" Of ... It is a small, exquisite record played with glittering precision mostly on a tenor ukulele (which does not sound anything like the strummy-strum ukuleles that were on way too many twee-rock records a few years ago). The sound is ideal for these elusive, imagistic songs about memory and mortality. If you seek it out, it will take hold of you... "
- Slate
" ... This song’s a remedy (Willing Night from Of) . Full of hope and purpose, bare of schmaltz. ... (it) shows him raging against the darkness, or at least hoping against it, imagining that there’s more to the universe than its slow incremental heat-death. “Junebugs bangin’ into lamps up and down the road,” he sings. “All the dark eyed windows, where we run up the split level rows / and a rail in a trainyard crying somewhere / and a little faith inside.”
... Merritt plays a tenor ukulele, but it isn’t the jaunty uke of minivan ads: It’s a tiny machine made of wood and gut, fragile and trying. And the two of them are joined by other voices: blasts of harmonica, Jeff Bird’s benevolent double bass, Andy Magoffin’s patient baritone horn. The finished result is a song that seems sure and pleading at the same time. “What might / what might / what might,” Merritt repeats to close the song. Maybe it’s an exhortation (“What might!”). Maybe it’s a wish (“What might?”). Or if we’re lucky – it’s both. "
- Globe and Mail / Sean Michaels
" ... it’s a joy to suddenly discover this quiet gem, which snuck out into the world in April, on which Merritt employs little more than ukulele — and easily and instantly buries any hang-up you might have about an instrument that every hipster and cutesy pop act seems to be slinging around these days. Merritt’s magical hands extract delicacy and intricacy out of those four strings. To flesh out the sound, he relies largely on droning accordions (perhaps harmoniums?), trombone sections, clarinets alternating between only two notes, and upright bass by the incomparable Jeff Bird. For a record with no percussion and comprised largely of languid tempos, the rhythms are pulsing and surprisingly strong on such a quiet record. "
- Waterloo Record - Nightlife
" Of... evocative vignettes and melodies that could well be set to roaring rock anthems, but sound so much more powerful in their hushed intimacy and quietly insistent rhythmic pulse. Merritt’s made his living as a producer in the last 25 years, so naturally it all sounds exquisite, the tiniest gestures resonating throughout his sonic temple. "
- Macleans Magazine - Best of 015
" ... Set to beautifully spare instrumental arrangements, and occasional gentle foot tapping, Merritt's one-of a-kind lyrics and hypnotic vocals, draw the listener in from the first note; be it whimsical opener “Meteor,” off-kilter love ballad “Repo,” the “no end/no beginning” of life's parade, in “Everwill, ” cautiously eco-optimistic comment, “Willing Night” or wry philosophical insight on finale “Solomon.” ... "
- The Mercury
" ...For the price of a CD, aspiring entertainers and established artists alike will be treated to a crash course in how to write interesting, evocative words, how to frame them in complex, dramatic arrangements, and how to make the whole package sound so good that anyone who hears it will end up playing it over and over...fresh subtleties every time they’re heard and nuanced, layered accompaniment full of real imagination... "
- The Georgia Straight
Vancouver
" … the total length (Of) is only just over half an hour, but it is very special. So far away from everything commercially as possible, stripped down to vulnerability and with an intrusive presence. A great music adventurer has given us yet another album to love. "
- Thirsty Boots
Sweden
" ...it's always a treat when Scott Merritt emerges from his self- imposed performing exile, but there was something particularly magical about this solo set...(he) brought the sleepy afternoon to life with the aid of a guitar, a second-hand skeletal Wurlitzer, and his remarkable, inspirational songs."
