Transnormal Skiperoo

Last updated
Transnormal Skiperoo
Skiperoo.jpg
Studio album by
Released2007
Genre Alternative country
Length55:31
Label Luaka Bop
Producer Joe Pernice, Michael Deming, Jim White, Tucker Martine
Jim White chronology
Jim White Presents Music from Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
(2005)
Transnormal Skiperoo
(2007)
Where It Hits You
(2012)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg link
Billboard link
Entertainment Weekly A− (14 Mar 2008, p.75)
Filter 86% (Winter 2008, p.98)
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg link
The Onion (A.V. Club) B+ link
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link
Spin Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
Under the Radar Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg(Winter 2008, p.89)
Village Voice link

Transnormal Skiperoo is a 2007 album by Jim White. It was produced by Joe Pernice and Michael Deming, recorded with the band Olabelle and also features tracks with Tucker Martine and Laura Veirs, local Georgia legend Don Chambers and Goat, bluegrass duo Jeff & Vida and percussionist Mauro Refosco.

Contents

In a 2007 interview [1] White said the album title was a term he had invented to describe "a strange new feeling I've been experiencing after years of feeling lost and alone and cursed."

He explained: "Now, when everything around me begins to shine, when I find myself dancing around in my back yard for no particular reason other than it feels good to be alive, when I get this deep sense of gratitude that I don't need drugs or God or doomed romance to fuel myself through the gauntlet of a normal day, I call that feeling 'Transnormal Skiperoo'."

White said the album marked a change of mood, both personally and musically: "I could keep writing songs about being sad and miserable, that’s my stock in trade, but it’s not a true reflection of how I am now. I vividly recall being sad and lost, but now I feel a true sense of purpose. I have a one year old daughter, a wife I love and a place in the world as a musician.

"This record is, in part, a sigh of relief I'm not stuck in the quagmire anymore, There’s still some old songs, like 'Jailbird', that I've only just got around to releasing, but there's lots of different kinds of songs too. I have a feeling people like me better sad, but I hope they are in my corner now I can feel and try to express happiness and a sense of fulfillment.

"It’s still new for me, I've built up a vocabulary over 45 years of sadness and maybe five years of joy, I'm still finding my way. On my last album I tried to write a song of love about my daughter but it wound up being about junkies and sleaze. It's taken me a while to meet the challenge, I hope I've done it with songs like 'Diamonds to Coal'."

Track listing

(all tracks by Jim White)

  1. "A Town Called Amen" – 3:42
  2. "Blindly We Go" – 2:59
  3. "Jailbird" – 5:55
  4. "Crash Into the Sun" – 4:22
  5. "Fruit of the Vine" – 7:50
  6. "Take Me Away" – 4:27
  7. "Turquoise House" – 3:18
  8. "Diamonds to Coal" – 4:36
  9. "Counting Numbers in the Air" – 5:20
  10. "Plywood Superman" – 5:36
  11. "Pieces of Heaven" – 3:07
  12. "It's Been a Long Long Day" – 3:51

Personnel

Appearances in other media

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References

  1. Jim White interview, Americana UK website