2010 C.D Reviews Page
Shurman – Still waiting for the sunset
2010 – Sustain Records
3***
After listening to the first few tracks I thought perhaps this was going to turn out to be a pretty well sung and played roots rock album with just a nod to country music! It’s only from around the halfway mark that a really strong country feel starts to really take over and the album improves greatly, even including Al Perkins on steel guitar on the gorgeous ‘lonesome’ ballad of Lonesome L.A blues.
This excellent band currently consists of Aaron Beavers on lead vocals, songwriting, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and harmonica, Mike Therieau on backing vocals and bass, Craig Bagby on drums and backing vocals and finally, Harley Husbands plays lead guitar, banjo and lap steel. There have been a number of changes in lineup, partly due to the fact that they moved their base from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas.
Beavers songs are all well written and most have a strong story line, with many being tales of the seedier side of life, as evidenced by the alt. country story of a small town girl gone bad in her attempt to survive with her child that would never know it’s father on Small town tragedy. A quite harrowing song that most can relate to, at least indirectly. Here’s to rock ‘n’ roll is another strong song, this time about the futility of war. Country just ain’t country comes as quite a shock with it’s strong classic country singing and production and bemoans the fact that country isn’t what it used to be! It namechecks just about everyone that I would guess has been a musical influence on Beavers, with some of those mentioned being Hank, Gram, Willie, Waylon and even the Rolling Stones! As mentioned previously Lonesome L.A blues has the beautifulsteel guitar playing of Al Perkins to help it along, although I’m not sure he was needed with the quality of players contained in this band. Beavers pleasantly edgy rawness of vocals is perfectly suited to most of the songs but particularly to those where the instrumentation is not quite so dominant.
A really good, versatile band that can pretty well master any song or tempo that Beavers can come up with. He is a highly talented singer songwriter that has probably struck a good balance with the songs contained on this album despite (or maybe because of!) the diversity contained within!
www.shurmanville.com
3***
After listening to the first few tracks I thought perhaps this was going to turn out to be a pretty well sung and played roots rock album with just a nod to country music! It’s only from around the halfway mark that a really strong country feel starts to really take over and the album improves greatly, even including Al Perkins on steel guitar on the gorgeous ‘lonesome’ ballad of Lonesome L.A blues.
This excellent band currently consists of Aaron Beavers on lead vocals, songwriting, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and harmonica, Mike Therieau on backing vocals and bass, Craig Bagby on drums and backing vocals and finally, Harley Husbands plays lead guitar, banjo and lap steel. There have been a number of changes in lineup, partly due to the fact that they moved their base from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas.
Beavers songs are all well written and most have a strong story line, with many being tales of the seedier side of life, as evidenced by the alt. country story of a small town girl gone bad in her attempt to survive with her child that would never know it’s father on Small town tragedy. A quite harrowing song that most can relate to, at least indirectly. Here’s to rock ‘n’ roll is another strong song, this time about the futility of war. Country just ain’t country comes as quite a shock with it’s strong classic country singing and production and bemoans the fact that country isn’t what it used to be! It namechecks just about everyone that I would guess has been a musical influence on Beavers, with some of those mentioned being Hank, Gram, Willie, Waylon and even the Rolling Stones! As mentioned previously Lonesome L.A blues has the beautifulsteel guitar playing of Al Perkins to help it along, although I’m not sure he was needed with the quality of players contained in this band. Beavers pleasantly edgy rawness of vocals is perfectly suited to most of the songs but particularly to those where the instrumentation is not quite so dominant.
A really good, versatile band that can pretty well master any song or tempo that Beavers can come up with. He is a highly talented singer songwriter that has probably struck a good balance with the songs contained on this album despite (or maybe because of!) the diversity contained within!
www.shurmanville.com
The Secret Sisters
2010 – Decca (UMO)
3.5***
This beautifully conceived album will probably be marketed as ‘mainstream country’ with it’s perfect almost timeless harmony singing. In actual fact it could also be said to be on the verge of mainstream and edging more into alt. country. This because the instrumentation and ornamentation is kept to a minimum, with the playing sufficiently restrained to allow the beauty of the singing and the songs to shine through. Many of the songs have an eerie edginess to them, fairly obviously helped by the producer being T-Bone Burnett, a man that understands the difference between ‘that old weird America’ and modern Nashvilles version of country music!
As with many sibling harmonies the match is as near perfect as anyone could wish for, leaving these two sisters to concentrate on bringing the full power of the emotions needed to lift these sparsely produced songs into a high quality listening experience. This is the debut album for Laura and Lydia Rogers, a pair of sisters from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and promises much more high quality ‘real country music’ in the future. They have picked some classic country songs and even more promisingly have inserted a couple of their own that are certainly not put in the shade by the exalted company they find themselves in!
In fact, the album kicks off with the beautiful self penned Tennessee me, with gorgeous high lonesome harmonies supported by excellent steel guitar and piano. Even the slightly less memorable songs are carried by the sisters beautiful singing and the tasteful production. There is the dark Bill Monroe penned The one I love is gone, made all the more eerie by the girls gorgeous harmonies and haunting steel guitar followed by the 1950s style country love song of Buck Owens, My heart skips a beat. The album finishes with two Hank Williams songs, the first being Why don’t you love me, with a lead vocal slightly reminiscent of 1950s style Connie Francis, followed by a beautiful edgy version of Hank’s House of gold.
An excellent debut album on which the vocal harmonies evoke all the eeriness and mystery of the early decades of recording. I can hardly wait to hear their ‘difficult second album.’ With the talent these two young sisters possess it really shouldn’t be all that difficult!
www.secretsistersband.com
www.myspace.com\secretsisters
3.5***
This beautifully conceived album will probably be marketed as ‘mainstream country’ with it’s perfect almost timeless harmony singing. In actual fact it could also be said to be on the verge of mainstream and edging more into alt. country. This because the instrumentation and ornamentation is kept to a minimum, with the playing sufficiently restrained to allow the beauty of the singing and the songs to shine through. Many of the songs have an eerie edginess to them, fairly obviously helped by the producer being T-Bone Burnett, a man that understands the difference between ‘that old weird America’ and modern Nashvilles version of country music!
As with many sibling harmonies the match is as near perfect as anyone could wish for, leaving these two sisters to concentrate on bringing the full power of the emotions needed to lift these sparsely produced songs into a high quality listening experience. This is the debut album for Laura and Lydia Rogers, a pair of sisters from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and promises much more high quality ‘real country music’ in the future. They have picked some classic country songs and even more promisingly have inserted a couple of their own that are certainly not put in the shade by the exalted company they find themselves in!
In fact, the album kicks off with the beautiful self penned Tennessee me, with gorgeous high lonesome harmonies supported by excellent steel guitar and piano. Even the slightly less memorable songs are carried by the sisters beautiful singing and the tasteful production. There is the dark Bill Monroe penned The one I love is gone, made all the more eerie by the girls gorgeous harmonies and haunting steel guitar followed by the 1950s style country love song of Buck Owens, My heart skips a beat. The album finishes with two Hank Williams songs, the first being Why don’t you love me, with a lead vocal slightly reminiscent of 1950s style Connie Francis, followed by a beautiful edgy version of Hank’s House of gold.
An excellent debut album on which the vocal harmonies evoke all the eeriness and mystery of the early decades of recording. I can hardly wait to hear their ‘difficult second album.’ With the talent these two young sisters possess it really shouldn’t be all that difficult!
www.secretsistersband.com
www.myspace.com\secretsisters
PAPPY – PAPPY TIME
2010 – Prairie Queen Records
3.5***
I nearly didn’t bother with this album. The name of the artist and the album title were almost enough to put me off. I thought he would be just another hopeful copyist singer songwriter that was trying to make a living from being a caricature of the traditional old time singers. Just shows how wrong you can be!
‘Pappy’ is also a member of the bluegrass/ jam band ‘Cabinet’, but this is definitely not a bluegrass album. It is probably best described as his take on how mellow, laid back country music should sound and he’s right! If the songs are good enough you just don’t need all of the Nashville gloss. The album is mellow but not bland, simple but not boring. The playing is always of the highest order, including banjo, acoustic guitar, steel guitar and fiddle.
Whilst a few of the songs do edge towards the bland, they stop short, with most having a really nice edginess to them, particularly the traditional Cuckoo that starts off with a simple acoustic guitar strum but as the song progresses there is some beautiful banjo playing that gives the song it’s eerie edge. A snare drum pushes it along but the echoing fiddle breaks really evoke that old time haunting hillbilly feel with the banjo driven Mole in the ground having a similarlyauthentic feel . His own songs blend well and are well written, with several of the stories being self explanatory, such as Baptism, a song about his daughters baptism whilst Grandpappy seems a simple tribute to a much loved elder family member but is also the story of three generations of that same family. It’s an excellent song with his clear expressive vocals dominating and ideally supported by acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica. There is a simple little acoustic guitar lullaby in Pipers dream followed by Lonesome valley, an acoustic guitar backed story of lost love that is raised by the occasional haunting notes of steel guitar. On another of his songs One more time his vocals are reminiscent of Gram Parsons whilst the instrumentation evokes a slightly laid back ‘The Band’!
It seems, in recent years, that there have been quite a few of these excellent young singer songwriters attempting the difficult job of resurrecting the ‘old music’ and in the cases where they bring their own interpretations to it they often succeed. It is a genre (or mix of genres!) that the musician needs to imprint his own style and personality on, possibly more so than most other music types. Susequent albums also need a lot of care in blending a few covers with their own originals so that they fit together seamlessly. On this album those seams are just about covered but it is difficult to avoid descending into just being a parodist. So far Pappy has managed to avoid that pitfall and long may he continue to do so!
www.pappymusic.com
3.5***
I nearly didn’t bother with this album. The name of the artist and the album title were almost enough to put me off. I thought he would be just another hopeful copyist singer songwriter that was trying to make a living from being a caricature of the traditional old time singers. Just shows how wrong you can be!
‘Pappy’ is also a member of the bluegrass/ jam band ‘Cabinet’, but this is definitely not a bluegrass album. It is probably best described as his take on how mellow, laid back country music should sound and he’s right! If the songs are good enough you just don’t need all of the Nashville gloss. The album is mellow but not bland, simple but not boring. The playing is always of the highest order, including banjo, acoustic guitar, steel guitar and fiddle.
Whilst a few of the songs do edge towards the bland, they stop short, with most having a really nice edginess to them, particularly the traditional Cuckoo that starts off with a simple acoustic guitar strum but as the song progresses there is some beautiful banjo playing that gives the song it’s eerie edge. A snare drum pushes it along but the echoing fiddle breaks really evoke that old time haunting hillbilly feel with the banjo driven Mole in the ground having a similarlyauthentic feel . His own songs blend well and are well written, with several of the stories being self explanatory, such as Baptism, a song about his daughters baptism whilst Grandpappy seems a simple tribute to a much loved elder family member but is also the story of three generations of that same family. It’s an excellent song with his clear expressive vocals dominating and ideally supported by acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica. There is a simple little acoustic guitar lullaby in Pipers dream followed by Lonesome valley, an acoustic guitar backed story of lost love that is raised by the occasional haunting notes of steel guitar. On another of his songs One more time his vocals are reminiscent of Gram Parsons whilst the instrumentation evokes a slightly laid back ‘The Band’!
It seems, in recent years, that there have been quite a few of these excellent young singer songwriters attempting the difficult job of resurrecting the ‘old music’ and in the cases where they bring their own interpretations to it they often succeed. It is a genre (or mix of genres!) that the musician needs to imprint his own style and personality on, possibly more so than most other music types. Susequent albums also need a lot of care in blending a few covers with their own originals so that they fit together seamlessly. On this album those seams are just about covered but it is difficult to avoid descending into just being a parodist. So far Pappy has managed to avoid that pitfall and long may he continue to do so!
www.pappymusic.com
OPIE HENDRIX – CAMINO ALTO
2010 – Def Texan Records
2.5**
Opie Hendrix is an excellent guitar player and decent singer songwriter of Texan rootsy music. He covers everything from roots rock, country rock, a little honky tonk, country and even some mariachi! This diversity, in many ways, proves to be the undoing of this album, constantly interrupting any flow it might have had. Maybe it shows he has talent and there is a lot that is good about the album, some might even say it’s great to not know what’s coming next, but in the end, for me at least, it spoilt things.
There are some decent songs and some that are fairly unexceptional. Hay is for horses has a country rock meets mariachi feel whilst the excellent Hurt feelings is driving roots rock with mariachi like horns. Mandolin rain has some good ideas, with it’s country rock stylings being supplemented by a gospel chorus. There is a very good honky tonk song in Here comes a heartache and the lovely country lost love ballad of It’s raining somewhere, with beautiful steel guitar playing giving it added atmosphere, whilst Thanks Joe is fairly average roots rock. Life’s lost and found is an excellent mid tempo country duet with a really good edgy female singer, who I would guess is his talented singer songwriter wife, Carrie Ann Buchanan.
To get more of a feel for the album perhaps I should have listened to his earlier albums, but in the end each recording has to stand or fall on its own merits. Certainly if you like a diverse mélange of roots styles with decent songwriting and excellent playing this could well be for you. I will try to get his two previous albums and play them alongside this to see how his style has developed and just see if I’m being unfair in rating the album as average, but not bad!
www.myspace.com/opiehendrix
2.5**
Opie Hendrix is an excellent guitar player and decent singer songwriter of Texan rootsy music. He covers everything from roots rock, country rock, a little honky tonk, country and even some mariachi! This diversity, in many ways, proves to be the undoing of this album, constantly interrupting any flow it might have had. Maybe it shows he has talent and there is a lot that is good about the album, some might even say it’s great to not know what’s coming next, but in the end, for me at least, it spoilt things.
There are some decent songs and some that are fairly unexceptional. Hay is for horses has a country rock meets mariachi feel whilst the excellent Hurt feelings is driving roots rock with mariachi like horns. Mandolin rain has some good ideas, with it’s country rock stylings being supplemented by a gospel chorus. There is a very good honky tonk song in Here comes a heartache and the lovely country lost love ballad of It’s raining somewhere, with beautiful steel guitar playing giving it added atmosphere, whilst Thanks Joe is fairly average roots rock. Life’s lost and found is an excellent mid tempo country duet with a really good edgy female singer, who I would guess is his talented singer songwriter wife, Carrie Ann Buchanan.
To get more of a feel for the album perhaps I should have listened to his earlier albums, but in the end each recording has to stand or fall on its own merits. Certainly if you like a diverse mélange of roots styles with decent songwriting and excellent playing this could well be for you. I will try to get his two previous albums and play them alongside this to see how his style has developed and just see if I’m being unfair in rating the album as average, but not bad!
www.myspace.com/opiehendrix
JUNE STAR – LOWER YOUR ARMS
2010 – Dangerously Delicious Records
4****
With Andy Grimms distinctive vocals and their blend of rock and counry this band should be superstars, so why aren’t they? The cynical view would be that record companies just don’t see the music as being commercial (bland?) enough so therefore don’t promote it. That is the view I’ve held for the last few decades about most of the edgier side of country music but wouldn’t I just love to be proved wrong!
This is the bands sixth high quality album of what is variously described as country gothic, southern country rock, alt. country plus a few other oft used generic terms! Suffice to say that if you love the music of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Slobberbone, Jayhawks, etc. you will almost certainly love June Star. That is not to say they are copyists, far from it. They have a style and individuality all their own, but for the purposes of the review they can be said to inhabit an area similar to the aforementioned bands in quality as well as style.
I got into them via their incredible 2001 album ‘Telegraph’. For me that is one of the all time great albums in this or any other genre. This new disc is not quite in that class but is still up there with my favourite albums of this year and probably most other years! The band is made up of the highly talented singer songwriter, lead vocalist and player of various guitars, Andrew Grimm, Timothy Bracken on bass and vocals, Mike Ward, keyboards, Burke Sampson on guitars, Mike Ross on drums, Dave Hadley plays pedal steel, Ryan Finnerin, bass and vocals, and Jason Butcher on drums and vocals. Not all of these excellent musicians play on every track but as yet I’ve been unable to find out exactly who does what!
The lyrics of the songs are literate tales of feelings of, at times, an almost intangible sadness that incorporates lost love, unrequited love, possibly a hint of finding love and maybe, just maybe, a hint of optimism, all allied to the difficulties in just trying to live a life! Although these lyrics are not always easy to unravel it is worth the effort, and yet the blend of instruments with Andy Grimms vocals is more than sufficient to evoke the sentiments in the songs, allowing the listener to just get carried along by the superb haunting and haunted blend of emotions.
Having lived with the album for several weeks the conclusion is that the album contains no filler, most of the songs being equal in quality. The dobro, acoustic guitar and organ driven country rock of If you leave, a song about a love that is in the process of being lost sticks in the memory as does the heartrendingly sad sound of the steel guitar driven Slow hours, another tale of lost love. Then there is the epic almost harrowing Pope of Mexico, and the impassioned Without you now, in fact with every listen there is something new to be found in this excellent, emotion filled album. The disc closes with a booming drum beat on a song that seems to say goodbye to love, with again, the haunting steel guitar adding more atmosphere to Thunder. Give the album a listen, if you like it even a little investigate their back catalogue, you will be rewarded!
www.junestar.com
www.myspace.com/junestarband
4****
With Andy Grimms distinctive vocals and their blend of rock and counry this band should be superstars, so why aren’t they? The cynical view would be that record companies just don’t see the music as being commercial (bland?) enough so therefore don’t promote it. That is the view I’ve held for the last few decades about most of the edgier side of country music but wouldn’t I just love to be proved wrong!
This is the bands sixth high quality album of what is variously described as country gothic, southern country rock, alt. country plus a few other oft used generic terms! Suffice to say that if you love the music of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Slobberbone, Jayhawks, etc. you will almost certainly love June Star. That is not to say they are copyists, far from it. They have a style and individuality all their own, but for the purposes of the review they can be said to inhabit an area similar to the aforementioned bands in quality as well as style.
I got into them via their incredible 2001 album ‘Telegraph’. For me that is one of the all time great albums in this or any other genre. This new disc is not quite in that class but is still up there with my favourite albums of this year and probably most other years! The band is made up of the highly talented singer songwriter, lead vocalist and player of various guitars, Andrew Grimm, Timothy Bracken on bass and vocals, Mike Ward, keyboards, Burke Sampson on guitars, Mike Ross on drums, Dave Hadley plays pedal steel, Ryan Finnerin, bass and vocals, and Jason Butcher on drums and vocals. Not all of these excellent musicians play on every track but as yet I’ve been unable to find out exactly who does what!
The lyrics of the songs are literate tales of feelings of, at times, an almost intangible sadness that incorporates lost love, unrequited love, possibly a hint of finding love and maybe, just maybe, a hint of optimism, all allied to the difficulties in just trying to live a life! Although these lyrics are not always easy to unravel it is worth the effort, and yet the blend of instruments with Andy Grimms vocals is more than sufficient to evoke the sentiments in the songs, allowing the listener to just get carried along by the superb haunting and haunted blend of emotions.
Having lived with the album for several weeks the conclusion is that the album contains no filler, most of the songs being equal in quality. The dobro, acoustic guitar and organ driven country rock of If you leave, a song about a love that is in the process of being lost sticks in the memory as does the heartrendingly sad sound of the steel guitar driven Slow hours, another tale of lost love. Then there is the epic almost harrowing Pope of Mexico, and the impassioned Without you now, in fact with every listen there is something new to be found in this excellent, emotion filled album. The disc closes with a booming drum beat on a song that seems to say goodbye to love, with again, the haunting steel guitar adding more atmosphere to Thunder. Give the album a listen, if you like it even a little investigate their back catalogue, you will be rewarded!
www.junestar.com
www.myspace.com/junestarband
C.W. STONEKING – JUNGLE BLUES
2010
3***
This is C.W. Stonekings second album of 1920s style blues, calypso, vaudeville and even ‘hillbilly,’ played in all of these various styles but often described as ‘hokum’. The problem with this description is that it can be loosely defined as a joke copy of the original. This is both unfair and, in the main, inaccurate and does him a great discredit, despite in some ways being accurate! Certainly I would rather listen to the early 20th century roots of these genres but it is a fact that without such people as C.W the music will eventually disappear. With him recording and travelling the world playing live, it can spark peoples interest and perhaps get them to look up the original artists. He is also writing his own songs rather than just doing cover versions, which takes a huge amount of skill and work. Fairly obviously he is a talented songwriter, it being easy to imagine that most of these songs are actually from the 1920s. His playing of the banjo and national resophonic guitar are both excellent and his support band, particularly the brass, were obviously found in a sleazy 1920s Chicago or New Orleans night club! It sounds that authentic!
Jailhouse blues reminds me of an old 1920s blues player but I can’t quite put my finger on who, and that is the beauty of the album. All of it is reminiscent of someone, some of it obvious as in Talkin’ Lion blues (Jimmie Rogers) but much of it isn’t! Whilst he is a serious musician who makes his living from reproducing old sounds there is often that slightly comedic element that indicates he is serious about his music but not himself. Although it is ‘hokum’ it is hokum that achieves what it sets out to do and of course it could be said to be authentic because even eight decades ago no one was throwing all of the strands of roots music into the melting pot in the way that C.W. does!
Not a great album but certainly an entertaining listen.
www.cwstoneking.com
3***
This is C.W. Stonekings second album of 1920s style blues, calypso, vaudeville and even ‘hillbilly,’ played in all of these various styles but often described as ‘hokum’. The problem with this description is that it can be loosely defined as a joke copy of the original. This is both unfair and, in the main, inaccurate and does him a great discredit, despite in some ways being accurate! Certainly I would rather listen to the early 20th century roots of these genres but it is a fact that without such people as C.W the music will eventually disappear. With him recording and travelling the world playing live, it can spark peoples interest and perhaps get them to look up the original artists. He is also writing his own songs rather than just doing cover versions, which takes a huge amount of skill and work. Fairly obviously he is a talented songwriter, it being easy to imagine that most of these songs are actually from the 1920s. His playing of the banjo and national resophonic guitar are both excellent and his support band, particularly the brass, were obviously found in a sleazy 1920s Chicago or New Orleans night club! It sounds that authentic!
Jailhouse blues reminds me of an old 1920s blues player but I can’t quite put my finger on who, and that is the beauty of the album. All of it is reminiscent of someone, some of it obvious as in Talkin’ Lion blues (Jimmie Rogers) but much of it isn’t! Whilst he is a serious musician who makes his living from reproducing old sounds there is often that slightly comedic element that indicates he is serious about his music but not himself. Although it is ‘hokum’ it is hokum that achieves what it sets out to do and of course it could be said to be authentic because even eight decades ago no one was throwing all of the strands of roots music into the melting pot in the way that C.W. does!
Not a great album but certainly an entertaining listen.
www.cwstoneking.com
BEN WEAVER – MIREPOIX AND SMOKE
2010 – Bloodshot
3.5***
Ben Weavers albums have all shown subtle changes and developments over the years with his vocals often bracketed with Tom Waits! On this one he couldn’t really sound less like Waits. His voice is deep but pleasantly expressive, as it needs to be on songs as sparse as these. What instrumentation there is, is all played by Weaver although bass, drums and piano are used very little. Erica Froman (of Anathallo) sings tasteful backup and harmony vocals, giving the album that little extra depth of sound. All the gentle picking whether on banjo or guitar is economical, with the vocals highlighting the story.
The songs and vocals are so gentle that at times it feels more like a demo albeit a demo of unusual quality and edge! Most of the songs seem rooted in the natural world with animals getting many a mention and people as a secondary consideration! It feels almost as if some of the stories are hovering on the edge of a tragedy but Weaver just manages to hold back. Maybe the whole album is a metaphor for the lost love of a woman but a found love of everything else in nature. The small details seem to have suddenly switched on a light that has drawn him in and made him more aware of what is important, almost as if he has been awakened to the realization that his old values have been left behind and not really missed!
He seems to be edging away from the bluesy feel of many of his earlier albums in as much as if this was his first he would probably be promoted as a folk singer! (Yes, I know that the blues is a form of folk, but I think you know what I mean!) The gentle but edgy songs are incredibly well written as you would expect from a published poet, the pick being Grass Doe, possibly relating to his divorce and City girl, a gentle character study. In fact all of the songs are strong, The rooster’s wife is a thoughtful song, rooted in the natural world, but special mention for Drag the hills, which includes the best line on the album, "I'd rather have scars from the life I lived, than have none from the one I missed." Indeed, life is for living after all, so take a chance and buy the album; I don’t think many would regret it!
Slow, sparse and short is probably a way to sum up this disc that clocks in at just under thirty minutes but thought provoking is just as accurate!
www.benweaver.net
3.5***
Ben Weavers albums have all shown subtle changes and developments over the years with his vocals often bracketed with Tom Waits! On this one he couldn’t really sound less like Waits. His voice is deep but pleasantly expressive, as it needs to be on songs as sparse as these. What instrumentation there is, is all played by Weaver although bass, drums and piano are used very little. Erica Froman (of Anathallo) sings tasteful backup and harmony vocals, giving the album that little extra depth of sound. All the gentle picking whether on banjo or guitar is economical, with the vocals highlighting the story.
The songs and vocals are so gentle that at times it feels more like a demo albeit a demo of unusual quality and edge! Most of the songs seem rooted in the natural world with animals getting many a mention and people as a secondary consideration! It feels almost as if some of the stories are hovering on the edge of a tragedy but Weaver just manages to hold back. Maybe the whole album is a metaphor for the lost love of a woman but a found love of everything else in nature. The small details seem to have suddenly switched on a light that has drawn him in and made him more aware of what is important, almost as if he has been awakened to the realization that his old values have been left behind and not really missed!
He seems to be edging away from the bluesy feel of many of his earlier albums in as much as if this was his first he would probably be promoted as a folk singer! (Yes, I know that the blues is a form of folk, but I think you know what I mean!) The gentle but edgy songs are incredibly well written as you would expect from a published poet, the pick being Grass Doe, possibly relating to his divorce and City girl, a gentle character study. In fact all of the songs are strong, The rooster’s wife is a thoughtful song, rooted in the natural world, but special mention for Drag the hills, which includes the best line on the album, "I'd rather have scars from the life I lived, than have none from the one I missed." Indeed, life is for living after all, so take a chance and buy the album; I don’t think many would regret it!
Slow, sparse and short is probably a way to sum up this disc that clocks in at just under thirty minutes but thought provoking is just as accurate!
www.benweaver.net
MARK OLSON - MANY COLORED KITE
2010 – Rykodisc
3***
Olsons vocals have always had that edgy slightly discordant feel that seems to be slightly at odds with the music except when harmonizing with Gary Louris in his Jayhawks days. The strange thing is that whilst those harmonies were unbeatable and Louris voice the purer of the two, all of Olsons albums, particularly those with ex wife Victoria Williams in the ‘Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers,’ have had far more of an impact. It could be that despite his voice being full of character his nasally sound is rather less appealing and consequently makes you listen to the song rather than the singing! Whatever, this is certainly not his best album, but he seems to adopt a 1970s singer songwriter style in both his writing and production and the album does benefit from this treatment. Listening to several of his earlier albums and comparing them to this makes me think his ex wifes quirkiness has influenced him far more than he did her. In effect some of the vocals seem to have almost a free form quality to them, as if he is following the music rather than going along parallel with it, hence the discordancy.
That being said this is a good album, with it’s orchestrated folksiness on most songs putting Olson in what is virtually a genre of one! Gorgeous harmony vocals are added by Jolie Holland and Vashti Bunyan whilst Neal Casal adds his excellent playing of various guitars. Most of the songs are good despite a few not feeling quite fully formed. Not necessarily a bad thing as it gives a little added impetus to the better ones. There is a detectable note of regret in a few of the songs and how it is unwise to put a loved one on too much of a pedestal as in Morning Dove. Other songs worth at least a mention are the slightly Jayhawks sounding Wind and rain, the gorgeous title track, and the excellent Bluebird song. Overall the album seems to point to past bad times as well as good, whilst facing the future with guarded optimism!
Not an album to have playing in the background! It is also not an easy album to really get into but with a little patience it is possible and does repay that patience.
www.myspace.com/markolson
3***
Olsons vocals have always had that edgy slightly discordant feel that seems to be slightly at odds with the music except when harmonizing with Gary Louris in his Jayhawks days. The strange thing is that whilst those harmonies were unbeatable and Louris voice the purer of the two, all of Olsons albums, particularly those with ex wife Victoria Williams in the ‘Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers,’ have had far more of an impact. It could be that despite his voice being full of character his nasally sound is rather less appealing and consequently makes you listen to the song rather than the singing! Whatever, this is certainly not his best album, but he seems to adopt a 1970s singer songwriter style in both his writing and production and the album does benefit from this treatment. Listening to several of his earlier albums and comparing them to this makes me think his ex wifes quirkiness has influenced him far more than he did her. In effect some of the vocals seem to have almost a free form quality to them, as if he is following the music rather than going along parallel with it, hence the discordancy.
That being said this is a good album, with it’s orchestrated folksiness on most songs putting Olson in what is virtually a genre of one! Gorgeous harmony vocals are added by Jolie Holland and Vashti Bunyan whilst Neal Casal adds his excellent playing of various guitars. Most of the songs are good despite a few not feeling quite fully formed. Not necessarily a bad thing as it gives a little added impetus to the better ones. There is a detectable note of regret in a few of the songs and how it is unwise to put a loved one on too much of a pedestal as in Morning Dove. Other songs worth at least a mention are the slightly Jayhawks sounding Wind and rain, the gorgeous title track, and the excellent Bluebird song. Overall the album seems to point to past bad times as well as good, whilst facing the future with guarded optimism!
Not an album to have playing in the background! It is also not an easy album to really get into but with a little patience it is possible and does repay that patience.
www.myspace.com/markolson
KORT (KURT WAGNER and CORTNEY TIDWELL) – INVARIABLE HEARTACHE
2010 – City Slang
3***
This album can probably be best described as the more acceptable face of Nashville in as much as the songs are part of that city’s history, but with most of the gloss removed!
Neither singer has the purity and range of vocals that are expected from Nashville’s mainstream artists and the album benefits from the slight edginess of each. Lambchops Kurt Wagner is well known as a man that has a deep, quite calming, talk sing voice whilst Cortney’s sound is almost that of a juvenile girl, but one that can sing! What this means is that no matter how you dress up a song it can never really sound bland and keeps these songs, all originally recorded by ‘Chart Records’ artists between 1963 and 1975, from descending into the easy listening of much of the modern ‘Nashville sound.’ It is very much an album that pays tribute to the old days of the city’s popular country music rather than modern Nashville pop.
The backing musicians are some of Nashville’s finest such as William Tyler on electric guitar, Ryan Norris plays guitars, organ, piano and vibes, with Paul Niehaus on steel guitar. The production team is familiar with and to both artists, another reason for the album working well. All of the songs are good but contrary to what some have said I can’t see any of them as ‘country classics;’ more ‘classic country!’
On the gorgeous country ballads of Yours forever, He’s only a memory away and Who’s gonna love me now Cortney takes the lead vocals and does a beautiful job on them, singing with real feeling.Kurt takes less lead vocals but on those he does they unsurprisingly have a ‘Lambchop’ feel on songs such as Eyes look away and Aprils fool. There are also a few really good, quirky duets with the excellent classic country theme of Wild mountain berries, being the pick.
All in all a good album, nothing particularly groundbreaking but an excellent tribute to Nashville’s past!
3***
This album can probably be best described as the more acceptable face of Nashville in as much as the songs are part of that city’s history, but with most of the gloss removed!
Neither singer has the purity and range of vocals that are expected from Nashville’s mainstream artists and the album benefits from the slight edginess of each. Lambchops Kurt Wagner is well known as a man that has a deep, quite calming, talk sing voice whilst Cortney’s sound is almost that of a juvenile girl, but one that can sing! What this means is that no matter how you dress up a song it can never really sound bland and keeps these songs, all originally recorded by ‘Chart Records’ artists between 1963 and 1975, from descending into the easy listening of much of the modern ‘Nashville sound.’ It is very much an album that pays tribute to the old days of the city’s popular country music rather than modern Nashville pop.
The backing musicians are some of Nashville’s finest such as William Tyler on electric guitar, Ryan Norris plays guitars, organ, piano and vibes, with Paul Niehaus on steel guitar. The production team is familiar with and to both artists, another reason for the album working well. All of the songs are good but contrary to what some have said I can’t see any of them as ‘country classics;’ more ‘classic country!’
On the gorgeous country ballads of Yours forever, He’s only a memory away and Who’s gonna love me now Cortney takes the lead vocals and does a beautiful job on them, singing with real feeling.Kurt takes less lead vocals but on those he does they unsurprisingly have a ‘Lambchop’ feel on songs such as Eyes look away and Aprils fool. There are also a few really good, quirky duets with the excellent classic country theme of Wild mountain berries, being the pick.
All in all a good album, nothing particularly groundbreaking but an excellent tribute to Nashville’s past!
Mary Gauthier – The Foundling
2010 – Razor and Tie
4****
The story of a new born child given up at birth to the ‘family from hell’ and her subsequent life of running away, drug addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, prison and finally her triumph over adversity. Believe it or not that is a brief summary, not of some far fetched t.v drama, but of the life story (so far) of this brilliant artist.
This is not a happy go lucky album but it is a curiously compelling true story of an extraordinary life. This is Mary’s sixth critically successful album since 1997s ‘Dixie Kitchen.’ All of the previous have contained tales connected to her life and that of others she has known, with her never being frightened of confronting the truth and the seedier side of life no matter how unpalatable. And yet this album moves to a slightly higher level with her confronting not only her life but her ghosts. Without actually living a life such as she did until at least her late teens, it is impossible to imagine it’s effect on anyone, but I suspect you would need to be an incredibly strong individual just to survive. And survive she certainly has! Whilst these stories can be unsettling she deserves huge credit for having the nerve to write such personal narratives and apparently managing to keep a sense of perspective and even a little optimism, whilst doing so. The instrumentation, as is usual on her recordings, is sparse and fits in perfectly with the songs. The crew that worked on the album are of the highest calibre, including such luminaries as Michael Timmins on various instruments and perhaps more importantly, producer. His sister Margo helps out with backing vocals and Garth Hudson plays accordion, piano and keyboards.
The songs are all beautifully written and tell the story of her abandonment in the melancholic accordion driven title track The foundling then moves on to the heartrending tale of how a child actually feels to be adandoned in the slow sad Mama here, Mama gone. Then we move on to the metaphorical story of life on the edge of society in Sideshow, then the search for her roots in Blood is blood. March 11, 1962 is in many ways the most harrowing song, with her actually finding her birth mother, only to be abandoned again. Despite the second abandonment this signals the turning of the corner and her acceptance that this is her life. We then move on to the scratchy, haunting fiddles that seem to signal a suicide attempt on Weak in the water and the subsequent confusion, lack of trust and possibly the development of cynicism on Sweet words. But then there is the realization of the fragility of life and that you just have to get on with it in Another day borrowed and almost an afterthought that despite everything she still believes in love with The orphan king. An epic and extraordinary album by an artist listed as alt. country, but there is so much more to her. How she can follow this album, I can’t even begin to guess, but then, I’ve thought the same about most of her recordings and follow it she always does!
