''Starting from Nowhere'' is the debut studio album by American

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

duo Heidecker & Wood, including comedian

Tim Heidecker Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric. As an actor, Heidecker's filmography includes roles in ' ...

and singer-songwriter Davin Wood. It has received mixed reviews from critics.

Reception

Writing for '' The A. V. Club'', Scott Gordon graded this album a B−, stating that "these songs are humorous in the same way unintentionally funny Velveeta-caliber pop tunes are funny" and praised Heidecker's delivery and Wood's musicianship. Editors at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Heather Phares writing "the duo has inspirations that span from

Bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

, Seals & Crofts, and

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) was a folk rock Supergroup (music), supergroup comprising the American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and the English-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by the Canadian singer-so ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in the ...

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

, and Mike Post" with musicality that "often exceeds their comedy pedigree" resulting in the duo having "skills to pull off this homage in gloriously cheesy detail". At ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

'', Nick Freed gave ''Starting from Nowhere'' a C−, praising Wood for doing "a fantastic job of harnessing the sounds of the mid-to-late 70’s soft rock genre", but expressing befuddlement at Heidecker's lyrics for being unclear if they are earnest or ironic, resulting in an album that is "somewhat obtuse and open". Editors at ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' scored this release 4.5 out of 10 and critic Matthew Perpetua characterized this music: "Heidecker's deep fascination with tacky 1970s and 80s aesthetics is foregrounded in a set of songs that strive to evoke the sound and feeling of vintage soft rock, but the comedy is dialed down considerably, to the point that many of the tracks barely register as comedy" and recommended that listeners seek out the music that inspired this release instead. Jay of ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

'' rated this release a 3.5 out of 5 also questioning the sincerity of the songs, with the strong talent of Wood leading the duo to "strike a balance among musicianship, songwriting, and humor that can only be compared to Ween" with genuinely enjoyable music.

Track listing

All songs written by

and Davin Wood. #"Cross Country Skiing" – 4:32 #"Right or Wrong" – 3:41 #"Grandest Canyon" – 3:27 #"Wedding Song" – 3:55 #"Desert Island" – 3:44 #"Life On the Road" – 5:16 #"Weatherman" – 5:34 #"A Song for My Father" – 4:27 #"Right to the Minute" – 5:29 #"She Left You" – 3:40 #"Million People" – 3:39 #"Christmas Suite" – 7:51

Personnel

–

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

fuzz bass Fuzz bass is a style of playing the electric bass or modifying its signal that produces a buzzy, distorted, overdriven sound. Overdriving a bass signal significantly changes the timbre, adds higher overtones (harmonics), increases the susta ...

, vocals, backing vocals, collage, layout, production *Davin Wood – acoustic guitar, electric guitar,

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

Grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, synthesizer, horn

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s, vocals, backing vocals, production *Arliss Best – synthesizer *Jason Boesel – drums *Don Carter – drums, percussion *Amy DeMarco – cello *Thomas A. Fox – trumpet *Ross Jackson – bass guitar *

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

– cover art *Dell "Easy" McKinney – bass guitar *The Palo Alto String Ensemble – strings *Rob Pierce –

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

*Pierre de Reeder – collage, layout, mixing *Mike Sheffler – bass guitar *Mark Visher – saxophone *Kevin Willis – electric guitar *Denise Wood – flute

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2011 collaborative albums 2011 debut albums Tim Heidecker albums Folk rock albums by American artists Soft rock albums by American artists

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References

External links