The Tallest Man On Earth ended up in my music library just in time to find a place in our Top 50 albums of 2008. Unfortunately, Shallow Grave is a grower. It would have climbed higher if we’d had more quality time together. The Tallest Man On Earth and I have now been intimate and I’m please to announce that his music is titillating. I hope that was as awkward to read as it was to write.
Here’s his bio:
I am The Tallest Man on Earth. so tall I have a feeling that my funeral will be expensive, they’ll have to saw my body in half and put the two parts in separate graves. I guess some people will mourn the top part, some the bottom.
For those that haven’t been introduced to the man behind the moniker, he’s a Swedish folky named Kristian Matsson. I know what you may be thinking. Another singer-songwriter, Oz? I admit to having a soft spot for solo folk songwriters, but it’s because I’m a fan of quality lyrics and storytelling – and good ole fashioned finger-picking. The Tallest Man On Earth’s fingers dance along the guitar strings and, without pretense or arrogance, he delivers stunning poetry with a weary, youthful voice that’s wise beyond its years. Here’s a sample from the album’s title track:
Come see the sadness of the sailor
As I will scratch his deep blue floor
Already in my years of bad luck
Oh, I broke his mirror long beforeOh when I dive into the water
I’ve raised the bottom to be saved
It’s just a shallow graveI found the darkness in my neighbor
I found the fire in the frost
I found the season once claimed healthy
Oh, I need the guidance of the lost
The album is a consistent body of work from start to finish, so if you like these tracks, you’ll dig all of Shallow Grave. It’s available on eMusic and the usual suspects.
The Tallest Man On Earth – I Won’t Be Found
The Tallest Man On Earth – Into The Stream
The Tallest Man On Earth – Pistol Dreams
Video: Where Do My Bluebird Fly