Despite it’s at times, harrowing content, because the album is so obviously a triumph on a personal level I would recommend this album to anyone that loves their ‘alt. country/folk’ with a conceptual storyline. Just don’t play it at parties!
www.marygauthier.com
4****
The story of a new born child given up at birth to the ‘family from hell’ and her subsequent life of running away, drug addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, prison and finally her triumph over adversity. Believe it or not that is a brief summary, not of some far fetched t.v drama, but of the life story (so far) of this brilliant artist.
This is not a happy go lucky album but it is a curiously compelling true story of an extraordinary life. This is Mary’s sixth critically successful album since 1997s ‘Dixie Kitchen.’ All of the previous have contained tales connected to her life and that of others she has known, with her never being frightened of confronting the truth and the seedier side of life no matter how unpalatable. And yet this album moves to a slightly higher level with her confronting not only her life but her ghosts. Without actually living a life such as she did until at least her late teens, it is impossible to imagine it’s effect on anyone, but I suspect you would need to be an incredibly strong individual just to survive. And survive she certainly has! Whilst these stories can be unsettling she deserves huge credit for having the nerve to write such personal narratives and apparently managing to keep a sense of perspective and even a little optimism, whilst doing so. The instrumentation, as is usual on her recordings, is sparse and fits in perfectly with the songs. The crew that worked on the album are of the highest calibre, including such luminaries as Michael Timmins on various instruments and perhaps more importantly, producer. His sister Margo helps out with backing vocals and Garth Hudson plays accordion, piano and keyboards.
The songs are all beautifully written and tell the story of her abandonment in the melancholic accordion driven title track The foundling then moves on to the heartrending tale of how a child actually feels to be adandoned in the slow sad Mama here, Mama gone. Then we move on to the metaphorical story of life on the edge of society in Sideshow, then the search for her roots in Blood is blood. March 11, 1962 is in many ways the most harrowing song, with her actually finding her birth mother, only to be abandoned again. Despite the second abandonment this signals the turning of the corner and her acceptance that this is her life. We then move on to the scratchy, haunting fiddles that seem to signal a suicide attempt on Weak in the water and the subsequent confusion, lack of trust and possibly the development of cynicism on Sweet words. But then there is the realization of the fragility of life and that you just have to get on with it in Another day borrowed and almost an afterthought that despite everything she still believes in love with The orphan king. An epic and extraordinary album by an artist listed as alt. country, but there is so much more to her. How she can follow this album, I can’t even begin to guess, but then, I’ve thought the same about most of her recordings and follow it she always does!
Despite it’s at times, harrowing content, because the album is so obviously a triumph on a personal level I would recommend this album to anyone that loves their ‘alt. country/folk’ with a conceptual storyline. Just don’t play it at parties!
www.marygauthier.com
CHARLIE PARR – WHEN THE DEVIL GOES BLIND
2010 – Nero’s Neptune Records
5*****
This new album by Charlie is his seventh in a consistent line of four and five star albums. His vocals are perfectly suited to the songs he writes, covering such subjects as struggling to make ends meet, death, a little love, loneliness, booze, sadness, sorrow and in the case of this album the most atmospheric and harrowing tale of an actual historic event I have ever heard. His instrumental prowess whether on Banjo or National steel resonator guitar (6 and 12 string) is exceptional. He is able to immerse himself in the story and atmosphere of a song, not only vocally but also instrumentally really drawing the listener into what can at times be a scary, unsettling place. However you look at it, his music is challenging as well as rewarding irrespective of whether it is one of his own songs or a traditional one. He is one of a very few modern musicians that blends the old time blues and hillbilly music completely seamlessly establishing an all too small cult genre!
On this album there are two traditional songs, one being Ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down’ driven along by Charlie’s banjo and roaring vocals in a gospel song that’s also a kick against the grim reaper!The other is a ‘hokum’ song Turpentine farm that could also be a slightly cynical swipe against these farms of old. Of his own beautifully thought out songs it is almost impossible to select standouts, all being of such a high quality, but 1890 is the earlier mentioned historical event. It covers the story of the ‘Wounded Knee massacre’ of 1890 when the seventh cavalry massacred more than 150 Lakota Sioux men, women and children. About thirty cavalry troopers were also killed, although depending on which side of the story you believe it was either by the Sioux or ‘friendly fire.’ As usual the victors get to write the history of such events and it has been described variously as ‘an incident,’ ‘a battle’ and even self defence! However it is dressed up it was another massacre in a century of many such events. There have been numerous songs written about the event but Charlies is unquestionably the best. It was written from the Sioux perspective and his vocals have that tone of hopelessness in knowing that something terrible has happened but allied to the knowledge that it will go unpunished. It could almost be a metaphor showing how the suffering of innocents caused by the victors in any war becomes an irrelevance with no one held to account. Anyway, enough of the history and back to the music! I dreamed I saw Jesse James last night is a story of the unfairness of life for some and is underpinned by Charlie’s excellent National Resonator guitar. South of Ausin, north of Lyle is about the struggles and sad end of a single hard working man trying to make ends meet as a farmer, this time being driven along by his excellent banjo playing. Last day is a heartrending song about someones last day of life. And so it goes on; every song telling a story, many of them of sadness and sorrow, with Charlie’s vocals always having the right timbre for whatever the song depicts and always with either his banjo or guitar for company.
This is an album that mainly depicts lifes harshness and with very little joy, but at the same time is curiously uplifting. It is difficult to understand the sort of talent required to do this. All I can say is that just a song, a voice and an acoustic instrument has rarely had this sort of power; maybe not since the days of Charlie Patton, Son House and a few others. I’ve been listening to his previous albums and trying to find a thread to the way he thinks about music, but other than noticing a slight improvement over the previous excellent album each time, can’t really define how he does it. It may not help his bank balance but being a cult figure must help his artistry and long may this cult continue! A truly great album.
www.charlieparr.com
www.myspace.com/charlieparr
5*****
This new album by Charlie is his seventh in a consistent line of four and five star albums. His vocals are perfectly suited to the songs he writes, covering such subjects as struggling to make ends meet, death, a little love, loneliness, booze, sadness, sorrow and in the case of this album the most atmospheric and harrowing tale of an actual historic event I have ever heard. His instrumental prowess whether on Banjo or National steel resonator guitar (6 and 12 string) is exceptional. He is able to immerse himself in the story and atmosphere of a song, not only vocally but also instrumentally really drawing the listener into what can at times be a scary, unsettling place. However you look at it, his music is challenging as well as rewarding irrespective of whether it is one of his own songs or a traditional one. He is one of a very few modern musicians that blends the old time blues and hillbilly music completely seamlessly establishing an all too small cult genre!
On this album there are two traditional songs, one being Ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down’ driven along by Charlie’s banjo and roaring vocals in a gospel song that’s also a kick against the grim reaper!The other is a ‘hokum’ song Turpentine farm that could also be a slightly cynical swipe against these farms of old. Of his own beautifully thought out songs it is almost impossible to select standouts, all being of such a high quality, but 1890 is the earlier mentioned historical event. It covers the story of the ‘Wounded Knee massacre’ of 1890 when the seventh cavalry massacred more than 150 Lakota Sioux men, women and children. About thirty cavalry troopers were also killed, although depending on which side of the story you believe it was either by the Sioux or ‘friendly fire.’ As usual the victors get to write the history of such events and it has been described variously as ‘an incident,’ ‘a battle’ and even self defence! However it is dressed up it was another massacre in a century of many such events. There have been numerous songs written about the event but Charlies is unquestionably the best. It was written from the Sioux perspective and his vocals have that tone of hopelessness in knowing that something terrible has happened but allied to the knowledge that it will go unpunished. It could almost be a metaphor showing how the suffering of innocents caused by the victors in any war becomes an irrelevance with no one held to account. Anyway, enough of the history and back to the music! I dreamed I saw Jesse James last night is a story of the unfairness of life for some and is underpinned by Charlie’s excellent National Resonator guitar. South of Ausin, north of Lyle is about the struggles and sad end of a single hard working man trying to make ends meet as a farmer, this time being driven along by his excellent banjo playing. Last day is a heartrending song about someones last day of life. And so it goes on; every song telling a story, many of them of sadness and sorrow, with Charlie’s vocals always having the right timbre for whatever the song depicts and always with either his banjo or guitar for company.
This is an album that mainly depicts lifes harshness and with very little joy, but at the same time is curiously uplifting. It is difficult to understand the sort of talent required to do this. All I can say is that just a song, a voice and an acoustic instrument has rarely had this sort of power; maybe not since the days of Charlie Patton, Son House and a few others. I’ve been listening to his previous albums and trying to find a thread to the way he thinks about music, but other than noticing a slight improvement over the previous excellent album each time, can’t really define how he does it. It may not help his bank balance but being a cult figure must help his artistry and long may this cult continue! A truly great album.
www.charlieparr.com
www.myspace.com/charlieparr
IMELDA MAY – MAYHEM
2010 – Decca
4****
Imelda is often described as being influenced by the vocal jazz of Billie Holiday as well as, strangely, Rockabilly revival! An odd mix, but in her case, absolutely appropriate. Of course you can just as easily add blues, country, torch, etc. to this incredibly versatile and gifted singer/songwriters talents! She seems able bring any number of emotions to bear in her songs without ever sounding strained, as evidenced by the ‘psychobilly’ of Psycho and the heartrending sadness of Kentish town waltz. Then there is the excellent Jazz of All for you and the slightly edgy pop of Eternity and we’re not halfway through the album yet! Proud and humble has the same beat, tempo and instrumentation as that made famous by the young Johnny Cash on some of his earlier rockabilly oriented recordings, whilst Imeldas jazzy vocals seem to circle aroung the song, giving it a unique almost mesmerizing effect. Tainted love, the Ed Cobb penned song made famous by the pop group Soft Cell back in the 1980s, is defined by this edgy Rockabilly version. If there is a slight problem it is that her diversity could turn out to be a disadvantage when it comes to promoting this highly talented singer/songwriter in this age where promotion seems to be everything. However, she is an incredibly gifted musician who defies classification, simply beccause she seems able to master any genre that she turns her hand to. This is her third album and if anything, actually improves on the quality of it’s two excellent predecessors.
To say she is ably assisted by her tremendous backing band is a huge understatement! It is made up of Al Gare on double bass, Dave Priseman on all things brass and percussion, Steve Rushton on drums and the always exceptional guitar work, as you would expect from such a gifted ‘Rockabilly’ guitarist, of Darrel Higham.
Some friends saw her perform live recently; how I wish I’d been there. I certainly will be next time!
www.imeldamay.com
www.myspace.com/imeldamay1
4****
Imelda is often described as being influenced by the vocal jazz of Billie Holiday as well as, strangely, Rockabilly revival! An odd mix, but in her case, absolutely appropriate. Of course you can just as easily add blues, country, torch, etc. to this incredibly versatile and gifted singer/songwriters talents! She seems able bring any number of emotions to bear in her songs without ever sounding strained, as evidenced by the ‘psychobilly’ of Psycho and the heartrending sadness of Kentish town waltz. Then there is the excellent Jazz of All for you and the slightly edgy pop of Eternity and we’re not halfway through the album yet! Proud and humble has the same beat, tempo and instrumentation as that made famous by the young Johnny Cash on some of his earlier rockabilly oriented recordings, whilst Imeldas jazzy vocals seem to circle aroung the song, giving it a unique almost mesmerizing effect. Tainted love, the Ed Cobb penned song made famous by the pop group Soft Cell back in the 1980s, is defined by this edgy Rockabilly version. If there is a slight problem it is that her diversity could turn out to be a disadvantage when it comes to promoting this highly talented singer/songwriter in this age where promotion seems to be everything. However, she is an incredibly gifted musician who defies classification, simply beccause she seems able to master any genre that she turns her hand to. This is her third album and if anything, actually improves on the quality of it’s two excellent predecessors.
To say she is ably assisted by her tremendous backing band is a huge understatement! It is made up of Al Gare on double bass, Dave Priseman on all things brass and percussion, Steve Rushton on drums and the always exceptional guitar work, as you would expect from such a gifted ‘Rockabilly’ guitarist, of Darrel Higham.
Some friends saw her perform live recently; how I wish I’d been there. I certainly will be next time!
www.imeldamay.com
www.myspace.com/imeldamay1
CRAZY MOUNTAIN BILLIES – DON’T MOVE OR I’LL SHOOT
4****
I’ve already posted reviews this year of the two most recent albums by the Crazy Mountain Billies and it seemed only natural to review his first when I was eventually able to get hold of it! The band is actually Andy P. Bormes, who plays all of the instruments as well as being responsible for vocals. These vocals are at time a nasally whine that are perfectly suited to this music, evocative as it is, of an old time ‘hillbilly’ on a porch in the Appalachians trying to come up with a different take on the local music and succeeding beyond his wildest expectations! This is an incredibly dense, almost at times, overpowering album with the sheer number of stringed instruments being played difficult to keep up with! As far as I could tell the list is as follows, banjo, jews harp, mandolin, guitar, dobro, double bass, acoustic guitar, harmonica, shakers and possibly (but unsure!) a jug! They are all pretty much essential to the music and are all expertly played and blended by Andy. Remember, this was his first album and as such was experimental and yet it actually comes across as a fully formed genre of it’s own and has set the trend for his following exceptional recordings.
The title track is an absolutely mind boggling twelve minutes tale of the old wild west that really shouldn’t work, but actually does, and incredibly well, being the central feature on which the album is built. There are such perfect changes in atmosphere and tempo that even without his vocals you could probably understand the story. The instruments are swopped around, with some going from support to lead and vice versa, but always with Andy P. Bormes vocals dominating the story. Quite an achievement especially with that mastery of virtually any instrument with strings on it and all of the changes avoiding any signs of monotony! Rather than having the feel of the mountains throughout, it at times is evocative of a dusty, dry, hot desert atmosphere, but ultimately does return to the ‘hillbilly’ roots! On Shut yo’ mouth the speed of his vocals almost takes the breath away just trying to keep up with what he is singing, whilst the almost maniacal growling vocals on Kick them rocks, could well be the envy of Tom Waits. There are also several instrumentals on the album that help to blend the whole into a sort of travelogue concept!
I would advise anyone that likes edgy, highly melodic modern hillbilly music that is incredibly well played, to buy not only this album but also ‘Badlands’ and ‘Badlands 2’. Even better, I know that Andy is currently in the studio working on ‘Badlands 3.’ I can hardly wait!!
www.myspace.com/crazymountainbillies
I’ve already posted reviews this year of the two most recent albums by the Crazy Mountain Billies and it seemed only natural to review his first when I was eventually able to get hold of it! The band is actually Andy P. Bormes, who plays all of the instruments as well as being responsible for vocals. These vocals are at time a nasally whine that are perfectly suited to this music, evocative as it is, of an old time ‘hillbilly’ on a porch in the Appalachians trying to come up with a different take on the local music and succeeding beyond his wildest expectations! This is an incredibly dense, almost at times, overpowering album with the sheer number of stringed instruments being played difficult to keep up with! As far as I could tell the list is as follows, banjo, jews harp, mandolin, guitar, dobro, double bass, acoustic guitar, harmonica, shakers and possibly (but unsure!) a jug! They are all pretty much essential to the music and are all expertly played and blended by Andy. Remember, this was his first album and as such was experimental and yet it actually comes across as a fully formed genre of it’s own and has set the trend for his following exceptional recordings.
The title track is an absolutely mind boggling twelve minutes tale of the old wild west that really shouldn’t work, but actually does, and incredibly well, being the central feature on which the album is built. There are such perfect changes in atmosphere and tempo that even without his vocals you could probably understand the story. The instruments are swopped around, with some going from support to lead and vice versa, but always with Andy P. Bormes vocals dominating the story. Quite an achievement especially with that mastery of virtually any instrument with strings on it and all of the changes avoiding any signs of monotony! Rather than having the feel of the mountains throughout, it at times is evocative of a dusty, dry, hot desert atmosphere, but ultimately does return to the ‘hillbilly’ roots! On Shut yo’ mouth the speed of his vocals almost takes the breath away just trying to keep up with what he is singing, whilst the almost maniacal growling vocals on Kick them rocks, could well be the envy of Tom Waits. There are also several instrumentals on the album that help to blend the whole into a sort of travelogue concept!
I would advise anyone that likes edgy, highly melodic modern hillbilly music that is incredibly well played, to buy not only this album but also ‘Badlands’ and ‘Badlands 2’. Even better, I know that Andy is currently in the studio working on ‘Badlands 3.’ I can hardly wait!!
www.myspace.com/crazymountainbillies
JIM BYRNE – EVERY DAY IS SUNSHINE
2010 – Hillhead GWE Records
3.5***
Until receiving this album I had never really been aware of Jim Byrne. This is his second album of folksy Americana and is highly recommendable. His deep expressive, full of character voice and the thoughtfully conceived songs are aided by well thought out instrumentation, with his mainly acoustic guitar providing the driving force, but with the occasional use of fiddle, banjo, slide guitar and accordion giving a well balanced diversity.
The songs are mainly co writes with his wife, Pat and one with Carol Kidd MBE and a couple are by him solely. Down by the wildwood, the co write with Carol Kiddis a gorgeous slow moody gypsy folk story of a lost childhood, with haunting violin and an eerie quality that all the best Americana music needs and with Chris Barrett’s harmony vocals adding to the atmosphere. There is the bluesy countryish Tell me you love me again that is underpinned by his acoustic guitar, as is the slow atmospheric folk song You don’t know. Added to the folk mix is some excellent blues in the slide guitar driven Don’t go pissin’ in the wind and the exceptional Black sky blues. The album is rounded off by the ‘hillbillyish country’ of the Banjo dominated Beneath these Scottish skies!
I’ve played a couple of tracks so far on my ‘Seaside hospital radio’ programme, but the more I listen to the album the more nuances become obvious. I can see that before very long every track will have been included on the show! This is a really well written, played and sung album that is vaguely reminiscent of several other performers in the Americana genre, without actually sounding exactly like any of them. This is fairly obviously an advantage but whether his Scottish location is I don’t know! I would certainly like to see him live and look forward to his next album. Now to track down his first!
www.songsbyjimbyrne.com
www.myspace.com/jimbyrne
3.5***
Until receiving this album I had never really been aware of Jim Byrne. This is his second album of folksy Americana and is highly recommendable. His deep expressive, full of character voice and the thoughtfully conceived songs are aided by well thought out instrumentation, with his mainly acoustic guitar providing the driving force, but with the occasional use of fiddle, banjo, slide guitar and accordion giving a well balanced diversity.
The songs are mainly co writes with his wife, Pat and one with Carol Kidd MBE and a couple are by him solely. Down by the wildwood, the co write with Carol Kiddis a gorgeous slow moody gypsy folk story of a lost childhood, with haunting violin and an eerie quality that all the best Americana music needs and with Chris Barrett’s harmony vocals adding to the atmosphere. There is the bluesy countryish Tell me you love me again that is underpinned by his acoustic guitar, as is the slow atmospheric folk song You don’t know. Added to the folk mix is some excellent blues in the slide guitar driven Don’t go pissin’ in the wind and the exceptional Black sky blues. The album is rounded off by the ‘hillbillyish country’ of the Banjo dominated Beneath these Scottish skies!
I’ve played a couple of tracks so far on my ‘Seaside hospital radio’ programme, but the more I listen to the album the more nuances become obvious. I can see that before very long every track will have been included on the show! This is a really well written, played and sung album that is vaguely reminiscent of several other performers in the Americana genre, without actually sounding exactly like any of them. This is fairly obviously an advantage but whether his Scottish location is I don’t know! I would certainly like to see him live and look forward to his next album. Now to track down his first!
www.songsbyjimbyrne.com
www.myspace.com/jimbyrne
ERIC CLAPTON – CLAPTON
2010 – Warner Bros.
2.5**
I’ve been a Blues fan quite literally my whole life (so far!). I was a Clapton fan from his early days with John Mayall right through to around the mid 1970s when he seemed, to lose the experimental edge that has never really returned. In the interim he has made some decent albums, but has also made some that are best forgotten. The decent ones always seem to me to be the albums where he has returned to his ‘blues roots’. His guitar playing is inarguably top notch, his voice can be bland and his choice of backing musicians and songs would seem to support the claim that he has spent too long in a comfort zone, at least musically. It seems a long time since he has seemingly stretched out and taken a few chances.
Sad to say, this album is much the same. It is not a bad album; it is just simply not very good. It is tasteful, treating respectfully the writers such as Melvin ‘Li’l Son’ Jacksons Travellin’ alone, followed by Hoagy Carmichaels jazzy Rocking chair. This is the problem. Everything is so tasteful and overproduced, plus the list of stars adding their input to the album is much too long to list here! The album meanders gently on its way to its natural conclusion, more than an hour after it’s start, with songs by J.J.Cale, Irving Berlin, Snooky Pryor, Lane Hardin and even one by Clapton and Doyle Bramhall ll, where he actually starts to stretch out, by which time it’s much too late! The classic Robert Wilkins song That’s no way to get along gives a lift to proceedings but songs that seem to inject any passion are much too few and far between to make any real difference. There is even a totally unnecessary piece of cod Vaudeville in My very good friend the milkman.
The whole album is exceptionally well played and despite his limited vocal abilities his voice is pleasant but lacking character. His guitar playing is restrained, where you can actually hear it at all that is, most of the songs are inarguably written by masters of their craft, but in it’s entirety the album feels more like decent late night background music. I’ve listened to the album far too many times over the last couple of weeks! Hopefully the will to live will return now that I can get back to listening to artists that have to really push themselves to the limit to make a living. Certainly the man has paid his musical dues but this album is just too comfortable. In a few places there is just a hint of the spark that all long time fans hope will surface again. I don’t actually expect the return of the young guitar ‘hero’ of old, just someone who will get off the ‘middle of the road’ treadmill.
Tracklist: Author: Time.
1Travelin' Alone – Jackson - 3:56
2Rocking Chair – Carmichael - 4:04
3River Runs Deep – Cale - 5:52
4Judgement Day – Pryor - 3:13
5How Deep Is the Ocean – Berlin - 5:29
6My Very Good Friend the Milkman - Burke, Spina - 3:20
7Can't Hold Out Much Longer – Jacobs - 4:08
8That's No Way to Get Along – Wilkins - 6:07
9Everything Will Be Alright – Cale - 3:51
10Diamonds Made from Rain - Bramhall, Costa, Stanley - 4:22
11When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful – Woods - 2:51
12Hard Times Blues – Hardin - 3:45
13Run Back to Your Side - Bramhall, Clapton - 5:17
14Autumn Leaves - Kosma, Merder, Prevert - 5:40
2.5**
I’ve been a Blues fan quite literally my whole life (so far!). I was a Clapton fan from his early days with John Mayall right through to around the mid 1970s when he seemed, to lose the experimental edge that has never really returned. In the interim he has made some decent albums, but has also made some that are best forgotten. The decent ones always seem to me to be the albums where he has returned to his ‘blues roots’. His guitar playing is inarguably top notch, his voice can be bland and his choice of backing musicians and songs would seem to support the claim that he has spent too long in a comfort zone, at least musically. It seems a long time since he has seemingly stretched out and taken a few chances.
Sad to say, this album is much the same. It is not a bad album; it is just simply not very good. It is tasteful, treating respectfully the writers such as Melvin ‘Li’l Son’ Jacksons Travellin’ alone, followed by Hoagy Carmichaels jazzy Rocking chair. This is the problem. Everything is so tasteful and overproduced, plus the list of stars adding their input to the album is much too long to list here! The album meanders gently on its way to its natural conclusion, more than an hour after it’s start, with songs by J.J.Cale, Irving Berlin, Snooky Pryor, Lane Hardin and even one by Clapton and Doyle Bramhall ll, where he actually starts to stretch out, by which time it’s much too late! The classic Robert Wilkins song That’s no way to get along gives a lift to proceedings but songs that seem to inject any passion are much too few and far between to make any real difference. There is even a totally unnecessary piece of cod Vaudeville in My very good friend the milkman.
The whole album is exceptionally well played and despite his limited vocal abilities his voice is pleasant but lacking character. His guitar playing is restrained, where you can actually hear it at all that is, most of the songs are inarguably written by masters of their craft, but in it’s entirety the album feels more like decent late night background music. I’ve listened to the album far too many times over the last couple of weeks! Hopefully the will to live will return now that I can get back to listening to artists that have to really push themselves to the limit to make a living. Certainly the man has paid his musical dues but this album is just too comfortable. In a few places there is just a hint of the spark that all long time fans hope will surface again. I don’t actually expect the return of the young guitar ‘hero’ of old, just someone who will get off the ‘middle of the road’ treadmill.
Tracklist: Author: Time.
1Travelin' Alone – Jackson - 3:56
2Rocking Chair – Carmichael - 4:04
3River Runs Deep – Cale - 5:52
4Judgement Day – Pryor - 3:13
5How Deep Is the Ocean – Berlin - 5:29
6My Very Good Friend the Milkman - Burke, Spina - 3:20
7Can't Hold Out Much Longer – Jacobs - 4:08
8That's No Way to Get Along – Wilkins - 6:07
9Everything Will Be Alright – Cale - 3:51
10Diamonds Made from Rain - Bramhall, Costa, Stanley - 4:22
11When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful – Woods - 2:51
12Hard Times Blues – Hardin - 3:45
13Run Back to Your Side - Bramhall, Clapton - 5:17
14Autumn Leaves - Kosma, Merder, Prevert - 5:40
THE DUKE AND THE KING – LONG LIVE THE DUKE AND THE KING
2010 – Silva Oak
4.5****
A four piece band made up of a disparate bunch of characters with contrasting musical backgrounds and it works brilliantly! Simone Felice is the best known, having until fairly recent times been a member of the folk/country band the Felice Brothers along with his siblings. He struck out on his own, with the blessing of his brothers, when he realized the songs he was writing were not suited to the direction the band were going in. He joined up with longtime friend and producer Robert ‘Bird’ Burke and they made the still popular ‘Nothing gold can stay’ album. For the new album Simi Stone, a classically trained violinist and singer, joined her ‘Kindred spirits’. The final piece of the jigsaw was Nowell ‘The Deacon’ Haskins, son of Fuzzy Haskins, a founder member with George Clinton, of Parliament and Funkadelic and also a longtime friend of ‘Bird’. He is an excellent drummer but also has an exceptionally soulful voice.
This really is an album that can accurately be described as ‘where folk meets soul’. I can’t actually think of any other band that would be able to blend the two genres so successfully and with harmonies at least the equal of Crosby, Stills and Nash in their heyday! At times it has the feel of ‘The band’ and always seems to evoke a rural, at times eerie unsettling atmosphere that is a huge tribute to all involved. In the end, everything fits together seamlessly and whilst Simone Felice doen’t have the greatest vocal range or power, for creating an edgy almost modern ‘hillbillyish’ feel, he has few peers. Add this to the deep feelings and musical talent they all put into this incredibly diverse but well balanced effort and you have what should be a sure fire winner of a folksy soul album!
Simone’s vocals kick off the album with the folksy ballad Gloria but then the soulful voice of ‘The Deacon’ comes in to lift the chorus with his classic soul voice. Right now is a folksy countryish song built on gorgeous unbeatable harmonies but with the Deacons voice again coming in over the top, then he takes the lead on the almost classic soul of Hudson River. No easy way out has Simi’s gorgeously feminine voice leading the way on this classic almost girl group sound of late 1950s or early 1960s soulful pop. And so the album goes on. All brilliantly sung and played and with some of the best harmonies you will hear in modern roots music. If only this loose aggregation of wandering minstrels can stay together long enough we could get a five star album next time!
www.myspace.com/dukeandtheking
http://thedukeandtheking.co.uk
4.5****
A four piece band made up of a disparate bunch of characters with contrasting musical backgrounds and it works brilliantly! Simone Felice is the best known, having until fairly recent times been a member of the folk/country band the Felice Brothers along with his siblings. He struck out on his own, with the blessing of his brothers, when he realized the songs he was writing were not suited to the direction the band were going in. He joined up with longtime friend and producer Robert ‘Bird’ Burke and they made the still popular ‘Nothing gold can stay’ album. For the new album Simi Stone, a classically trained violinist and singer, joined her ‘Kindred spirits’. The final piece of the jigsaw was Nowell ‘The Deacon’ Haskins, son of Fuzzy Haskins, a founder member with George Clinton, of Parliament and Funkadelic and also a longtime friend of ‘Bird’. He is an excellent drummer but also has an exceptionally soulful voice.
This really is an album that can accurately be described as ‘where folk meets soul’. I can’t actually think of any other band that would be able to blend the two genres so successfully and with harmonies at least the equal of Crosby, Stills and Nash in their heyday! At times it has the feel of ‘The band’ and always seems to evoke a rural, at times eerie unsettling atmosphere that is a huge tribute to all involved. In the end, everything fits together seamlessly and whilst Simone Felice doen’t have the greatest vocal range or power, for creating an edgy almost modern ‘hillbillyish’ feel, he has few peers. Add this to the deep feelings and musical talent they all put into this incredibly diverse but well balanced effort and you have what should be a sure fire winner of a folksy soul album!
Simone’s vocals kick off the album with the folksy ballad Gloria but then the soulful voice of ‘The Deacon’ comes in to lift the chorus with his classic soul voice. Right now is a folksy countryish song built on gorgeous unbeatable harmonies but with the Deacons voice again coming in over the top, then he takes the lead on the almost classic soul of Hudson River. No easy way out has Simi’s gorgeously feminine voice leading the way on this classic almost girl group sound of late 1950s or early 1960s soulful pop. And so the album goes on. All brilliantly sung and played and with some of the best harmonies you will hear in modern roots music. If only this loose aggregation of wandering minstrels can stay together long enough we could get a five star album next time!
www.myspace.com/dukeandtheking
http://thedukeandtheking.co.uk
CHARLIE PARR and the BLACK TWIG PICKERS –
GLORY IN THE MEETING HOUSE
2010 – House of Mercy Recordings
4.5****
The threads of many of these songs go back at least a couple of centuries, despite various musicians changing and adapting them to suit their own particular set of needs. Fairly obviously we will never know what the originals sounded like and yet I don’t think they would or could have sounded much different to the versions on this incredible album! The album helps to define where ‘old-time’ (or ‘hillbilly’) music and the ‘blues’ were in the days before commerce and the recording industry took over and separated them for ever. Whilst the songs are predominately on the gospel side of blues, the history books tell us that there was very little difference between the music played by the poor black people and the poor whites; in fact many of the early ‘old-time’ players actually got started by being taught songs and how to play their instruments by black men steeped in their version of folk music (i.e. the blues or ‘Race music’ as it was known then). The untutored rasping vocals of Charlie Parr are evocative of the days when people played music in the villages and farms of the Appalachians purely for their own and their neighbours pleasure, after all, music was their only escape from the grinding poverty that they found themselves in. Basically the feel of the music was far more important than ‘perfect pitch’ so anyone could play regardless of talent.
Charlie Parr is a master of Banjo and National steel resonator guitar, added to which is his rasping full of character vocals, whilst the Twig Pickers who are made up of Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff between them play fiddle, guitar, banjo, washboard and of course vocals. There are several instrumentals, such as the opening track, the traditional, eerie fiddle tune Glory in the meeting house and the beautifully played resonator guitar on the also traditional What a friend we have in Jesus. There is the glorious classic stringband tune of Old ark’s a-movin’ and the front porch, old-time evoking fiddle tune of I’m going home. Some great instrumentals, but the songs are as good with Charlie dragging every drop of feeling out of his straining vocals to give all of these mainly traditional tunes the respect and atmosphere they deserve. The Rev. J. M. Gates scary Death’s black train is probably as frightening as the Reverend himself intended it to be, with the sinister sounding fiddle, harmonica, jews harp and national resonator driving the song along. I wish I was in heavan sitting down Is mainly just Charlie and his resonator and has the harrowing sound of a man broken by the struggles in this life and longing for his place in heavan. Every song is played as if they really mean it, which, indeed they do. This is classic old time string band music that was actually recorded in a shed in Ironto, Virginia early this year.
A tremendous album that opens the door a little to give us an authentic sounding sample of where these songs were at the dawn of the commercial recording age in the early twentieth century, but without all the crackles and pops! Charlie is a true master of this music and I suspect that the Black Twig Pickers will turn out to be the same. It is no coincidence that the title of the Twig Pickers new album is ‘Ironto special’. (see above) I’ve just got my copy and am about to play it, so all I need now is for my copy of Charlies new album ‘When the Devil goes blind’ to arrive and they should keep me happy for a few days at least! If you have any interest at all in hearing where ‘country music/blues/gospel’ came from buy this album; you won’t regret it.
www.myspace.com/blacktwigs
www.blacktwigpickers.org
4.5****
The threads of many of these songs go back at least a couple of centuries, despite various musicians changing and adapting them to suit their own particular set of needs. Fairly obviously we will never know what the originals sounded like and yet I don’t think they would or could have sounded much different to the versions on this incredible album! The album helps to define where ‘old-time’ (or ‘hillbilly’) music and the ‘blues’ were in the days before commerce and the recording industry took over and separated them for ever. Whilst the songs are predominately on the gospel side of blues, the history books tell us that there was very little difference between the music played by the poor black people and the poor whites; in fact many of the early ‘old-time’ players actually got started by being taught songs and how to play their instruments by black men steeped in their version of folk music (i.e. the blues or ‘Race music’ as it was known then). The untutored rasping vocals of Charlie Parr are evocative of the days when people played music in the villages and farms of the Appalachians purely for their own and their neighbours pleasure, after all, music was their only escape from the grinding poverty that they found themselves in. Basically the feel of the music was far more important than ‘perfect pitch’ so anyone could play regardless of talent.
Charlie Parr is a master of Banjo and National steel resonator guitar, added to which is his rasping full of character vocals, whilst the Twig Pickers who are made up of Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff between them play fiddle, guitar, banjo, washboard and of course vocals. There are several instrumentals, such as the opening track, the traditional, eerie fiddle tune Glory in the meeting house and the beautifully played resonator guitar on the also traditional What a friend we have in Jesus. There is the glorious classic stringband tune of Old ark’s a-movin’ and the front porch, old-time evoking fiddle tune of I’m going home. Some great instrumentals, but the songs are as good with Charlie dragging every drop of feeling out of his straining vocals to give all of these mainly traditional tunes the respect and atmosphere they deserve. The Rev. J. M. Gates scary Death’s black train is probably as frightening as the Reverend himself intended it to be, with the sinister sounding fiddle, harmonica, jews harp and national resonator driving the song along. I wish I was in heavan sitting down Is mainly just Charlie and his resonator and has the harrowing sound of a man broken by the struggles in this life and longing for his place in heavan. Every song is played as if they really mean it, which, indeed they do. This is classic old time string band music that was actually recorded in a shed in Ironto, Virginia early this year.
