Rick Berlin – Me & Van Gogh (Hi-N-Dry)
By Matthew Robinson
Special to The Epoch Times
Jan 27, 2006

Having left the rat-race of major labeldom behind, the man who created the Berlin Airlift (the band) and The Shelley Winters Project strips it all down on his latest solo set and, with the help of fellow local legends Billy Conway and Tom Dube, plays and sings just for the love. And that love can be heard in nearly every twisting, yearning note on this minimally-produced, maximally-emotive album.
Mixing sibilant whispers of Byrne, Waits, and Brak, Berlin drops his hands on the keys in simple patterns that support and set various moods for his off-center stories. From the Kerouaced poetry of "The Ride" to the bouncing defiance of "Beer Belly" and the harsher incarcerated epistle simply entitled "A Letter," Berlin looks on bar stools, in cars, and under the pain of life to find heroes and anti-heroes (though the difference is often hard to discern).
Not only is the title track appropriately painterly but it, like the entire album, reveals more shades of color and feeling with each repeated listen.
Matthew Robinson is a freelance writer based out of Boston.