It has to be said once in a while: Neil Young is just a gland every now and then. Days after the 68-year-old guitarist raised $ 6.2 million from the crowdfunding campaign for his digital music service Pono, he releases his 35th album - an album that is at odds with the essence of Pono. At A Letter Home, Young plays eleven covers in a Voice-O-Graph from 1947, an old-fashioned booth in which ordinary
… people used to make pictures. The sound quality of these Voice-O-Graphs placed in busy places left much to be desired, but for the audience it was a cheap way to record music or a spoken message. A Letter Home starts with a recorded letter to Young's parents and then contains eleven subtle covers by , and others. . Only (recording booth owner and producer) occasionally assists him. Furthermore, only Young's voice, guitar and harmonica can be heard, in addition to a lot of noise. At the same time as Young is making sweet talk about Pono's ultimate sound quality, A Letter Home is a curious rogue release. (JE)more