A tremendous album that opens the door a little to give us an authentic sounding sample of where these songs were at the dawn of the commercial recording age in the early twentieth century, but without all the crackles and pops! Charlie is a true master of this music and I suspect that the Black Twig Pickers will turn out to be the same. It is no coincidence that the title of the Twig Pickers new album is ‘Ironto special’. (see above) I’ve just got my copy and am about to play it, so all I need now is for my copy of Charlies new album ‘When the Devil goes blind’ to arrive and they should keep me happy for a few days at least! If you have any interest at all in hearing where ‘country music/blues/gospel’ came from buy this album; you won’t regret it.
www.myspace.com/blacktwigs
www.blacktwigpickers.org
CELILO - BENDING MIRRORS
2009
4****
Celilo was a settlement around the border between Oregon and Washington. It was actually in existence for longer than any other Town/City in the U.S. (approx 15,000 years) and being at a point on the Colorado river where there was a constant supply of fish, it was an excellent place to live for native Americans. It was eventually submerged in 1957 when the Dalles Dam was built. This long history evokes an eerie misty feeling, as does the album. It is pleasantly eerie and of an almost indefinable genre, although 'Americana', which many others describe it as, probably suits best. The instrumentation is brilliant with a great deal of haunting steel guitar mixed in with fiddles and banjo as well as the usual electric and acoustic guitars, drums, organ and probably plenty of others that I've missed. Yet, the album still has a sparse feel to it, with it's at times ambiguous lyrics and it's brilliant soundscape songs that are written by excellent lead singer Sloan Martin. It's easy to see why they have at times been compared to Neil Young with their ability to experiment and form what are virtually sub genres! If you like roots music with a country edge but also with what seems at times to be improvisations, you should own this album!
www.myspace.com/celilo
4****
Celilo was a settlement around the border between Oregon and Washington. It was actually in existence for longer than any other Town/City in the U.S. (approx 15,000 years) and being at a point on the Colorado river where there was a constant supply of fish, it was an excellent place to live for native Americans. It was eventually submerged in 1957 when the Dalles Dam was built. This long history evokes an eerie misty feeling, as does the album. It is pleasantly eerie and of an almost indefinable genre, although 'Americana', which many others describe it as, probably suits best. The instrumentation is brilliant with a great deal of haunting steel guitar mixed in with fiddles and banjo as well as the usual electric and acoustic guitars, drums, organ and probably plenty of others that I've missed. Yet, the album still has a sparse feel to it, with it's at times ambiguous lyrics and it's brilliant soundscape songs that are written by excellent lead singer Sloan Martin. It's easy to see why they have at times been compared to Neil Young with their ability to experiment and form what are virtually sub genres! If you like roots music with a country edge but also with what seems at times to be improvisations, you should own this album!
www.myspace.com/celilo
CRAZY MOUNTAIN BILLIES - BADLANDS
2009
4****
A brilliant album of what can almost be described as old time 'hillbilly'. The main instrument apart from the gravelly raw vocals is the banjo, but with mandolin, upright bass, harmonica, jews harp, washboard & dobro in the mix. I've probably listened to it at least a dozen times and it always seems to have something new going on in it! I know very little about the band but want to find out more! Probably the nearest band (that I can think of!) to them would be the Bad Livers, but these are even more Hillbilly, although the playing, particularly of banjo, ranges from excellent to unbelievable! I defy you to listen to this album and not have a smile to yourself; maybe even on your face!
www.myspace.com\crazymountainbillies
4****
A brilliant album of what can almost be described as old time 'hillbilly'. The main instrument apart from the gravelly raw vocals is the banjo, but with mandolin, upright bass, harmonica, jews harp, washboard & dobro in the mix. I've probably listened to it at least a dozen times and it always seems to have something new going on in it! I know very little about the band but want to find out more! Probably the nearest band (that I can think of!) to them would be the Bad Livers, but these are even more Hillbilly, although the playing, particularly of banjo, ranges from excellent to unbelievable! I defy you to listen to this album and not have a smile to yourself; maybe even on your face!
www.myspace.com\crazymountainbillies
17 PYGMIES – THE OUTLAW J.D. RAY
2010
4****
This is a mellow folksy countryish, loose concept album that really has few comparisons with this bands past scanty recording career. It has a blues, folk, country feel but always moody and with a mainly sparse acoustic instrumentation which includes steel, accordion, acoustic guitars, bass, mandolin. There are ballads of separation, longing, hope, end of life and even murder; some are duets but the always smooth harmonies are underpinned by the excellent playing. Despite the slow, almost elegiac feel what saves the album from blandness is the strength of the songs and the fact that there always seems to be an unspoken dark eeriness to everything on the album that reflects the ‘old weird America’. This really is a beautiful album. Not ‘easy listening’ but easy to listen to!
www.myspace.com\17pygmies
4****
This is a mellow folksy countryish, loose concept album that really has few comparisons with this bands past scanty recording career. It has a blues, folk, country feel but always moody and with a mainly sparse acoustic instrumentation which includes steel, accordion, acoustic guitars, bass, mandolin. There are ballads of separation, longing, hope, end of life and even murder; some are duets but the always smooth harmonies are underpinned by the excellent playing. Despite the slow, almost elegiac feel what saves the album from blandness is the strength of the songs and the fact that there always seems to be an unspoken dark eeriness to everything on the album that reflects the ‘old weird America’. This really is a beautiful album. Not ‘easy listening’ but easy to listen to!
www.myspace.com\17pygmies
SIMONE FELICE – LIVE FROM A LONELY PLACE
2010
3***
This is just about as sparse and as emotionally raw as an album could be, possibly due to the fact that it was recorded just a few weeks after he had undergone heart surgery. The album was recorded in a barn, the only accompaniment; apart from harmonica on track one, being his acoustic guitar. The songs are from various Felice Brothers recordings as well as five from ‘The Duke and the King’ album, ‘Nothing gold can stay’, plus the traditional Wild mountain thyme. He obviously felt it was time to revisit these excellent songs and to strip them back to basics. The fact that the album comes across as being highly emotionally charged is a tribute to his songwriting and his incredible vocals. For the uninitiated his vocals are close to the purity of Art Garfunkel but with a lot more character!
It would be churlish to pick favourites, all of the songs being excellent, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the slight irony of ‘If you ever get famous’. I understand the album is not on general release, but if you like to hear a singer/songwriter exposing himself purely to the strength of his songs you could do a lot worse than try to get hold of a copy!
The new ‘Duke and the King’ is due for release shortly as well!
www.simonefelice.com
3***
This is just about as sparse and as emotionally raw as an album could be, possibly due to the fact that it was recorded just a few weeks after he had undergone heart surgery. The album was recorded in a barn, the only accompaniment; apart from harmonica on track one, being his acoustic guitar. The songs are from various Felice Brothers recordings as well as five from ‘The Duke and the King’ album, ‘Nothing gold can stay’, plus the traditional Wild mountain thyme. He obviously felt it was time to revisit these excellent songs and to strip them back to basics. The fact that the album comes across as being highly emotionally charged is a tribute to his songwriting and his incredible vocals. For the uninitiated his vocals are close to the purity of Art Garfunkel but with a lot more character!
It would be churlish to pick favourites, all of the songs being excellent, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the slight irony of ‘If you ever get famous’. I understand the album is not on general release, but if you like to hear a singer/songwriter exposing himself purely to the strength of his songs you could do a lot worse than try to get hold of a copy!
The new ‘Duke and the King’ is due for release shortly as well!
www.simonefelice.com
THE MOLENES – GOOD TIMES COMIN’
2010
3***
This is the third album by these excellent and versatile alt.country/ americana musicians and keeps the high standard set by the second album in particular, going.
The band is made up of Dave Hunter on guitar and lead vocals, Andrew Russell on bass and vocals, Bruce Derr, pedal steel guitar and on drums is Zach Field. As with the previous album ‘Songs of sin and redemption’ virtually all of the songs are written by Hunter but with input by the other band members.
The versatility comes with their ability to play the various offshoots of country but without ever veering into the ‘Nashville sound’. There is the ‘honky tonk’ of Hot damn, ‘southern style roots rock’ of Blood and bone, the early Steve Earle country rock of Four feet under, the haunting acoustic, steel driven Miracle cure. There is even the western swing instrumental of Good times comin’ which is preceeded by the eerie, moody alt. country of Love me. An all round good album that whilst it doesn’t actually break new ground has so many styles and tempos that it is always a good, interesting listen.
www.themolenes.com
www.myspace.com\themolenes
3***
This is the third album by these excellent and versatile alt.country/ americana musicians and keeps the high standard set by the second album in particular, going.
The band is made up of Dave Hunter on guitar and lead vocals, Andrew Russell on bass and vocals, Bruce Derr, pedal steel guitar and on drums is Zach Field. As with the previous album ‘Songs of sin and redemption’ virtually all of the songs are written by Hunter but with input by the other band members.
The versatility comes with their ability to play the various offshoots of country but without ever veering into the ‘Nashville sound’. There is the ‘honky tonk’ of Hot damn, ‘southern style roots rock’ of Blood and bone, the early Steve Earle country rock of Four feet under, the haunting acoustic, steel driven Miracle cure. There is even the western swing instrumental of Good times comin’ which is preceeded by the eerie, moody alt. country of Love me. An all round good album that whilst it doesn’t actually break new ground has so many styles and tempos that it is always a good, interesting listen.
www.themolenes.com
www.myspace.com\themolenes
NEIL YOUNG – LE NOISE
2010 – Reprise
3***
This is a highly unusual album even for Neil Young! It has quite an unsettling production that stops it being a comfortable listen no matter how many repeated spins it is given. He has always liked experimentation and has on occasions gone too far. On first hearing this album also seemed a step too far but gradually seems to become more palatable the more you hear it. That is not to say that all of the songs work. At times Daniel Lanois production techniques get in the way of the songs as in Someone’s Gonna Rescue You and Ramblin’. Fortunately the two acoustic songs, the appropriately titled Love And War and the epic tale, Peaceful Valley Boulevard, which tells of the ‘white mans’ arrival in the old west and subsequent effect on civilization and the natural world, don’t suffer as much and are consequently all the better for it. Hitchhiker is a song that was written nearly twenty years ago around the time of the ‘Harvest Moon’ album and it shows. Even the treatment of his vocals and the distorted guitar is not enough to stop the song evoking that particular excellent disc. The lyrics are an almost stream of consciousness reference to his decades ago drug experiments and the subsequent effect on his life.
Young is an artist that has always stubbornly gone his own way and as a result has made some truly great, classic albums as well as some that are easily forgotten. I would place this effort halfway between the two. An album with just his treated voice and highly treated guitar but lacking any other instrumentation was an interesting experiment that includes several great songs but I doubt it will be remembered as one of his best!
www.neilyoung.com
3***
This is a highly unusual album even for Neil Young! It has quite an unsettling production that stops it being a comfortable listen no matter how many repeated spins it is given. He has always liked experimentation and has on occasions gone too far. On first hearing this album also seemed a step too far but gradually seems to become more palatable the more you hear it. That is not to say that all of the songs work. At times Daniel Lanois production techniques get in the way of the songs as in Someone’s Gonna Rescue You and Ramblin’. Fortunately the two acoustic songs, the appropriately titled Love And War and the epic tale, Peaceful Valley Boulevard, which tells of the ‘white mans’ arrival in the old west and subsequent effect on civilization and the natural world, don’t suffer as much and are consequently all the better for it. Hitchhiker is a song that was written nearly twenty years ago around the time of the ‘Harvest Moon’ album and it shows. Even the treatment of his vocals and the distorted guitar is not enough to stop the song evoking that particular excellent disc. The lyrics are an almost stream of consciousness reference to his decades ago drug experiments and the subsequent effect on his life.
Young is an artist that has always stubbornly gone his own way and as a result has made some truly great, classic albums as well as some that are easily forgotten. I would place this effort halfway between the two. An album with just his treated voice and highly treated guitar but lacking any other instrumentation was an interesting experiment that includes several great songs but I doubt it will be remembered as one of his best!
www.neilyoung.com
GIANT SAND – BLURRY BLUE MOUNTAIN
2010 – Fire Records
3.5***
This is a generally understated album about the passing of time and its effect on man and the universe! The quirky wistful songs mourn the passing years whilst accepting that this is the nature of things and nothing can avoid aging! Howe Gelb, whose brain child this band was a quarter of a century ago has always been pretty much outside of roots trends and yet is often heralded as the ‘God father of alt. country’. ‘Desert rock’ is another oft used label attached to him and is probably more accurate, although he is probably somewhere between the two. He lives in Tucson, hence the ‘desert’ reference and his music in general does evoke the hot wide open desert landscapes whilst also, thanks in the main to his almost Lou Reed sounding vocals, comes across as incredibly insular and highly personal. Most of his albums seem as if they are made using just stream of consciousness and this one is no different in that respect.
His songs can often be difficult to fathom but this collection has it’s share of love songs, sorrow songs, even a what would have been called at one time ‘Country and Western’ song in Ride the rail. Thin line man is an almost ‘psychobilly’ countryish song whilst Monks mountain is driven along by a metronomic snare and echoey jazzy guitar with Gelb’s understated vocals right on the edge of the song. Erosion is a steel guitar led, twangy country song about the passing of time. There are even a couple of duets with Lorna Kelly including the gorgeous Lucky star love. His vocals are always subtle and the instrumentation varied as usual, with lead instruments being piano, guitar, steel guitar, with snare drum often being used to push the songs along.
Whilst it does at times have a mellow sound there is always an edginess to the whole that avoids the descent into ‘easy listening’! Gelb himself claims that the album was made and set in that period between wakefulness and sleep. Give it a listen and you will probably agree!
Tracklist:-
1 "Fields Of Green"
2 "Chunk Of Coal"
3 "The Last One"
4 "Monk's Mountain"
5 "Spell Bound"
6 "Ride The Rail"
7 "Lucky Star Love"
8 "Thin Line Man "
9 "No Tellin'"
10 "Brand New Swamp Thing"
11 "Erosion"
12 "Time Flies"
13 "Better Man Than Me"
14 "Love A Loser"
www.giantsand.com
3.5***
This is a generally understated album about the passing of time and its effect on man and the universe! The quirky wistful songs mourn the passing years whilst accepting that this is the nature of things and nothing can avoid aging! Howe Gelb, whose brain child this band was a quarter of a century ago has always been pretty much outside of roots trends and yet is often heralded as the ‘God father of alt. country’. ‘Desert rock’ is another oft used label attached to him and is probably more accurate, although he is probably somewhere between the two. He lives in Tucson, hence the ‘desert’ reference and his music in general does evoke the hot wide open desert landscapes whilst also, thanks in the main to his almost Lou Reed sounding vocals, comes across as incredibly insular and highly personal. Most of his albums seem as if they are made using just stream of consciousness and this one is no different in that respect.
His songs can often be difficult to fathom but this collection has it’s share of love songs, sorrow songs, even a what would have been called at one time ‘Country and Western’ song in Ride the rail. Thin line man is an almost ‘psychobilly’ countryish song whilst Monks mountain is driven along by a metronomic snare and echoey jazzy guitar with Gelb’s understated vocals right on the edge of the song. Erosion is a steel guitar led, twangy country song about the passing of time. There are even a couple of duets with Lorna Kelly including the gorgeous Lucky star love. His vocals are always subtle and the instrumentation varied as usual, with lead instruments being piano, guitar, steel guitar, with snare drum often being used to push the songs along.
Whilst it does at times have a mellow sound there is always an edginess to the whole that avoids the descent into ‘easy listening’! Gelb himself claims that the album was made and set in that period between wakefulness and sleep. Give it a listen and you will probably agree!
Tracklist:-
1 "Fields Of Green"
2 "Chunk Of Coal"
3 "The Last One"
4 "Monk's Mountain"
5 "Spell Bound"
6 "Ride The Rail"
7 "Lucky Star Love"
8 "Thin Line Man "
9 "No Tellin'"
10 "Brand New Swamp Thing"
11 "Erosion"
12 "Time Flies"
13 "Better Man Than Me"
14 "Love A Loser"
www.giantsand.com
KINGS OF LEON – COME AROUND SUNDOWN
2010 – RCA
3.5***
Variously labeled Southern rock, Alternative pop/rock, American Traditional Rock and Alternative Country Rock, with this album they seem very much the former with very little of the rootsy countryish feel to be found on some of their earlier work. That said, they are very good at what they do. At times the epic nature of many of the songs are slightly reminiscent of U2s style but with very much a southern states influence as well. A case in point being Back down south with it’s echoing repetitive slide line making it quite easy to bracket with alt.country.
Most of the album is made up of mid tempo songs with Caleb Followills always expressive vocals very much to the fore but the songs are allowed to breathe and none of the instruments are under or over dominant, which all adds to the epic sound. Beach side and Mi Amigo are probably the nearest they get to ballads with Followills vocals wringing every last drop of emotion from the songs. Cousin, Matthew Followill has some outstanding guitar lines on the album whilst Calebs two brothers Jared and Nathan are excellent on bass and drums respectively with Jared also adding to the mix with synthesizer. Their sound has really developed with each album but depite a few comparisons to ‘Exile’ era Stones it feels very much like a Southern rock band on whom U2 have been a fairly large influence, with maybe a little of the repetitive tones of Pink Floyd added to the mix.
They seem now to be a major league band so no doubt promotion will ensure this is a huge seller, despite their having enough quality and individuality to succeed on a smaller budget!
Tracklist:
The End
Radioactive
Pyro
Mary
The Face
The Immortals
Back Down South
Beach Side
No Money
Pony Up
Birthday
Mi Amigo
Pickup Truck
www.kingsofleon.com
3.5***
Variously labeled Southern rock, Alternative pop/rock, American Traditional Rock and Alternative Country Rock, with this album they seem very much the former with very little of the rootsy countryish feel to be found on some of their earlier work. That said, they are very good at what they do. At times the epic nature of many of the songs are slightly reminiscent of U2s style but with very much a southern states influence as well. A case in point being Back down south with it’s echoing repetitive slide line making it quite easy to bracket with alt.country.
Most of the album is made up of mid tempo songs with Caleb Followills always expressive vocals very much to the fore but the songs are allowed to breathe and none of the instruments are under or over dominant, which all adds to the epic sound. Beach side and Mi Amigo are probably the nearest they get to ballads with Followills vocals wringing every last drop of emotion from the songs. Cousin, Matthew Followill has some outstanding guitar lines on the album whilst Calebs two brothers Jared and Nathan are excellent on bass and drums respectively with Jared also adding to the mix with synthesizer. Their sound has really developed with each album but depite a few comparisons to ‘Exile’ era Stones it feels very much like a Southern rock band on whom U2 have been a fairly large influence, with maybe a little of the repetitive tones of Pink Floyd added to the mix.
They seem now to be a major league band so no doubt promotion will ensure this is a huge seller, despite their having enough quality and individuality to succeed on a smaller budget!
Tracklist:
The End
Radioactive
Pyro
Mary
The Face
The Immortals
Back Down South
Beach Side
No Money
Pony Up
Birthday
Mi Amigo
Pickup Truck
www.kingsofleon.com
BARTON CARROLL – TOGETHER YOU AND I
2010 – Skybucket USA
3.5***
Bartons voice is perfectly suited to the mellow sounding (but not without punch) Nick Drake style folk, but from an American perspective. He has a fairly unusual voice, a sort of nasally, throaty feel that gives him a fairly distinctive sound! Whilst most of the songs are either about love or lost love, they differ from most albums with these themes in that they are rooted very much in the real world rather than any kind of ideological state. He seems to deal more in realism than metaphor.
The songs that I found most evocative of Drake were the beautiful ballad Rich as a Rolling Stone and the lost love of Shadowman each with the gorgeous, haunting steel guitar hovering in the background. Then there was the incredible country version of the ‘Sound of Music’ song, Something good, with it’s beautiful steel guitar giving the song depth that I didn’t realize it had! Clearly Barton is not a man with an aversion to taking a chance or two! His haunting steel guitar playing is used on most songs but never just for effect. It is actually an intrinsic part of the story and atmosphere in much the same way as his vocals. There is also the use of a saxophone on several tracks, again, exactly what the songs require. The Drake comparisons are only used to give an illustration of the tone of much of the album. He is very much an original talent who stands out from many other ‘singer/songwriters’ with his slightly off centre often introspective songs and arrangements.
www.bartoncarroll.com
3.5***
Bartons voice is perfectly suited to the mellow sounding (but not without punch) Nick Drake style folk, but from an American perspective. He has a fairly unusual voice, a sort of nasally, throaty feel that gives him a fairly distinctive sound! Whilst most of the songs are either about love or lost love, they differ from most albums with these themes in that they are rooted very much in the real world rather than any kind of ideological state. He seems to deal more in realism than metaphor.
The songs that I found most evocative of Drake were the beautiful ballad Rich as a Rolling Stone and the lost love of Shadowman each with the gorgeous, haunting steel guitar hovering in the background. Then there was the incredible country version of the ‘Sound of Music’ song, Something good, with it’s beautiful steel guitar giving the song depth that I didn’t realize it had! Clearly Barton is not a man with an aversion to taking a chance or two! His haunting steel guitar playing is used on most songs but never just for effect. It is actually an intrinsic part of the story and atmosphere in much the same way as his vocals. There is also the use of a saxophone on several tracks, again, exactly what the songs require. The Drake comparisons are only used to give an illustration of the tone of much of the album. He is very much an original talent who stands out from many other ‘singer/songwriters’ with his slightly off centre often introspective songs and arrangements.
www.bartoncarroll.com
EILEN JEWELL PRESENTS BUTCHER HOLLER:
A TRIBUTE TO LORETTA LYNN
2010 – Signature Sounds
3.5***
I’ve never really liked tribute albums all that much, feeling they are just a pointless exercise when the originals were nearly always far better. Acceptable if they were for a charity or to help the original artist with medical bills or suchlike but not much else. In the case of this album I’ve been forced to revise that opinion slightly. Not that Eilen’s versions of these songs are any better than the legendary Lorettas, the singing has similar qualities, the musicianship by her superb band is exemplary and the songs are just different enough from the originals to bring something new to them. There is also the point that someone as popular as Eilen can bring the songs to a new audience and help them become familiar with a great artist who, whilst still very much alive and recording, is thought by many to be part of the ‘old guard.’ Come to that, you could certainly do a lot worse for your listening pleasure than purchasing the originals, many of which were highly controversial at the time, talking as they did about women defending themselves against injustice!
Of course, what these songs do have that the originals lacked is Jerry Miller on guitar. Chet Atkins has always been known as a great ‘country’ guitarist, maybe he was, I’ve heard some of his music, but not enough to judge. What I do know is that when comparing the two on what I have heard, Jerry seems to stretch out and improvise more than Atkins did. Maybe that is a little unfair, time has moved on and styles do change, but I have seen a great many superb guitarists down the years and Jerry Miller is up there with the best! Then of course there is the excellent rhythm team of Eilens husband Jason Beek on drums and backing vocals and the brilliant Johnny Sciascia on an upright bass that in his hands not only keeps the rhythm going but is almost an addition to the melodies as well! All of them, musicians at the top of their game. Add this to Eilens gorgeously expressive vocals and her feel for and commitment to all of the songs and this becomes an almost essential tribute album. The highlights? Name any song on the disc really!
An excellent stop gap whilst she works on a new album of her own songs that should be out around the middle of 2011. Much too long to wait , but enjoy this one in the meantime.
Tracklist:
1. Fist City 2:16
2. A Man I Hardly Know 2:28
3. I'm A Honky Tonk Girl 2:31
4. Whispering Sea 2:56
5. You Wanna Give Me A Lift 2:38
6. Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)2:25
7. Who Says God Is Dead 2:14
8. Another Man Loved Me Last Night 3:07
9. You Ain't Women Enough (To Take My Man)2:25
10. Deep As Your Pocket 2:37
11. This Haunted House 2:24
12. You're Lookin' At Country 2:09
www.eilenjewell.com
3.5***
I’ve never really liked tribute albums all that much, feeling they are just a pointless exercise when the originals were nearly always far better. Acceptable if they were for a charity or to help the original artist with medical bills or suchlike but not much else. In the case of this album I’ve been forced to revise that opinion slightly. Not that Eilen’s versions of these songs are any better than the legendary Lorettas, the singing has similar qualities, the musicianship by her superb band is exemplary and the songs are just different enough from the originals to bring something new to them. There is also the point that someone as popular as Eilen can bring the songs to a new audience and help them become familiar with a great artist who, whilst still very much alive and recording, is thought by many to be part of the ‘old guard.’ Come to that, you could certainly do a lot worse for your listening pleasure than purchasing the originals, many of which were highly controversial at the time, talking as they did about women defending themselves against injustice!
Of course, what these songs do have that the originals lacked is Jerry Miller on guitar. Chet Atkins has always been known as a great ‘country’ guitarist, maybe he was, I’ve heard some of his music, but not enough to judge. What I do know is that when comparing the two on what I have heard, Jerry seems to stretch out and improvise more than Atkins did. Maybe that is a little unfair, time has moved on and styles do change, but I have seen a great many superb guitarists down the years and Jerry Miller is up there with the best! Then of course there is the excellent rhythm team of Eilens husband Jason Beek on drums and backing vocals and the brilliant Johnny Sciascia on an upright bass that in his hands not only keeps the rhythm going but is almost an addition to the melodies as well! All of them, musicians at the top of their game. Add this to Eilens gorgeously expressive vocals and her feel for and commitment to all of the songs and this becomes an almost essential tribute album. The highlights? Name any song on the disc really!
An excellent stop gap whilst she works on a new album of her own songs that should be out around the middle of 2011. Much too long to wait , but enjoy this one in the meantime.
Tracklist:
1. Fist City 2:16
2. A Man I Hardly Know 2:28
3. I'm A Honky Tonk Girl 2:31
4. Whispering Sea 2:56
5. You Wanna Give Me A Lift 2:38
6. Don't Come Home A Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)2:25
7. Who Says God Is Dead 2:14
8. Another Man Loved Me Last Night 3:07
9. You Ain't Women Enough (To Take My Man)2:25
10. Deep As Your Pocket 2:37
11. This Haunted House 2:24
12. You're Lookin' At Country 2:09
www.eilenjewell.com
ROBERT PLANT – BAND OF JOY
2010 – Rounder
3.5***
I really wanted to love this album. His previous ‘country’ album, ‘Raising Sand’ that was recorded with Alison Krauss several years ago set the scene and had I reviewed that it would probably have got four and a half stars! This one gets three and a half because although it is a good album, many of the songs have been done better by other people. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like the album and the versions of the various songs, but to my ears much of the experimental side of the album doesn’t really work, despite trying to bring something new to the songs. Buddy Millers production techniques of making a lot of the sound seem almost out of phase has enhanced many albums over the years but for some strange indefinable reason I think it detracts from many of these songs. The musicians used, such as the amazing Patty Griffin on back up vocals, are all at the top of their game and are some of the best in this broad country genre. Credit should be given for attempting these songs and many do work.
Until very recent times I had felt that the definitive recorded version of Satan, your kindom must come down, had been cut by Uncle Tupelo on their ‘No Depression’ album. For the last two or three years this has changed to the version by ‘Two Fingers of Firewater’ on their incredible first album. Then they played it late on Friday night at the ‘Maverick festival’ of two years ago and it was one of the best performances of any song that I’ve ever witnessed, so the bar was set incredibly high, in fact too high for this new treatment! It is fairly obvious on Plant’s version that the idea was to slow it down and bring some of the old ‘eeriness’ to it and give it a haunting feel. The problem is that the production gives all of the songs a haunting sound and in the case of this song the change of tempo merely made it slower. Richard Thompsons House of cards has an eeriness to it that the original was missing, thanks in the main to the harmonies. Micheletti, Parker and Sparhawk’s (Low) two songs on this album Silver rider and Monkey are given a haunting edge that the originals lacked, whilst Townes Van Zandt’s Harm’s swift way is refreshed by this treatment.
So, all in all a good album that apart from a few songs doesn’t improve on the originals and in fact to my ears is inferior in some ways, but as I said earlier credit should be given for trying to breathe new life into songs that are not all well known, although thanks to Plants selling power they probably will be now! Obviously budget plays a large part in experimentation. It would be nice to hear what some of our alt. country favourites could have done with this sort of backing, but then again the man has paid his dues!
1 Angel Dance - Hidalgo, Perez. 3:49
2 House of Cards – Thompson. 3:13
3 Central Two-O-Nine - Miller, Plant 2:48
4 Silver Rider - Micheletti, Parker, Sparhawk 6:05
5 You Can't Buy My Love - Babineaux, Babineaux 3:10
6 Falling In Love Again - Crume, Kelly 3:37
7 The The Only Sound That Matters - Vanderpool 3:44
8 Monkey - Micheletti, Parker, Sparhawk. 4:57
9Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday - Traditional 3:36
10 Harm's Swift Way - Van Zandt. 4:18
11 Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down – Traditional. 4:12
12 Even This Shall Pass Away – Tilton. 4:02
3.5***
I really wanted to love this album. His previous ‘country’ album, ‘Raising Sand’ that was recorded with Alison Krauss several years ago set the scene and had I reviewed that it would probably have got four and a half stars! This one gets three and a half because although it is a good album, many of the songs have been done better by other people. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like the album and the versions of the various songs, but to my ears much of the experimental side of the album doesn’t really work, despite trying to bring something new to the songs. Buddy Millers production techniques of making a lot of the sound seem almost out of phase has enhanced many albums over the years but for some strange indefinable reason I think it detracts from many of these songs. The musicians used, such as the amazing Patty Griffin on back up vocals, are all at the top of their game and are some of the best in this broad country genre. Credit should be given for attempting these songs and many do work.
Until very recent times I had felt that the definitive recorded version of Satan, your kindom must come down, had been cut by Uncle Tupelo on their ‘No Depression’ album. For the last two or three years this has changed to the version by ‘Two Fingers of Firewater’ on their incredible first album. Then they played it late on Friday night at the ‘Maverick festival’ of two years ago and it was one of the best performances of any song that I’ve ever witnessed, so the bar was set incredibly high, in fact too high for this new treatment! It is fairly obvious on Plant’s version that the idea was to slow it down and bring some of the old ‘eeriness’ to it and give it a haunting feel. The problem is that the production gives all of the songs a haunting sound and in the case of this song the change of tempo merely made it slower. Richard Thompsons House of cards has an eeriness to it that the original was missing, thanks in the main to the harmonies. Micheletti, Parker and Sparhawk’s (Low) two songs on this album Silver rider and Monkey are given a haunting edge that the originals lacked, whilst Townes Van Zandt’s Harm’s swift way is refreshed by this treatment.
So, all in all a good album that apart from a few songs doesn’t improve on the originals and in fact to my ears is inferior in some ways, but as I said earlier credit should be given for trying to breathe new life into songs that are not all well known, although thanks to Plants selling power they probably will be now! Obviously budget plays a large part in experimentation. It would be nice to hear what some of our alt. country favourites could have done with this sort of backing, but then again the man has paid his dues!
1 Angel Dance - Hidalgo, Perez. 3:49
2 House of Cards – Thompson. 3:13
3 Central Two-O-Nine - Miller, Plant 2:48
4 Silver Rider - Micheletti, Parker, Sparhawk 6:05
5 You Can't Buy My Love - Babineaux, Babineaux 3:10
6 Falling In Love Again - Crume, Kelly 3:37
7 The The Only Sound That Matters - Vanderpool 3:44
8 Monkey - Micheletti, Parker, Sparhawk. 4:57
9Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday - Traditional 3:36
10 Harm's Swift Way - Van Zandt. 4:18
11 Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down – Traditional. 4:12
12 Even This Shall Pass Away – Tilton. 4:02
OLD MAN LUEDECKE – MY HANDS ARE ON FIRE AND OTHER LOVE SONGS
2010 – Black Hen Music
4.5****
I could be wrong but it seems as if we are getting more young ‘old time’ singer/songwriters than we’ve seen for at least the last 30 years. By that I mean people that are happy to use instruments that mainstream ‘country’ sees as untrendy, such as banjo and fiddle, and to actually construct their songs in an old time style. Not that I’m complaining, being a fan of old time music it’s always nice to hear a modern take on this old Appalachian/British Isles extracted music particularly when it is of the quality produced by Chris Luedecke. His always pleasantly clear vocals give the songs suffcient character but without detracting from the highly detailed stories, many of which should probably be termed ‘Canadian old time country’. Everything is underpinned by his excellent banjo playing, with brilliant support from multi instrumentalist/producer Steve Dawson and the incomparable Tim O’ Brien on acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle and backing vocals!
All of the songs are self penned with the exception of Caney Fork River, a sad rural tale of unrequited love and death, written by the late, incredibly talented Willie P. Bennett. Several of the stories are highly topical tales of just about anywhere on the planet and whilst I don’t usually give credit for ‘bravery’ in songwriting one song in particular stands out in that respect. The Palace is Golden is a brooding tale of the battle to overcome impotence caused by polluted water that at least seems to have a happy ending!Thedramatic sound conjures up a slightly less dark Tom Waits, with it’s hard plunking of banjo and eerie sawing fiddle but then climbs out of the darkness with haunting steel guitar. An unusual and thought provoking song, as is much of the album. Woe betide the doer of the deed is a case in point with it’s story giving all due credit to the ‘arseholes’ that many blame for provoking the current recession! Luedecke seems to have the ability to hit hard with some of his lyrics and yet has the ability to avoid plunging the listener into a state of depression by an almost inperceptible element of humour that seems to hover on the edge without lessening the impact of the songs message. There are very few singer songwriters that can achieve this. The general themes are of love, diminishing love, lost love and travel but all done in a highly original quite poetic style. This is his third album on Black Hen Music and if anything this one is even better than it’s predecessors that set such a high standard.
www.oldmanluedecke.ca
4.5****
I could be wrong but it seems as if we are getting more young ‘old time’ singer/songwriters than we’ve seen for at least the last 30 years. By that I mean people that are happy to use instruments that mainstream ‘country’ sees as untrendy, such as banjo and fiddle, and to actually construct their songs in an old time style. Not that I’m complaining, being a fan of old time music it’s always nice to hear a modern take on this old Appalachian/British Isles extracted music particularly when it is of the quality produced by Chris Luedecke. His always pleasantly clear vocals give the songs suffcient character but without detracting from the highly detailed stories, many of which should probably be termed ‘Canadian old time country’. Everything is underpinned by his excellent banjo playing, with brilliant support from multi instrumentalist/producer Steve Dawson and the incomparable Tim O’ Brien on acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle and backing vocals!