- Echo Magazine "Best Concert of 2004 "
Waterloo
" ...the DetOUr home is a complex mix of beautiful songwriting and organic and electronic instruments, all woven together by Merritt's knack for manipulating sound in the studio... "
- Entertainment Weekly
Calgary, Alta
" …Merritt's synthesis of folk based structures punctuated by cutting edge rhythms and innovative studio wizardry places it firmly in the Beck mould. But Merritt's imagistic lyrical style firmly distances him from anyone else out there. he is as much a poet as a musician, painting scenarios with short, sometimes harsh and enigmatic turns of phrase. "
- The Globe and Mail
Toronto
" ...One of the best albums of 2002. " (The Detour Home)
- The Toronto Star
" … brimming with originality and talent. He pays tribute to conventional song structure but is in no way restrained by it, giving each song its own unique sensibility. Incredibly cohesive and upbeat without being sappy… "
- The Gauntlet
" ...a master of audio texture, but the emphasis is firmly on his songwriting, which is deeply rooted in folk while retaining strong pop sensibilities...An endlessly rewarding listening experience and proof oh how far ahead Merritt always was in the development of this CanRock thing. "
- Exclaim Magazine
" He doesn’t write up to you or down to you. It is all eyeball to eyeball. If it were a younger voice it might be called punk. Down the road a few years it sounds more like experience. Years ago someone referred to his music as "hallucinations with strings attached." There is still a dream like quality to it, like the clarity that comes in the late afternoon light, as the sun and the shadows get a little longer. "
- Vancouver Folk Festival Program
" For every known artist that is a household name there are several equally talented gems that fly under the public's radar. Scott Merritt is a good
songwriter. I've seen him play these songs solo acoustic and they bear up under such a microscope. Fleshed out in the canny production of this album,
his voice carries the emotionality of the songs. This album has many songs that you find yourself singing,and is very consistent across the playlist.
Perhaps Canada itself produces artists like Bruce Cockburn and Scott Merritt, where their songs seemed not aimed at an external audience, but as
an expression of their internal landscape. "
- Amazon review
" I can think of nothing finer than to be listening to this release, wearing my "I AM Canadian" t-shirt … a joy to listen to. The track "Dragonfly", turns this into an interactive experience for the listener, who i defy to remain still with the futuristic, psychedelic beat and unfeigned optimism of the lyrics. "
- 701.com
" ...a large crowd savored Merritt's eclectic blend of poetic lyrics and tuneful yet complex rhythms… mesmerizing… Merritt's evocative vocals and polished guitar work - accented by technological tricks - blended with easy rhythms. "
- The Brantford Expositor
" ... at the Canadian Songwriter's Festival in Guelph Ontario, Scott Merritt appeared with a guitar, a whack of effects and David Woodhead on bass, and proceeded to play quirky songs to an audience held in thrall. There were no songs that i heard before, but his moody and subtle melodies, rhythms and lyrics were a perfect introduction to a weekend celebrating the songwriter's craft… "
- The Waterloo Record
" ...(a) marriage of lo-fi, kitchen songwriting and tech lab … solid throughout. "
- Hamilton Spectator
"Merritt plays with folk music and technology with a touch of performance art for good measure. He is a laconic performer but one who is engrossing to watch and listen to…. He's an edgy and talented performer. If you're not fortunate enough to see him, don't miss the detOur home, which captures the qualities of his live shows brilliantly."
- greenmailreview.com
" ...An awful lot has been written about the horrors and evils of the music industry. The industry designation itself seems to be at direct odds with the human creative spark and process that fuels and fires its machinery. For mor than 20 years Scott Merritt has worked in and around that industrial-park wasteland without ever compromising his personal integrity or losing site of his widescreen creative vision. "
- Fast Forward
Calgary, Alta
" ...an impressive return... it is Merrittt’s imagistic lyrical style that firmly distances him from anyone else out there... "
- Globe and Mail
Toronto
" ...a fine return to form...syncopated instrumentation and imagistic lyrics....
