A nice review of my new CD, TWISTED LOVE SONGS, posted on a mailing list by Jon Winer and reposted here with permission:
David Gans ran into God a couple of weeks ago. Or so the song goes. It is a bit of an awkward meeting – agnostic meets God, but God is decidedly more congenial than at Abraham’s meet-up with his maker as described in Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited.” Unlike Abraham’s angry and vengeful God, Gans’s God is disillusioned and wracked with self-doubt, to the point where she denies her own existence. Twisted? Yes. But, a love song? This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend who describes his favorite Grateful Dead song, “Standing on the Moon,” as a “love song.” “Social commentary,” I suggest, “not a love song.”  And so it goes (Kurt Vonnegut, r.i.p.).
In addition to “Ran Into God,” David offers a dozen other original songs, and a half-dozen borrowed tunes on this album of previously unreleased material. “It’s Gonna Get Better” is a favorite of mine, which I have heard David perform on many occasions. I’m still getting to know some of the newer songs on this CD, but David’s performance of a guilty pleasure – Roger Miller’s “King of the Road” – is another highlight.  Likewise, listening to “Ship of Fools” feels like a visit from an old friend.
David makes abundant use of his signature guitar looping, a skill which he will pass along to others at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch this fall. It sounds to me as though the following songs (and probably others) feature looping: “Cassidy’s Cat,” “Prophet and Loss,” “In Another World,” “Four Corners,” “Surely You Jest,” “Basin and Range,” and the haunting “Quarter to Five (For Tina Loney).” Although David often performs with other musicians, his regular gig is as a solo artist. With looping, he can accompany himself via a footpedal.
The sound on this CD was mastered (in HDCD) by Jeffrey Norman, whose remastering work on the Grateful Dead Fillmore West 1969 box set ranks among the greatest audio engineering achievements of all time, in my humble opinion. The sound on this new Gans release does not equal the quality of the sound on the Fillmore box set, but considering the fact that David carries his recording rig in a briefcase (unlike the 400 pound twin reel-to-reel rigs used for the Fillmore recordings), Mr. Norman gets a tip of the hat.
On Twisted Love Songs, David Gans expands his breadth as a recording artist, and delivers some notable performances of new material, while revisiting some very familiar places. There are not many artists performing today who convey the values of a 1960s America in which social consciousness was building, and a social conscience was evolving. David Gans is one. Thank you, David!
Twisted Love Songs is available from CDBaby
Or send $17.50 to:
Perfectible Recordings
PERF-06
484 Lake Park Ave. #102
Oakland CA 94610-2730