tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63247855951141925522024-03-12T22:02:55.153-04:00Oliver di PlaceNew Discoveries and Old FavoritesDariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.comBlogger373125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-31270872485838477292012-09-17T19:19:00.000-04:002012-09-17T19:19:58.472-04:00Steve Forbert - Over With You
<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SteveForbert-OverWithYou.jpg"></p><p>
[<a href="http://steve-forbert.mybigcommerce.com/compact-discs/">purchase</a>]</p><p>
Steve Forbert himself may not agree with me, but I think that he is the kind of artist who should always have been on independent labels. Forbert started out in the majors in 1979, and had the bad luck to have a hit on his second album with Romeo’s Tune. For the lords of major label-dom, this meant that everything Forbert did from then on had to be a hit, or he was a failure in their eyes. That of course did not happen. Two albums later, Forbert had album taken hostage in the studio vaults, and he lost five years of his career while he fought to get out of his contract. All of that is history now, and Forbert is an independent artist with a new album on Blue Corn Music, Over With You.</p><p>
The irony of all of this that Forbert is an artist with great pop instincts. Rhyming couplets seem to come naturally to him, and he writes variations on folk-rock formats that have great hooks. What is different about Forbert is the naturalness of his writing and delivery. Great pop music, the kind that sells in huge numbers on major labels, has a layer of artificiality to it that allows the listener to relate to it without having to get too close to the emotions involved, and allows the dancer in a club to simply not care too much at all. There is a gift to writing that way, and Steve Forbert has never had it. Forbert has the form down, but his songs feel like conversations with real people. He delivers a couplet in perfect rhyme and meter, but what you notice is how natural it sounds, as if people always talk this way. Pop music is all shiny surfaces, but you can see the dirt under the fingernails of Steve Forbert’s characters.</p><p>
At the beginning of his career, Forbert had a youthful exuberance, a belief that anything was possible in love or life, and a charming twinkle in his eye as he told you about it. That optimism has been tempered by all that he has been through, but the twinkle is back on his new album. Love, in particular, is more ambiguous than it used to be. All I Need to Do, on the new album, is an “I’m Not In Love” kind of song with a sense of humor, but the narrator is coping with the fact that the relationship he wants most is over. Baby I Know presents a relationship that is mostly working, but it still is a promise to do better. In Can’t We Get Together, the narrator wants to take the distance out of a long distance relationship. Forbert sees love these days as something to work at, where it had been a state of perfection in the songs of his younger days.</p><p>
As an independent artist, Forbert has the freedom to veer away from standard song forms, to be more musically adventurous. But Forbert loves these forms, so you hear a lot of them here. Still, there are places on Over With You where Forbert gets more musically adventurous, and the results are very rewarding. The title track is a break-up ballad, and it almost sounds like a hit. But the arrangement is mostly acoustic, with the addition of a drone played on the organ. There is a percussion part that kicks the song along, and a beautiful piano part emerges from nowhere. The song also has some odd chord changes that I can not identify further, but I know that something unusual just happened. But the most remarkable thing about the song Over With You is the vocal. Steve Forbert has never had a pretty voice, and this is not the kind of song you would necessarily want to hear him rasping through. But he brings both a warmth and a sincerity to it that a prettier voice would miss. That said, somebody could probably have a huge hit with the song in a properly insipid arrangement; just don’t let me know if it happens. Don’t Look Down Pollyanna is a song that can be taken in different ways. I hear it as a lifeline to people who are struggling through this difficult times. Forbert doesn’t have the answers, but he offers hope that things will get better. Musically, the treat here is Ben Sollee’s cello part, which functions almost as a duet partner for Forbert’s voice. There are also washes of notes in the background, played on an electric guitar, that give the song a sense of danger.</p><p>
The album closes with Sugarcane Plum Fairy. This is one of those songs that apparently demanded to be released, but it is different from anything else on the album. It’s an ambiguous lyric, but it seems to me to recall a romance in references to fairy tales and children’s books. It has some of the sunny optimism of Forbert’s early career, except that it is told in the past tense, and when the narrator leaves at the end of the song, I have the sense that he won’t be back. The song could also be Forbert looking back over his career, and recognizing that he will never again have what he once did. The illusions are gone now, and he can see things as the really are. Something is lost in this, but something is gained as well, And Forbert shares that with the world on Over With You. </p><p>
<b>Stream the entire album <a href="http://www.slamjammedia.com/eCards/SteveForbertOWY/">here</a>.</p><p></b>
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I have had a statement on the sidebar here that I would remove any copyrighted material on request since I began this blog, and there is a similar statement on Star Maker Machine. Nevertheless, a recent crackdown by the recording industry resulted in the loss of my file hosting service. As a result, I will be experimenting with different ways to allow you, my readers, to hear the music I write about. This time, it's the stream above, because that is what the promoter could send me. Next time, it may be something else. Let me from you what format(s) you prefer, and I will see what I can do.
Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-32061485162263875462012-07-31T02:57:00.001-04:002012-07-31T02:57:25.550-04:00Book Review: Revival by Scott Alarik<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Revival-ScottAlarik.jpg"></p><p>
[<a href="http://www.scottalarik.com/index.php?page=stax&family=books">purchase</a>]</p><p>
My copy of Scott Alarik’s novel Revival came with a CD that was created as a promotional item for radio stations. On the CD, Alarik reads four selections from the book, with backing music by Jake Amerding. Two of these are passages that advance the story, while the other two are true incidents from folk history that are woven into the book. I find this instructive. Scott Alarik is a folk artist, a writer about folk, (notably in his columns and reviews in the Boston Globe), a teacher of folk history, and a folk coffeehouse impresario. In Revival, all of these Alariks come together in a room, where they are joined by Scott Alarik the novelist. The conversation is lively and sometimes raucous. At times, they interrupt one another, while they also sometimes finish each other’s sentences. The resulting book is at times fascinating, at other times heartwarming, and only occasionally aggravating. I quite enjoyed myself, and reading the book through was a treat.</p><p>
There is indeed a story here. Nathan Warren was once a future folk star who seemed to have it all. But we meet him years later. Warren had been chewed up and spat out by the machinery of the major label system, never to enjoy the success that once seemed so certain. Now, he consoles himself by running an open mike night and a jam session at a Boston bar. One night, Kit Palmer walks in to sign up for the open mike. She is impossibly nervous, but Nathan sees something in her, and she becomes his mission. Revival turns out to be a love story. Nathan finds ways to give Kit confidence, while she finds ways to draw him out of his funk. Along the way, Nathan gives Kit advice about songwriting, and this advice could apply as well to a first-time novelist. Let your characters show their feelings, instead of telling us what they are. Stay on topic, and let your story do its work. Alarick follows this advice beautifully in the scenes where Nathan and Kit are together. The relationship has a wonderfully natural feel, and Alarik remembers that lovers, especially new lovers, do some pretty funny things. The humor in the book is never forced, and it was a wonderful surprise to me. The problem I had was the passages where Nathan was alone. He spends a lot of time brooding, and Alarick does not tell the flashbacks in the same way that he relates the action in the present. This is where Alarick explains Nathan’s emotions, instead of letting us see them. But soon enough, we are back in the present, and Alarick’s storytelling gifts return. Nathan is full of lore about folk music, and this becomes important to the story. But it also takes the reader on some fascinating digressions that I thoroughly enjoyed, but which stop the story in its tracks. I found myself rooting for a fairytale ending, in which Kit becomes a new star, while Nathan finds himself and also the success that should have been his so long ago. But Alarik finds a conclusion which ultimately proves both more real and more satisfying. </p><p>
In the end, Revival is a book that makes me want to seek out Alarik’s nonfiction. It makes me want to hear his music. And it makes me hope that he has another novel in the works, and that he will continue to grow as a writer of fiction. Revival is a better book than it is a novel, but it leaves me wanting more fiction from Alarik the novelist.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-14244464758261520642012-04-01T13:24:00.000-04:002012-04-01T13:24:50.020-04:00Women Bound and Unbound<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/WomenUnbound.jpg"></p><p><br />
This post took a lot longer than I expected, and bears no resemblance at all to the one I started at first. That post needs an album or two that I don’t have yet. For this one, when my first idea failed, I thought I would just like to hear the voices of some women. For me, that is musical comfort food. I had all of the songs for this post picked when I realized that I had stumbled into something deeper. <br />
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This post, then, is about the boundaries that women live with, and what happens when they break out of them. Some of these boundaries are imposed by society, while others arise from the dynamics of a particular relationship. Historically, women have been restricted much more than men by these forces, as well as by religion and even law. In the United States, home of the free, women could not own property at first, and it took even longer for them to get the right to vote. But the songs I am presenting here are not feminist tracts, or even political songs as such. Rather, they are personal statements by five eloquent songwriters. <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HeatherMaloney-TimePocketChange.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/g6z4z709x47qz5a/No_Shortcuts-Heather_Maloney.mp3"><b>Heather Maloney</b>: <i>No Shortcuts</i></a><br />