Merritt delivers a series of textured, observational tunes in which his vaguely regretful and world - weary singing draws attention to bingo halls, carnivals and other representations of faded relevance...a uniformly solid set. "
- The Toronto Star
" ...an act of surrealistic time-defying creative affirmation...Merritt’s music is firmly grounded in acoustic instrumentation, but veers off into the techno stratosphere. It’s openly experimental, but it’s never experimentation for experimentations sake...poetic lyrics, eschewing narrative, he relies on image, metaphor and allegory to evoke dreamy (sometimes nightmarish) atmospheres simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, ordinary extraordinary, mundane and strange. Home is exotic because of the imaginative detours Merritt takes. "
- Kitchener - Waterloo Record
" Merritt’s works always veer into the unexpected. He has a rare ability of switching musical styles, naturally...a tasteful treat outside the cookie cutter format.... "
- Metro Daily
Toronto
" ... an album of folk - plus technology that holds your complete attention. Unpretentious, contemporary, and real are probably the best words to describe it... "
- Encore
" ...songs that celebrate the fragile delights and small miracles that emerge from the most familiar of situations. Brimming with Merritt’s characteristic sense of mystery and wonder, the songs here, as always, manifest ever the right touch and turn of phrase, delighting in the insistence that anointed truths be confronted, perhaps even turned on their head... "
- Off The Shelf
Guelph, Ont.
" ...Merritt’s unique voice, pained humour and hoser - Zen poetics intact... "
- Globe and Mail
Toronto
" ...to his credit, Merritt never lets the song get lost beneath the weight of production, and when played live, with only woodheads bass to fill out the space, the material sounds just as strong as it does on the album. Clearly the studio noodling has not stripped away Merritt’s folksinger roots; Merritt, the producer, has not eclipsed Merritt, the musician. "
- Echo
Cambridge
" ...Merritt's first album in 12 years is his best in 20… some of the finest pop you'll hear this side of Aimee Mann. "
- The Guelph Mercury
" ...Now here's a songwriter for the nineties...(characters in) Merritt's songs are generally face on and more or less at the edge, full of detailed and often unsettling images, some of them wholly scrutable. Merritt's arrangements captures their disquiet clearly... ( He) avoids the obvious almost religiously and he has a fascinating album from start to finish for his dedication. "
- Globe and Mail
" ...For the uninitiated, (he) is a Canadian-born recording artist... He first cut his teeth years ago in the Lanois brothers' Grant Avenue Studio, a lineage that is reflected in the intrigue and depth created by the atmospheric intensity of ... seething with polyrhythmic energy and an epochal lyrical presence...dovetailing the small and personal with the large and abstract (dulcimers nestle beside synthesizers for example), Merritt's vision is a compelling, riveting one that has finally begun to reach full fruition and maturity... "
- CMJ New Music Report
USA
" ...listening to Merritt is like hearing something you've never quite heard but have always known. On the surface the musical structures, sounds and vocal phrasing are accessible enough, but closer listening reveals surprisingly potent, disturbing and pleasant layers of musical and lyrical complexities... "
- Georgia Straight
Vancouver
" ...One gets the impression that if he wanted to aim mainstream in the rock or pop world, success would follow. It appears, and I say more power to him, that he is content for now to churn out these gems and wait for his time to come. As long as he keeps the quality at this level, I'll be more than happy to wait with him... "
- Canadian Musician Magazine
" ...outstanding... dreamy allegorical tales... "
- The Pacific Sun
San Francisco
" ...one of Canada's finest exports... a thoughtful, heartfelt album which creates folklore of its own... "
- Flare Magazine
" ...Scott Merritt of 8 Fleet Street reported the theft of thirty cassette tapes from his car while it was parked in front of
his house... "
- The Brantford Expositor
" ...On first hearing it sounds simple and smooth, typical hit material. When you start hearing some of the things the synth and percussion are getting up to, you are not so sure. When you listen to the loop the loop lyrics, you really start to wonder. And when you see Scott on stage, staggering around like a drunk on a tightrope and delivering absurdist monologues between numbers, you realize that this music has, quietly but irrevocably, lost its mind... "
- The Varsity
Toronto
" ...conveying a real braininess and a deep distress... "
- Edmonton Journal
" ...his storytelling is masterful...highly melodic tunes with solid guitars and great production... "
- Album Network
USA
" ...He's an original. His are folk sensibilities perhaps, but so severely skewed that politics, poly rhythmic roots, deconstruction, mixed media, other worlds and certainly hard edged urban rock all inform his perspective - a delicious mystery... "
