Can there be an alternative to alternative rock? The duo dubbed I’m Not Jim was conceived as a partnership between mutual admirers - novelist Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude) and Silos front-man Walter Salas Humara. Meshing acoustic instrumentation and electronics (think Beth Orton on steroids or Moby as produced by Rick Rubin) Lethem the lyricist and Humara the tunesmith emerge as this century’s Bernie and Elton - pre Tantrums & Tiaras that is. “Amanda Morning” has the hooks and a faux disco groove that would do the Jonas Bros. just fine. They may not be Jim, but Morrison would have inhabited “Drink ‘Til I’m Sober” like a comfortable pair of leather trousers - perhaps an Amy Winehouse remake is in order. The spoken word offerings “Walks Into” and “Howard” are Mickey Rourke screenplays in waiting. Special guests include upright bassist Mike Duclos - who digs deep into Ron Carter territory. You Are All My People is the kind of record that will win friends and influence people - highly recommended for fans of David Byrne, Gilberto Gil, Nick Cave, and John Cale - but not Dale Carnegie.
--Tom Semioli [October 25, 2008]
