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Emoh

2005 studio album by Lou Barlow

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
2 min read
Source updated July 3, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic63/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
Pitchfork(7.9/10) link
Rolling Stone no.967, p.84
Uncut p.108

Emoh is a solo album by Lou Barlow, the first with his real name; the album was released in the US in 2005 by Domino and by Merge Records and recorded in 2004.

Rolling Stone gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and noted: "[F]ull of quiet lyricism and Nick Drake beauty..." Uncut (p. 108) gave 4 stars out of 5 and said: "Using acoustic guitar, piano and vocals, he delivers 14 sweetly somber neo-folk tunes that reveal just how subtly persuasive the man's influence really is."

The album was recorded when Barlow was "in a better place" after some years of struggling due to Sebadoh's hiatus, John Davis leaving The Folk Implosion and personal problems. When the album was re-released in 2020, Barlow reflected: "Though Emoh was an overwhelmingly positive step forward for me, listening now, I realize the songs have a lot of pain in them. They clearly track the slow dissolution of my first marriage, the fatal break of several partnerships, and my struggle to acclimate to living in LA. Emoh is primarily an acoustic LP with live performances at its core, and that was a personal achievement for me. I’m still very pleased with it."

01Track listing

  1. "Holding Back the Year", 3:30
  2. "Home", 3:23
  3. "Caterpillar Girl", 3:35
  4. "Legendary", 4:11
  5. "Royalty", 3:45
  6. "Puzzle", 3:36
  7. "If I Could", 3:42
  8. "Monkey Begun", 3:02
  9. "Morning's After Me", 3:44
  10. "Round-N-Round", 2:34
  11. "Mary", 3:10
  12. "Confused", 3:45
  13. "Imagined Life", 4:14
  14. "The Ballad of Daykitty", 4:03

2020 reissue

15. Finger (Demo) 16. Helpless (Demo) 17. Legendary (Demo) 18. Puzzle (Demo) 19. Home (Demo) 20. If I Could (Demo) 21. Mary (Demo) 22. Confused (Demo)

02Personnel

  • Lou Barlow, vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, baritone electric guitar, bass, harp, piano, Korg bass and Roland Juno synthesizer, chord organ, Roland percussion pad, (sampled) percussion, xylophone, glockenspiel, backing vocals
  • Imaad Wasif, acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 4), electric guitar (1, 4, 12), slide guitar (12), percussion (4, 5), backing vocals (4)
  • Carey Kotsionis, harmony vocals (1, 7)
  • Jason Loewenstein, drums, knee slapping (1, 12)
  • Erin Hugely, cello (2, 11)
  • Russell Pollard, cut-up drums (3)
  • Abby Barlow, cello (6)
  • Mark Schwaber, electric guitar and bass (6)
  • Adam Harding, harmony vocals, electric guitar and piano (9)
Production
  • Mark Nevers, recording (1, 2, 7, 11, 12, Beech House, Nashville, TN), mix (1, 2, 7, 11, Wedgewood, Nashville)
  • Josh Schwartz, recording (4), mix (4, 10, 12, 14, Spaceshed, Los Angeles)
  • Lou Barlow - recording (5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, at home, Los Angeles), mix (5, 8, 9, 13, at home)
  • Mark Miller, recording and mix (6, Slaughterhouse, Hadley, MA)
  • Mark Chalecki, mastering (Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA)
Watch videos about EmohExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Emoh”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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