Augie March = Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks leading the Flaming Lips?

Hehehe, that silly description apparently comes courtesy of Rolling Stone, at least according to the review blurbs for the Augie March Strange Bird album at amazon.com. Just picked this one up a couple days ago and all the rain falling today coupled with no work has given me the opportunity to give it some extra listening time and it really is very nice. I hear a lot of Kinks goodness in it myself. The softer, literate, non-garage band Kinks that comes out on their epic albums like Village Green and Arthur. Of course, a band that takes its name from the great American novel by Saul Bellows would be expected to have a literary bent, and they do, I guess. But the words never get in the way of the music, they work together as they should, both supporting each other. Apparently it was released in their native Australia way back in 2002 on BMG and received a great deal of critical acclaim, but spinART just recently released it here in the US, also to a bit of critical acclaim. So what to call it, a 2002 or 2004 release? Well, as is my non-anally retentive practice, my copy says 2004 on the back and so that's what it is. A song or two remind me a bit of David Kilgour from New Zealand's Clean, but moreso from his recent solo work with the Lambchop backing. Some of it is on the precious side, like that BW/VDP connection mentioned above. It has a lush sound that could almost be described as ornate. Reminds me a bit of the experimental pop side of Robert Wyatt, fragile but not as quite soft and feathery like Wyatt. Lots of piano and strings. Comes with a couple videos that you can also watch at their site. Here is the first song from the album called "The Vineyard". Enjoy (or not ).