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No Shortcuts is performed as an incantation, complete with heartbeat percussion. The journey it describes seems at first to be a physical one, but it soon becomes apparent that it is a metaphor, that the journey is also emotional and spiritual. The song could serve as an overture for this post, since many journeys are taken here. Heather Maloney is telling us, in her impassioned voice, that we can not simply break through boundaries, that there must be a newly created structure to replace them. Freedom is the ability to define that structure for yourself. Maloney is not limited in the way that some songwriters and artists are. Her voice can convey gravity in a mid-alto range, but she can also soar into a high soprano for bursts of exuberance or flights of fancy. Her album, Time & Pocket Change, does not fit neatly into any musical genre, but it is a coherent document, held together by the strength of her personality. Maloney looks at life from a slightly odd angle, and in doing so, helps us see.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SuzanneDoyle-Unwalled.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ohanyffbs5y81xw/Third_Day-Suzanne_Doyle.mp3"><b>Suzanne Doyle</b>: <i>Third Day</i></a><br />
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I have attended orchestra concerts, and arrived early enough to hear the musicians warming up. You hear the sounds of familiar instruments, but it is also a kind of noise, with no apparent direction or meaning. As the warm up progresses, some of the musicians begin to play passages of pieces, and you begin to think that the whole thing may soon coalesce into something coherent. Suzanne Doyle’s song Third Day begins with a brief moment that reminds me of this, but the song does coalesce into something powerful and mysterious, before descending back into musical noise at the end. This fits her theme perfectly. Third Day has three characters, identified only by pronouns. “She” appears first, and is the only one whose gender the listener can be sure of. A relationship has ended, and “she” finds herself alone for at least the first time in a very long time. Her boundaries were defined by the relationship, and now those boundaries are gone. She must build new ones, and the idea is frightening to her. Next, we meet “You”. “You” is as much the idea of these boundaries as it is a person. “You” is the old order in her life, that she is not ready to give up, but must. After getting to know you for a while, the listener begins to wonder why the pronouns are used the way they are. Who is narrating this? That turns out to be “I”. “I”’s situation seems to parallel “She”’s. She and I are both leaving. Doyle has written the song so that it is not clear whether “You” is going with “I” or staying behind. What is clear is that there was a structure in place that affected all three characters, and now it is gone. Regardless of who initiated this change or why, it is clear that all three characters must now find their ways anew. Doyle leaves it ambiguous, but that is her intention. This is the kind of song that will inspire great conversations as to its meaning. Doyle has a wonderful smoky alto voice, and her singing makes it clear that she cares deeply about these characters. She is a fascinating writer, and her musical settings work beautifully.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HaroulaRose-TheseOpenRoads.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/79sf9op8nrai41e/a_place_under_the_sun-Haroula_Rose.mp3"><b>Haroula Rose</b>: <i>A Place Under the Sun</i></a><br />
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A Place Under the Sun is a love song. Haroula Rose is offering her lover a refuge from the fears expressed in the previous two songs. The tenderness is something you can almost stir with a spoon here, and it is a beautiful thing. The music does something quite surprising. The song begins as a folk ballad, with the mood led by banjo and cello. Eventually, a piano joins the mix, but played with a light touch. The arrangement remains mostly acoustic, but the song becomes a rock song, a power ballad if you will. It’s a question of how the instruments are used, and it is never over the top. Actually, it really works beautifully. The arrangements on These Open Roads range from folk to rock, with even some Motown influences at times. Throughout, the lyrics are heartfelt, the vocals warm and emotional, and the arrangements endlessly creative.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/GraceAskewtheBlackMarketGoods-self-titled.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/a7lp9qnqahd7aqr/Go_My_Way-Grace_Askew_&_the_Blackmarket_Goods.mp3"><b>Grace Askew & the Black Market Goods</b>: <i>Go My Way</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/graceaskewtheblackmarket/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Grace Askew isn’t waiting to get old. Metaphorically, she’s wearing purple now, and Go My Way is her declaration of independence. Askew sings in a smoky torch alto, and her voice is a powerful instrument. When I reviewed her last album, I enjoyed her jazzy blues. But her new band, Black Market Goods, pushes her to new heights. I can see now how her past work was only a warm up. Here, Askew finds new strength. The band adds some twang to the mix, and it’s all to the good. Some singers can slur their words to great effect, helping them to create a certain type of character. That was Askew’s strategy before, and I enjoyed the results. But now she is singing her words clearly, possibly so that they can be made out above the band, and this frees her. Go My Way still presents a character from a lower stratum of society, but now there is a sense of the character’s personal strength that wasn’t there before. It’s going to be a joy to see how this band develops going forward.