All of the songs are self penned with the exception of Caney Fork River, a sad rural tale of unrequited love and death, written by the late, incredibly talented Willie P. Bennett. Several of the stories are highly topical tales of just about anywhere on the planet and whilst I don’t usually give credit for ‘bravery’ in songwriting one song in particular stands out in that respect. The Palace is Golden is a brooding tale of the battle to overcome impotence caused by polluted water that at least seems to have a happy ending!Thedramatic sound conjures up a slightly less dark Tom Waits, with it’s hard plunking of banjo and eerie sawing fiddle but then climbs out of the darkness with haunting steel guitar. An unusual and thought provoking song, as is much of the album. Woe betide the doer of the deed is a case in point with it’s story giving all due credit to the ‘arseholes’ that many blame for provoking the current recession! Luedecke seems to have the ability to hit hard with some of his lyrics and yet has the ability to avoid plunging the listener into a state of depression by an almost inperceptible element of humour that seems to hover on the edge without lessening the impact of the songs message. There are very few singer songwriters that can achieve this. The general themes are of love, diminishing love, lost love and travel but all done in a highly original quite poetic style. This is his third album on Black Hen Music and if anything this one is even better than it’s predecessors that set such a high standard.
www.oldmanluedecke.ca
DYLAN LEBLANC – PAUPER’S FIELD
2010 – Rough Trade
2.5**
Haunting, sad, mellow, melancholic tales of life lived too much to the full. There are love stories, lost love stories, death, booze and any number of subjects that that you would think impossible for a 20 year old to have lived! So, the lyrics must be invention then? Some may possibly be taken from his own experiences and some of course from stories he has heard from his Muscle Shoals session man father and his colleagues! Perhaps that’s why this gorgeous sounding album is so lacking in feeling or soul. Even Emmylou can’t lift If the creek don’t rise to a level of tension that the subject matter deserves. Every song is beautifully sung and played, with the haunting steel guitar giving an eeriness to proceedings that the flat, bland tempo of most of the songs desperately need. He has been variously compared to Gram Parsons, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake amongst others but there are only echoes of these in isolated vocal inflections and perhaps some of the sentiments and in the case of Drake, in tempo. Sadly his songwriting doesn’t have the strength of experience that all of the aforementioned possessed despite their not being much older than him when they started. Maybe I’m being unfair and he has lived much of the subject matter but this doesn’t really change the opinion that the whole thing is so immersed in it’s own melancholia that it can’t lift itself.
Despite the criticism there is obviously an emerging talent that may be fulfilled on the next few albums. There are some good ideas on this one as evidenced by the admitedly too infrequent use of banjo and mandolin. It is close to being a good first album but on repeated listens the songs seem to blend into each other, with any changes in tempo being far too smooth to give any sort of an edge. A missed opportunity by someone who probably could, certainly should and hopefully will produce better.
www.dylanleblanc.com
2.5**
Haunting, sad, mellow, melancholic tales of life lived too much to the full. There are love stories, lost love stories, death, booze and any number of subjects that that you would think impossible for a 20 year old to have lived! So, the lyrics must be invention then? Some may possibly be taken from his own experiences and some of course from stories he has heard from his Muscle Shoals session man father and his colleagues! Perhaps that’s why this gorgeous sounding album is so lacking in feeling or soul. Even Emmylou can’t lift If the creek don’t rise to a level of tension that the subject matter deserves. Every song is beautifully sung and played, with the haunting steel guitar giving an eeriness to proceedings that the flat, bland tempo of most of the songs desperately need. He has been variously compared to Gram Parsons, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake amongst others but there are only echoes of these in isolated vocal inflections and perhaps some of the sentiments and in the case of Drake, in tempo. Sadly his songwriting doesn’t have the strength of experience that all of the aforementioned possessed despite their not being much older than him when they started. Maybe I’m being unfair and he has lived much of the subject matter but this doesn’t really change the opinion that the whole thing is so immersed in it’s own melancholia that it can’t lift itself.
Despite the criticism there is obviously an emerging talent that may be fulfilled on the next few albums. There are some good ideas on this one as evidenced by the admitedly too infrequent use of banjo and mandolin. It is close to being a good first album but on repeated listens the songs seem to blend into each other, with any changes in tempo being far too smooth to give any sort of an edge. A missed opportunity by someone who probably could, certainly should and hopefully will produce better.
www.dylanleblanc.com
COLIN GILMORE – GOODNIGHT LANE
2010 – IODA
3.5***
There is enough variety throughout this album to keep things interesting, veering as it does from beautiful steel driven ballads to almost classic country rock/alt.country. The slightly less pure vocals than his father, although equally distinctive in their own way, probably works in his favour as he seems quite happy in roots rock whereas his father never sounded comfortable. There is nothing really groundbreaking but it is a pleasant album and has enough individuality to make it stand out from much of the crowd that covers the roots area in and around alt. country. There are some good ideas in the instrumentation as well, where there is excellent use of accordian and steel.
The title track is a beautifully played steel guitar driven balladbut given a haunting edginess by his expressive vocals and the insertion of accordion towards the end of the song, whereas Abigail is a gorgeous pleading love song given extra atmosphere by the addition of the moody accordian throughout. Laughing hard or crying is classic country rock, which suits his voice just as much as the heartrending ballads such as the stunning tale of lost love that is Llano. There is even a really good, humorous sounding guitar instrumental in Teeth, hair and eyeballs.
The album is produced by Scott Matthews whose production and sessions credits reads like a veritable who’s who of roots music and who gets the very best out of Gilmore with his tasteful techniques. Some of the back up musicians are no slouches either, with Lloyd Maines co producing and playing various stringed instruments including, unsurprisingly, dobro! A little poignancy is added by some of the guitar work being carried out by the late Jay Bennett formerly of ‘Wilco.’
So, a good sophomore album, at least the equal of it’s excellent predecessor, ‘The day the world stopped and spun the other way’ by a young singer/songwriter who should become well known in his own right despite a famous father.
www.colingilmore.com
3.5***
There is enough variety throughout this album to keep things interesting, veering as it does from beautiful steel driven ballads to almost classic country rock/alt.country. The slightly less pure vocals than his father, although equally distinctive in their own way, probably works in his favour as he seems quite happy in roots rock whereas his father never sounded comfortable. There is nothing really groundbreaking but it is a pleasant album and has enough individuality to make it stand out from much of the crowd that covers the roots area in and around alt. country. There are some good ideas in the instrumentation as well, where there is excellent use of accordian and steel.
The title track is a beautifully played steel guitar driven balladbut given a haunting edginess by his expressive vocals and the insertion of accordion towards the end of the song, whereas Abigail is a gorgeous pleading love song given extra atmosphere by the addition of the moody accordian throughout. Laughing hard or crying is classic country rock, which suits his voice just as much as the heartrending ballads such as the stunning tale of lost love that is Llano. There is even a really good, humorous sounding guitar instrumental in Teeth, hair and eyeballs.
The album is produced by Scott Matthews whose production and sessions credits reads like a veritable who’s who of roots music and who gets the very best out of Gilmore with his tasteful techniques. Some of the back up musicians are no slouches either, with Lloyd Maines co producing and playing various stringed instruments including, unsurprisingly, dobro! A little poignancy is added by some of the guitar work being carried out by the late Jay Bennett formerly of ‘Wilco.’
So, a good sophomore album, at least the equal of it’s excellent predecessor, ‘The day the world stopped and spun the other way’ by a young singer/songwriter who should become well known in his own right despite a famous father.
www.colingilmore.com
BACK ROAD BAPTISTS –
BROKEN HEARTS AND BAD DECISIONS
2010
4****
If ever an album was a ‘grower’ it’s this one. I wasn’t too keen on first listen but it just gets better everytime I hear it. Raggedy, undisciplined sound, lacking in direction, predominately harsh vocals, brilliant in other words! Described variously as Americana, Gospel, Soul, Punk, Outlaw, and I came up with those after just a quick internet check. For once all of those genres are actually appropriate! Whatever your taste in roots music there is something on here for you.
Songwriter Chris Porter plays guitar, steel, dodro and vocals, Sarah Green on washboard, kick drum, guitar, percussion and vocals. Heath Green plays piano, harmonica, guitar and vocals, Susan Nuckols on fiddle, Adam Guthrie, ukulele and finally Jay Taylor on bass and banjo. They are all experienced roots musicians who have played in various other bands and came together to help bring Porters dream of ‘country music that is real’ to fruition and boy, do they succeed!
There is the ‘gospelese’ (is that a word? Sounds o.k!) of By and by, the swampy blues rock with dirty slide guitar and harmonica of Reach for the sky, the excellent story song of loneliness that has the talk singing and acoustic guitar style that could quite easily be a young Guy Clark at his most reflective in There you are. Then there is the lovely vocals of Sarah on the country ballad Alright by me and her amazing version of the Dorsey M. Dixon song made famous by Roy Acuff, Wreck on the highway. Her harmony vocals can be heard throughout the album as a counterpoint to Porters untutored, gruff but full of character voice that can be heard at its best on the harrowing $2 Pistol and the moodily soulful Thousand songs.
Every song on the album is pretty much essential, giving a variety of styles and moods within the roots genre that very few bands can match, much less surpass! This is real alternative country in as much as it is a great alternative to the bland formulaic ‘elevator music’ that is ‘nashville country’, peopled by well groomed men in cowboy hats and boots and just as well groomed women in sequined gowns and with full orchestras removing any impact or realness that might have existed pre production! Yes, definitely and defiantly ‘real country’.
www.backrowbaptists.com
4****
If ever an album was a ‘grower’ it’s this one. I wasn’t too keen on first listen but it just gets better everytime I hear it. Raggedy, undisciplined sound, lacking in direction, predominately harsh vocals, brilliant in other words! Described variously as Americana, Gospel, Soul, Punk, Outlaw, and I came up with those after just a quick internet check. For once all of those genres are actually appropriate! Whatever your taste in roots music there is something on here for you.
Songwriter Chris Porter plays guitar, steel, dodro and vocals, Sarah Green on washboard, kick drum, guitar, percussion and vocals. Heath Green plays piano, harmonica, guitar and vocals, Susan Nuckols on fiddle, Adam Guthrie, ukulele and finally Jay Taylor on bass and banjo. They are all experienced roots musicians who have played in various other bands and came together to help bring Porters dream of ‘country music that is real’ to fruition and boy, do they succeed!
There is the ‘gospelese’ (is that a word? Sounds o.k!) of By and by, the swampy blues rock with dirty slide guitar and harmonica of Reach for the sky, the excellent story song of loneliness that has the talk singing and acoustic guitar style that could quite easily be a young Guy Clark at his most reflective in There you are. Then there is the lovely vocals of Sarah on the country ballad Alright by me and her amazing version of the Dorsey M. Dixon song made famous by Roy Acuff, Wreck on the highway. Her harmony vocals can be heard throughout the album as a counterpoint to Porters untutored, gruff but full of character voice that can be heard at its best on the harrowing $2 Pistol and the moodily soulful Thousand songs.
Every song on the album is pretty much essential, giving a variety of styles and moods within the roots genre that very few bands can match, much less surpass! This is real alternative country in as much as it is a great alternative to the bland formulaic ‘elevator music’ that is ‘nashville country’, peopled by well groomed men in cowboy hats and boots and just as well groomed women in sequined gowns and with full orchestras removing any impact or realness that might have existed pre production! Yes, definitely and defiantly ‘real country’.
www.backrowbaptists.com
JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE – HARLEM RIVER BLUES
2010 – Bloodshot Records
3.5***
Son of Steve and with a middle name taken from the late great Townes Van Zandt means a hell of a lot to live up to in the songwriting stakes! Generally he achieves this. He is a storyteller, as are the other two, maybe not as strong as them, but he makes up for that in his pleasantly expressive vocals, similar in texture to people such as Lyle Lovett and the late Rick Nelson. He doesn’t attack songs in the same way as his father, he just lets the story tell itself through the poignancy of his singing voice.
The album contains various styles and tempos with the more countryish songs having more appeal, but there is nothing that is not worthy of it’s place on this always interesting album. There is even a Rockabillyish song, Move over Mama, that would not need too much of an imagination stretch to picture Elvis Presley singing it in the 1950s! Working for the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) is a song of regret at running a metro train instead of driving one across the wide open spaces as his father before him had. Of course it could also be a metaphor for the life of someone who has a famous and successful father, but he shouldn’t worry, he himself has talent to burn! Harlem river blues, is an incredible story of suicide and regret with the added haunting sound of a gospel choir helping to give the song an eeriness that is surprising considering it is actually fairly up tempo! There is the old ‘hillbilly’ sawing fiddles on the self explanatory Wanderin’ whilst Rogers Park is a study in loneliness set to a slow country rock tempo.
It is generally an album that oozes loneliness and regret but never without a little hope. He certainly has the talent to go with that hope and he should feel great pride at producing what is now his fourth album in a row that expresses his great versatility and talent.
www.justintownesearle.com
www.myspace.com/justintownesearle
3.5***
Son of Steve and with a middle name taken from the late great Townes Van Zandt means a hell of a lot to live up to in the songwriting stakes! Generally he achieves this. He is a storyteller, as are the other two, maybe not as strong as them, but he makes up for that in his pleasantly expressive vocals, similar in texture to people such as Lyle Lovett and the late Rick Nelson. He doesn’t attack songs in the same way as his father, he just lets the story tell itself through the poignancy of his singing voice.
The album contains various styles and tempos with the more countryish songs having more appeal, but there is nothing that is not worthy of it’s place on this always interesting album. There is even a Rockabillyish song, Move over Mama, that would not need too much of an imagination stretch to picture Elvis Presley singing it in the 1950s! Working for the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) is a song of regret at running a metro train instead of driving one across the wide open spaces as his father before him had. Of course it could also be a metaphor for the life of someone who has a famous and successful father, but he shouldn’t worry, he himself has talent to burn! Harlem river blues, is an incredible story of suicide and regret with the added haunting sound of a gospel choir helping to give the song an eeriness that is surprising considering it is actually fairly up tempo! There is the old ‘hillbilly’ sawing fiddles on the self explanatory Wanderin’ whilst Rogers Park is a study in loneliness set to a slow country rock tempo.
It is generally an album that oozes loneliness and regret but never without a little hope. He certainly has the talent to go with that hope and he should feel great pride at producing what is now his fourth album in a row that expresses his great versatility and talent.
www.justintownesearle.com
www.myspace.com/justintownesearle
VARIOUS ARTISTS – STRANGE COUNTRY
2006
3***
It seems ridiculous but it was only whilst trying to sort out a mountain of c.d’s that I really should have reviewed several years ago, that I discovered this compilation. The title obviously did it’s job and grabbed my attention, albeit a little too late! I usually keep compilations for radio, car or mp3 player but rarely listen to them in the home. In a weak moment I decided to play it and was instantly impressed by how disjointed it is! That would normally be a negative but in this case it is most definitely positive.
There are a few personal favourites such as the fabulous So much wine by the Handsome Family, In a misty morning by the late incomparable Gene Clark and the eerie Ramblin’ man by the late great Hank Williams. There are many other gems, in fact all tracks have their merits even if some are less essential than others. There was even one definitely strange song by someone I would never have expected it from, Porter Wagoner. The song in question is The rubber room a far from easy listening tale of insanity which he actually wrote at least four decades ago. Special mention for the hugely talented Grey DeLisle successfully converting Bohemian Rhapsody into a country song!
Certainly not an essential compilation, but some of the tracks are and someone has put a lot of thought intoputting these songs together.
Tracklist:-
1Ballad of Cable Hogue - Calexico 3:31
2So Much Wine - Handsome Family 3:48
3The Rubber Room - Porter Wagoner 2:42
4Dirty Horse - Gram Rabbit 3:48
5Black Mountain - Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell 3:09
6Beneath the Rose - Micah P. Hinson 2:58
7In a Misty Morning - Gene Clark 4:56
8Outta My Head - M. Ward 2:51
9Crush in the Ghetto - Jolie Holland 3:00
10Spirit Ditch - Sparklehorse 3:23
11Train Under Water - Bright Eyes 6:04
12Shiver - Giant Sand 4:01
13The Long Black Veil (Live)- Johnny Cash 2:48
14Bohemian Rhapsody - Grey DeLisle 3:42
15Rock Bottom Riser - Smog 5:43
16Time of the Preacher - Willie Nelson 2:27
17Muerto County - Puerto Muerto 2:46
18Ramblin' Man - Hank Williams 3:02
3***
It seems ridiculous but it was only whilst trying to sort out a mountain of c.d’s that I really should have reviewed several years ago, that I discovered this compilation. The title obviously did it’s job and grabbed my attention, albeit a little too late! I usually keep compilations for radio, car or mp3 player but rarely listen to them in the home. In a weak moment I decided to play it and was instantly impressed by how disjointed it is! That would normally be a negative but in this case it is most definitely positive.
There are a few personal favourites such as the fabulous So much wine by the Handsome Family, In a misty morning by the late incomparable Gene Clark and the eerie Ramblin’ man by the late great Hank Williams. There are many other gems, in fact all tracks have their merits even if some are less essential than others. There was even one definitely strange song by someone I would never have expected it from, Porter Wagoner. The song in question is The rubber room a far from easy listening tale of insanity which he actually wrote at least four decades ago. Special mention for the hugely talented Grey DeLisle successfully converting Bohemian Rhapsody into a country song!
Certainly not an essential compilation, but some of the tracks are and someone has put a lot of thought intoputting these songs together.
Tracklist:-
1Ballad of Cable Hogue - Calexico 3:31
2So Much Wine - Handsome Family 3:48
3The Rubber Room - Porter Wagoner 2:42
4Dirty Horse - Gram Rabbit 3:48
5Black Mountain - Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell 3:09
6Beneath the Rose - Micah P. Hinson 2:58
7In a Misty Morning - Gene Clark 4:56
8Outta My Head - M. Ward 2:51
9Crush in the Ghetto - Jolie Holland 3:00
10Spirit Ditch - Sparklehorse 3:23
11Train Under Water - Bright Eyes 6:04
12Shiver - Giant Sand 4:01
13The Long Black Veil (Live)- Johnny Cash 2:48
14Bohemian Rhapsody - Grey DeLisle 3:42
15Rock Bottom Riser - Smog 5:43
16Time of the Preacher - Willie Nelson 2:27
17Muerto County - Puerto Muerto 2:46
18Ramblin' Man - Hank Williams 3:02
FRANK FAIRFIELD
2009 – Tompkins Square
3.5***
A lot has been said about Frank Fairfield copying old time music as a sales gimmick, when what he is actually doing is recreating the music he and so many others (me included) love. A master of banjo, guitar and fiddle he has studied old time, folk, hillbilly and blues music all his life. Why shouldn’t he play the music he loves? Nowadays we are able to hear digitalized, cleaned up versions of the originals but it is also excellent to hear a young musician bringing the songs and style more into the public domain. Listening to this album could get the uninitiated to start looking up the originals, hardly a negative. I have listened to old English folk singers who refuse to modernize because they feel keeping the tradition is important to our heritage and they, in the main, are given huge credit for not ‘selling out’. Fairfield should be given the same credit for trying to achieve similar in U.S. country, folk and blues.
All of the songs on this album are traditional, some famous, others less so but all given the same sparse treatment as many of the original versions. He attacks each song with power, passion and incredible musical ability ensuring it comes across as very much a labour of love. Actually it is probably misleading to say he is playing these songs as they were originally recorded. A few of the old time recordings sound entirely different to Fairfields versions in as much as there were a number of players on each, rather than just soloists, and they had entirely different arrangements and instrumentation. His style has more in common with artists such as Dock Boggs or Frank Hutchison, yet both these men were renowned in the main as ‘Blues musicians’. Maybe it’s about time someone came along who just played the songs he loved in a style he is comfortable with irrespective of genre!
It is not an album where highlights are easy to choose, all tracks having their merits. However, the first track Nine pound hammer, with his incredible banjo playing and his eerie vocals is as good as any version I can remember, whilst the fiddle instrumental of The blackberry blossoms has an authentic front parlour feel to it that is quite haunting. I could go on and on about each song, but you should buy the album and listen for yourself. If you haven’t heard the songs before look up the originals; you may find a whole new/old musical world opening up to you!
Tracklist:-
1 Nine Pound Hammer
2 Call Me a Dog When I'm Gone
3 The Blackberry Blossoms
4 Cumberland Gap
5 The Dying Cowboy
6 John Hardy
7 To the Sweet Sunny South
8 The Train That Took My Girl from Town
9 Hesitating Blues
10 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
11 Old Paint
ww.myspace.com\frankfairfield
3.5***
A lot has been said about Frank Fairfield copying old time music as a sales gimmick, when what he is actually doing is recreating the music he and so many others (me included) love. A master of banjo, guitar and fiddle he has studied old time, folk, hillbilly and blues music all his life. Why shouldn’t he play the music he loves? Nowadays we are able to hear digitalized, cleaned up versions of the originals but it is also excellent to hear a young musician bringing the songs and style more into the public domain. Listening to this album could get the uninitiated to start looking up the originals, hardly a negative. I have listened to old English folk singers who refuse to modernize because they feel keeping the tradition is important to our heritage and they, in the main, are given huge credit for not ‘selling out’. Fairfield should be given the same credit for trying to achieve similar in U.S. country, folk and blues.
All of the songs on this album are traditional, some famous, others less so but all given the same sparse treatment as many of the original versions. He attacks each song with power, passion and incredible musical ability ensuring it comes across as very much a labour of love. Actually it is probably misleading to say he is playing these songs as they were originally recorded. A few of the old time recordings sound entirely different to Fairfields versions in as much as there were a number of players on each, rather than just soloists, and they had entirely different arrangements and instrumentation. His style has more in common with artists such as Dock Boggs or Frank Hutchison, yet both these men were renowned in the main as ‘Blues musicians’. Maybe it’s about time someone came along who just played the songs he loved in a style he is comfortable with irrespective of genre!
It is not an album where highlights are easy to choose, all tracks having their merits. However, the first track Nine pound hammer, with his incredible banjo playing and his eerie vocals is as good as any version I can remember, whilst the fiddle instrumental of The blackberry blossoms has an authentic front parlour feel to it that is quite haunting. I could go on and on about each song, but you should buy the album and listen for yourself. If you haven’t heard the songs before look up the originals; you may find a whole new/old musical world opening up to you!
Tracklist:-
1 Nine Pound Hammer
2 Call Me a Dog When I'm Gone
3 The Blackberry Blossoms
4 Cumberland Gap
5 The Dying Cowboy
6 John Hardy
7 To the Sweet Sunny South
8 The Train That Took My Girl from Town
9 Hesitating Blues
10 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
11 Old Paint
ww.myspace.com\frankfairfield
BUZZARD HOLLOW BOYS – MOONSHINE, REMORSE, REDEMPTION
2010 – Self released
3.5***
This album seems to cover many roots styles ranging from blues, western swing, roots rock and at times an almost gothic country as well as a little folk and it does them all incredibly well. As well as giving the album some variety it also works as a disadvantage in making it difficult to categorise and therefore problematic to promote, although alt. country may be the wisest place to put them! They are certainly an alternative to much of the bland clean cut country that the big record companies tend to promote!
The playing is quite exceptional as are the vocals of Tim Anderson who also plays guitar, in fact he seems able to handle any style with total conviction. This is some achievement especially when considering that most of the traditional songs on this album are well known to roots music afficianados and therefore, difficult to carry off unless you bring plenty of quality, which the whole band do. As well as the aforementioned Anderson there is also Jeff Saine on pedal steel, lap steel, accordion and banjo. Sonny Lane is on bass and Kurt Dressell electric guitar. They have been playing together for about 20 years and it shows in their quality and tightness as a unit although for some indiscernible reason this is their first album.
In mentioning some of the song highlights it should be noted that every track is well worth listening to. The blues of Banty rooster blues is unusual for including steel guitar in the mix although it works really well, almost converting this old classic into a country song. There are a couple of ‘cowboy ballads’ in Kentucky moonshiner and Diamond Joe, both reminiscent of Dave Alvin at his moody best. Windsboro cotton mill blues is basically western swing but with an accordion included! There is also the eerie old time country folk of Who killed poor Robin that is quite haunting as is the ‘gothic country’ of Everglades. Finally there is also the roots rock of Bill Baetty and the western swing of, amongst others, Goin’ where the chilly winds don’t blow, Pick poor Robin clean and the now classic Sue cow.
The band deserve to succeed through their sheer bloody mindedness in sticking together for so long and the huge musical quality they will bring to the remainder of their musical careers. No thematic style but a really good album and who knows maybe they’ve developed a style of their own in versatility!
www.myspace.com\buzzardhollowboys
3.5***
This album seems to cover many roots styles ranging from blues, western swing, roots rock and at times an almost gothic country as well as a little folk and it does them all incredibly well. As well as giving the album some variety it also works as a disadvantage in making it difficult to categorise and therefore problematic to promote, although alt. country may be the wisest place to put them! They are certainly an alternative to much of the bland clean cut country that the big record companies tend to promote!
The playing is quite exceptional as are the vocals of Tim Anderson who also plays guitar, in fact he seems able to handle any style with total conviction. This is some achievement especially when considering that most of the traditional songs on this album are well known to roots music afficianados and therefore, difficult to carry off unless you bring plenty of quality, which the whole band do. As well as the aforementioned Anderson there is also Jeff Saine on pedal steel, lap steel, accordion and banjo. Sonny Lane is on bass and Kurt Dressell electric guitar. They have been playing together for about 20 years and it shows in their quality and tightness as a unit although for some indiscernible reason this is their first album.
In mentioning some of the song highlights it should be noted that every track is well worth listening to. The blues of Banty rooster blues is unusual for including steel guitar in the mix although it works really well, almost converting this old classic into a country song. There are a couple of ‘cowboy ballads’ in Kentucky moonshiner and Diamond Joe, both reminiscent of Dave Alvin at his moody best. Windsboro cotton mill blues is basically western swing but with an accordion included! There is also the eerie old time country folk of Who killed poor Robin that is quite haunting as is the ‘gothic country’ of Everglades. Finally there is also the roots rock of Bill Baetty and the western swing of, amongst others, Goin’ where the chilly winds don’t blow, Pick poor Robin clean and the now classic Sue cow.
The band deserve to succeed through their sheer bloody mindedness in sticking together for so long and the huge musical quality they will bring to the remainder of their musical careers. No thematic style but a really good album and who knows maybe they’ve developed a style of their own in versatility!
www.myspace.com\buzzardhollowboys
WATER TOWER BUCKET BOYS – SOLE KITCHEN
2010 –
4****
Any band worth their salt should be better live than on record! This term certainly epitomizes the Bucket Boys and yet this really is an excellent second album. Their last (they’ve made four in all) also had a four star rating so their standards are consistently high. This album is easy to put under the alt.country banner whilst sub genres include old time, hillbilly, bluegrass and even punk, yet not one of these terms really sums them up. As with their live work, this album has an appealing ramshackle edginess to it. Not untidy, just not in line with the uniformity and histrionics that besets most bluegrass bands.
The band is made up of Kenny Feinstein on guitar, mandolin, harmonica, fiddle, vocals, Josh Rabie, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, vocals, Cory Goldman on banjo, guitar and vocals and finally Walter Spencer on bass and vocals.
The songs are all Bucket Boys originals and despite the fact that their previous offering contained mainly classic traditional songs this album loses nothing in comparison. The singing always has an untutored edge to it as do the harmonies, which helps to avoid the pitfall of sounding like the other bands in this flexible genre, whilst their playing is always exemplary. Highlights include Crooked road with it’s tale of illicit booze, the bouncy, slightly comedic Bread with it’s sawing fiddle setting the pace. There are a couple of excellent instrumentals in London breakdown with it’s brilliant mandolin lead and the breathtakingly speedy fiddle & banjo playing of Blackbird pickin’ at a squirrel, which would be looked on as a great ‘front porch hoedown’had it been written 80 years ago! Sunday night roast, as with most of the other songs is just so evocative of the old time stringbands despite the modern sounding vocals. I could go on and on but won’t! Give yourself a real roots music treat and purchase the album. Old time stringband meets modern bluegrass, but most definitely with an alt. country edge!
www.watertowerbucketboys.com
www.myspace.com/watertowerbucketboys
4****
Any band worth their salt should be better live than on record! This term certainly epitomizes the Bucket Boys and yet this really is an excellent second album. Their last (they’ve made four in all) also had a four star rating so their standards are consistently high. This album is easy to put under the alt.country banner whilst sub genres include old time, hillbilly, bluegrass and even punk, yet not one of these terms really sums them up. As with their live work, this album has an appealing ramshackle edginess to it. Not untidy, just not in line with the uniformity and histrionics that besets most bluegrass bands.
The band is made up of Kenny Feinstein on guitar, mandolin, harmonica, fiddle, vocals, Josh Rabie, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, vocals, Cory Goldman on banjo, guitar and vocals and finally Walter Spencer on bass and vocals.
The songs are all Bucket Boys originals and despite the fact that their previous offering contained mainly classic traditional songs this album loses nothing in comparison. The singing always has an untutored edge to it as do the harmonies, which helps to avoid the pitfall of sounding like the other bands in this flexible genre, whilst their playing is always exemplary. Highlights include Crooked road with it’s tale of illicit booze, the bouncy, slightly comedic Bread with it’s sawing fiddle setting the pace. There are a couple of excellent instrumentals in London breakdown with it’s brilliant mandolin lead and the breathtakingly speedy fiddle & banjo playing of Blackbird pickin’ at a squirrel, which would be looked on as a great ‘front porch hoedown’had it been written 80 years ago! Sunday night roast, as with most of the other songs is just so evocative of the old time stringbands despite the modern sounding vocals. I could go on and on but won’t! Give yourself a real roots music treat and purchase the album. Old time stringband meets modern bluegrass, but most definitely with an alt. country edge!
www.watertowerbucketboys.com
www.myspace.com/watertowerbucketboys
THE R.G. MORRISON – FAREWELL MY LOVELY
2010 – Loose Music
2.5**
There is an obliqueness to the songs on this folksy album as it meanders pleasantly along without really going anywhere, in much the same way as the classic ‘Astral weeks’ but lacking the quality, if not a certain amount of experimentation. The experimentation is probably this albums saving grace. Not that there is a huge amount, just enough for the album to rise above more mundane folksy albums. It’s terribly difficult to avoid subjectivity because it just doesn’t appeal to me and yet in some indefinable way (to me at least) it seems so close to being an excellent album. The playing is good, the lead vocals and harmonies are exceptional but the whole thing seems to lack soul. The folksy themes are generally of life in a microcosm albeit one with a lot of thought being put into its tales of love lost and its slightly angular approach to that baffling subject! The instrumentation is generally sparse, although there is a slight lift on a couple of tracks with what, in the context of this album, seems almost grungy guitar added, there is a little brass, violin and lots of acoustic guitar, all excellently played.
R.G. obviously has an abundance of talent and I dearly wanted to like this album more. The feeling I get at each listening is that there is too much restraint being used, rather than trusting his talent and just going for it! Maybe hearing the songs live would lead to a reassessment. I certainly hope so.
www.myspace.com/thergmorrison
2.5**
There is an obliqueness to the songs on this folksy album as it meanders pleasantly along without really going anywhere, in much the same way as the classic ‘Astral weeks’ but lacking the quality, if not a certain amount of experimentation. The experimentation is probably this albums saving grace. Not that there is a huge amount, just enough for the album to rise above more mundane folksy albums. It’s terribly difficult to avoid subjectivity because it just doesn’t appeal to me and yet in some indefinable way (to me at least) it seems so close to being an excellent album. The playing is good, the lead vocals and harmonies are exceptional but the whole thing seems to lack soul. The folksy themes are generally of life in a microcosm albeit one with a lot of thought being put into its tales of love lost and its slightly angular approach to that baffling subject! The instrumentation is generally sparse, although there is a slight lift on a couple of tracks with what, in the context of this album, seems almost grungy guitar added, there is a little brass, violin and lots of acoustic guitar, all excellently played.
R.G. obviously has an abundance of talent and I dearly wanted to like this album more. The feeling I get at each listening is that there is too much restraint being used, rather than trusting his talent and just going for it! Maybe hearing the songs live would lead to a reassessment. I certainly hope so.
www.myspace.com/thergmorrison
WATERMELON SLIM - RINGERS
2010 - Northern Blues Music
3***
The continuing eclectic, country music journey, but without leaving the blues too far behind!
Slim (Bill Homans) covers pretty much all bases in rural roots music on this album. He started out as a country bluesman and, indeed was much feted, but in recent times he seems to be moving in a more countryish direction. His last album ESCAPE FROM THE CHICKEN COOP started this slight diversion and this current offering takes it a step further. There is some beautiful slide guitar throughout and some lovely atmospheric steel, but with his gruff vocals there is always that bluesy, countryish honky tonk feeling, despite the mainly classic country instrumentation.
There are some excellent songs, not least of which is Jimmy Buffets He went to Paris which Slim invests with all the sorrow and tragedy that the story demands. There is a protest about the lessening of the importance in the modern world of trains in End of the line, his self written slightly twisted gospel of Please take this cup, and the dangers of idolatory in No way to reach Nirvana, which namechecks the late Kurt Cobain. There are classic honky tonk songs, a cowboy ballad or two, truck driving songs, even two timing songs including the gorgeous Cowboys are common as sin, in fact just about every type of song that inhabits this bluesy country genre.
Most of the musicians used on the album are from Nashville but there is none of the glossy sheen normally associated with that cities music. This is a good album, not hugely original in style but well worth a listen and if this journey continues, promises much for his next album.
www.watermelonslim.com
3***
The continuing eclectic, country music journey, but without leaving the blues too far behind!
Slim (Bill Homans) covers pretty much all bases in rural roots music on this album. He started out as a country bluesman and, indeed was much feted, but in recent times he seems to be moving in a more countryish direction. His last album ESCAPE FROM THE CHICKEN COOP started this slight diversion and this current offering takes it a step further. There is some beautiful slide guitar throughout and some lovely atmospheric steel, but with his gruff vocals there is always that bluesy, countryish honky tonk feeling, despite the mainly classic country instrumentation.
There are some excellent songs, not least of which is Jimmy Buffets He went to Paris which Slim invests with all the sorrow and tragedy that the story demands. There is a protest about the lessening of the importance in the modern world of trains in End of the line, his self written slightly twisted gospel of Please take this cup, and the dangers of idolatory in No way to reach Nirvana, which namechecks the late Kurt Cobain. There are classic honky tonk songs, a cowboy ballad or two, truck driving songs, even two timing songs including the gorgeous Cowboys are common as sin, in fact just about every type of song that inhabits this bluesy country genre.
Most of the musicians used on the album are from Nashville but there is none of the glossy sheen normally associated with that cities music. This is a good album, not hugely original in style but well worth a listen and if this journey continues, promises much for his next album.
www.watermelonslim.com
SCREEN DOOR PORCH
2010 - Screen Door Porch
4****
A true American roots album.
Seadar Rose & Aaron Davis, a partnership made in heavan, or at least Austin, Texas, which any Texan will tell you are one and the same! Both Rose and Davis have worked with various other people on other unrelated projects, but it is this diversity that gives the album much of its appeal. It covers everything from alt.folk to blues and alt.country, with even a slight jazziness on a couple of tracks and that's without even mentioning vaudeville! Virtually all of the melodies are easy on the ear and stick in the memory but without ever descending into easy listening. This is avoided by the fact that many of the songs are tales of life and its at times, harsh realities, particularly in the case of Rose's mournfully eerie Blow away. Of course, not all of these beautifully written stories are so serious. Davis's Ramblin' around has plenty of humour as evidenced by lines such as, '....... I looked at her bum and I looked at my shoe. And realised her bum is prettier than my shoe.' (I think this is probably a 'bum' as interpreted in England rather than America!) Not deeply meaningful but just another example of this albums melange of styles and ideas!
