"I met a pilgrim who took off his clothes"
Maybe once in your lifetime will you find a singer-songwriter as unique, as curious, as tilted, as perplexing as Reagan Sloman. An American writer and musician living in Brussels, Belgium, on the track Stallions of Life, (against what I can only describe as upfront acoustic punk guitar) he spouts autobiographical stories stretched with poetic license (as if driven by a drunk driver) told in a series of obtuse prose. His imaginings or realities or combination of both are brilliantly connected and while it feels like straight stream of consciousness I know (for a fact) that parts, however creatively poised, stem from real life events.
Suffice it to say, things seen in the bent reality of a carnival mirror when unbent are sometimes more twisted in real life. I like the aesthetic Sloman brings to this wobbly table, the (what might be an exaggerated) Southern twang and the deadly serious attack. That dark patina on some weird prose adds a lead laden gravitas and I appreciate that. I wouldn't like as much if the performance was more comic or light, and while, I imagine that a live audience might offer some laughter, I think it would be of the nervous kind, like snickering after being scared in a Halloween maze. Whatever, the take away here is, it is safe to say that Reagan Sloman's real life spun tales on "Stallions of Life" play like a dark folk cosmic comedy, much like life itself.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Reagan Sloman
embassyofwords.blogspot.com
youtube.com/channel/UChFcdXtFt--HJxdHiBV2EBQ
Reagan Sloman is an American writer and musician living in Brussels, Belgium.
“An exceptionally talented and mysterious songwriter.” --We Are Mirrors
“[Sloman’s novel] Tiger Island is a delightful read reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s films and J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield.” --Bob Nastanovich of Pavement and Silver Jews
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