- Montreal Gazette
" ...the packed house of Dawson's cold damp arena signaled Scott Merritt back to the stage - his axe still breathing bent and heated notes. With speed befitting the licks on his guitars, he took the stage again. It would be "The Well" by popular demand, that would end his two encore set. Merritt, with new discoveries of his own, was screwing the lid on a cauldron of weekend music that was unlike any other this reviewer has seen in the Yukon... "
- Yukon News
" ...coming off like a surfer from Owen Sound...the singer songwriter cruised through a variety of genres with skill and panache...not to indicate this is a novelty act - no Merritt is clearly aiming for music of substance... Merritt understands the value of different textures in presenting his material. The fact that he actually (does it) well throughout is a delightful bonus. "
- Edmonton Journal
" ...intriguing allegories, full of recognizable characters in not quite familiar situations, songs full of oblique yet logical angles, songs capable of believable surprise and small delights... "
- Stratford Beacon Harold
" ...there's a basic conflict of opinions as to how to judge if a musician's career is successful. We're judging in longitude, Scott's traveling latitude. He's polite when you bump into him at the intersect point, but he knows where he is going... "
- The Forum
Hamilton Canada
" ...from all accounts, he was the hit of the Festival. The talented singer-songwriter sizzled the stage with his warm personable mannerisms and received a standing ovation from the crowd...his music has an honesty about it that is almost compelling... "
- Hamilton Spectator
" ...glittering sensual songs... "
- The Mirror
Montreal
" ...It wasn't just the variety of sounds Merritt produced that made him special, it was his astonishing guitar work and the unusual timing and rhythmic patterns...before the evening had ended the audience had sung, snapped their fingers, drummed on tables and laughed along... "
- The Gazette
London, Canada
" ...His voice was clear and strong, but it was his guitar playing that held his audience spellbound. His six and twelve string guitar work is impeccable... "
- The Phoenix
Hamilton, Canada
" ...an accomplished combination of pop and quirky folk melodies held together by Merritt's strong, versatile voice... "
- The Entertainment Network
USA
" ...balanced by spacey abstract visual imagery - boyscouts and lemmings and closets blending in oneric swirl; words bouncing off people and stickmen learning to climb symbolic shirts and hats all over the place...(the music) dares to care without being wimpy or pretentious...(it) rocks like the dickens at times and boasts rich textures... "
- Graffiti Magazine
Canada
" ...a humorous and humane collection of tone poems... "
- The Toronto Star
" ...visceral, cerebral, down to earth, yet filled with whimsy... "
- Flare Magazine
Canada
" ...a journey...a landscape where mysterious things lurk beneath a gentle tangle of strings and a gossamer veil of keyboards...Gratification can be found in Merritt's far reaching scope of topics, in his wily, clever bits of realism, and in his simple but stirring arrangements that are committed to melody and mood... "
- Now
Toronto
" ...Merritt comes off like a rock and roller with a brain and a bit of an albatross slung around his neck...a weird and offbeat power... "
- The Varsity
Toronto
" ...worthy of your close attention. Merritt is a stunning guitar player who creates textural tracks that range from pop to experimental and from rock to new age to folk. His voice can be gruff or have a soft pop feel. But ultimately it is the sophistication that puts (it) over the top... "
- JACKPOT , CMJ New Music Report
USA
" ...the guy has a definite tendency of marching to a different drummer, and for that we shall be grateful... "
- Metropolis
Toronto
" ... monumental, ear opening work... "
- Hamilton Spectator
" ...ingenue, idiot savant, comedian, unrepentant punster, sage observer of the human condition...may his songs go forth and multiply... "
- Music Express
Canada
" ...Madonna, I'm not talking about your prefab shlock. Merritt is all over you like a boot on a cockroach. His arrangements are superlative, his guitar, crisp, his lyrics incisive. The band kicks and whispers...a precision team...baby he's got more vision than a million Madonnas. He creates beautiful sounds with his dulcimer, mandolin and guitar - and it all has soul! Up against him you're 'Lassie come home with a lobotomy', to use his phrase... "
- The Nerve
Toronto
" ...If all this sounds wearisome, it isn't... "
- The Brantford Expositor
Canada
- Slate
" ... This song’s a remedy (Willing Night from Of) . Full of hope and purpose, bare of schmaltz. ... (it) shows him raging against the darkness, or at least hoping against it, imagining that there’s more to the universe than its slow incremental heat-death. “Junebugs bangin’ into lamps up and down the road,” he sings. “All the dark eyed windows, where we run up the split level rows / and a rail in a trainyard crying somewhere / and a little faith inside.”