Seadar Roses' vocals have the almost languid drawl of Lucinda Williams, but with more range and expression as evidenced by her own beautiful Cold mountain breath, whilst Aaron Davis can at times sounds like a Whiskeytown era Ryan Adams with his ability to play around with the emotions and tone. Their harmonising and support on each others songs is responsible for the various styles working so well together and enabling their differing songwriting directions to give the album an almost thematic feel. This album is a really good example of the instrumentation being used to highlight rather than overpower the songs, with the playing of guitars, fiddles and steel guitar being of the highest quality, but never overpowering. It would probably not have held together so well if the songs had been buried by the density of too many instruments. A good example of less being more! The production has great depth and openness giving even the sparse acoustic songs an almost epic nature. All of the songs are strong but probably the most unusual is the almost 'vaudevillian' polka of Zemurray, whilst Rose's Gold is beautifully sensuous and their co-written Morning sun seems to be almost comforting in the way it meanders pleasantly along! All in all a highly diverse and listenable album that possibly shouldn't work but most definitely does!
www.screendoorporch.com
4****
A true American roots album.
Seadar Rose & Aaron Davis, a partnership made in heavan, or at least Austin, Texas, which any Texan will tell you are one and the same! Both Rose and Davis have worked with various other people on other unrelated projects, but it is this diversity that gives the album much of its appeal. It covers everything from alt.folk to blues and alt.country, with even a slight jazziness on a couple of tracks and that's without even mentioning vaudeville! Virtually all of the melodies are easy on the ear and stick in the memory but without ever descending into easy listening. This is avoided by the fact that many of the songs are tales of life and its at times, harsh realities, particularly in the case of Rose's mournfully eerie Blow away. Of course, not all of these beautifully written stories are so serious. Davis's Ramblin' around has plenty of humour as evidenced by lines such as, '....... I looked at her bum and I looked at my shoe. And realised her bum is prettier than my shoe.' (I think this is probably a 'bum' as interpreted in England rather than America!) Not deeply meaningful but just another example of this albums melange of styles and ideas!
Seadar Roses' vocals have the almost languid drawl of Lucinda Williams, but with more range and expression as evidenced by her own beautiful Cold mountain breath, whilst Aaron Davis can at times sounds like a Whiskeytown era Ryan Adams with his ability to play around with the emotions and tone. Their harmonising and support on each others songs is responsible for the various styles working so well together and enabling their differing songwriting directions to give the album an almost thematic feel. This album is a really good example of the instrumentation being used to highlight rather than overpower the songs, with the playing of guitars, fiddles and steel guitar being of the highest quality, but never overpowering. It would probably not have held together so well if the songs had been buried by the density of too many instruments. A good example of less being more! The production has great depth and openness giving even the sparse acoustic songs an almost epic nature. All of the songs are strong but probably the most unusual is the almost 'vaudevillian' polka of Zemurray, whilst Rose's Gold is beautifully sensuous and their co-written Morning sun seems to be almost comforting in the way it meanders pleasantly along! All in all a highly diverse and listenable album that possibly shouldn't work but most definitely does!
www.screendoorporch.com
SAD IRON MUSIC
2010
4****
A terrific return from a man who should be a household name!
Jason T. Lewis has the perfect voice for singing alternative country. I'm not quite sure exactly what I mean by that, but his vocals just feel right, in much the same way as the likes of Jay Farrar, Ryan Adams and Gary Louris etc. His former band, the much vaunted by 'No Depression' magazine, 'Star City' promised much but tantalisingly only made two albums and delivered on quality but not on longevity. Even nearly a decade later those two albums still compare well to just about anything else around and should really be on many 'Classic albums' lists. Maybe it's not too late, as they are still available from a few internet sources. Jason made one more album with the late Jay Bennett and then disappeared from the music business for many years. So how does his 'comeback' album measure up? I'm pleased to say, astonishingly well!
An album generally of songs about love and lifes ups and downs. The love songs are incredibly tender, even the tales of lost love, but the overall impression despite some of the drama is of love found and regardless of the feeling that it may not be permanent it is still worth trying to hold on to. Overall, realism rather than the illusion of any great optimism or expectations. Maybe he is saying that disappointment is easier to cope with than hope. It feels almost like a slightly veiled opening up of deeper feelings!
The songs are understated, when compared to Star City, and cleverly written, but with an edginess rather than any blandness.There are plenty of chiming guitars with tasteful use of steel and always that voice that seems to give a view into his soul. Even on the slower, mellow songs there is always something going on, though not always definable. Maybe it is just the atmosphere that is created because of his talent for writing and melody! There is the slow, moody love song of Ships on the sea, the beautiful accordian driven Tom Waits for no one, a scary tale of modern life in Red light and even the 'Star City' sounding Outta my heart. He was ably assisted by a group of friends who are all accomplished musicians, as well as his wife Theresa on keyboards.
Whilst I will probably always love the Star City albums, this is still an excellent return from a highly talented musician and songwriter.
www.sadironmusic.com
http://www.myspace.comsadironmuswic
4****
A terrific return from a man who should be a household name!
Jason T. Lewis has the perfect voice for singing alternative country. I'm not quite sure exactly what I mean by that, but his vocals just feel right, in much the same way as the likes of Jay Farrar, Ryan Adams and Gary Louris etc. His former band, the much vaunted by 'No Depression' magazine, 'Star City' promised much but tantalisingly only made two albums and delivered on quality but not on longevity. Even nearly a decade later those two albums still compare well to just about anything else around and should really be on many 'Classic albums' lists. Maybe it's not too late, as they are still available from a few internet sources. Jason made one more album with the late Jay Bennett and then disappeared from the music business for many years. So how does his 'comeback' album measure up? I'm pleased to say, astonishingly well!
An album generally of songs about love and lifes ups and downs. The love songs are incredibly tender, even the tales of lost love, but the overall impression despite some of the drama is of love found and regardless of the feeling that it may not be permanent it is still worth trying to hold on to. Overall, realism rather than the illusion of any great optimism or expectations. Maybe he is saying that disappointment is easier to cope with than hope. It feels almost like a slightly veiled opening up of deeper feelings!
The songs are understated, when compared to Star City, and cleverly written, but with an edginess rather than any blandness.There are plenty of chiming guitars with tasteful use of steel and always that voice that seems to give a view into his soul. Even on the slower, mellow songs there is always something going on, though not always definable. Maybe it is just the atmosphere that is created because of his talent for writing and melody! There is the slow, moody love song of Ships on the sea, the beautiful accordian driven Tom Waits for no one, a scary tale of modern life in Red light and even the 'Star City' sounding Outta my heart. He was ably assisted by a group of friends who are all accomplished musicians, as well as his wife Theresa on keyboards.
Whilst I will probably always love the Star City albums, this is still an excellent return from a highly talented musician and songwriter.
www.sadironmusic.com
http://www.myspace.comsadironmuswic
CALAVERAS - WATER HIGH
2010 - Sweet Home Records
3.5***
A highly original spaghetti western of alt. country!
Despite its preponderance of electrified instruments and use of trumpet, this album still has that backwoods eeriness that propells it towards the elemental edginess of some of the more obscure old time country music. There are similarities to Giant Sand, Calexico and even Lamchop in as much as it has that base that can't quite be tied down, and with Sebastian Mansch's deep pleasantly droning vocals sounds a lot like John Cale or even Nick Cave at his gloomy rather than depressing best!.
This is an unusual album that deserves to succeed for it's originality and slewed look at the edgy side of country music. There is also the fact that this seven piece band is German! They are made up of Sebastian Mansch on vocals and rhythm guitar, Robert Lassig on lead, rhythm and lap steel guitars. Robert Heinrich also alternates lead and rhythm guitar, Tom Mueller plays drums and accordian, Markus Altmann, cello and percussion, Cursten Harbeck on upright bass and finally Thomas Blasko on trumpet and percussion. The instrumentation gives a clue to the sound with most of the named instruments being used on every track. The songs, in the main are of lost love, murder and all round bad news, which very much creates a dark natural atmosphere but without any depression! The instrumental Evening light, is evocative of a lonely misty dark night in any city, almost like a famous T.V cigarette commercial of many years ago. All of the songs have that similar lonely feel, not surprising when you consider the big murder of a lover ballad The Ripper. Charger could easily be from a spaghetti western with it's trumpet and cello driven wide open space atmosphere and with an intermittent twanging guitar and haunting human whistle adding to the feel, then finally acoustic guitar to finish off. There are just the two instrumentals on the album and they are by no means the best of the tracks, there is the foot tapping Six shells, the start of Ride on feels grungy but then segues into an almost surf guitar, but still with the trumpet driving it on, whilst the first and title track gives warning of what to expect.
A really good album that repays repeated listening and is uplifting in a gloomy sort of way!
www.myspace.com\calaverasmusic
3.5***
A highly original spaghetti western of alt. country!
Despite its preponderance of electrified instruments and use of trumpet, this album still has that backwoods eeriness that propells it towards the elemental edginess of some of the more obscure old time country music. There are similarities to Giant Sand, Calexico and even Lamchop in as much as it has that base that can't quite be tied down, and with Sebastian Mansch's deep pleasantly droning vocals sounds a lot like John Cale or even Nick Cave at his gloomy rather than depressing best!.
This is an unusual album that deserves to succeed for it's originality and slewed look at the edgy side of country music. There is also the fact that this seven piece band is German! They are made up of Sebastian Mansch on vocals and rhythm guitar, Robert Lassig on lead, rhythm and lap steel guitars. Robert Heinrich also alternates lead and rhythm guitar, Tom Mueller plays drums and accordian, Markus Altmann, cello and percussion, Cursten Harbeck on upright bass and finally Thomas Blasko on trumpet and percussion. The instrumentation gives a clue to the sound with most of the named instruments being used on every track. The songs, in the main are of lost love, murder and all round bad news, which very much creates a dark natural atmosphere but without any depression! The instrumental Evening light, is evocative of a lonely misty dark night in any city, almost like a famous T.V cigarette commercial of many years ago. All of the songs have that similar lonely feel, not surprising when you consider the big murder of a lover ballad The Ripper. Charger could easily be from a spaghetti western with it's trumpet and cello driven wide open space atmosphere and with an intermittent twanging guitar and haunting human whistle adding to the feel, then finally acoustic guitar to finish off. There are just the two instrumentals on the album and they are by no means the best of the tracks, there is the foot tapping Six shells, the start of Ride on feels grungy but then segues into an almost surf guitar, but still with the trumpet driving it on, whilst the first and title track gives warning of what to expect.
A really good album that repays repeated listening and is uplifting in a gloomy sort of way!
www.myspace.com\calaverasmusic
PEAR RATZ - RAT OUTTA HELL
2010
3.5***
This is edgy, slightly dirty Texas country rock that, at times feels like what you could expect if you mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd with Waylon Jennings. A big rock sound with sometimes epic songs that include surprisingly tender ballads, which If you look at photos of the band you could be forgiven for wondering where any tender moments are coming from! However they are just as good at tender as they are at rocking out and they are slightly different to most bands, but not so different that you could consider them to be breaking new ground.
This four piece consists of Bob Strause on vocals and guitar, Rodd Daws vocals and bass, Joe Talbert on lead guitar and John Starek on drums and percussion. Strause does most of the writing and takes most of the lead vocals with his rasping slightly rough but full of character voice! The songs are taken from the generally harsh side of life such as dysfunctional families in Wildest branch, there are edgy ballads as in Sunset woman, and there is the lost love of Ozona. Alcohol abuse plays a big part such as in the gorgeous Bad side of me with it’s achingly beautiful steel guitar, plus other booze fueled songs The whiskey, and the bouncy current single, Nice, ice cold bottle of beer. There are the quite scary lyrics about jealousy in the epic story of marrying for money rather than love, Rose in paradise, and the cheating side of life in the self explanatory Cheater.
So, there are plenty of tempo changes, songs aplenty about the troubled side of life and excellent playing, singing and production and yet there is still that slightly nagging feeling that something is missing. Maybe it’s more a question that their occasionally over heavy, dense sound doesn’t appear to quite tie in with the songs, but they really are an excellent band that should get a fair degree of success. Maybe the Skynyrd/Waylon comment is a bit over the top but this, along with their previous offerings, is in the main a really good album.
www.pearratz.com
3.5***
This is edgy, slightly dirty Texas country rock that, at times feels like what you could expect if you mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd with Waylon Jennings. A big rock sound with sometimes epic songs that include surprisingly tender ballads, which If you look at photos of the band you could be forgiven for wondering where any tender moments are coming from! However they are just as good at tender as they are at rocking out and they are slightly different to most bands, but not so different that you could consider them to be breaking new ground.
This four piece consists of Bob Strause on vocals and guitar, Rodd Daws vocals and bass, Joe Talbert on lead guitar and John Starek on drums and percussion. Strause does most of the writing and takes most of the lead vocals with his rasping slightly rough but full of character voice! The songs are taken from the generally harsh side of life such as dysfunctional families in Wildest branch, there are edgy ballads as in Sunset woman, and there is the lost love of Ozona. Alcohol abuse plays a big part such as in the gorgeous Bad side of me with it’s achingly beautiful steel guitar, plus other booze fueled songs The whiskey, and the bouncy current single, Nice, ice cold bottle of beer. There are the quite scary lyrics about jealousy in the epic story of marrying for money rather than love, Rose in paradise, and the cheating side of life in the self explanatory Cheater.
So, there are plenty of tempo changes, songs aplenty about the troubled side of life and excellent playing, singing and production and yet there is still that slightly nagging feeling that something is missing. Maybe it’s more a question that their occasionally over heavy, dense sound doesn’t appear to quite tie in with the songs, but they really are an excellent band that should get a fair degree of success. Maybe the Skynyrd/Waylon comment is a bit over the top but this, along with their previous offerings, is in the main a really good album.
www.pearratz.com
CRAZY MOUNTAIN BILLIES – BADLANDS 2
2010
4.5****
I can say with absolute certainty that I have rarely heard anything quite like the Crazy Mountain Billies (or Andy P. Bormes as he is sometimes known!), in fact I can say with the same degree of certainty that no one else has either, unless, of course you delve back into some of the obscure 1920s ‘hillbilly string-bands!’ His nasally vocals have similarities to Danny Barnes of ‘Bad Livers’ fame, in fact some of the music is slightly reminiscent of that band but has very much it’s own individual take on bluegrass, country, punk, hillbilly!
All of the instrumentation is acoustic, some of which I don’t recognize, but the playing is exceptional from this multi talented multi instrumentalist. Included in the mix are various acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, kazoo, jews harp, dobro, fiddle, harmonica, basically all of the elements of Bluegrass, but without being classifiable as being part of that genre.
The album actually kicks off with a gorgeous, mellow, Calexico type instrumental in Dreamtime, which doesn’t actually prepare the listener in any way for what follows. What does follow is the speedy punked up bluegrass of Lost in the valley trees with the droning banjo underpinning the song and acoustic guitar keeping things going. There is even on one or two songs what used to be termed, a ‘Country and Western’ feel, particularly on the title track Badlands (part 2), but it is never allowed to descend into the mellow Marty Robbins territory, thanks in the main to Andy Bownes vocals! The pace, attack and originality of this album never wavers from start to finish with five of the tracks being instrumentals including the brilliantly atmospheric Travellin stranger, which weighs in at nearly eight minutes of excellent playing. Dreary drifters return, another terrific instrumental is evocative of, if not the 1950s & 60s T.V ‘Bonanza’ theme, at least a spaghetti western! The highlight for me is the tale of a rambling man, with a speeded up almost ‘Mull of kintyre’intro in Only beside the lonely riverside. Although there is no threat implied in the lyrics other than a man doing as he pleases and not being too concerned about the opinions of others, the song has a dark, eerie feel to it in much the same way as old Dock Boggs recordings, as does the already mentioned Travellin’ stranger. Quite easy to imagine a band of slightly eccentric hillbillies on a front porch somewhere, entertaining their neighbours to a quite breathtaking musical journey. Even the night noise of frogs and insects, which can sound a little over the top on some similar albums, is quite acceptable on this brilliant modern hillbilly mountain music album! This is the third Crazy Mountain Billies album and is at least the equal of it’s predecessor BADLANDS and the debut DON’T MOVE OR I’LL SHOOT but all are of a consistently high quality!
www.myspace.com/crazymountainbillies
4.5****
I can say with absolute certainty that I have rarely heard anything quite like the Crazy Mountain Billies (or Andy P. Bormes as he is sometimes known!), in fact I can say with the same degree of certainty that no one else has either, unless, of course you delve back into some of the obscure 1920s ‘hillbilly string-bands!’ His nasally vocals have similarities to Danny Barnes of ‘Bad Livers’ fame, in fact some of the music is slightly reminiscent of that band but has very much it’s own individual take on bluegrass, country, punk, hillbilly!
All of the instrumentation is acoustic, some of which I don’t recognize, but the playing is exceptional from this multi talented multi instrumentalist. Included in the mix are various acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, kazoo, jews harp, dobro, fiddle, harmonica, basically all of the elements of Bluegrass, but without being classifiable as being part of that genre.
The album actually kicks off with a gorgeous, mellow, Calexico type instrumental in Dreamtime, which doesn’t actually prepare the listener in any way for what follows. What does follow is the speedy punked up bluegrass of Lost in the valley trees with the droning banjo underpinning the song and acoustic guitar keeping things going. There is even on one or two songs what used to be termed, a ‘Country and Western’ feel, particularly on the title track Badlands (part 2), but it is never allowed to descend into the mellow Marty Robbins territory, thanks in the main to Andy Bownes vocals! The pace, attack and originality of this album never wavers from start to finish with five of the tracks being instrumentals including the brilliantly atmospheric Travellin stranger, which weighs in at nearly eight minutes of excellent playing. Dreary drifters return, another terrific instrumental is evocative of, if not the 1950s & 60s T.V ‘Bonanza’ theme, at least a spaghetti western! The highlight for me is the tale of a rambling man, with a speeded up almost ‘Mull of kintyre’intro in Only beside the lonely riverside. Although there is no threat implied in the lyrics other than a man doing as he pleases and not being too concerned about the opinions of others, the song has a dark, eerie feel to it in much the same way as old Dock Boggs recordings, as does the already mentioned Travellin’ stranger. Quite easy to imagine a band of slightly eccentric hillbillies on a front porch somewhere, entertaining their neighbours to a quite breathtaking musical journey. Even the night noise of frogs and insects, which can sound a little over the top on some similar albums, is quite acceptable on this brilliant modern hillbilly mountain music album! This is the third Crazy Mountain Billies album and is at least the equal of it’s predecessor BADLANDS and the debut DON’T MOVE OR I’LL SHOOT but all are of a consistently high quality!
www.myspace.com/crazymountainbillies
American Aquarium - SMALL TOWN HYMNS
2010 - Last Chance Records.
5*****
Will we hear a better album this year; probably not.
This is as good an album as I've heard this year and I've been trying, so far unsuccessfuly, to come up with one from last year to better it. Fairly obviously we all have different ideas on what defines excellence, but this album really is up there with the likes of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt and Whiskeytown as far as I'm concerned. The instrumentation always fits the songs that are generally sparse with the vocals evoking all that is best in earthy alt. country. Talking of the vocals, I'm finding it difficult to listen to the album without actually thinking the vocalist is a young Steve Earle that decided to head for the country instead of country rock! The playing is always exemplary as is the songwriting, with instrumentation somewhere between 'Sweetheart' era Byrds & the Eagles but with Steve Earle on vocals!
For the unitiated, the six piece band is made up of B.J.Barham on vocals and guitar, Zack Brown on piano, Bill Corbin on bass, Kevin McLain on drums, Ryan Johnson on lead guitar & last but far from least Whit Wright on pedal steel. Add to the instrumentation, occasional banjo, mandolin and fiddle and you have pretty much the perfect alt. country mix. But, importantly the whole album stands up as being completely natural and uncontrived. They are not trying to be anyone other than themselves. They obviously have their influences but they have their own style, that is essentially alt. country, but done in their own natural way as did the aforementioned greats of the genre.
The songs are of a high standard with track one Hurricane being a metaphor for a lost love ballad. So many bands seem to fall into the trap of overusing metaphor to the detriment of the story, in as much as it can be a problem trying to unravel what the story is actually about! Fortunately this albums metaphors stop at track one with all of the others being easy to understand stories of elopement as in Nothing to lose, then there is the haunting and haunted lost love eeriness of Meredith. This is followed by Killing me whichreally catches the hopelessness and heartrending of uncontrollable poverty & not knowing which way to turn. Basically, damned whatever you do. There are no filler tracks; every one having an edginess in its story that feels real and they consist of loving the wrong person, lost love, the futility and inhumanity of war. In fact it probably covers more thought provoking subjects than most other albums but always with an exceptional, almost hillbilly feel. A great album!
www.myspace.com/americanaquarium
5*****
Will we hear a better album this year; probably not.
This is as good an album as I've heard this year and I've been trying, so far unsuccessfuly, to come up with one from last year to better it. Fairly obviously we all have different ideas on what defines excellence, but this album really is up there with the likes of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt and Whiskeytown as far as I'm concerned. The instrumentation always fits the songs that are generally sparse with the vocals evoking all that is best in earthy alt. country. Talking of the vocals, I'm finding it difficult to listen to the album without actually thinking the vocalist is a young Steve Earle that decided to head for the country instead of country rock! The playing is always exemplary as is the songwriting, with instrumentation somewhere between 'Sweetheart' era Byrds & the Eagles but with Steve Earle on vocals!
For the unitiated, the six piece band is made up of B.J.Barham on vocals and guitar, Zack Brown on piano, Bill Corbin on bass, Kevin McLain on drums, Ryan Johnson on lead guitar & last but far from least Whit Wright on pedal steel. Add to the instrumentation, occasional banjo, mandolin and fiddle and you have pretty much the perfect alt. country mix. But, importantly the whole album stands up as being completely natural and uncontrived. They are not trying to be anyone other than themselves. They obviously have their influences but they have their own style, that is essentially alt. country, but done in their own natural way as did the aforementioned greats of the genre.
The songs are of a high standard with track one Hurricane being a metaphor for a lost love ballad. So many bands seem to fall into the trap of overusing metaphor to the detriment of the story, in as much as it can be a problem trying to unravel what the story is actually about! Fortunately this albums metaphors stop at track one with all of the others being easy to understand stories of elopement as in Nothing to lose, then there is the haunting and haunted lost love eeriness of Meredith. This is followed by Killing me whichreally catches the hopelessness and heartrending of uncontrollable poverty & not knowing which way to turn. Basically, damned whatever you do. There are no filler tracks; every one having an edginess in its story that feels real and they consist of loving the wrong person, lost love, the futility and inhumanity of war. In fact it probably covers more thought provoking subjects than most other albums but always with an exceptional, almost hillbilly feel. A great album!
www.myspace.com/americanaquarium
American Gun - DEVIL SHOWED ME HIS HAND
2010 - Jangly Records
3***
Two bands for the price of one; rock and alt. country!
This excellent band of musicians seem to veer from what is basically indie rock into alt. country, with barely a pause. That may well be a problem with their sales, it being difficult to categorise them; fine for them but hell for promoters, reviewers and c.d. sales! Whatever they play they play exceptionally well, from the almost full on rock, but with a passing nod to country, of 13 women, to the very next track, the gorgeous, classic alt. country of Girl in Texas. In many ways they are a slightly heavier rocking Uncle Tupelo, with denser instrumentation but with not quite the vocal qualities of Jay Farrar or Jeff Tweedy. Their songs are of love troubles, tender love, lost love & hopelessness, but whenever the themes are becoming too sentimental they seem to move into rocking overdrive; what seems a deliberate attempt to avoid too much sentimentality!
It is probably true to say that if you like the Drive by Truckers or Cracker you will think this band similar, but with a little more of a country edge. At times, just as you think they are going to really rock out they bring in the mandolin, fiddle, steel guitar or even banjo as on Make you happy. The album closer is the epic Are you ready, to the tune of Will the circle be unbroken which says a lot for where some of their roots lie but maybe not the tap root! It is usually a good idea if the next song is totally unpredictable and this album certainly has that in abundance with the musicianship of the highest level whether rocking or slowing it down.
Sadly, It may well be a case of too rock for country & too country for rock, but then again many bands have built successful careers on lesser cliches!
www.myspace.com/americangun
3***
Two bands for the price of one; rock and alt. country!
This excellent band of musicians seem to veer from what is basically indie rock into alt. country, with barely a pause. That may well be a problem with their sales, it being difficult to categorise them; fine for them but hell for promoters, reviewers and c.d. sales! Whatever they play they play exceptionally well, from the almost full on rock, but with a passing nod to country, of 13 women, to the very next track, the gorgeous, classic alt. country of Girl in Texas. In many ways they are a slightly heavier rocking Uncle Tupelo, with denser instrumentation but with not quite the vocal qualities of Jay Farrar or Jeff Tweedy. Their songs are of love troubles, tender love, lost love & hopelessness, but whenever the themes are becoming too sentimental they seem to move into rocking overdrive; what seems a deliberate attempt to avoid too much sentimentality!
It is probably true to say that if you like the Drive by Truckers or Cracker you will think this band similar, but with a little more of a country edge. At times, just as you think they are going to really rock out they bring in the mandolin, fiddle, steel guitar or even banjo as on Make you happy. The album closer is the epic Are you ready, to the tune of Will the circle be unbroken which says a lot for where some of their roots lie but maybe not the tap root! It is usually a good idea if the next song is totally unpredictable and this album certainly has that in abundance with the musicianship of the highest level whether rocking or slowing it down.
Sadly, It may well be a case of too rock for country & too country for rock, but then again many bands have built successful careers on lesser cliches!
www.myspace.com/americangun
Karen Elson - THE GHOST WHO WALKS
2010 - XL Recordings - XLCD493
4****
A supermodel makes an album! Definitely not Twiggy!
Born in Oldham, a highly succesful career as an in demand fashion model and now singer songwriter! The foreboding can be cut with a knife, but hold on, this is a brilliant first solo album that is highly evocative of that 'old weird America' peopled by strange hillbillies who seem to city folk to be uncivilised! Most of the songs are self written and whilst being married to Jack White is hardly a handicap, Karen Elson should be given as much credit as any other singer songwriter making their debut with a truly excellent album of unusual highly evocative songs.
The style of the album is a sort of folksy, alt. countryish 'old timey' in the songwriting, as is the instrumentation that amongst others includes steel guitar, fiddle, guitars, drums, 'barrelhouse' piano, various keyboards, accordian, cello, so not too tiny a budget then! Unsurprisingly the production is courtesy of her husband who certainly has a feel for this old style of music, although you can never tell how much influence he wields, despite his sure touch. Karen obviously also has a great feel for these roots music forms as well as having the talent and vision to see it through. Would the album have been different without her husbands help? Who knows and in the end, who cares?
The music starts with the title track The ghost who walks, which is just about the saddest murder ballad imaginable, with her haunting vocals getting every possible drop of eeriness and sorrow out of it. The final track is a bonus live version of the same song with just acoustic guitar backing and is no less powerful for it. In fact, most of the songs have elements of immense sorrow and hardship in them leading you to wonder at the life experiences that make it possible to write some of them. Even the lesser songs, of which there are several, have their merits; it's just that more has been spent on production on good ideas that have not quite reached fruition, yet every song has an easily remembered melody that overwhelms the shortcomings of the few. You can work out which ones for yourself. Further highlights are Rachelle Garniez's beautiful tale of summers end on Lunasa. There is also the harrowing Stolen roses, which could quite easily form a sequel to the haunting A thief at my door. The mournful cello that kicks off Mouths to feed makes it sound like some kind of elegy and in fact it could well be in as much as it hints at the sorrow of the great depression.The last laugh is certainly not her best song by any means but thanks to her beautifully expressive voice and the atmospheric steel guitar it is a ballad that is easy to listen to over and over again, as is the whole album!All inalla really powerful album that is going to be very difficult to follow, but attempting too should be interesting.
www.karenelson.com
4****
A supermodel makes an album! Definitely not Twiggy!
Born in Oldham, a highly succesful career as an in demand fashion model and now singer songwriter! The foreboding can be cut with a knife, but hold on, this is a brilliant first solo album that is highly evocative of that 'old weird America' peopled by strange hillbillies who seem to city folk to be uncivilised! Most of the songs are self written and whilst being married to Jack White is hardly a handicap, Karen Elson should be given as much credit as any other singer songwriter making their debut with a truly excellent album of unusual highly evocative songs.
The style of the album is a sort of folksy, alt. countryish 'old timey' in the songwriting, as is the instrumentation that amongst others includes steel guitar, fiddle, guitars, drums, 'barrelhouse' piano, various keyboards, accordian, cello, so not too tiny a budget then! Unsurprisingly the production is courtesy of her husband who certainly has a feel for this old style of music, although you can never tell how much influence he wields, despite his sure touch. Karen obviously also has a great feel for these roots music forms as well as having the talent and vision to see it through. Would the album have been different without her husbands help? Who knows and in the end, who cares?
The music starts with the title track The ghost who walks, which is just about the saddest murder ballad imaginable, with her haunting vocals getting every possible drop of eeriness and sorrow out of it. The final track is a bonus live version of the same song with just acoustic guitar backing and is no less powerful for it. In fact, most of the songs have elements of immense sorrow and hardship in them leading you to wonder at the life experiences that make it possible to write some of them. Even the lesser songs, of which there are several, have their merits; it's just that more has been spent on production on good ideas that have not quite reached fruition, yet every song has an easily remembered melody that overwhelms the shortcomings of the few. You can work out which ones for yourself. Further highlights are Rachelle Garniez's beautiful tale of summers end on Lunasa. There is also the harrowing Stolen roses, which could quite easily form a sequel to the haunting A thief at my door. The mournful cello that kicks off Mouths to feed makes it sound like some kind of elegy and in fact it could well be in as much as it hints at the sorrow of the great depression.The last laugh is certainly not her best song by any means but thanks to her beautifully expressive voice and the atmospheric steel guitar it is a ballad that is easy to listen to over and over again, as is the whole album!All inalla really powerful album that is going to be very difficult to follow, but attempting too should be interesting.
www.karenelson.com
Yarn - COME ON IN
2010 - UFO
4****
Third triumph in a row for the N.Y.C alt. country band!
At times Yarn can sound a little like Whiskeytown era Ryan Adams, at others, what could be termed 'classic country rock', such as the early Buritto's, both comparisons being intended as compliments! This album has an appealing loose ramshackleness of many of the better alternative country bands and totally lacks the polish that many bands (or record companies?) in this genre seem to think necessary. All of the songs are either written by Blake Christiana or co-written with Shane Spaulding, who also had several writing credits on their previous albums, 2007s YARN & 2008s EMPTY POCKETS. The songs tell stories of longing, lost love, travelling and home, in fact staples of the genre but always with Chritiana's own personal take on life's problems, enabling the album to avoid saminess and giving it an individual, fresh feel.
The riff on New York City found borrows from Elvis's version of Arthur Crudups My baby left me, possiblyshowing where at least some of their roots are to be found, although their song tells of the glories of the city rather than crying on a sleeve! The beautiful ballad Schenectady tells that you can leave home years in the past but it always remains with you wherever you go. These bars don't look too friendly probably sums up the songwriting in as much as you can almost feel you know the bar and could have been there on the night in question, with Christiana's languid vocals being particularly reminiscent of Ryan Adams! The beautiful Abilene is given a lovely mellow but powerful feel by the excellent harmonies and is underpinned by the steel guitar. In fact the writing of each song as well as the playing is of a consistently high standard with an excellent mix of mid to slow tempo songs.
The band is made up of the aforementioned Blake Christiana on lead vocals and guitar, Trevor MacArthur on backing vocals and guitar, Andrew Hendryx, mandolin and harmonica, Rod Hohl on electric guitar, dobro and vocals, Nick Bugel, bass and Robert Bonhomme, drums and percussion. All are highly accomplished musicians and have a feel for alt. country, too much having been made of the fact that they are based in Brooklyn N.Y.C. Proof if needed that it's the feel for the music, not the location that defines the quality.
http://yarnmusic.net
4****
Third triumph in a row for the N.Y.C alt. country band!
At times Yarn can sound a little like Whiskeytown era Ryan Adams, at others, what could be termed 'classic country rock', such as the early Buritto's, both comparisons being intended as compliments! This album has an appealing loose ramshackleness of many of the better alternative country bands and totally lacks the polish that many bands (or record companies?) in this genre seem to think necessary. All of the songs are either written by Blake Christiana or co-written with Shane Spaulding, who also had several writing credits on their previous albums, 2007s YARN & 2008s EMPTY POCKETS. The songs tell stories of longing, lost love, travelling and home, in fact staples of the genre but always with Chritiana's own personal take on life's problems, enabling the album to avoid saminess and giving it an individual, fresh feel.
The riff on New York City found borrows from Elvis's version of Arthur Crudups My baby left me, possiblyshowing where at least some of their roots are to be found, although their song tells of the glories of the city rather than crying on a sleeve! The beautiful ballad Schenectady tells that you can leave home years in the past but it always remains with you wherever you go. These bars don't look too friendly probably sums up the songwriting in as much as you can almost feel you know the bar and could have been there on the night in question, with Christiana's languid vocals being particularly reminiscent of Ryan Adams! The beautiful Abilene is given a lovely mellow but powerful feel by the excellent harmonies and is underpinned by the steel guitar. In fact the writing of each song as well as the playing is of a consistently high standard with an excellent mix of mid to slow tempo songs.
The band is made up of the aforementioned Blake Christiana on lead vocals and guitar, Trevor MacArthur on backing vocals and guitar, Andrew Hendryx, mandolin and harmonica, Rod Hohl on electric guitar, dobro and vocals, Nick Bugel, bass and Robert Bonhomme, drums and percussion. All are highly accomplished musicians and have a feel for alt. country, too much having been made of the fact that they are based in Brooklyn N.Y.C. Proof if needed that it's the feel for the music, not the location that defines the quality.
http://yarnmusic.net
Trampled by Turtles - PALOMINO
BanjoDad Records. BR07
5*****
A brilliant fifth album of acoustic punk/country/folk/hillbilly/stringband music! Phew!
