Some records are just plan bad. Michael Stegner's 'Fascination Nation' is one of them. It's uninspired, droning country jazz that's about as fascinating as the rows of rusted tractors on the cover.
The downbeat, gnarly title track isn't bad in itself, but it's the exception that proves the rule that even referencing JG Ballard ('Illuminated Man' is a 1964 short story by the great author)) can't salvage. I mean, Stegner's like a jazzed-up Richard Stilgoe (although he prefers to be compared to Randy Newman, which is still hardly something to shout about in my book), and this album is the perfect illustration of the fact that those who are technically adept musicians (Stegner attended the University of Miami’s prestigious jazz program) don't tend to be particularly interesting songwriters.
Michael Stegner Online
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