... Merritt plays a tenor ukulele, but it isn’t the jaunty uke of minivan ads: It’s a tiny machine made of wood and gut, fragile and trying. And the two of them are joined by other voices: blasts of harmonica, Jeff Bird’s benevolent double bass, Andy Magoffin’s patient baritone horn. The finished result is a song that seems sure and pleading at the same time. “What might / what might / what might,” Merritt repeats to close the song. Maybe it’s an exhortation (“What might!”). Maybe it’s a wish (“What might?”). Or if we’re lucky – it’s both. "
- Globe and Mail / Sean Michaels
" ... it’s a joy to suddenly discover this quiet gem, which snuck out into the world in April, on which Merritt employs little more than ukulele — and easily and instantly buries any hang-up you might have about an instrument that every hipster and cutesy pop act seems to be slinging around these days. Merritt’s magical hands extract delicacy and intricacy out of those four strings. To flesh out the sound, he relies largely on droning accordions (perhaps harmoniums?), trombone sections, clarinets alternating between only two notes, and upright bass by the incomparable Jeff Bird. For a record with no percussion and comprised largely of languid tempos, the rhythms are pulsing and surprisingly strong on such a quiet record. "
- Waterloo Record - Nightlife
" Of... evocative vignettes and melodies that could well be set to roaring rock anthems, but sound so much more powerful in their hushed intimacy and quietly insistent rhythmic pulse. Merritt’s made his living as a producer in the last 25 years, so naturally it all sounds exquisite, the tiniest gestures resonating throughout his sonic temple. "
- Macleans Magazine - Best of 015
" ... Set to beautifully spare instrumental arrangements, and occasional gentle foot tapping, Merritt's one-of a-kind lyrics and hypnotic vocals, draw the listener in from the first note; be it whimsical opener “Meteor,” off-kilter love ballad “Repo,” the “no end/no beginning” of life's parade, in “Everwill, ” cautiously eco-optimistic comment, “Willing Night” or wry philosophical insight on finale “Solomon.” ... "
- The Mercury
" ...For the price of a CD, aspiring entertainers and established artists alike will be treated to a crash course in how to write interesting, evocative words, how to frame them in complex, dramatic arrangements, and how to make the whole package sound so good that anyone who hears it will end up playing it over and over...fresh subtleties every time they’re heard and nuanced, layered accompaniment full of real imagination... "
- The Georgia Straight
Vancouver
" … the total length (Of) is only just over half an hour, but it is very special. So far away from everything commercially as possible, stripped down to vulnerability and with an intrusive presence. A great music adventurer has given us yet another album to love. "
- Thirsty Boots
Sweden
" ...it's always a treat when Scott Merritt emerges from his self- imposed performing exile, but there was something particularly magical about this solo set...(he) brought the sleepy afternoon to life with the aid of a guitar, a second-hand skeletal Wurlitzer, and his remarkable, inspirational songs."