There have been some great roots musicians hailing from the Duluth to Minneapolis area of Minnesota. From Minneapolis we've had bands such as Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks and Golden Smog amongst others, then from Duluth, about 60 miles away, comes Bob Dylan and Charlie Parr. The point is that none of the above are known for toeing the corporate line; in fact most play the music they want to play regardless of the consequences. Maybe it is the environment they've grown up in, but it certainly has its rewards for those of us that dislike the corporate version of roots music. Now we can add TRAMPLED BY TURTLES to these individuals. Their name, to me at least, conjured up a picture of an indie band that may have veered towards prog. rock and thought they were clever by doing so! Nothing could have been further from the truth. I've seen them described as a bluegrass band but this is such an understatement that it is not even worthy of consideration. They use instruments that are also used by bluegrass bands, but only because it suits their take on what is acoustic punked up old time stringband/hillbilly music set to modern songs with ageless themes. In feeling and the atmosphere they create their music is slightly reminiscent of early Uncle Tupelo. In fact bearing in mind the geography and their rock/punk backgrounds this is probably not as far fetched a comparison as some might think.Their songs, nearly all written by Dave Simonett, the exceptions being the two instrumentals, one by Erik Berry, the other by Dave Carroll, are slightly skewed tales of mistakes made, lost love, the harshness of life and the vain search for answers whilst always being aware that answers are never going to be found. There are many albums where the story is the key in each song, whilst with others it is the melody or perhaps the instrumentation or playing. This is an album where everything is of equal importance. At times the speed of their playing is quite breathtaking but unlike many bluegrass musicians never self indulgent, but then they slow it down with tempo changes to suit all tastes. It is all down to the quality of the musicians and their arranging abilities. Fairly obviously Simonett, being the songwriter and lead singer is the one that people will lock onto, but the other four band members are of equal importance. They are Tim Saxhaug on bass and vocals, Dave Carroll banjo and vocals, Eric Berry on mandolin and vocals and Ryan Young on fiddle. To my ears, all play with total confidence in their own and each others musical abilities, with the arrangements, which presumably they all had a hand in, giving perfect framing to each of the gorgeous songs. Whilst I've compared them to Uncle Tupelo, there are also similarities to the superb British band 'Southern Tenant Folk Union', in that they seem able to capture that eerie almost haunting atmosphere of 'that old weird America' that so evokes lifes struggles & travails. A truly great album!
www.trampledbyturtles.com
5*****
A brilliant fifth album of acoustic punk/country/folk/hillbilly/stringband music! Phew!
There have been some great roots musicians hailing from the Duluth to Minneapolis area of Minnesota. From Minneapolis we've had bands such as Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks and Golden Smog amongst others, then from Duluth, about 60 miles away, comes Bob Dylan and Charlie Parr. The point is that none of the above are known for toeing the corporate line; in fact most play the music they want to play regardless of the consequences. Maybe it is the environment they've grown up in, but it certainly has its rewards for those of us that dislike the corporate version of roots music. Now we can add TRAMPLED BY TURTLES to these individuals. Their name, to me at least, conjured up a picture of an indie band that may have veered towards prog. rock and thought they were clever by doing so! Nothing could have been further from the truth. I've seen them described as a bluegrass band but this is such an understatement that it is not even worthy of consideration. They use instruments that are also used by bluegrass bands, but only because it suits their take on what is acoustic punked up old time stringband/hillbilly music set to modern songs with ageless themes. In feeling and the atmosphere they create their music is slightly reminiscent of early Uncle Tupelo. In fact bearing in mind the geography and their rock/punk backgrounds this is probably not as far fetched a comparison as some might think.Their songs, nearly all written by Dave Simonett, the exceptions being the two instrumentals, one by Erik Berry, the other by Dave Carroll, are slightly skewed tales of mistakes made, lost love, the harshness of life and the vain search for answers whilst always being aware that answers are never going to be found. There are many albums where the story is the key in each song, whilst with others it is the melody or perhaps the instrumentation or playing. This is an album where everything is of equal importance. At times the speed of their playing is quite breathtaking but unlike many bluegrass musicians never self indulgent, but then they slow it down with tempo changes to suit all tastes. It is all down to the quality of the musicians and their arranging abilities. Fairly obviously Simonett, being the songwriter and lead singer is the one that people will lock onto, but the other four band members are of equal importance. They are Tim Saxhaug on bass and vocals, Dave Carroll banjo and vocals, Eric Berry on mandolin and vocals and Ryan Young on fiddle. To my ears, all play with total confidence in their own and each others musical abilities, with the arrangements, which presumably they all had a hand in, giving perfect framing to each of the gorgeous songs. Whilst I've compared them to Uncle Tupelo, there are also similarities to the superb British band 'Southern Tenant Folk Union', in that they seem able to capture that eerie almost haunting atmosphere of 'that old weird America' that so evokes lifes struggles & travails. A truly great album!
www.trampledbyturtles.com
Dark Hollow Bottling Company - GONE, GONE, GONE.
2010 - Self released.
4****
Excellent first album of Stringband alt.country folk!
This is an album of edgy, folksy, hillbilly, ramshackleness which shares styles to a large extent with elements of the Felice or Avett Brothers or even some of the old time stringbands of the 1920s and 1930s, and played almost entirely on acoustic instruments!
Their harmonies are excellent but they don't waste time trying to get them to blend seamlessly; they are more interested in the feel and atmosphere they are creating and to say there is an abundance of atmosphere is an understatement! That is not to say all of the harmonies are discordant. They do blend, but in an appealingly almost ramshackle way. The same with their excellent playing. There is nothing forced, it's almost like throwing the cards in the air & see how they land. Something that can only be done if the musicians have a high degree of competence as well as confidence. There is so much that is reminiscent of the old time stringbands. Even a couple of the songs, Kicking my dog around and Slew foot are traditional, but their own originals, whilst having language rooted in the twenty first century, can just as easily be imagined to be many decades old. Even the few songs of love are far from being overtly emotional ballads, as can be heard by listening to Nature girl! Almost as if they are frightened of revealing too much of their feelings. For example Strong man seems to be about hiding all emotions, as evidenced by the line from the chorus 'It's a strong man who cries alone, takes it on the chin when punches are thrown'. Consequently it should all be rather shallow but the album actually benefits from this attitude because everything feels real rather than contrived.
Most of the songs seem to relate to community & the world around them rather than any great introspection & whilst not of themselves funny, there is often a slightly humorous element but without the belly laughs! More a question of taking their music seriously but not necessarily themselves. Whilst this is a great first album I would guess the rewards of seeing them perform live would be even greater. Greg Klein with his slightly Dylanesque vocals takes the lead, also playing mandolin and guitar . He is well supported by Corey Ramsey on upright bass, banjo and guitar, Jim White on dobro and guitar, Adam Barber on double bass and beer bottle! Completing the line up is Riley Shryock on fiddle, guitar, squeeze box and washboard.
This genre seems to be producing many more of these young bands than for probably six or seven decades. Unfortunately, because everything has to be promoted to generate sales, they are usually classified as bluegrass. It is too simple and innacurate to describe them thus, but whatever we call them, long may bands such as this continue to play their immensely entertaining, high quality brand of roots music!
www.darkhollowbottlingcompany.com
4****
Excellent first album of Stringband alt.country folk!
This is an album of edgy, folksy, hillbilly, ramshackleness which shares styles to a large extent with elements of the Felice or Avett Brothers or even some of the old time stringbands of the 1920s and 1930s, and played almost entirely on acoustic instruments!
Their harmonies are excellent but they don't waste time trying to get them to blend seamlessly; they are more interested in the feel and atmosphere they are creating and to say there is an abundance of atmosphere is an understatement! That is not to say all of the harmonies are discordant. They do blend, but in an appealingly almost ramshackle way. The same with their excellent playing. There is nothing forced, it's almost like throwing the cards in the air & see how they land. Something that can only be done if the musicians have a high degree of competence as well as confidence. There is so much that is reminiscent of the old time stringbands. Even a couple of the songs, Kicking my dog around and Slew foot are traditional, but their own originals, whilst having language rooted in the twenty first century, can just as easily be imagined to be many decades old. Even the few songs of love are far from being overtly emotional ballads, as can be heard by listening to Nature girl! Almost as if they are frightened of revealing too much of their feelings. For example Strong man seems to be about hiding all emotions, as evidenced by the line from the chorus 'It's a strong man who cries alone, takes it on the chin when punches are thrown'. Consequently it should all be rather shallow but the album actually benefits from this attitude because everything feels real rather than contrived.
Most of the songs seem to relate to community & the world around them rather than any great introspection & whilst not of themselves funny, there is often a slightly humorous element but without the belly laughs! More a question of taking their music seriously but not necessarily themselves. Whilst this is a great first album I would guess the rewards of seeing them perform live would be even greater. Greg Klein with his slightly Dylanesque vocals takes the lead, also playing mandolin and guitar . He is well supported by Corey Ramsey on upright bass, banjo and guitar, Jim White on dobro and guitar, Adam Barber on double bass and beer bottle! Completing the line up is Riley Shryock on fiddle, guitar, squeeze box and washboard.
This genre seems to be producing many more of these young bands than for probably six or seven decades. Unfortunately, because everything has to be promoted to generate sales, they are usually classified as bluegrass. It is too simple and innacurate to describe them thus, but whatever we call them, long may bands such as this continue to play their immensely entertaining, high quality brand of roots music!
www.darkhollowbottlingcompany.com
Southern Tenant Folk Union - THE NEW FARMING SCENE
2010 - JohnnyRockRecords
5*****
A musician friend raised the question 'How can someone with a broad Scottish accent sing Bluegrass?' There are two points here. The Southern Tenants are not simply, maybe not even, a Bluegrass band, their sound coming from much further back. As to the Scottish accent. Surely in many ways this is a more authentic accent for the music than that of modern America. The roots of country music are not simply American, much of it being rooted in the British Isles and the rest of Europe. It was not even just Irish natives that migrated to the U.S. in the 19th century, but also Scottish people for whom the struggle to survive was becoming just too much and the gamble of the U.S at least gave them a chance. When they arrived with not much more than what they stood in, it was only small compact instruments, such as a fiddle, that they had been able to carry. They didn't suddenly change from their highland accents to American. The music didn't suddenly become country or bluegrass. It had to develop over a period of many decades along with their language and instrumentation, such as guitars and of course banjo. The banjo is traceable back to Africa rather than Europe and it could be argued it is the instrument most suited to the true American roots music rather than the glossy sanitised 'Nashville sounds'. Which brings me seamlessly to the Southern Tenant Folk Union!
The band is led by the excellent banjo playing, songwriter and vocalist Pat McGarvey. It is Pat's banjo that underpins the totally authentic old time sound of each of S.T.F.U. albums. He has played with many 'Americana' artists over the years including Sid Griffins 'Coal Porters', from their inception right up until he decided it was time to strike out and form the band he needed to enable his musical vision to come to fruition and the Southern Tenants were born. They made two excellent albums of 'modern old time music', then just a year ago several band members decided they wanted to go their own way including Oliver Talkes who handled much of the lead vocals. This meant Pat had to quite literally rebuild the band. He lives in Edinburgh with his family and knew many Scottish musicians who could bring something else to his music and whilst the direction remains the same there have been subtle changes as well as the unsubtle, but positive change in accents. This, because when listening to 'The new farming scene' alongside it's two predecessors there is a far more eerie musical atmosphere that seems to take the music even further back in time than the original lineup, whilst still having a twenty first century relevance. This is partly due to the edginess and almost inveterate sad mournfullness of the aforementioned accent. Put yourself in his position a hundred and fifty years ago. Despite the new life wouldn't you feel slightly sad or mournful at being driven from the land that you were rooted in, simply so that a landowner could make even better economic use of it? I suppose what I'm actually saying in an incredibly long winded way is that everything about this album has the mark of authenticity as opposed to revivalism! The timeless songs tell of lifes suffering, whether in the homeland or the new world and whether in times gone by or today.
Whilst the lineup has changed dramatically Pat McGarveys direction hasn't. The songs, that in the main would have been just as relevant one and a half centuries ago as today, are played in the modern concert hall, pub, club, but can easily be imagined being played on somebodys front porch or front room in the Appalachians of over a century ago.
Pat McGarveys songwriting, for it is he who penned nearly all of the songs on this album, is as it always has been, of a consistently high standard, although special mention must be made of one of the most beautiful ballads I can ever remember hearing. This is Let me wipe the tears from your eyes, with John Langan's heart rending lead vocals wringing every drop of emotion out of the song. If this is not scooped up by any number of 'Nashville superstars' I will not only be amazed, but also shocked at their missed opportunity! The harmonies throughout are incredible with the acapella Those little grains of sand being almost unsurpassable & TA9 having harmonies of a late 1960's Byrdsian quality!
Most of the songs are not only mourning the past, but also in a strange way the future. There are elements of hope for a world that will be better in the future but without any great expectations. I don't really want to analyse the songs any further because the whole album is so powerful that it should really be up to the listener to put their own interpretation on what they are listening to. Hopefully there will be many listeners, in fact anyone that has a love for roots music should purchase a copy and have their thoughts provoked!
The lineup of musicians on this album is:
Pat McGarvey - Banjo, Vox
Adam Bulley - Mandolin, Vox
Chris Purcell - Guitar, Vox
Silas Child - Double Bass
John Langan - Cajon, Vox
Jed Milroy - Backing Vox on track 10
Patsy Reid - Fiddle on tracks 1,3,9,10,11
Roddy Neilson - Fiddle on track 5, Backing vocal on track 4.
Cameron Henederson - Fiddle on tracks 1,2,6,7,8
Tracklist & credits
1 - South Ythsie 5:01 Trad. arr McGarvey
2 - TA9 3:33 McGarvey
3 – No Work Today 3:01 McGarvey
4 – Those Little Grains Of Sand 2:12 McGArvey
5 – The New Farming Scene 3:59 McGarvey/Roddy Neilson
6 – Let Me Wipe The Tears From Your Eyes 3:41 McGarvey
7 – Hardy 3:54 McGarvey
8 – The Right Time 4:57 Christopher Purcell
9 – Holding On/Beholden On 3:41 McGarvey
10 – Don’t Take No Notice 3:04 McGarvey
11 – Working Never Stays The Same 3:45 McGarvey
12 – Beyond The Door epilogue 1:02 McGarvey
5*****
A musician friend raised the question 'How can someone with a broad Scottish accent sing Bluegrass?' There are two points here. The Southern Tenants are not simply, maybe not even, a Bluegrass band, their sound coming from much further back. As to the Scottish accent. Surely in many ways this is a more authentic accent for the music than that of modern America. The roots of country music are not simply American, much of it being rooted in the British Isles and the rest of Europe. It was not even just Irish natives that migrated to the U.S. in the 19th century, but also Scottish people for whom the struggle to survive was becoming just too much and the gamble of the U.S at least gave them a chance. When they arrived with not much more than what they stood in, it was only small compact instruments, such as a fiddle, that they had been able to carry. They didn't suddenly change from their highland accents to American. The music didn't suddenly become country or bluegrass. It had to develop over a period of many decades along with their language and instrumentation, such as guitars and of course banjo. The banjo is traceable back to Africa rather than Europe and it could be argued it is the instrument most suited to the true American roots music rather than the glossy sanitised 'Nashville sounds'. Which brings me seamlessly to the Southern Tenant Folk Union!
The band is led by the excellent banjo playing, songwriter and vocalist Pat McGarvey. It is Pat's banjo that underpins the totally authentic old time sound of each of S.T.F.U. albums. He has played with many 'Americana' artists over the years including Sid Griffins 'Coal Porters', from their inception right up until he decided it was time to strike out and form the band he needed to enable his musical vision to come to fruition and the Southern Tenants were born. They made two excellent albums of 'modern old time music', then just a year ago several band members decided they wanted to go their own way including Oliver Talkes who handled much of the lead vocals. This meant Pat had to quite literally rebuild the band. He lives in Edinburgh with his family and knew many Scottish musicians who could bring something else to his music and whilst the direction remains the same there have been subtle changes as well as the unsubtle, but positive change in accents. This, because when listening to 'The new farming scene' alongside it's two predecessors there is a far more eerie musical atmosphere that seems to take the music even further back in time than the original lineup, whilst still having a twenty first century relevance. This is partly due to the edginess and almost inveterate sad mournfullness of the aforementioned accent. Put yourself in his position a hundred and fifty years ago. Despite the new life wouldn't you feel slightly sad or mournful at being driven from the land that you were rooted in, simply so that a landowner could make even better economic use of it? I suppose what I'm actually saying in an incredibly long winded way is that everything about this album has the mark of authenticity as opposed to revivalism! The timeless songs tell of lifes suffering, whether in the homeland or the new world and whether in times gone by or today.
Whilst the lineup has changed dramatically Pat McGarveys direction hasn't. The songs, that in the main would have been just as relevant one and a half centuries ago as today, are played in the modern concert hall, pub, club, but can easily be imagined being played on somebodys front porch or front room in the Appalachians of over a century ago.
Pat McGarveys songwriting, for it is he who penned nearly all of the songs on this album, is as it always has been, of a consistently high standard, although special mention must be made of one of the most beautiful ballads I can ever remember hearing. This is Let me wipe the tears from your eyes, with John Langan's heart rending lead vocals wringing every drop of emotion out of the song. If this is not scooped up by any number of 'Nashville superstars' I will not only be amazed, but also shocked at their missed opportunity! The harmonies throughout are incredible with the acapella Those little grains of sand being almost unsurpassable & TA9 having harmonies of a late 1960's Byrdsian quality!
Most of the songs are not only mourning the past, but also in a strange way the future. There are elements of hope for a world that will be better in the future but without any great expectations. I don't really want to analyse the songs any further because the whole album is so powerful that it should really be up to the listener to put their own interpretation on what they are listening to. Hopefully there will be many listeners, in fact anyone that has a love for roots music should purchase a copy and have their thoughts provoked!
The lineup of musicians on this album is:
Pat McGarvey - Banjo, Vox
Adam Bulley - Mandolin, Vox
Chris Purcell - Guitar, Vox
Silas Child - Double Bass
John Langan - Cajon, Vox
Jed Milroy - Backing Vox on track 10
Patsy Reid - Fiddle on tracks 1,3,9,10,11
Roddy Neilson - Fiddle on track 5, Backing vocal on track 4.
Cameron Henederson - Fiddle on tracks 1,2,6,7,8
Tracklist & credits
1 - South Ythsie 5:01 Trad. arr McGarvey
2 - TA9 3:33 McGarvey
3 – No Work Today 3:01 McGarvey
4 – Those Little Grains Of Sand 2:12 McGArvey
5 – The New Farming Scene 3:59 McGarvey/Roddy Neilson
6 – Let Me Wipe The Tears From Your Eyes 3:41 McGarvey
7 – Hardy 3:54 McGarvey
8 – The Right Time 4:57 Christopher Purcell
9 – Holding On/Beholden On 3:41 McGarvey
10 – Don’t Take No Notice 3:04 McGarvey
11 – Working Never Stays The Same 3:45 McGarvey
12 – Beyond The Door epilogue 1:02 McGarvey
The Curst Sons – THE ORIGINAL AND GENUINE
Cat. Curst 4.
4.5 ****
The fourth and possibly best yet from a great Hillbilly Blues band
The themes on this album are of loss, death, murder and romance! Alright, romance is the odd one out and doesn't usually fit comfortably into this type of music but the Sons make it work. The reason for this is not only their originality, musicianship and sheer bloody mindedness when it comes to their music but also, in the case of this album, that all of the songs are written by the band. Often they will inject, if not humour, a little tongue in cheek element that says 'we take our music seriously, but not necessarily ourselves'. The lyrics come from lead singer and percussionist Willi Kerr who then passes them on to Tim Dunkerley (vocals, all manner of guitars and mandolin, all at times played with a slide, including mandolin!) and Dave Simner (vocals all manner of guitars and superb banjo playing) to play around with and come up with the music. Dave is oft described as the 'backbone' of the band, who keeps everything together and is never fazed by Tim's wild experimentation! This also describes their live sound, but apart from filling out the album with guest musicians on drums, bass, accordian and bull fiddle this disc is true to their live work.
The romance theme comes from the beautifully harmonised (with Kate Simner, daughter of Dave) Till I met you and a tale of elopement and it's consequences on the gorgeous Wild country. Hate (ain't it sad) is poignant and topical whilst Murder is a tale of love gone bad. The vocals and instrumentation of the eerie sad song Bang bang Billy could almost be a throwback to the early 'hillbilly' songs of the 1920s with it's instant terminal in/justice. There is also the comedic element of Ain't done it myself and the story of the man who lost everything, starting with his dog and ending with his own life in Never liked it. This song in particular shows up the beautiful banjo playing of Dave Simner.
This is certainly not a one paced album, with the tempo and mood changing with every song. And yet the whole album has the same driving elements propelling it along, with the use of percussion (particularly the rhythm pole), banjo and mandolin in use on the majority of tracks, thus binding everything together perfectly. Because all three men have a huge input into each song they know exactly what is needed in making this an excellent album with something of interest always happening. The album can be put into various categories of music, such as blues, folk, alt. country and country (at a pinch!). This variety could well have been a fatal disadvantage were it not for the fact that all of these various elements blend seamlessley, thanks to the skill of the band, and make an album that includes no filler.
www.thecurstsons.co.uk
4.5 ****
The fourth and possibly best yet from a great Hillbilly Blues band
The themes on this album are of loss, death, murder and romance! Alright, romance is the odd one out and doesn't usually fit comfortably into this type of music but the Sons make it work. The reason for this is not only their originality, musicianship and sheer bloody mindedness when it comes to their music but also, in the case of this album, that all of the songs are written by the band. Often they will inject, if not humour, a little tongue in cheek element that says 'we take our music seriously, but not necessarily ourselves'. The lyrics come from lead singer and percussionist Willi Kerr who then passes them on to Tim Dunkerley (vocals, all manner of guitars and mandolin, all at times played with a slide, including mandolin!) and Dave Simner (vocals all manner of guitars and superb banjo playing) to play around with and come up with the music. Dave is oft described as the 'backbone' of the band, who keeps everything together and is never fazed by Tim's wild experimentation! This also describes their live sound, but apart from filling out the album with guest musicians on drums, bass, accordian and bull fiddle this disc is true to their live work.
The romance theme comes from the beautifully harmonised (with Kate Simner, daughter of Dave) Till I met you and a tale of elopement and it's consequences on the gorgeous Wild country. Hate (ain't it sad) is poignant and topical whilst Murder is a tale of love gone bad. The vocals and instrumentation of the eerie sad song Bang bang Billy could almost be a throwback to the early 'hillbilly' songs of the 1920s with it's instant terminal in/justice. There is also the comedic element of Ain't done it myself and the story of the man who lost everything, starting with his dog and ending with his own life in Never liked it. This song in particular shows up the beautiful banjo playing of Dave Simner.
This is certainly not a one paced album, with the tempo and mood changing with every song. And yet the whole album has the same driving elements propelling it along, with the use of percussion (particularly the rhythm pole), banjo and mandolin in use on the majority of tracks, thus binding everything together perfectly. Because all three men have a huge input into each song they know exactly what is needed in making this an excellent album with something of interest always happening. The album can be put into various categories of music, such as blues, folk, alt. country and country (at a pinch!). This variety could well have been a fatal disadvantage were it not for the fact that all of these various elements blend seamlessley, thanks to the skill of the band, and make an album that includes no filler.
www.thecurstsons.co.uk
SARA PETITE - DOGHOUSE ROSE
2010
4****
An excellent follow up to 'Lead the Parade'.
It's probably wrong to review this album just a few days after her brilliant performance at the Prince Albert in Brighton, but at least the songs are still fresh in my mind. People talk about 'Country Music' as the sanitized string orchestra backing, the sequined gowns that the female singers wear and the men with their hats and polished cowboy boots, when really it is a performer like Sara that defines real country music.
As with her previous album, these are songs straight from the pages of life. Not all easy to listen to, or sing for that matter, especially in the case of some of the more confessional songs, but she does wear her heart on her sleeve and the album is stronger for that. The songs again are of love, lost love, loss in general, booze, even a couple of put downs as in the title track Doghouse rose! Every song is a story that gets the listener wondering if it is fiction or Sara's own life experiences that are responsible. She actually tells, when playing live, about what prompted her to write certain songs, thus confirming that at least some of them are true/ish, although I don't actually see her as the Bootlegger, on one of the more rock oriented songs! She always draws the listener into her world and engenders sympathy for her downtrodden characters that inhabit most of the songs.
Then there is her voice. She has that lovely natural twang that enables her to sing as tenderly as Emmylou on ballads and to rock as hard as someone like Lucinda Williams, as she indeed does several times on this disc. This is an album of incredibly well written songs that project the imagery of each story with a minimum of fuss. Obviously being a studio production there is more ornamentaion in the instrumentation but none of it is overdone. There is steel guitar, fiddle, even mandolin along with the usual guitar, drums, bass. It doesn't quite match up to her previous effort 'Lead the Parade' but then very few albums do. With her consistency over three albums why is she not already a household name?
www.myspace.com/sarapetite
4****
An excellent follow up to 'Lead the Parade'.
It's probably wrong to review this album just a few days after her brilliant performance at the Prince Albert in Brighton, but at least the songs are still fresh in my mind. People talk about 'Country Music' as the sanitized string orchestra backing, the sequined gowns that the female singers wear and the men with their hats and polished cowboy boots, when really it is a performer like Sara that defines real country music.
As with her previous album, these are songs straight from the pages of life. Not all easy to listen to, or sing for that matter, especially in the case of some of the more confessional songs, but she does wear her heart on her sleeve and the album is stronger for that. The songs again are of love, lost love, loss in general, booze, even a couple of put downs as in the title track Doghouse rose! Every song is a story that gets the listener wondering if it is fiction or Sara's own life experiences that are responsible. She actually tells, when playing live, about what prompted her to write certain songs, thus confirming that at least some of them are true/ish, although I don't actually see her as the Bootlegger, on one of the more rock oriented songs! She always draws the listener into her world and engenders sympathy for her downtrodden characters that inhabit most of the songs.
Then there is her voice. She has that lovely natural twang that enables her to sing as tenderly as Emmylou on ballads and to rock as hard as someone like Lucinda Williams, as she indeed does several times on this disc. This is an album of incredibly well written songs that project the imagery of each story with a minimum of fuss. Obviously being a studio production there is more ornamentaion in the instrumentation but none of it is overdone. There is steel guitar, fiddle, even mandolin along with the usual guitar, drums, bass. It doesn't quite match up to her previous effort 'Lead the Parade' but then very few albums do. With her consistency over three albums why is she not already a household name?
www.myspace.com/sarapetite
MAT D - GASOLINE RATTLE
2008
4****
Matthew DeRiso (his full name!) has a similar gravelly intense voice to a young Steve Earle. The album is almost all acoustic guitar with very few embellishments other than occasional mandolin, but thanks to the strength of the songs and the edge that he has in his voice it is always interesting. Before getting this album I'd never heard of him, but a pre release copy of his new disc has arrived and I thought I would give this previous album a listen to see what was in store! The songs consist of tales of lost love, travel and the harsh side of life, as well as death, but whilst the themes are in the main gloomy, it is a really listenable album and does create its own atmosphere, as all good albums should.
Now for his new one!
www.myspace.com/matderiso
4****
Matthew DeRiso (his full name!) has a similar gravelly intense voice to a young Steve Earle. The album is almost all acoustic guitar with very few embellishments other than occasional mandolin, but thanks to the strength of the songs and the edge that he has in his voice it is always interesting. Before getting this album I'd never heard of him, but a pre release copy of his new disc has arrived and I thought I would give this previous album a listen to see what was in store! The songs consist of tales of lost love, travel and the harsh side of life, as well as death, but whilst the themes are in the main gloomy, it is a really listenable album and does create its own atmosphere, as all good albums should.
Now for his new one!
www.myspace.com/matderiso
THE JOHN HENRYS - WHITE LINEN
2010
3***
At times very reminiscent of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, but with a more countryish slant; at others like a slightly cleaner sounding 'The Band'. The singing is always good, the songs are decent staples of roots rock and country, such as love lost, love gained, work, life & death! The playing and instrumentation are good as well, but the genre they are in, i.e. roots music, is one inhabited by other artists that do it better, although there are many more that do it worse!
Despite being a really good band, on repeated listens I was finding it difficult to concentrate and some of the songs tended to blend a little too much into each other, much the same effect and quality as a band such as Blue Rodeo. Just as they seem to be going in a slightly different direction they seem to veer back onto the more formulaic route. Cold chill has a slightly different feel & the title track White linen is very reminiscent of the 'Band' as is Dawson city, whilst Empty pockets has a good rock vibe, but there is not enough on the album that has the stamp of individuality.
Although not a great album it is certainly not bad.
www.thejohnhenrys.com
3***
At times very reminiscent of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, but with a more countryish slant; at others like a slightly cleaner sounding 'The Band'. The singing is always good, the songs are decent staples of roots rock and country, such as love lost, love gained, work, life & death! The playing and instrumentation are good as well, but the genre they are in, i.e. roots music, is one inhabited by other artists that do it better, although there are many more that do it worse!
Despite being a really good band, on repeated listens I was finding it difficult to concentrate and some of the songs tended to blend a little too much into each other, much the same effect and quality as a band such as Blue Rodeo. Just as they seem to be going in a slightly different direction they seem to veer back onto the more formulaic route. Cold chill has a slightly different feel & the title track White linen is very reminiscent of the 'Band' as is Dawson city, whilst Empty pockets has a good rock vibe, but there is not enough on the album that has the stamp of individuality.
Although not a great album it is certainly not bad.
www.thejohnhenrys.com
JACOB JONES - BOUND FOR GLORY
2010
4****
Fairly obviously his influences come from just about every branch of roots music, from folk to blues, country to western swing, as well as rock and roll! There are at least echoes of all on this album but nothing that can be categorised specifically as one or the other genre. In having these influences he has come up with a style that, if not totally original, certainly has some originality and is not hugely reminiscent of any other particular artist. His excellent vocals are on a par with such as Lyle Lovett and even at times Ryan Adams, as is his diversity that is difficult to pigeonhole, so roots music will have to suffice!
The songs themes are everyday life, love, loss, travel all done with well chosen instrumentation in as much as he uses fiddle, accordian, steel guitar, harmonica, piano as well as drums, guitars etc. Where the talent shines through is in his ability to convincingly inhabit a variety of genres that include western swing, as in The blues ain't got nothing on you, then Broadway Queen, with it's accordian has a cajun feel and there is folk a la John Hartford on Lost on the Ohio. You gotta be tough is as good as fatherly advice gets and is given extra impact by the soft steel guitar in the background. There are several beautiful, if solemn, ballads in Bonnie and Clyde, (not quite what the title suggests!) and the gorgeous Aliso Viejo, whilst It's a long way to heavan is almost harrowing with it's sad lyrics and steel sounding even more haunting than usual. This is that rare album that contains no real filler. Certainly some songs are better than others but all are eminently listenable and there is always something going on, with tempo and instrumentation. All in all a rewarding listen.
www.myspace.com/jacobjonesmusic
www.thejacobjones.com
4****
Fairly obviously his influences come from just about every branch of roots music, from folk to blues, country to western swing, as well as rock and roll! There are at least echoes of all on this album but nothing that can be categorised specifically as one or the other genre. In having these influences he has come up with a style that, if not totally original, certainly has some originality and is not hugely reminiscent of any other particular artist. His excellent vocals are on a par with such as Lyle Lovett and even at times Ryan Adams, as is his diversity that is difficult to pigeonhole, so roots music will have to suffice!
The songs themes are everyday life, love, loss, travel all done with well chosen instrumentation in as much as he uses fiddle, accordian, steel guitar, harmonica, piano as well as drums, guitars etc. Where the talent shines through is in his ability to convincingly inhabit a variety of genres that include western swing, as in The blues ain't got nothing on you, then Broadway Queen, with it's accordian has a cajun feel and there is folk a la John Hartford on Lost on the Ohio. You gotta be tough is as good as fatherly advice gets and is given extra impact by the soft steel guitar in the background. There are several beautiful, if solemn, ballads in Bonnie and Clyde, (not quite what the title suggests!) and the gorgeous Aliso Viejo, whilst It's a long way to heavan is almost harrowing with it's sad lyrics and steel sounding even more haunting than usual. This is that rare album that contains no real filler. Certainly some songs are better than others but all are eminently listenable and there is always something going on, with tempo and instrumentation. All in all a rewarding listen.
www.myspace.com/jacobjonesmusic
www.thejacobjones.com
CADILLAC SKY – LETTERS IN THE DEEP
2010 – Dualtone
2.5**
This is an album that is difficult to categorise or even have an opinion on! Most of the instrumentation is recognisable as being used in bluegrass, whilst occasionally including piano, but it is most definitely not a bluegrass album. The vocals have that high lonesome sound that can be appealing but can also grate a little at times. The songs seem to have an almost freeform musical structure that includes all the eeriness of old time 'hillbilly' music added to an appealing ramshackleness that at other times seems out of place! It is almost as if someone has written a stage show based on Bluegrass & that 'old weird America'. The playing is exceptional, as are the harmonies and yet I can't help but feel that the album doesn't really work, without knowing exactly why. The songs are all well written, with all members of the band seemingly involved. Some of the themes can be quiet harrowing and are given added impetus by the cold eeriness that the band seem to be able to conjure up. Having said all that I can see that it is an album that the listener will either love or hate, unless like me you can't seem to form an opinion!
http://cadillacsky.net
www.myspace.com/cadillacsky
2.5**
This is an album that is difficult to categorise or even have an opinion on! Most of the instrumentation is recognisable as being used in bluegrass, whilst occasionally including piano, but it is most definitely not a bluegrass album. The vocals have that high lonesome sound that can be appealing but can also grate a little at times. The songs seem to have an almost freeform musical structure that includes all the eeriness of old time 'hillbilly' music added to an appealing ramshackleness that at other times seems out of place! It is almost as if someone has written a stage show based on Bluegrass & that 'old weird America'. The playing is exceptional, as are the harmonies and yet I can't help but feel that the album doesn't really work, without knowing exactly why. The songs are all well written, with all members of the band seemingly involved. Some of the themes can be quiet harrowing and are given added impetus by the cold eeriness that the band seem to be able to conjure up. Having said all that I can see that it is an album that the listener will either love or hate, unless like me you can't seem to form an opinion!
http://cadillacsky.net
www.myspace.com/cadillacsky
NEIL YOUNG – FORK IN THE ROAD
2009 – Reprise
2.5***
I know how difficult it must be for artists to keep stretching out and coming up with something new, but Neil Young always seems to manage it. However in the case of this album he seems to have fallen below his usual high standards. I should say straight away that I am a huge fan of his and have been since the ‘Buffalo Springfield’ days but this album strikes as being more a self indulgent kick against the modern world of cash and gas guzzling cars etc. despite at times appearing to be more of a tribute! Maybe it’s a metaphor for the choices facing us as a race, but he probably used up more of the earth’s resources making this album than most people do in ten years. That is not to say it is a bad album, it is just in the pot with his lesser albums that no one really remembers. The song writing may be a bit of a letdown, but the playing is as usual excellent and his voice is always recognisable. A few of the songs are good as well, particularly the beautiful country ballad Light a candle, with its gorgeous steel guitar in the background. However the really good songs are in the minority. Johnny Magic rocks along nicely as do many of the other tracks but not in a way to excite as much as past albums have done.
