter Gabriel, that he invited Lanois to co-produce the soundtrack to the motion picture Birdy.
Lanois next scored with 1986's So, Gabriel's brilliant commercial breakthrough. ♦ However, it was his and Eno's second collaboration with U2, 1987's The Joshua Tree, which launched him to true fame: after the album won a Grammy -- and after he subsequently co-produced Robbie Robertson's long-awaited solo debut -- Lanois emerged as one of the best-known and most respected producers in contemporary pop music. In 1989, he masterminded Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy -- widely regarded as Dylan's best work in over a decade -- as well as the Neville Brothers' Yellow Moon, an artistic watershed for the venerable New Orleans group. By this time. Lanois himself was a resident of the Crescent City, setting up Kingsway Studio in a mansion in the heart of New Orleans; there he crafted his own hotly anticipated solo debut, 1989's Acadie. Two years later, he reunited with U2 for the stellar Achtung Baby, and in 1992, re-teamed with Gabriel for the wonderful Us. In 1993, Lanois issued the lovely For the Beauty of Wynona; however, like Acadie, it failed to reap the same commercial awards as his other production ventures. Other albums of note include Emmylou Harris' 1995 masterpiece Wrecking Ball, Luscious Jackson's Fever In Fever Out, Willie Nelson's Teatro, and Dylan's 1997 comeback Time Out of Mind; in between, Lanois also recorded the score to the 1996 film Sling Blade. Lanois scored again with U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind at the end of 2000, along with working with Joe Henry and others in a support capacity. 2003 saw the year of his third and finest recording, Shine, that featured guest performances from Emmylou Harris and Bono. In 2005, he released the outtake-filled "renegade CD" Rockets through his website, which was followed quickly by Belladonna, a proper album release on Anti. Soon after, photographer Adam Vollick started filming the next year-and-a-half of Lanois' life, following him on the road, with celebrity friends, and in his second home, the recording studio. Here Is What Is was released on DVD in 2008.