- Echo Magazine "Best Concert of 2004 "
Waterloo
" ...the DetOUr home is a complex mix of beautiful songwriting and organic and electronic instruments, all woven together by Merritt's knack for manipulating sound in the studio... "
- Entertainment Weekly
Calgary, Alta
" …Merritt's synthesis of folk based structures punctuated by cutting edge rhythms and innovative studio wizardry places it firmly in the Beck mould. But Merritt's imagistic lyrical style firmly distances him from anyone else out there. he is as much a poet as a musician, painting scenarios with short, sometimes harsh and enigmatic turns of phrase. "
- The Globe and Mail
Toronto
" ...One of the best albums of 2002. " (The Detour Home)
- The Toronto Star
" … brimming with originality and talent. He pays tribute to conventional song structure but is in no way restrained by it, giving each song its own unique sensibility. Incredibly cohesive and upbeat without being sappy… "
- The Gauntlet
" ...a master of audio texture, but the emphasis is firmly on his songwriting, which is deeply rooted in folk while retaining strong pop sensibilities...An endlessly rewarding listening experience and proof oh how far ahead Merritt always was in the development of this CanRock thing. "
- Exclaim Magazine
" He doesn’t write up to you or down to you. It is all eyeball to eyeball. If it were a younger voice it might be called punk. Down the road a few years it sounds more like experience. Years ago someone referred to his music as "hallucinations with strings attached." There is still a dream like quality to it, like the clarity that comes in the late afternoon light, as the sun and the shadows get a little longer. "
- Vancouver Folk Festival Program
" For every known artist that is a household name there are several equally talented gems that fly under the public's radar. Scott Merritt is a good
songwriter. I've seen him play these songs solo acoustic and they bear up under such a microscope. Fleshed out in the canny production of this album,
his voice carries the emotionality of the songs. This album has many songs that you find yourself singing,and is very consistent across the playlist.
Perhaps Canada itself produces artists like Bruce Cockburn and Scott Merritt, where their songs seemed not aimed at an external audience, but as
an expression of their internal landscape. "
- Amazon review
" I can think of nothing finer than to be listening to this release, wearing my "I AM Canadian" t-shirt … a joy to listen to. The track "Dragonfly", turns this into an interactive experience for the listener, who i defy to remain still with the futuristic, psychedelic beat and unfeigned optimism of the lyrics. "
- 701.com
" ...a large crowd savored Merritt's eclectic blend of poetic lyrics and tuneful yet complex rhythms… mesmerizing… Merritt's evocative vocals and polished guitar work - accented by technological tricks - blended with easy rhythms. "
- The Brantford Expositor
" ... at the Canadian Songwriter's Festival in Guelph Ontario, Scott Merritt appeared with a guitar, a whack of effects and David Woodhead on bass, and proceeded to play quirky songs to an audience held in thrall. There were no songs that i heard before, but his moody and subtle melodies, rhythms and lyrics were a perfect introduction to a weekend celebrating the songwriter's craft… "
- The Waterloo Record
" ...(a) marriage of lo-fi, kitchen songwriting and tech lab … solid throughout. "
- Hamilton Spectator
"Merritt plays with folk music and technology with a touch of performance art for good measure. He is a laconic performer but one who is engrossing to watch and listen to…. He's an edgy and talented performer. If you're not fortunate enough to see him, don't miss the detOur home, which captures the qualities of his live shows brilliantly."
- greenmailreview.com
" ...An awful lot has been written about the horrors and evils of the music industry. The industry designation itself seems to be at direct odds with the human creative spark and process that fuels and fires its machinery. For mor than 20 years Scott Merritt has worked in and around that industrial-park wasteland without ever compromising his personal integrity or losing site of his widescreen creative vision. "
- Fast Forward
Calgary, Alta
" ...an impressive return... it is Merrittt’s imagistic lyrical style that firmly distances him from anyone else out there... "
- Globe and Mail
Toronto
" ...a fine return to form...syncopated instrumentation and imagistic lyrics....