So, not a bad album, but not one that will win new fans or get played over and over, but then, no one’s perfect, even Neil Young!
www.myspace.com/neilyoung
2.5***
I know how difficult it must be for artists to keep stretching out and coming up with something new, but Neil Young always seems to manage it. However in the case of this album he seems to have fallen below his usual high standards. I should say straight away that I am a huge fan of his and have been since the ‘Buffalo Springfield’ days but this album strikes as being more a self indulgent kick against the modern world of cash and gas guzzling cars etc. despite at times appearing to be more of a tribute! Maybe it’s a metaphor for the choices facing us as a race, but he probably used up more of the earth’s resources making this album than most people do in ten years. That is not to say it is a bad album, it is just in the pot with his lesser albums that no one really remembers. The song writing may be a bit of a letdown, but the playing is as usual excellent and his voice is always recognisable. A few of the songs are good as well, particularly the beautiful country ballad Light a candle, with its gorgeous steel guitar in the background. However the really good songs are in the minority. Johnny Magic rocks along nicely as do many of the other tracks but not in a way to excite as much as past albums have done.
So, not a bad album, but not one that will win new fans or get played over and over, but then, no one’s perfect, even Neil Young!
www.myspace.com/neilyoung
PETE MOLINARI - A TRAIN BOUND FOR GLORY
2010
3.5***
Molinari hails from deep in the delta. No, not Mississippi, the Medway delta. He was born in Chatham, Kent! You could easily be forgiven, on listening to this album, for thinking it was Mississippi, or at least New Orleans, with the mix of blues, country and rock 'n' roll, but, all of the late 50's or early 60's variety! Even his slightly cracked vocals sound right for that period. How often do we here a song on a compilation from that era and think 'this is great, why have I never heard of him before'? Fortunately in the internet age, not so many slip through the cracks, although talent doesn't always win out. (Reality t.v. often being a good example of no talent winning out!) Hopefully in Molinari's case it will!
This album, whilst being strongly evocative of those times, is as much an album of a travelling troubadour who has picked up his influences in a variety of locations, particularly the U.S. Thematically the songs are fairly standard tales of love, lost love, home, travel etc. but always with a slight edginess that makes him that little bit different from the crowd. He is not afraid to keep the instrumentation sparse, or add what at times sounds like the string section of an orchestra, where necessary. He has been described as 'old fashioned' and 'derivative' as well as more flattering terms but for me, he shows individuality by sounding slightly old fashioned, conversely sounding new and refreshing. So many singer/songwriters sound the same as each other because they seem stuck in their narrow field where production values are all the same and where experimentation is frowned upon. Molinari is not afraid to experiment, as evidenced by his use of strings, steel guitar and even a little echo on his voice to give an openness lacking in the introverted works of many others. The album ranges from mid tempo rock & roll to several beautiful slow ballads and continues the high standard set in his previous two offerings. If you like a singer/songwriter that doesn’t plough the usual furrow, you will definitely like Pete Molinari!
www.petemolinari.co.uk
3.5***
Molinari hails from deep in the delta. No, not Mississippi, the Medway delta. He was born in Chatham, Kent! You could easily be forgiven, on listening to this album, for thinking it was Mississippi, or at least New Orleans, with the mix of blues, country and rock 'n' roll, but, all of the late 50's or early 60's variety! Even his slightly cracked vocals sound right for that period. How often do we here a song on a compilation from that era and think 'this is great, why have I never heard of him before'? Fortunately in the internet age, not so many slip through the cracks, although talent doesn't always win out. (Reality t.v. often being a good example of no talent winning out!) Hopefully in Molinari's case it will!
This album, whilst being strongly evocative of those times, is as much an album of a travelling troubadour who has picked up his influences in a variety of locations, particularly the U.S. Thematically the songs are fairly standard tales of love, lost love, home, travel etc. but always with a slight edginess that makes him that little bit different from the crowd. He is not afraid to keep the instrumentation sparse, or add what at times sounds like the string section of an orchestra, where necessary. He has been described as 'old fashioned' and 'derivative' as well as more flattering terms but for me, he shows individuality by sounding slightly old fashioned, conversely sounding new and refreshing. So many singer/songwriters sound the same as each other because they seem stuck in their narrow field where production values are all the same and where experimentation is frowned upon. Molinari is not afraid to experiment, as evidenced by his use of strings, steel guitar and even a little echo on his voice to give an openness lacking in the introverted works of many others. The album ranges from mid tempo rock & roll to several beautiful slow ballads and continues the high standard set in his previous two offerings. If you like a singer/songwriter that doesn’t plough the usual furrow, you will definitely like Pete Molinari!
www.petemolinari.co.uk
THE UNWANTED – MUSIC FROM THE ATLANTIC FRINGE
2009 – Compass
4****
Never has an album had a more accurate title. This really does consist of ‘music from the Atlantic fringe’, and done in a way that is virtually unsurpassable. This is the authentic music that, had the album been made a few years ago, would have to have been the soundtrack to the T.V. series ‘Deadwood’ or any film that believed itself to be an accurate depiction of the old west! The trio are Cathy Jordan and Seamie O’ Dowd (both formerly of Dervish) & American Rick Epping. The background of the former pair is, fairly obviously, in traditional Irish music, which in turn translates to 19th century American music, whilst the latter was born on the west coast of America but has, for over three decades travelled between and immersed himself in the traditional music of both lands. All three are song collectors and folklorists as well as brilliant performers, so it is no wonder the authenticity levels are so high. The songs are jigs and reels, western songs and blues that really do blend Irish and American music into what has become known as ‘Americana music’, something that is claimed for many but achieved by few. Cathy Jordans beautiful voice moves from heartrending to uplifting as she travels between Appalachian balladry & modern folk music. The two men journey from what is seemingly old Irish music, to sounding like street musicians in the aforementioned ‘Deadwood’!
There are traditional songs, modern songs and even the Rolling Stones No expectations, all blended together and covering just about the whole gamut of emotions. Morning blues is an old ragtime tune made modern, whilst Angelina Baker is a traditional song set to a Stephen Foster melody and the front porch balladry of No expectations is simply stunning in its authenticity. The instrumentation includes concertina, dobro, jews harp, mandolin, acoustic guitar, as well as O’Dowds excellent fiddle playing, Eppings banjo and Jordans bodhran! As may be gleaned from this list, the album is steeped in a music that is perhaps lumped in with traditional folk music when in actual fact it is very much of it’s own genre. If you like traditional Irish music and old time American, I guarantee you will love this!
www.myspace.com/theunwantedtrio
4****
Never has an album had a more accurate title. This really does consist of ‘music from the Atlantic fringe’, and done in a way that is virtually unsurpassable. This is the authentic music that, had the album been made a few years ago, would have to have been the soundtrack to the T.V. series ‘Deadwood’ or any film that believed itself to be an accurate depiction of the old west! The trio are Cathy Jordan and Seamie O’ Dowd (both formerly of Dervish) & American Rick Epping. The background of the former pair is, fairly obviously, in traditional Irish music, which in turn translates to 19th century American music, whilst the latter was born on the west coast of America but has, for over three decades travelled between and immersed himself in the traditional music of both lands. All three are song collectors and folklorists as well as brilliant performers, so it is no wonder the authenticity levels are so high. The songs are jigs and reels, western songs and blues that really do blend Irish and American music into what has become known as ‘Americana music’, something that is claimed for many but achieved by few. Cathy Jordans beautiful voice moves from heartrending to uplifting as she travels between Appalachian balladry & modern folk music. The two men journey from what is seemingly old Irish music, to sounding like street musicians in the aforementioned ‘Deadwood’!
There are traditional songs, modern songs and even the Rolling Stones No expectations, all blended together and covering just about the whole gamut of emotions. Morning blues is an old ragtime tune made modern, whilst Angelina Baker is a traditional song set to a Stephen Foster melody and the front porch balladry of No expectations is simply stunning in its authenticity. The instrumentation includes concertina, dobro, jews harp, mandolin, acoustic guitar, as well as O’Dowds excellent fiddle playing, Eppings banjo and Jordans bodhran! As may be gleaned from this list, the album is steeped in a music that is perhaps lumped in with traditional folk music when in actual fact it is very much of it’s own genre. If you like traditional Irish music and old time American, I guarantee you will love this!
www.myspace.com/theunwantedtrio
OLD CALIFORNIO – WESTERING AGAIN.
2009 – Self released.
4****
If you want songs that tell tales of human romance and love gone bad, then you may well be disapointed in this album, however, if you want music that is romantic about a place rather than a person, then this is the one for you! Gorgeous harmonies and songs that are reminiscent of the very early Eagles, as well as Poco at their very best, but definitely not rooted in city life. This music is more evocative of the hills and mountains and wide open spaces that can be found in California, as in the uplifting Lazy Old San Gabriels, fairlyobviously an area the band knows well and has great affection for. The album conjures up a love for the great outdoors, not an easy thing to achieve, but this band pull it off perfectly. They are all excellent musicians, their members being songwriter/guitarist and atmospheric vocalist Rich Dembowswki, Justin Smith on drums, Jason Chesney on bass, Woody Aplanalp on guitar, keyboards are courtesy of Levi Nunez, making this an album that really does stand out from the crowd. There is even some mariachi on the excellent Riaparian High and then there is the goreous, haunting concertina driven Mouths of Babes. In fact there is even a track that is reminiscent of mid period Beatles in Harmony.
Some of the influences that they mention are bands such as Moby Grape, Grateful Dead, Spirit and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Certainly there is at times a slightly psychedelic feel but Old Californio seem to be much more country rock than anything else. Their harmonies are something to behold, at times having an almost Beach Boys perfection to them and their use of country instruments such as steel guiar and concertina is incredibly well thought out and never over done. Poco do come very strongly to mind and yet the music whilst seemingly rooted in the 1970s is also incredibly modern.
This is not a ‘revivalist’ band. They have actually allied their 70s influences to the modern day and come up with high quality roots music that really should appeal to anyone prepared to listen
www.myspace.com/oldcalifornio
4****
If you want songs that tell tales of human romance and love gone bad, then you may well be disapointed in this album, however, if you want music that is romantic about a place rather than a person, then this is the one for you! Gorgeous harmonies and songs that are reminiscent of the very early Eagles, as well as Poco at their very best, but definitely not rooted in city life. This music is more evocative of the hills and mountains and wide open spaces that can be found in California, as in the uplifting Lazy Old San Gabriels, fairlyobviously an area the band knows well and has great affection for. The album conjures up a love for the great outdoors, not an easy thing to achieve, but this band pull it off perfectly. They are all excellent musicians, their members being songwriter/guitarist and atmospheric vocalist Rich Dembowswki, Justin Smith on drums, Jason Chesney on bass, Woody Aplanalp on guitar, keyboards are courtesy of Levi Nunez, making this an album that really does stand out from the crowd. There is even some mariachi on the excellent Riaparian High and then there is the goreous, haunting concertina driven Mouths of Babes. In fact there is even a track that is reminiscent of mid period Beatles in Harmony.
Some of the influences that they mention are bands such as Moby Grape, Grateful Dead, Spirit and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Certainly there is at times a slightly psychedelic feel but Old Californio seem to be much more country rock than anything else. Their harmonies are something to behold, at times having an almost Beach Boys perfection to them and their use of country instruments such as steel guiar and concertina is incredibly well thought out and never over done. Poco do come very strongly to mind and yet the music whilst seemingly rooted in the 1970s is also incredibly modern.
This is not a ‘revivalist’ band. They have actually allied their 70s influences to the modern day and come up with high quality roots music that really should appeal to anyone prepared to listen
www.myspace.com/oldcalifornio
LOS LOBOS – TIN CAN TRUST
2010 – Shout! Factory.
3.5***
Songs of their life experiences built around the barrios of east Los Angeles. This is what you usually get from a Los Lobos album and this disc is no great departure from that tried and trusted formula.There are a couple of Spanish language songs, the remainder being in English, with even the love songs echoing the edgier side of where they come from. A ‘typical’ Los Lobos album, in as much as they always bring an experimental element to their albums but are always recognisably Los Lobos. There is even a slightly psychedelic edge to a few of the tracks as in Jupiter of the moon and a nod, maybe, to Santana, with the instrumental Do the Murray. You always get the feeling with their recordings that they are at the top of their game and simply get up and play with no arrogance, just simply good music, excellently played and despite guitar solos on most songs, there are no histrionics. There is even an excellent meandering version of the Grateful Deads West L.A. fadeway written by Garcia/Hunter, the remainder all being composed by various members of Los Lobos.
They have been recording for over 30 years now, all of their albums being of a consistenly high quality. This album will probably not win too many new fans but it certainly won’t lose any.
www.loslobos.org
3.5***
Songs of their life experiences built around the barrios of east Los Angeles. This is what you usually get from a Los Lobos album and this disc is no great departure from that tried and trusted formula.There are a couple of Spanish language songs, the remainder being in English, with even the love songs echoing the edgier side of where they come from. A ‘typical’ Los Lobos album, in as much as they always bring an experimental element to their albums but are always recognisably Los Lobos. There is even a slightly psychedelic edge to a few of the tracks as in Jupiter of the moon and a nod, maybe, to Santana, with the instrumental Do the Murray. You always get the feeling with their recordings that they are at the top of their game and simply get up and play with no arrogance, just simply good music, excellently played and despite guitar solos on most songs, there are no histrionics. There is even an excellent meandering version of the Grateful Deads West L.A. fadeway written by Garcia/Hunter, the remainder all being composed by various members of Los Lobos.
They have been recording for over 30 years now, all of their albums being of a consistenly high quality. This album will probably not win too many new fans but it certainly won’t lose any.
www.loslobos.org
SARA PETITE – LEAD THE PARADE
2008
4.5****
O.K, I know this album is two years old, but until a few weeks ago
I had never heard of Sara. I only found out about her through Peter
Christofferson, manager of ‘Two Fingers of Firewater’. Peter is obviously a
man of taste when it comes to music and he is partly responsible for Sara
being in this country right now. (She is playing the Prince Albert in Brighton tomorrow night, Thursday 8th July)
I managed to get hold of this album, only to find I had a review copy of her new one, ‘Doghouse Rose’. (Review to follow in a few days!) Since first
playing ‘Lead the parade’ it has been on the c.d. player almost constantly
ever since.
The songs are all self written although on a couple she is
assisted by Kenny Greenberg & John Kuhlken, plus one track is written by Wade Maurer, the latter two also being members of her excellent band.
The songs cover the whole gamut of country styles and emotions but
with a really good edge to them. Her voice is slightly reminiscent of a young
Nanci Griffith and a very recent Carrie Rodriguez with the sassiness of a
young Dolly Parton! She works in an area covered by all of these
aforementioned women singer/songwriters but has the individuality and
independance of a Rosie Flores that suggests she is going to keep playing
music her way rather than toeing the corporate line. Every song is a highlight in it’s own right but several in particular stand out. These are ‘The Secret’ that has themes that most people, would recognise from their teen years but don’t have the nerve to let their Mother know about. Sara obviously has! ‘Dead man walking’ is fairly self explanatory and hugely impressive in an almost anthemic, terrifying way. There are more songs of love lost than love found and even one about illicit booze in ‘Moonshine’, and always with an edge that suggests she is writing from experience rather than just imagination. There is even a little ‘hillbilly’ comedy in ‘Uncle Irving’! There are sawing fiddles, steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, plus percussion, electric and acoustic guitars, all played incredibly well, without ever being overpowering, allowing Sara’s voice and the excellent songs to dominate. She can really rock out when necessary whilst sounding incredibly tender and vulnerable on other songs; a true sign of a great artist! I could go on and on but deadline time is approaching and I want to get this online as
soon as possible!
I’ve got my tickets for tomorrow night & can hardly wait!
www.myspace.com/sarapetite
4.5****
O.K, I know this album is two years old, but until a few weeks ago
I had never heard of Sara. I only found out about her through Peter
Christofferson, manager of ‘Two Fingers of Firewater’. Peter is obviously a
man of taste when it comes to music and he is partly responsible for Sara
being in this country right now. (She is playing the Prince Albert in Brighton tomorrow night, Thursday 8th July)
I managed to get hold of this album, only to find I had a review copy of her new one, ‘Doghouse Rose’. (Review to follow in a few days!) Since first
playing ‘Lead the parade’ it has been on the c.d. player almost constantly
ever since.
The songs are all self written although on a couple she is
assisted by Kenny Greenberg & John Kuhlken, plus one track is written by Wade Maurer, the latter two also being members of her excellent band.
The songs cover the whole gamut of country styles and emotions but
with a really good edge to them. Her voice is slightly reminiscent of a young
Nanci Griffith and a very recent Carrie Rodriguez with the sassiness of a
young Dolly Parton! She works in an area covered by all of these
aforementioned women singer/songwriters but has the individuality and
independance of a Rosie Flores that suggests she is going to keep playing
music her way rather than toeing the corporate line. Every song is a highlight in it’s own right but several in particular stand out. These are ‘The Secret’ that has themes that most people, would recognise from their teen years but don’t have the nerve to let their Mother know about. Sara obviously has! ‘Dead man walking’ is fairly self explanatory and hugely impressive in an almost anthemic, terrifying way. There are more songs of love lost than love found and even one about illicit booze in ‘Moonshine’, and always with an edge that suggests she is writing from experience rather than just imagination. There is even a little ‘hillbilly’ comedy in ‘Uncle Irving’! There are sawing fiddles, steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, plus percussion, electric and acoustic guitars, all played incredibly well, without ever being overpowering, allowing Sara’s voice and the excellent songs to dominate. She can really rock out when necessary whilst sounding incredibly tender and vulnerable on other songs; a true sign of a great artist! I could go on and on but deadline time is approaching and I want to get this online as
soon as possible!
I’ve got my tickets for tomorrow night & can hardly wait!
www.myspace.com/sarapetite
Turnpike Troubadours - DIAMONDS AND GASOLINE
2010 - Self released
3.5***
Excellent folksy, country rock that gets better with each listen.
This young Oklahoman band look like having a really good future playing their brand of folksy 1970s country rock. Many say that there is a lot of bluegrass as well, but unless you are going to class using a fiddle as bluegrass I really don't hear it, although several songs do have a strong cajun feel.
Many of their self written songs, when stripped back, have the feel of excellent staples of 1970s country rock in as much as the themes are generally of love, lost love, unrequited love, death and regret. Erik Felkers vocals are expressive and tuneful, add in the harmonies and they stand comparison with bands such as the early Eagles. But, there the comparison ends, because in the case of the Troubadours, as well as the usual guitars, bass, drums line-up they have added atmospheric fiddle, banjo and steel to the mix, then when you include the tastefully used accordian they soar above the average, particularly on 1968 and the beautiful Evangeline. It makes a pleasant change to hear less guitar solos and find a band that have the nerve to insert an accordian or fiddle solo and it's this instrumentation which gives them the diversity to experiment with their sound. What also helps is their hooks and melodies with, in the main, attacking, uplifting choruses and of course the exceptional harmonies. The line up is the already mentioned Erik Felkers on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, R.C.Edwards, bass and backing vocals, Kyle NIx on fiddle and backing vocals, Ryan Engleman on lead guitarand finally Giovanni Carnuccio on drums & backing vocals.
It is probably worth adding that after the first couple of listens my feeling was that it was fairly average country rock. I'm now finding the album just gets better every time I listen to it thus proving that a grower can stay with you for a long time. This one is certainly going to!
www.turnpiketroubadours.com
3.5***
Excellent folksy, country rock that gets better with each listen.
This young Oklahoman band look like having a really good future playing their brand of folksy 1970s country rock. Many say that there is a lot of bluegrass as well, but unless you are going to class using a fiddle as bluegrass I really don't hear it, although several songs do have a strong cajun feel.
Many of their self written songs, when stripped back, have the feel of excellent staples of 1970s country rock in as much as the themes are generally of love, lost love, unrequited love, death and regret. Erik Felkers vocals are expressive and tuneful, add in the harmonies and they stand comparison with bands such as the early Eagles. But, there the comparison ends, because in the case of the Troubadours, as well as the usual guitars, bass, drums line-up they have added atmospheric fiddle, banjo and steel to the mix, then when you include the tastefully used accordian they soar above the average, particularly on 1968 and the beautiful Evangeline. It makes a pleasant change to hear less guitar solos and find a band that have the nerve to insert an accordian or fiddle solo and it's this instrumentation which gives them the diversity to experiment with their sound. What also helps is their hooks and melodies with, in the main, attacking, uplifting choruses and of course the exceptional harmonies. The line up is the already mentioned Erik Felkers on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, R.C.Edwards, bass and backing vocals, Kyle NIx on fiddle and backing vocals, Ryan Engleman on lead guitarand finally Giovanni Carnuccio on drums & backing vocals.
It is probably worth adding that after the first couple of listens my feeling was that it was fairly average country rock. I'm now finding the album just gets better every time I listen to it thus proving that a grower can stay with you for a long time. This one is certainly going to!
www.turnpiketroubadours.com
Po' Girl - FOLLOW YOUR BLISS
2010 - Self released
4.5****
Another triumph by a great canadian roots band.
It's difficult to visualise a form of roots music that is not covered on this most recent offering from this incredible band. From Allison Russel and Awna Teixeira's beautifully expressive lead or harmony vocals and their dominace of various instruments such as accordian, clarinet, guitar, banjo, or even gutbucket bass, everything blends into a seamless melange of beautiful, never overstated folksy, countryish, jazzy, bluesy, sounds. Yes, all of those various titles can be ascribed to their music, but they display their mastery by blending the styles seamlessley! Add to this Mikey 'Lightning' Augusts excellent understated drumming & the incredible string virtuoso Benny Sidelinger on his beautifully hand built (by himself) variety of guitars, dobro & banjo and you are close to having a virtually unsurpassable blend of talent & musical abilities. Their self written songs are not bad either!
Whilst both women alternate on lead vocals with their easily distinguished voices, their harmonies are never cloyingly sweet but always have a beautiful edginess to them that helps give their music an appealing rawness that very few others can match. There is also their ability to experiment with the instumentation. When I first heard them I thought the clarinet was in a totally wrong setting but listening to their albums it becomes apparent that this is just as much an essential part of their sound as say, banjo, dobro or gutbucket! It's been said before that their vocal styles and timbre's are so different that they shouldn't work as harmonies. Yet, it is that very 'edginess' that gives this, as well as their previous offerings, the unique sound and atmosphere that they are able to conjure. Their music always has a slight tension to it that transforms itself into a totally uplifting experience. There are not many in any form of roots music that can achieve their mastery whilst also experimenting with sounds. An example of this is the title track Follow your bliss, an exuberantly uplifting song undepinned by Mikey's excellent drum playing, but with brass, dobro and beautiful accordian pushing the song deep into the memory. You could quite easily argue that all of the aforementioned styles are included in this one song. Then there is the gorgeous Western skies in which both women alternate on verses & harmonise on the chorus. The instrumentation, again has Mikey on drums, but Benny's beautiful dobro playing gives the song it's whole spacey feel, but then playing around the song in the background is banjo & the high lonesome sound of a harmonica! Then there is the gorgeous Go easy, with Alli's expressive lead vocals & Benny's dobro again. And so it goes on! One excellent song after another. Maybe it shouldn't work but it most certainly does and long may it do so!
www.pogirl.net
4.5****
Another triumph by a great canadian roots band.
It's difficult to visualise a form of roots music that is not covered on this most recent offering from this incredible band. From Allison Russel and Awna Teixeira's beautifully expressive lead or harmony vocals and their dominace of various instruments such as accordian, clarinet, guitar, banjo, or even gutbucket bass, everything blends into a seamless melange of beautiful, never overstated folksy, countryish, jazzy, bluesy, sounds. Yes, all of those various titles can be ascribed to their music, but they display their mastery by blending the styles seamlessley! Add to this Mikey 'Lightning' Augusts excellent understated drumming & the incredible string virtuoso Benny Sidelinger on his beautifully hand built (by himself) variety of guitars, dobro & banjo and you are close to having a virtually unsurpassable blend of talent & musical abilities. Their self written songs are not bad either!
Whilst both women alternate on lead vocals with their easily distinguished voices, their harmonies are never cloyingly sweet but always have a beautiful edginess to them that helps give their music an appealing rawness that very few others can match. There is also their ability to experiment with the instumentation. When I first heard them I thought the clarinet was in a totally wrong setting but listening to their albums it becomes apparent that this is just as much an essential part of their sound as say, banjo, dobro or gutbucket! It's been said before that their vocal styles and timbre's are so different that they shouldn't work as harmonies. Yet, it is that very 'edginess' that gives this, as well as their previous offerings, the unique sound and atmosphere that they are able to conjure. Their music always has a slight tension to it that transforms itself into a totally uplifting experience. There are not many in any form of roots music that can achieve their mastery whilst also experimenting with sounds. An example of this is the title track Follow your bliss, an exuberantly uplifting song undepinned by Mikey's excellent drum playing, but with brass, dobro and beautiful accordian pushing the song deep into the memory. You could quite easily argue that all of the aforementioned styles are included in this one song. Then there is the gorgeous Western skies in which both women alternate on verses & harmonise on the chorus. The instrumentation, again has Mikey on drums, but Benny's beautiful dobro playing gives the song it's whole spacey feel, but then playing around the song in the background is banjo & the high lonesome sound of a harmonica! Then there is the gorgeous Go easy, with Alli's expressive lead vocals & Benny's dobro again. And so it goes on! One excellent song after another. Maybe it shouldn't work but it most certainly does and long may it do so!
www.pogirl.net
Evie Ladin – FLOAT DOWNSTREAM
2010 – Self released
3.5***
Excellent solo album, now for the next Stairwell Sisters recording!
The banjo is a strange, almost eerie sounding instrument, which, due to my listening habits built up over many years, I find difficult to seperate from some of the great old-time musicians, such as among many others, the incomparable Dock Boggs! On the plus side is the fact that many musicians that use this fascinating instrument are actually trying to evoke an old time atmosphere; Evie Ladin being a case in point. Having said that, Evie on this album succesfully drags the banjo into the twenty first century and blends old-time and modern country pop music almost seamlessly, but with the latter avoiding the slickness of many of it's peers! Most of the songs are her own originals with a couple of covers, penned by Santford Kelly and Dock Boggs as well as the Traditional Going across the sea, all blanketing the eight decades or so that cover the songs.
The blend can be a bit uneasy at times but thanks to Evie's lovely strong vocals and mastery of the banjo the whole thing generally succeeds. At times her vocals are a little reminiscent of In my tribe era 10,000 maniacs singer, Natalie Merchant. I much prefer the songs where the banjo is the dominant instrument such as the beautiful opening cut I love my honey and the gorgeous Float downstream is just about as atmospheric as any song has any right to be! Another highlight, among many, is the Dock Boggs penned Mistreated Mama which is underpinned by the subtle use of cello, giving it all of the eeriness that Boggs intended. Home from Airy, with it's driving fiddle is evocative of the old time 'hillbillies' whilst Mardi gras is driven along by the accordian and with the tuba pumping out its sound in the background has a strong New Orleans/Cajun feel. The lesser songs are those that edge towards the poppier side, but they are drawn into the album and just add a little diversity to the mix. All in all, a good first solo album that promises much, if not quite as good as her 'other band', The Stairwell Sisters.
www.evieladin.com
3.5***
Excellent solo album, now for the next Stairwell Sisters recording!
The banjo is a strange, almost eerie sounding instrument, which, due to my listening habits built up over many years, I find difficult to seperate from some of the great old-time musicians, such as among many others, the incomparable Dock Boggs! On the plus side is the fact that many musicians that use this fascinating instrument are actually trying to evoke an old time atmosphere; Evie Ladin being a case in point. Having said that, Evie on this album succesfully drags the banjo into the twenty first century and blends old-time and modern country pop music almost seamlessly, but with the latter avoiding the slickness of many of it's peers! Most of the songs are her own originals with a couple of covers, penned by Santford Kelly and Dock Boggs as well as the Traditional Going across the sea, all blanketing the eight decades or so that cover the songs.
The blend can be a bit uneasy at times but thanks to Evie's lovely strong vocals and mastery of the banjo the whole thing generally succeeds. At times her vocals are a little reminiscent of In my tribe era 10,000 maniacs singer, Natalie Merchant. I much prefer the songs where the banjo is the dominant instrument such as the beautiful opening cut I love my honey and the gorgeous Float downstream is just about as atmospheric as any song has any right to be! Another highlight, among many, is the Dock Boggs penned Mistreated Mama which is underpinned by the subtle use of cello, giving it all of the eeriness that Boggs intended. Home from Airy, with it's driving fiddle is evocative of the old time 'hillbillies' whilst Mardi gras is driven along by the accordian and with the tuba pumping out its sound in the background has a strong New Orleans/Cajun feel. The lesser songs are those that edge towards the poppier side, but they are drawn into the album and just add a little diversity to the mix. All in all, a good first solo album that promises much, if not quite as good as her 'other band', The Stairwell Sisters.
www.evieladin.com
Great American Taxi – RECKLESS HABITS
2010 - Thirty Tigers 09
3***
A throwback to 1970s country rock, or a Jam Band?!
This could so easily have been a great album, instead of which, it is merely pretty good. It's slightly disapointing that musicians of this quality seem to have hedged their bets by playing predominately 1970s country rock but throwing a couple of New orleans type funky tracks, a couple of Little Feat sounding tracks and a little Grateful Dead into the mix, almost to show what great musicians they are, instead of simply producing a great album. This was totally unnecessary. Although the country rock is mainly rooted in the styles of mid 1970s bands such as Flying Buritto Brothers and New Riders of the Purple Sage, it is not of the same songwriting quality as the early lineups of these two bands, particularly the Gram Parsons/Chris Hillman led Burittos. They lack the soul and songwriting skills of the former although the musicianship is raised to a different level. Everything about the album is decent but nothing is great. Certainly the country rock does sound authentic and the harmonies are excellent but the title track probably sums the album up in as much as it is a tribute to early pioneer, Parsons, and goes totally over the top with it's telling of his story. The fairly flat, toneless vocals seem to be due to an inability to come up with a melody that could carry the lyrics and this can be added to the songs that nearly, but not quite, work. For me the highlight by some distance was Jeff Tweedys New Madrid with strong vocals, terrific harmonies and excellent instrumentation. There is nothing bad on the whole album but very little that is as good as this, although American beauty, Albuquereque and the instrumental Big sandy river provide strong moments.
To call them a Jam Band feels to me to be a cop out, this title seeming, as it does, to cover a multitude of styles, but equally as importantly 'improvisation'. It would be interesting and no doubt entertaining to hear this album played live; maybe the musicians do improvise around the songs, certainly they are good enough. Perhaps, as with the Grateful Dead, they will be a band whose albums never quite catch their live quality, but I for one hope not and look forward to hearing their next studio offering.
www.greatamericantaxi.com
3***
A throwback to 1970s country rock, or a Jam Band?!
This could so easily have been a great album, instead of which, it is merely pretty good. It's slightly disapointing that musicians of this quality seem to have hedged their bets by playing predominately 1970s country rock but throwing a couple of New orleans type funky tracks, a couple of Little Feat sounding tracks and a little Grateful Dead into the mix, almost to show what great musicians they are, instead of simply producing a great album. This was totally unnecessary. Although the country rock is mainly rooted in the styles of mid 1970s bands such as Flying Buritto Brothers and New Riders of the Purple Sage, it is not of the same songwriting quality as the early lineups of these two bands, particularly the Gram Parsons/Chris Hillman led Burittos. They lack the soul and songwriting skills of the former although the musicianship is raised to a different level. Everything about the album is decent but nothing is great. Certainly the country rock does sound authentic and the harmonies are excellent but the title track probably sums the album up in as much as it is a tribute to early pioneer, Parsons, and goes totally over the top with it's telling of his story. The fairly flat, toneless vocals seem to be due to an inability to come up with a melody that could carry the lyrics and this can be added to the songs that nearly, but not quite, work. For me the highlight by some distance was Jeff Tweedys New Madrid with strong vocals, terrific harmonies and excellent instrumentation. There is nothing bad on the whole album but very little that is as good as this, although American beauty, Albuquereque and the instrumental Big sandy river provide strong moments.
To call them a Jam Band feels to me to be a cop out, this title seeming, as it does, to cover a multitude of styles, but equally as importantly 'improvisation'. It would be interesting and no doubt entertaining to hear this album played live; maybe the musicians do improvise around the songs, certainly they are good enough. Perhaps, as with the Grateful Dead, they will be a band whose albums never quite catch their live quality, but I for one hope not and look forward to hearing their next studio offering.
www.greatamericantaxi.com
Carrie Rodriguez – LOVE AND CIRCUMSTANCE
2010 – Ninth Street Opus.
3***
Her first covers album, but why?
I first became aware of Carrie at a Chip Taylor gig in a small pub in Brighton, what must be getting on towards ten years ago. He justifiably introduced her as a superb fiddle player and added that he was gradually encouraging her to do some backing vocals. She managed to hide her nerves and plunged in with her appealingly edgy vocals and completely won over the packed pub. I've since seen her a couple more times with Chip and also once with her own band. Every time she has shown huge improvement and her talent has blossomed with the culmination being her two superb, mainly self written, solo albums of what can genuinely be described as alt. Country (i.e. no unnecessary gloss added!). I'm not too sure why she decided to make this album of covers other than maybe they are artists and songs that she admires, which I suppose is a good enough reason. The problem is that although some of the songs work well, equally there are as many that don't. Maybe the songs are not the best known offerings by these artsists but it is not difficult to check out the originals and realise that several of these versions do not do Carrie justice. I've always loved the sound of her voice with it's edginess and ability to lose the listener in the emotions that her songs evoke, but it is a simple fact that she has limitations in range that make it difficult to bring out the meanings of many of the songs that she hasn't written herself.
The highlights are her beautiful, almost definitive reading of Lucinda Williams' Steal your love', Townes Van Zandts mournful Rex's blues, her father, David Rodriguez's adaptation of the traditional Gypsy Davy, andher beautiful reworking of Hank Williams I'm so lonesome I could cry is done in a way that very few would have had the nerve to try. I should add that nothing on the album is bad, maybe just that some are unremarkable adaptations that add nothing new to the originals, with Richard Thompson's Waltzing for dreamers being the prime example.
Of course, as her previous two albums didn't seem to sell as well as expected maybe it was thought that covering other artists songs would help to get her nearer to the mainstream mega bucks! I don't think it will and hope that her next album will go back to relying on her more than adequate talent as a songwriter.
www.carrierodriguez.com
3***
Her first covers album, but why?
I first became aware of Carrie at a Chip Taylor gig in a small pub in Brighton, what must be getting on towards ten years ago. He justifiably introduced her as a superb fiddle player and added that he was gradually encouraging her to do some backing vocals. She managed to hide her nerves and plunged in with her appealingly edgy vocals and completely won over the packed pub. I've since seen her a couple more times with Chip and also once with her own band. Every time she has shown huge improvement and her talent has blossomed with the culmination being her two superb, mainly self written, solo albums of what can genuinely be described as alt. Country (i.e. no unnecessary gloss added!). I'm not too sure why she decided to make this album of covers other than maybe they are artists and songs that she admires, which I suppose is a good enough reason. The problem is that although some of the songs work well, equally there are as many that don't. Maybe the songs are not the best known offerings by these artsists but it is not difficult to check out the originals and realise that several of these versions do not do Carrie justice. I've always loved the sound of her voice with it's edginess and ability to lose the listener in the emotions that her songs evoke, but it is a simple fact that she has limitations in range that make it difficult to bring out the meanings of many of the songs that she hasn't written herself.
