Customer Reviews
Sublime. - By: BigRich, 10 Jul 2010 
I've had a habitin the last few months that has restricted my intake of new music. A copy of the Beatles anthology 3 (a truly exceptional works, it goes without saying)has been kept at all timesin my car. When new albums have been broughtin (including some very, very good ones such as Beach House & Shearwater's recent efforts)i've inevitably eventually thought, this is great, but i'll just listen to that take of Blackbird one more time, & then the moment for that particular new album has kind of gone. It's a bit like going to a friend's house for a dinner party but taking Raymond Blanc with you to cook your own meal if the level of satisfaction dips below an acceptable level at any given moment. This hasnt happened for the last week or so, & the reason is this incredible album from Villagers- the trading name of Mr Conor o'brien i believe. 11 tracks, not a duff moment throughout, songs that slowly burn awayin your mind when you're not listening to them, making you wonder "where did i hear that piano sequence?" before realising ,no, it wasnt on the Beatles anthology, it was on Becoming a Jackal. TBA3 has been removed from the "glove box". This is my new bench mark of song writing genius for 2010. Simply sublime.
It's Prefab Spout isn't it ? - By: Arthur Dooley, 25 Jun 2010 
I like this record...playing at the moment to get mein the mood. Although it's described as Indie Folk there is absolutely nothing Folk about it. If this is within a million miles of Folk Musuc then Jay Z is the new Martin Cathy! No...this is mellow pop..soft rock..Indie Pop ??? I dunno but it's certainly charmingin its way.Villagers IS Conor o Brien, a young Irish songsmith from the posh Dublin suburb of Dun Laoghaire.Perhaps this explains why his music is fat & rich,brimming with mellow contentment.
Villagers suggests fellow Irish songwriter Glen Hansard,Paul McCartney but most of all-Paddy Mcaloon of Prefab Sprout.
Melodic,wistful,dreamy.11 tracks of like mien which pour out like honey down the side of a jar.
As the guyin Fast Show would say....'Nice' !
Outstanding new talent - By: Rosie gf, 19 Jun 2010 I heard Villagers on Jools Holland a few weeks ago & was totally blown away. I found some footage on You Tube & couldn't wait for the CD to be released. I was not dissappointed.
The delivery was good too, CD delivered 3 days before it was released.
Uneasy Dreams - By: The Wolf, 29 May 2010 Conor J O'Brien is from Ireland &in his incarnation as Villagers he
opens doors into dark existential landscapes which, however elusive,
surreal & ofttimes macabre, manage to seepin under the skin and
take up residence, however uncomfortably,in our imagination.
He is a talented & prodigious musician who plays all the instruments
on the album with the exception of the french horn & strings provided
by the London Ensemble. 'Becoming A Jackal' is an extraordinary creation.
There are eleven songsin the collection. The melodic & rhythmic
structure of Mr O'Brien's musical inventions are wonderfully elusive
and stylistically difficult to pin down & therein lays much of its magic.
The album catapults us directly into nightmare with the chilling opening
track 'I Saw The Dead'. The icy piano & strings & insistent percussion
frames a set of terrifying lyrics which explore some very sinister corners
of the human psyche. Cadavers, cannibalism & moral corruption
combinein a Grand Guignol tour de force. Not for the faint hearted!
Despite its somewhat jaunty arrangement, title track 'Becoming A Jackal' offers
little respite. It would not be too difficult to surmise that Mr O'Brien could be a
particularly difficult individual with whom to sustain a romantic attachment!
With one eye on an unmade bed & the other gazing out of the window,
dreaming of satisfaction & sustenance of a more sanguinary kind than
mere love or lust might offer, metamorphosis of a deeply unpleasant kind
seems only moments away! (This Old Wolf, however, has long sustained a
distasteful view of his distant cousin's epicurean proclivities!!)
'The Meaning Of Ritual' rises out of a dirge-like introduction to reveal
yet another morbidly pessimistic view of the possibility of love.
The beautiful melody & luminous string arrangement are jarringly
at odds with the sentiments of the lyrical content. The abrupt ending
leaves us hanging by a thread with no hope of a cosy resolution.
Thrilling stuff!
Crikey! This is a man who's happy with his deeply inherent misery.
'That Day' articulates such a vivid sense of domestic emotional
disappointment & decay that Mr O'Brien almost makes us feel
that we arein the room with him as his world disintegrates!
'Pieces', with its fragile falsetto vocal performance & curious
1960's ambience takes desolation to a near-transcendent level.
(I howled along with him at the end - listen & understand!)
Final track 'To Be Counted Among Men' juggles heaven & hell,
good & evil & spiritual ambivalence with the lightest of touches.
A strangely affecting conclusion.
Call him what you will, Villagers or Conor J O'Brien, the man is onto
something here! It may not be the most easy of listens but I'll take
a little bit of this man's vision over Eurovision anyday!
Essential.
Villagers - Becoming a Jackal - By: F. Merrick, 23 May 2010 O'Brien has created a real masterpiece for his first long-playing effort under the name of 'Villagers'.
Fantastic song writing is matched will clever lyrics & heart-wrenching harmonies.
A great record, deffinately worth buying if you like Patrick Watson!