Merritt delivers a series of textured, observational tunes in which his vaguely regretful and world - weary singing draws attention to bingo halls, carnivals and other representations of faded relevance...a uniformly solid set. "
- The Toronto Star
" ...an act of surrealistic time-defying creative affirmation...Merritt’s music is firmly grounded in acoustic instrumentation, but veers off into the techno stratosphere. It’s openly experimental, but it’s never experimentation for experimentations sake...poetic lyrics, eschewing narrative, he relies on image, metaphor and allegory to evoke dreamy (sometimes nightmarish) atmospheres simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, ordinary extraordinary, mundane and strange. Home is exotic because of the imaginative detours Merritt takes. "
- Kitchener - Waterloo Record
" Merritt’s works always veer into the unexpected. He has a rare ability of switching musical styles, naturally...a tasteful treat outside the cookie cutter format.... "
- Metro Daily
Toronto
" ... an album of folk - plus technology that holds your complete attention. Unpretentious, contemporary, and real are probably the best words to describe it... "
- Encore
" ...songs that celebrate the fragile delights and small miracles that emerge from the most familiar of situations. Brimming with Merritt’s characteristic sense of mystery and wonder, the songs here, as always, manifest ever the right touch and turn of phrase, delighting in the insistence that anointed truths be confronted, perhaps even turned on their head... "
- Off The Shelf
Guelph, Ont.
" ...Merritt’s unique voice, pained humour and hoser - Zen poetics intact... "
- Globe and Mail
Toronto
" ...to his credit, Merritt never lets the song get lost beneath the weight of production, and when played live, with only woodheads bass to fill out the space, the material sounds just as strong as it does on the album. Clearly the studio noodling has not stripped away Merritt’s folksinger roots; Merritt, the producer, has not eclipsed Merritt, the musician. "
- Echo
Cambridge
" ...Merritt's first album in 12 years is his best in 20… some of the finest pop you'll hear this side of Aimee Mann. "
- The Guelph Mercury
" ...Now here's a songwriter for the nineties...(characters in) Merritt's songs are generally face on and more or less at the edge, full of detailed and often unsettling images, some of them wholly scrutable. Merritt's arrangements captures their disquiet clearly... ( He) avoids the obvious almost religiously and he has a fascinating album from start to finish for his dedication. "
- Globe and Mail
" ...For the uninitiated, (he) is a Canadian-born recording artist... He first cut his teeth years ago in the Lanois brothers' Grant Avenue Studio, a lineage that is reflected in the intrigue and depth created by the atmospheric intensity of ... seething with polyrhythmic energy and an epochal lyrical presence...dovetailing the small and personal with the large and abstract (dulcimers nestle beside synthesizers for example), Merritt's vision is a compelling, riveting one that has finally begun to reach full fruition and maturity... "
- CMJ New Music Report
USA
" ...listening to Merritt is like hearing something you've never quite heard but have always known. On the surface the musical structures, sounds and vocal phrasing are accessible enough, but closer listening reveals surprisingly potent, disturbing and pleasant layers of musical and lyrical complexities... "
- Georgia Straight
Vancouver
" ...One gets the impression that if he wanted to aim mainstream in the rock or pop world, success would follow. It appears, and I say more power to him, that he is content for now to churn out these gems and wait for his time to come. As long as he keeps the quality at this level, I'll be more than happy to wait with him... "
- Canadian Musician Magazine
" ...outstanding... dreamy allegorical tales... "
- The Pacific Sun
San Francisco
" ...one of Canada's finest exports... a thoughtful, heartfelt album which creates folklore of its own... "
- Flare Magazine
" ...Scott Merritt of 8 Fleet Street reported the theft of thirty cassette tapes from his car while it was parked in front of
his house... "
- The Brantford Expositor
" ...On first hearing it sounds simple and smooth, typical hit material. When you start hearing some of the things the synth and percussion are getting up to, you are not so sure. When you listen to the loop the loop lyrics, you really start to wonder. And when you see Scott on stage, staggering around like a drunk on a tightrope and delivering absurdist monologues between numbers, you realize that this music has, quietly but irrevocably, lost its mind... "
- The Varsity
Toronto
" ...conveying a real braininess and a deep distress... "
- Edmonton Journal
" ...his storytelling is masterful...highly melodic tunes with solid guitars and great production... "