The highlights are her beautiful, almost definitive reading of Lucinda Williams' Steal your love', Townes Van Zandts mournful Rex's blues, her father, David Rodriguez's adaptation of the traditional Gypsy Davy, andher beautiful reworking of Hank Williams I'm so lonesome I could cry is done in a way that very few would have had the nerve to try. I should add that nothing on the album is bad, maybe just that some are unremarkable adaptations that add nothing new to the originals, with Richard Thompson's Waltzing for dreamers being the prime example.
Of course, as her previous two albums didn't seem to sell as well as expected maybe it was thought that covering other artists songs would help to get her nearer to the mainstream mega bucks! I don't think it will and hope that her next album will go back to relying on her more than adequate talent as a songwriter.
www.carrierodriguez.com
Otis Gibbs – JOE HILL'S ASHES.
5*****
More songs about the harshness & frustrations of life, for some!
I saw Otis live three times last year. Once at the Maverick festival and twice in Brighton. What you get on disc is basically the same as what you get live. Mainly acoustic songs about how hard life can be for many and almost impossible for others.The art of his songwriting lies in the fact that he can sing about unimaginable hardship and still give a hint of his humour throughout the performance/album. He is a really friendly man who thinks deeply about the structure of his songs but can also be really funny! I guess that with the content of many of his songs he has to be! His voice gravelly, full of character but strangely comforting at the same time, is just about as perfectly suited to his songs as it is possible to be.
The songs on this album cover all of the aforementioned emotions but adds many others and to such a degree that he leaves his previous, all excellent, albums in the shade.
Joe Hill was an itinerant worker, songwriter, agitator for the 'Industrial Workers of the World' organisation. At the age of 36 (in 1915) he was executed by firing squad for a murder he probably did not commit, simply because he was protecting the honour of a married woman that he had been with at the time of the crime. It's easy to see how Hill has become a metaphor for the downtrodden but honourable, but Otis uses him as album title & opening track in a way infused with all the subtlety and eeriness he can muster to show the injustice that can haunt some.
Skip from injustice in Joe Hill's ashes to the value of frienship and how tenuous fame is in Where only the graves are real, then to the incredible tenderness of a mothers love and comfort in When I was young and you have covered an immense range of emotions in just these first three songs, maybe more than most achieve in a lifetime of songwriting! Following on from all of this we still have the harshness, hardship and heartbreak of a miners life, the homesickness of life on the road , the frustration that life is passing you by, the humour of moving from the city to the country and finally, in track twelve a tale of mortality, reflection and the hope that better is to come, but without any great optimism.
Maybe he doesn't have the back catalogue to match, but for me at least, this album puts Otis Gibbs into the same class as Dylan but with an openess in his songs that few if any can match.
www.otisgibbs.com
More songs about the harshness & frustrations of life, for some!
I saw Otis live three times last year. Once at the Maverick festival and twice in Brighton. What you get on disc is basically the same as what you get live. Mainly acoustic songs about how hard life can be for many and almost impossible for others.The art of his songwriting lies in the fact that he can sing about unimaginable hardship and still give a hint of his humour throughout the performance/album. He is a really friendly man who thinks deeply about the structure of his songs but can also be really funny! I guess that with the content of many of his songs he has to be! His voice gravelly, full of character but strangely comforting at the same time, is just about as perfectly suited to his songs as it is possible to be.
The songs on this album cover all of the aforementioned emotions but adds many others and to such a degree that he leaves his previous, all excellent, albums in the shade.
Joe Hill was an itinerant worker, songwriter, agitator for the 'Industrial Workers of the World' organisation. At the age of 36 (in 1915) he was executed by firing squad for a murder he probably did not commit, simply because he was protecting the honour of a married woman that he had been with at the time of the crime. It's easy to see how Hill has become a metaphor for the downtrodden but honourable, but Otis uses him as album title & opening track in a way infused with all the subtlety and eeriness he can muster to show the injustice that can haunt some.
Skip from injustice in Joe Hill's ashes to the value of frienship and how tenuous fame is in Where only the graves are real, then to the incredible tenderness of a mothers love and comfort in When I was young and you have covered an immense range of emotions in just these first three songs, maybe more than most achieve in a lifetime of songwriting! Following on from all of this we still have the harshness, hardship and heartbreak of a miners life, the homesickness of life on the road , the frustration that life is passing you by, the humour of moving from the city to the country and finally, in track twelve a tale of mortality, reflection and the hope that better is to come, but without any great optimism.
Maybe he doesn't have the back catalogue to match, but for me at least, this album puts Otis Gibbs into the same class as Dylan but with an openess in his songs that few if any can match.
www.otisgibbs.com
John Hiatt – THE OPEN ROAD
Cat. NW61822. New West Records.
(3.5)***
John Hiatt has never had the album sales that his songwriting and musical ability perhaps entitled him to expect. He is however credited with many other artists recording and having success with songs that came from his pen. Probably his best known album is 1987s BRING THE FAMILY, which, unfairly in many ways, ensured most people came to expect songs with their roots in the family unit from him.
He is still the most soulful sounding of all roots rockers & is perfectly at home mixing blues, rock and country elements. The songs on this album have a much larger scope than on most of his earlier offerings. Whilst previous discs seemed to concentrate more on family, this one could easily be a metaphor for the triumphs and travails of the journey through life with the open road references being analagous to lifes ups and downs and the fight for survival, or at the very least to keep his head above water! Of course, you can just as easily listen to each of the, mainly, excellent songs in isolation & enjoy the album without trying to look for messages!
There is the gorgeous slow blues of Like a freight train and My baby, both with beautiful slide guitar accompaniment. In fact all of the musicianship is of the highest quality, as we have come to expect from Hiatt's touring band of guitarist Doug Lancio, drummer Kenneth Blevins and bass player Patrick O' Hearn. Haulin' is almost an old fashioned rock and roll song that tells about the journey. Movin' on is a beautiful song about the fear of standing still and Fireball Roberts is given a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere by the lovely sound of the steel guitar. At no time does the quality of the writing or musicianship flag, in fact, on the contrary, you don't have to know much about music to realise this album is made by the upper crust of roots rock/blues/country. All in all an excellent album that covers most of the roots music bases and whilst this is not his best album it most certainly is not his worst.
www.johnhiatt.com
(3.5)***
John Hiatt has never had the album sales that his songwriting and musical ability perhaps entitled him to expect. He is however credited with many other artists recording and having success with songs that came from his pen. Probably his best known album is 1987s BRING THE FAMILY, which, unfairly in many ways, ensured most people came to expect songs with their roots in the family unit from him.
He is still the most soulful sounding of all roots rockers & is perfectly at home mixing blues, rock and country elements. The songs on this album have a much larger scope than on most of his earlier offerings. Whilst previous discs seemed to concentrate more on family, this one could easily be a metaphor for the triumphs and travails of the journey through life with the open road references being analagous to lifes ups and downs and the fight for survival, or at the very least to keep his head above water! Of course, you can just as easily listen to each of the, mainly, excellent songs in isolation & enjoy the album without trying to look for messages!
There is the gorgeous slow blues of Like a freight train and My baby, both with beautiful slide guitar accompaniment. In fact all of the musicianship is of the highest quality, as we have come to expect from Hiatt's touring band of guitarist Doug Lancio, drummer Kenneth Blevins and bass player Patrick O' Hearn. Haulin' is almost an old fashioned rock and roll song that tells about the journey. Movin' on is a beautiful song about the fear of standing still and Fireball Roberts is given a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere by the lovely sound of the steel guitar. At no time does the quality of the writing or musicianship flag, in fact, on the contrary, you don't have to know much about music to realise this album is made by the upper crust of roots rock/blues/country. All in all an excellent album that covers most of the roots music bases and whilst this is not his best album it most certainly is not his worst.
www.johnhiatt.com
Johnsons Crossroad – BLOOD IN BLACK AND WHITE
2010 - Dirty Boogie Records.
3***
Excellent first album by a new 'Americana' band.
This band describe themselves as 'bent acoustic country'. Maybe they should add 'alt.' in front of country, as they are certainly an excellent alternative to the 'Nashville sound' that many people associate with 'country'. They give a modern take on the old time stringbands but do at times veer into the more popular side of country. Paul Johnsons appealing gravelly voice avoids blandness, as does the bands excellent playing of their acoustic instruments. The band is made up of the already mentioned Johnson on vocals and guitar, Keith Minguez on mandolin and vocals, Corey Lee McQuade on dobro, banjo and vocals and Gary Wiley on bass and fiddle. Their self written songs, although mainly by Johnson, tell stories of the loss of just about everything, particularly love, but often with a little hope if not expectation thrown in! There are certainly elements of bluegrass, but there is also a bluesy feel, possibly due to Johnsons voice. In fact to my ears there were also strong echoes of people such as Guy Clark. This is particularly noticable on You need not look me in the eyes, about the process of losing love, as is 'Tween you and me, although this conjures a far darker almost eerie atmosphere. The Clark comaprison may be due to the fact that they do not try to colour the sound with any extraneous factors, in fact nothing is wasted and there are no instrumental histrionics, simply a case of good songs being well sung by Johnson and with tasteful playing and harmonies by the rest of the band.
3***
Excellent first album by a new 'Americana' band.
This band describe themselves as 'bent acoustic country'. Maybe they should add 'alt.' in front of country, as they are certainly an excellent alternative to the 'Nashville sound' that many people associate with 'country'. They give a modern take on the old time stringbands but do at times veer into the more popular side of country. Paul Johnsons appealing gravelly voice avoids blandness, as does the bands excellent playing of their acoustic instruments. The band is made up of the already mentioned Johnson on vocals and guitar, Keith Minguez on mandolin and vocals, Corey Lee McQuade on dobro, banjo and vocals and Gary Wiley on bass and fiddle. Their self written songs, although mainly by Johnson, tell stories of the loss of just about everything, particularly love, but often with a little hope if not expectation thrown in! There are certainly elements of bluegrass, but there is also a bluesy feel, possibly due to Johnsons voice. In fact to my ears there were also strong echoes of people such as Guy Clark. This is particularly noticable on You need not look me in the eyes, about the process of losing love, as is 'Tween you and me, although this conjures a far darker almost eerie atmosphere. The Clark comaprison may be due to the fact that they do not try to colour the sound with any extraneous factors, in fact nothing is wasted and there are no instrumental histrionics, simply a case of good songs being well sung by Johnson and with tasteful playing and harmonies by the rest of the band.
The Overmountain Men – GLORIOUS DAY
2010 - Cat. Ramseur Records
3***
A side project that promises much!
The easiest collection of music to put this alongside would be The Band. Sadly this album doesn't reach the heights of the Band at their best but it is not put to shame. There are a variety of styles, as you would expect from a group of musicians for whom this is a side project & include David Childers vocals & the Avett brothers bass player, Bob Crawford. The style of the recordings is ramshackle, but in such a way that you have to know what you are doing to achieve it. Childers vocal range is not the greatest but he more than makes up for that with the soul that he puts into his singing. The playing is first rate & the instrumentation is exceptional and includes the usual guitar, drums, bass, but also accordian, banjo & one track even has trumpet.
Of the songs, most are good, several average but a couple or so are truly exceptional. A case in point being Angola, the story of a man serving life in the Angola Prison, Tennessee, whose only 'six seconds of freedom' for the rest of his life is during each years prison rodeo. The earlier instrumental of this song is unnecessary. The first song on the album is the beatiful Magpies. The song is evocative of someone coming to terms with loss and regret and is underpinned by a single solemn fiddle followed eventually by the lovely warm sounds of an accordian. Simply beautiful, as are the heartfelt vocals. Some place along the river is driven along by mandolin & banjo whilst Leaving England, a tale of the long journey home is driven by piano & introduces the trumpet! Rembrandt is good fairly straightforward roots rock that unusually for this genre philosophises on the truth of art
In the case of the final track, the medley Altar of greed/muddy bottom/the hunch, it is difficult to know what to say. It is ten minutes long & is certainly different! For about a third of the time the vocalist, presumably Childers, appears to have had vocal lessons from Tom Waits & probably exceeded expectations. It starts out with distorted preacher Waitsian vocals then segues into snatches of radio programmes and so into mainly fiddle & drum driven introduction to the rest of track and finishes with a live version of the hunch! It is entertainingly different & is as good a way as any to finish a really good diverse album
3***
A side project that promises much!
The easiest collection of music to put this alongside would be The Band. Sadly this album doesn't reach the heights of the Band at their best but it is not put to shame. There are a variety of styles, as you would expect from a group of musicians for whom this is a side project & include David Childers vocals & the Avett brothers bass player, Bob Crawford. The style of the recordings is ramshackle, but in such a way that you have to know what you are doing to achieve it. Childers vocal range is not the greatest but he more than makes up for that with the soul that he puts into his singing. The playing is first rate & the instrumentation is exceptional and includes the usual guitar, drums, bass, but also accordian, banjo & one track even has trumpet.
Of the songs, most are good, several average but a couple or so are truly exceptional. A case in point being Angola, the story of a man serving life in the Angola Prison, Tennessee, whose only 'six seconds of freedom' for the rest of his life is during each years prison rodeo. The earlier instrumental of this song is unnecessary. The first song on the album is the beatiful Magpies. The song is evocative of someone coming to terms with loss and regret and is underpinned by a single solemn fiddle followed eventually by the lovely warm sounds of an accordian. Simply beautiful, as are the heartfelt vocals. Some place along the river is driven along by mandolin & banjo whilst Leaving England, a tale of the long journey home is driven by piano & introduces the trumpet! Rembrandt is good fairly straightforward roots rock that unusually for this genre philosophises on the truth of art
In the case of the final track, the medley Altar of greed/muddy bottom/the hunch, it is difficult to know what to say. It is ten minutes long & is certainly different! For about a third of the time the vocalist, presumably Childers, appears to have had vocal lessons from Tom Waits & probably exceeded expectations. It starts out with distorted preacher Waitsian vocals then segues into snatches of radio programmes and so into mainly fiddle & drum driven introduction to the rest of track and finishes with a live version of the hunch! It is entertainingly different & is as good a way as any to finish a really good diverse album
Romantica – CONTROL ALT COUNTRY DELETE
2010 - 2024 Records
3***
A long e.p that almost succeeds as an album!
This album is made up of ten songs, all written and recorded on Monday March 23rd 2009 during SXSW in Austin, Texas. They were unhappy in the contract that they were in & decided to see if they could write and record an album in a day. That they managed something of this quality does them great credit despite it's rehearsal/incomplete vision feel at times. Plenty of bands have taken months to finish worse albums than this. In some cases the songs were being written as recording was taking place, as is evident from the few mistakes and chat that is going on at times. It is not as good as their previous album AMERICA but despite that it is still a really good listen that succeeds in many ways. With Ben Kyles songwriting, melodic vocals & the beautiful steel guitar playing of Luke Jacobs that is the root of everything on this album, there was always a good chance of success. The proof of this is the gorgeous Blood & circumstance telling of the sheer futility and horror of war, given even more impact by the soft vocals and playing. Tonight I'm leaving you for love is a classically constructed country song that I'm sure will be taken up by some of Nashvilles finest whilst Lonely star tells of the loneliness of life on the road.
This album, unfinished though it is, shows just what potential there was & maybe still is to surpass their previous two excellent efforts. They could end up taking alt. Country in new directions, if patience & finances allow.
They apparently have a new full length album due out soon. Now that should be something to really look forward to.
3***
A long e.p that almost succeeds as an album!
This album is made up of ten songs, all written and recorded on Monday March 23rd 2009 during SXSW in Austin, Texas. They were unhappy in the contract that they were in & decided to see if they could write and record an album in a day. That they managed something of this quality does them great credit despite it's rehearsal/incomplete vision feel at times. Plenty of bands have taken months to finish worse albums than this. In some cases the songs were being written as recording was taking place, as is evident from the few mistakes and chat that is going on at times. It is not as good as their previous album AMERICA but despite that it is still a really good listen that succeeds in many ways. With Ben Kyles songwriting, melodic vocals & the beautiful steel guitar playing of Luke Jacobs that is the root of everything on this album, there was always a good chance of success. The proof of this is the gorgeous Blood & circumstance telling of the sheer futility and horror of war, given even more impact by the soft vocals and playing. Tonight I'm leaving you for love is a classically constructed country song that I'm sure will be taken up by some of Nashvilles finest whilst Lonely star tells of the loneliness of life on the road.
This album, unfinished though it is, shows just what potential there was & maybe still is to surpass their previous two excellent efforts. They could end up taking alt. Country in new directions, if patience & finances allow.
They apparently have a new full length album due out soon. Now that should be something to really look forward to.
Fourkiller Flats – TREASURE AND TRASH
2010 - Self released.
3***
Traditional southern rock with a little country!
Fourkiller Flats play good hard southern rock, but add a little diversity by edging into alt. country on several of the excellent songs. All but one (Milton Mapes' 'A thousand songs about California') were written by the band collectively, with their themes including booze, girls, cars and cheating! They may not be originators, but they do play with enthusiasm, plenty of fire and no little skill, as can be expected from a band that have been together for ten years. They have only made two albums in that time but there is appeal in the performances, probably due to the fact that they have been playing most of these songs live for a long time. The band is made up of Jim Cox on vocals and guitar, Neal Bonser on lead guitar, Bill Green, drums and vocals with Chris Morrison on bass. There are some decent harmonies and excellent playing that reflects their years together and they avoid losing their rough edge, as many before them have done, by spending too long 'polishing' in the studio. The album is self released so they are reliant on their live work for word to get around, helped by the fact that they are apparently an excellent live band. Cox's vocals are always strong and masculine with the song highlights for me, the gritty mid tempo country rockers Durango and Treasure and trash plus the aforementioned A thousand songs about California and the booze obsessed Dry Sunday! Mindful is unusual for a band such as this as it is a tender mellow acoustic song that proves their versatility! They never descend into blandness but always keep an edge to everything thus avoiding the pitfalls of many of their predecessors. All in all a good album that just might give them the opportunity be be a little more prolific.
3***
Traditional southern rock with a little country!
Fourkiller Flats play good hard southern rock, but add a little diversity by edging into alt. country on several of the excellent songs. All but one (Milton Mapes' 'A thousand songs about California') were written by the band collectively, with their themes including booze, girls, cars and cheating! They may not be originators, but they do play with enthusiasm, plenty of fire and no little skill, as can be expected from a band that have been together for ten years. They have only made two albums in that time but there is appeal in the performances, probably due to the fact that they have been playing most of these songs live for a long time. The band is made up of Jim Cox on vocals and guitar, Neal Bonser on lead guitar, Bill Green, drums and vocals with Chris Morrison on bass. There are some decent harmonies and excellent playing that reflects their years together and they avoid losing their rough edge, as many before them have done, by spending too long 'polishing' in the studio. The album is self released so they are reliant on their live work for word to get around, helped by the fact that they are apparently an excellent live band. Cox's vocals are always strong and masculine with the song highlights for me, the gritty mid tempo country rockers Durango and Treasure and trash plus the aforementioned A thousand songs about California and the booze obsessed Dry Sunday! Mindful is unusual for a band such as this as it is a tender mellow acoustic song that proves their versatility! They never descend into blandness but always keep an edge to everything thus avoiding the pitfalls of many of their predecessors. All in all a good album that just might give them the opportunity be be a little more prolific.
Have Gun Will Travel – POSTCARDS FROM THE FRIENDLY CITY
2010 - Cat. Suburban Home Records VCHG 941-2
(4.5)****
Triumphant 'difficult second album' of indie, folksy, alt.country!
My album of the year, so far! Alright, the year is young and it may not be my number one come December, but I'll bet it'll be in the top ten! The themes of the album's Matt Burke penned songs may be rooted in the more localised area of Florida that this excellent band hails from but the atmosphere, the instrumentation and vocals are almost classic 'alt.country' and then some! Too much has probably been made of the geographic location of the songs. They are in the same generic area as most that inhabit the country genre, being stories of people, places, and life with all of it's emotional complexities. After all, the late Gram Parsons was also a Florida boy & many of his songs were not thematically country. The country slant came to a large degree from the vocals, instrumentation & 'feel', exactly like this band.
The band consists of Matt Burke on lead vocals, guitar, harmonica & banjo. Daniel Burke, bass and vocals, J.P. Beaubien on percussion & drums, Joshua Hernandez, viola & mandolin & Scott Anderson electric guitar & lap steel. The appealing vocals of Matt Burke bear a strong similarity to those of Mark Olson (Jayhawks, Creekdippers) and have the same ability to bring out the emotion of each song. The great master stroke really, is the use of Joshua Hernandez's viola. The instrument has such a solemn atmospheric sound that immediately makes this band sound entirely different to others in the broad genre that they inhabit & gives the songs on which it appears a slightly eerie sound. Despite the use of drums, bass & guitars on most tracks, the album still has a lovely almost sparse back porch feel to it, similar in a way to the quality that Jay Farrar brings to his music. Much of the sound has an almost buried 'indie rock' platform but this never detracts from the alt.country feel & of course Burkes voice has the classic emotional requirement to make the whole thing hold together.
The highlights are just about every track but Paperback has similar beautiful harmonies to Matthews Southern Comforts Woodstock era and classic Crosby, Stills and Nash. Ship to shore has the steel guitar somewhat further back in the mix than most, but it works really well, particularly with the cello forming the instrumental bridge. Rosie: a belated requiem is an incredibly sad song that has acoustic guitars as the main instruments but then there is an accordian added & finally a few banjo phrases that wring every bit of drama out of the song. All in all, an exceptional & hugely atmospheric album from a band that shows that there is still room in 'alt.country' for experimentation.
(4.5)****
Triumphant 'difficult second album' of indie, folksy, alt.country!
My album of the year, so far! Alright, the year is young and it may not be my number one come December, but I'll bet it'll be in the top ten! The themes of the album's Matt Burke penned songs may be rooted in the more localised area of Florida that this excellent band hails from but the atmosphere, the instrumentation and vocals are almost classic 'alt.country' and then some! Too much has probably been made of the geographic location of the songs. They are in the same generic area as most that inhabit the country genre, being stories of people, places, and life with all of it's emotional complexities. After all, the late Gram Parsons was also a Florida boy & many of his songs were not thematically country. The country slant came to a large degree from the vocals, instrumentation & 'feel', exactly like this band.
The band consists of Matt Burke on lead vocals, guitar, harmonica & banjo. Daniel Burke, bass and vocals, J.P. Beaubien on percussion & drums, Joshua Hernandez, viola & mandolin & Scott Anderson electric guitar & lap steel. The appealing vocals of Matt Burke bear a strong similarity to those of Mark Olson (Jayhawks, Creekdippers) and have the same ability to bring out the emotion of each song. The great master stroke really, is the use of Joshua Hernandez's viola. The instrument has such a solemn atmospheric sound that immediately makes this band sound entirely different to others in the broad genre that they inhabit & gives the songs on which it appears a slightly eerie sound. Despite the use of drums, bass & guitars on most tracks, the album still has a lovely almost sparse back porch feel to it, similar in a way to the quality that Jay Farrar brings to his music. Much of the sound has an almost buried 'indie rock' platform but this never detracts from the alt.country feel & of course Burkes voice has the classic emotional requirement to make the whole thing hold together.
The highlights are just about every track but Paperback has similar beautiful harmonies to Matthews Southern Comforts Woodstock era and classic Crosby, Stills and Nash. Ship to shore has the steel guitar somewhat further back in the mix than most, but it works really well, particularly with the cello forming the instrumental bridge. Rosie: a belated requiem is an incredibly sad song that has acoustic guitars as the main instruments but then there is an accordian added & finally a few banjo phrases that wring every bit of drama out of the song. All in all, an exceptional & hugely atmospheric album from a band that shows that there is still room in 'alt.country' for experimentation.
Jon Dee Graham & the Fighting Cocks – IT'S NOT AS BAD AS IT LOOKS
2010 - Cat.FR 1052. Freedom Records
4****
A melange of roots from a true original.
This former member of the True Believers has always remained on the edge of roots rock/ alt. Country with his very personal, literate style of songwriting, allied to gruff, throaty vocals, consequently barring him from the mainstream of any particular genre. Something to not only be applauded but also to celebrate! In the days of more & more artsists sounding alike it is safe to say that his writing & singing style means that no one can copy him, although it's possible Tom Waits could get close if he decided to give Texan countryish rock a try or even at times the late great Warren Zevon! His half a dozen or so (plus one live) albums have always been of a consistently high standard with most of his own songs telling stories of the downtrodden & the harshness of life for some. He attacks each song with the surefootedness of someone who has total commitment & belief in what he is doing.
The songs on this album cover the multitude of angles in the genres that he inhabits & range from rockers such as Beautifully broken, the at times eerie almost prog. rock of La la (la la la) to the gorgeous, heartfelt emotions of Burning off the cane. There is also the halfway to hope, but knows better of Gilead, plus the sheer disbelief that he could actually have a Lucky day. Highlight for me was the almost Ry Cooderish gospel & beautiful slide playing on God's gonna give you what you need.
The playing is always excellent with guitars & drums generally to the fore of everything except those incomparable vocals! On one track he namechecks Neil Young. Not as far fetched a comparison as you might think! You can actually listen to his albums one after the other without the fatigue you get with some artists, because whilst he is always recognisable, there have been subtle developmental changes whilst always staying true to his roots.
4****
A melange of roots from a true original.
This former member of the True Believers has always remained on the edge of roots rock/ alt. Country with his very personal, literate style of songwriting, allied to gruff, throaty vocals, consequently barring him from the mainstream of any particular genre. Something to not only be applauded but also to celebrate! In the days of more & more artsists sounding alike it is safe to say that his writing & singing style means that no one can copy him, although it's possible Tom Waits could get close if he decided to give Texan countryish rock a try or even at times the late great Warren Zevon! His half a dozen or so (plus one live) albums have always been of a consistently high standard with most of his own songs telling stories of the downtrodden & the harshness of life for some. He attacks each song with the surefootedness of someone who has total commitment & belief in what he is doing.
The songs on this album cover the multitude of angles in the genres that he inhabits & range from rockers such as Beautifully broken, the at times eerie almost prog. rock of La la (la la la) to the gorgeous, heartfelt emotions of Burning off the cane. There is also the halfway to hope, but knows better of Gilead, plus the sheer disbelief that he could actually have a Lucky day. Highlight for me was the almost Ry Cooderish gospel & beautiful slide playing on God's gonna give you what you need.
The playing is always excellent with guitars & drums generally to the fore of everything except those incomparable vocals! On one track he namechecks Neil Young. Not as far fetched a comparison as you might think! You can actually listen to his albums one after the other without the fatigue you get with some artists, because whilst he is always recognisable, there have been subtle developmental changes whilst always staying true to his roots.
Johnny Cash – AMERICAN VI: AIN'T NO GRAVE
2010 - Cat. 2733149 Mercury
4****
Closure on this epic series surely?
Despite the frailty of the voice, the sheer conviction & belief in what he is singing about ensures that the power is not diminished. This, with it's subject matter of recognising & accepting his own mortality is far removed from the easy listening of much of todays country music. But, it is immensely rewarding, in part due to his dignified acceptance of the fate that awaits him in the very near future. An over dramatic statement maybe, but when you know a little of what his world consisted of at the time of these recordings & ally this to his religious beliefs, it is easier to understand the fatalism & dignity that he brings to this all too short recording. This is not a discussion on his health & the all too recent sad loss of his wife & partner June, but the condition he was in physically & psychologically is fairly obviously a contributory factor in the song selection.
It is probably unfair to say that these songs are outtakes from American V, but there is an element of truth to it. They were recorded at around the same time, so were probably not considered right for the previous album, although very few other performers in the same circumstances would not consider this an excellent way to end. No doubt over the next few years there will be a 'plundering of the vaults' & many more recordings will be released that could be of a lesser quality, so this album is not exactly an afterthought. It actually stands as a quality piece of art, simply on it's own musical merits. The ten songs all fit into a theme of the singers morality as well as mortality. Sheryl Crow's Redemption day excercising the morality, whilst Kris Kristoffersons For the good times sums up the latter. His own & apparently last penned song, I Corinthians 15:55 seemed on first listen to be almost harrowing but is actually uplifting with 'hope springs eternal' being the central message. Tom Paxton's Can't help but wonder where I'm bound, is probably as accurate an analogy of what his future held, (even if it wasn't exactly written as such) as you could possibly wish for. Satisfied mind & I don't hurt anymore are good emotions to reach the end of life on. In fact every song on the album has relevance to what he & producer Rick Rubin had set out to do. The songs are actually enhanced by the sparse instrumentation & all of the musicianship is excellent, as can be expected from such as Benmont Tench & Mike Campbell. All in all a perfect signing off point that gives some insight into what the man was about. As someone once said about somebody else 'we'll not see his like again'.
4****
Closure on this epic series surely?
Despite the frailty of the voice, the sheer conviction & belief in what he is singing about ensures that the power is not diminished. This, with it's subject matter of recognising & accepting his own mortality is far removed from the easy listening of much of todays country music. But, it is immensely rewarding, in part due to his dignified acceptance of the fate that awaits him in the very near future. An over dramatic statement maybe, but when you know a little of what his world consisted of at the time of these recordings & ally this to his religious beliefs, it is easier to understand the fatalism & dignity that he brings to this all too short recording. This is not a discussion on his health & the all too recent sad loss of his wife & partner June, but the condition he was in physically & psychologically is fairly obviously a contributory factor in the song selection.
It is probably unfair to say that these songs are outtakes from American V, but there is an element of truth to it. They were recorded at around the same time, so were probably not considered right for the previous album, although very few other performers in the same circumstances would not consider this an excellent way to end. No doubt over the next few years there will be a 'plundering of the vaults' & many more recordings will be released that could be of a lesser quality, so this album is not exactly an afterthought. It actually stands as a quality piece of art, simply on it's own musical merits. The ten songs all fit into a theme of the singers morality as well as mortality. Sheryl Crow's Redemption day excercising the morality, whilst Kris Kristoffersons For the good times sums up the latter. His own & apparently last penned song, I Corinthians 15:55 seemed on first listen to be almost harrowing but is actually uplifting with 'hope springs eternal' being the central message. Tom Paxton's Can't help but wonder where I'm bound, is probably as accurate an analogy of what his future held, (even if it wasn't exactly written as such) as you could possibly wish for. Satisfied mind & I don't hurt anymore are good emotions to reach the end of life on. In fact every song on the album has relevance to what he & producer Rick Rubin had set out to do. The songs are actually enhanced by the sparse instrumentation & all of the musicianship is excellent, as can be expected from such as Benmont Tench & Mike Campbell. All in all a perfect signing off point that gives some insight into what the man was about. As someone once said about somebody else 'we'll not see his like again'.
The Inlaw Sisters – ROBBING THE DEVIL.
Cat. PID832700. Straydog mountain music.
4****
Authentic sounding old time 'hillbilly' music from the hollows of Holland!
This music is the taproot from which all the various branches of country music springs. It's just that in this highly competitive age of sales charts very few have the nerve, soul or ability to play it, particularly if they hail from outside the U.S! These two talented Dutch women are both excellent singers & multi instumentalists & are Anneke van der Poll on vocals, fiddle, mandolin & banjo-uke & Monique Neuteboom on vocals, guitar & banjo. They come to this genre from entirely different musical backgrounds, having first sung a couple of american folk songs together at a party. They were captivated by the music & started delving into the form as well as going to workshops in Europe & the U.S. where they had lessons in Appalachian singing . They gradually started to take part in jam sessions & performance during which time they met Sam Broussard (Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys) & asked him to play on this, their first album. They gained enough courage to ask legendary producer & musician Dirk Powell to produce the album, which he was delighted to do, also adding his own fiddle, mandolin & banjo playing to the mix. I should add that this album has been out for many months in some areas, but due to lack of promotion very few know about it.
The songs are traditional & fairly obviously have very sparse instrumentation but the most beautiful harmony singing. It is not beautiful in the sense that many albums have their harmonies so multi tracked & sugary that none of the character comes through. In the case of this album there is always that slightly discordant edge that not only gives the album an essential eerie feel but also says that these two women don't need all the trimmings & have the confidence to blend their voices in a totally natural way. This is the great strength of the album. There is no real weakness, unless you see an album that keeps very close to the confines of 'single pace' a weakness. In the case of this album that is definitely not the case. The songs are essentially meant for the 'front porch' & in essence are not designed to 'rock'. They all tell a story, with the singing voices & the story being the primary aspect, with the instruments adding colour. The highlights are just about everything but Pretty Polly could well become known as one of the definitive versions. Blue diamond mine & Your long journey, are equally strong, with The lone pilgrim & Guide me, oh thou great Jehovah being completely bereft of any instrumentation other than the two voices. Beautiful old songs, beautifully sung & played, in fact a highly evocative, uplifting album. Apparently they are even better live!
www.inlawsisters.com
Cat. PID832700. Straydog mountain music.
4****
Authentic sounding old time 'hillbilly' music from the hollows of Holland!
This music is the taproot from which all the various branches of country music springs. It's just that in this highly competitive age of sales charts very few have the nerve, soul or ability to play it, particularly if they hail from outside the U.S! These two talented Dutch women are both excellent singers & multi instumentalists & are Anneke van der Poll on vocals, fiddle, mandolin & banjo-uke & Monique Neuteboom on vocals, guitar & banjo. They come to this genre from entirely different musical backgrounds, having first sung a couple of american folk songs together at a party. They were captivated by the music & started delving into the form as well as going to workshops in Europe & the U.S. where they had lessons in Appalachian singing . They gradually started to take part in jam sessions & performance during which time they met Sam Broussard (Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys) & asked him to play on this, their first album. They gained enough courage to ask legendary producer & musician Dirk Powell to produce the album, which he was delighted to do, also adding his own fiddle, mandolin & banjo playing to the mix. I should add that this album has been out for many months in some areas, but due to lack of promotion very few know about it.
The songs are traditional & fairly obviously have very sparse instrumentation but the most beautiful harmony singing. It is not beautiful in the sense that many albums have their harmonies so multi tracked & sugary that none of the character comes through. In the case of this album there is always that slightly discordant edge that not only gives the album an essential eerie feel but also says that these two women don't need all the trimmings & have the confidence to blend their voices in a totally natural way. This is the great strength of the album. There is no real weakness, unless you see an album that keeps very close to the confines of 'single pace' a weakness. In the case of this album that is definitely not the case. The songs are essentially meant for the 'front porch' & in essence are not designed to 'rock'. They all tell a story, with the singing voices & the story being the primary aspect, with the instruments adding colour. The highlights are just about everything but Pretty Polly could well become known as one of the definitive versions. Blue diamond mine & Your long journey, are equally strong, with The lone pilgrim & Guide me, oh thou great Jehovah being completely bereft of any instrumentation other than the two voices. Beautiful old songs, beautifully sung & played, in fact a highly evocative, uplifting album. Apparently they are even better live!
www.inlawsisters.com