- Album Network
USA
" ...He's an original. His are folk sensibilities perhaps, but so severely skewed that politics, poly rhythmic roots, deconstruction, mixed media, other worlds and certainly hard edged urban rock all inform his perspective - a delicious mystery... "
- Montreal Gazette
" ...the packed house of Dawson's cold damp arena signaled Scott Merritt back to the stage - his axe still breathing bent and heated notes. With speed befitting the licks on his guitars, he took the stage again. It would be "The Well" by popular demand, that would end his two encore set. Merritt, with new discoveries of his own, was screwing the lid on a cauldron of weekend music that was unlike any other this reviewer has seen in the Yukon... "
- Yukon News
" ...coming off like a surfer from Owen Sound...the singer songwriter cruised through a variety of genres with skill and panache...not to indicate this is a novelty act - no Merritt is clearly aiming for music of substance... Merritt understands the value of different textures in presenting his material. The fact that he actually (does it) well throughout is a delightful bonus. "
- Edmonton Journal
" ...intriguing allegories, full of recognizable characters in not quite familiar situations, songs full of oblique yet logical angles, songs capable of believable surprise and small delights... "
- Stratford Beacon Harold
" ...there's a basic conflict of opinions as to how to judge if a musician's career is successful. We're judging in longitude, Scott's traveling latitude. He's polite when you bump into him at the intersect point, but he knows where he is going... "
- The Forum
Hamilton Canada
" ...from all accounts, he was the hit of the Festival. The talented singer-songwriter sizzled the stage with his warm personable mannerisms and received a standing ovation from the crowd...his music has an honesty about it that is almost compelling... "
- Hamilton Spectator
" ...glittering sensual songs... "
- The Mirror
Montreal
" ...It wasn't just the variety of sounds Merritt produced that made him special, it was his astonishing guitar work and the unusual timing and rhythmic patterns...before the evening had ended the audience had sung, snapped their fingers, drummed on tables and laughed along... "
- The Gazette
London, Canada
" ...His voice was clear and strong, but it was his guitar playing that held his audience spellbound. His six and twelve string guitar work is impeccable... "
- The Phoenix
Hamilton, Canada
" ...an accomplished combination of pop and quirky folk melodies held together by Merritt's strong, versatile voice... "
- The Entertainment Network
USA
" ...balanced by spacey abstract visual imagery - boyscouts and lemmings and closets blending in oneric swirl; words bouncing off people and stickmen learning to climb symbolic shirts and hats all over the place...(the music) dares to care without being wimpy or pretentious...(it) rocks like the dickens at times and boasts rich textures... "
- Graffiti Magazine
Canada
" ...a humorous and humane collection of tone poems... "
- The Toronto Star
" ...visceral, cerebral, down to earth, yet filled with whimsy... "
- Flare Magazine
Canada
" ...a journey...a landscape where mysterious things lurk beneath a gentle tangle of strings and a gossamer veil of keyboards...Gratification can be found in Merritt's far reaching scope of topics, in his wily, clever bits of realism, and in his simple but stirring arrangements that are committed to melody and mood... "
- Now
Toronto
" ...Merritt comes off like a rock and roller with a brain and a bit of an albatross slung around his neck...a weird and offbeat power... "
- The Varsity
Toronto
" ...worthy of your close attention. Merritt is a stunning guitar player who creates textural tracks that range from pop to experimental and from rock to new age to folk. His voice can be gruff or have a soft pop feel. But ultimately it is the sophistication that puts (it) over the top... "
- JACKPOT , CMJ New Music Report
USA
" ...the guy has a definite tendency of marching to a different drummer, and for that we shall be grateful... "
- Metropolis
Toronto
" ... monumental, ear opening work... "
- Hamilton Spectator
" ...ingenue, idiot savant, comedian, unrepentant punster, sage observer of the human condition...may his songs go forth and multiply... "
- Music Express
Canada
" ...Madonna, I'm not talking about your prefab shlock. Merritt is all over you like a boot on a cockroach. His arrangements are superlative, his guitar, crisp, his lyrics incisive. The band kicks and whispers...a precision team...baby he's got more vision than a million Madonnas. He creates beautiful sounds with his dulcimer, mandolin and guitar - and it all has soul! Up against him you're 'Lassie come home with a lobotomy', to use his phrase... "
- The Nerve
Toronto
" ...If all this sounds wearisome, it isn't... "
- The Brantford Expositor
Canada