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JoannaWeinberg-ThePianoDiaries.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/n8npxpe8wepywei/Daughters_of_the_Empire-Joanna_Weinberg.mp3"><b>Joanna Weinberg</b>: <i>Daughters of the Empire</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/joannaweinberg1/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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The Piano Diaries is a collection of songs that came to Joanna Weinberg as a result of taking piano lessons for the first time in many years. It’s hardly surprising that many of the songs are about the piano, or at least about making music. Daughters of the Empire finds Weinberg thinking about where the ivory comes from to make pianos. It begins as an account of an elephant hunt from 200 years ago, but by the end, Weinberg is imagining young ladies chained to Victorian-seeming mores, bored, and dependent upon their fathers to get them that piano. The contrast between the confined ladies and the wild but doomed animal may not be intended as a statement on the condition of women in those times, but it struck me that way. If that was the intended message, it works quite powerfully. Throughout the album, Weinberg shows herself to be an inspired and imaginative songwriter, which is why I find this interpretation of Daughters of the Empire plausible. The music has flavors of jazz and English music hall, and they combine in delightful ways. Joanna Weinberg is a talent to keep an eye on.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-7609664376354425702012-03-17T15:31:00.000-04:002012-03-17T15:31:14.379-04:00Rainbow’s End<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/RainbowsEnd.jpg"></p><p><br />
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a symbol that appears every year at this time. To me, it has always indicated not just a reward, but also the journey to get there. Think of this set then as a journey toward Irish music. The Celtic people of Ireland had a journey of their own before they landed in Ireland. For many, famine and religious and political strife have meant that the journey did not end there, and so it is that the Irish people, as well as their music and traditions, are to be found in the United States and Australia, among other places. Wherever the Irish have gone, their music has influenced and inspired those around them. So it is that most of the music in this post is by artists who have never lived in Ireland, and many have no Irish blood either. But the ancestry of the music is indisputable.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/WestofEden-SafeCrossing.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/le69t5b1czndlku/On She Goes-West of Eden.mp3"><b>West of Eden</b>: <i>On She Goes</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.westofeden.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=169&osCsid=96733106ec97f2e138616f8a7b96df70">purchase</a>]<br />
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West of Eden is a Swedish band. The Nordic folk music that I have heard has some resemblance to Celtic music, although I’m sure a connoisseur of either genre would be horrified to hear me say so. But the Celts did pass through this part of the world before landing in the British Isles. Safe Crossing is a collection of sea songs, and it is inspired work throughout. Only On She Goes really has that Celtic lilt, but the entire album has one wonderful example of folk-based sea song after another. The album was inspired by John Fowles’ book Shipwreck, and it has led the band to their finest work yet. On She Goes is an original song, and, even though I am a man, the lyric makes me smile. Having never met Jenny Shaub, I am confident of my ability to stay out of the junkyard of her memory.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Emish-SinnersMaketheBestSaints.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/s1vbypxahiuci9i/South Australia-Emish.mp3"><b>Emish</b>: <i>South Australia</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/emish3/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Emish hails from New York State. They work the same British Isles folk-rock territory that was pioneered by Fairport Convention, but Emish does it with a strong Irish accent, and with a punchy rock edge that seems to come more easily to Americans than to the British. Their songs are sometimes more on the acoustic side, and sometimes all out rockers. South Australia is a traditional tune, and Emish finds that sweet spot right in the middle stylistically. The song also shows off the wonderful vocal harmonies that are an important and beautiful part of their sound.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/CadtFinlayson-HarpandShamrock.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/iw8y83o8d8wopfm/Ms. Billye's Waltz-Cady Finlayson.mp3"><b>Cady Finlayson</b>: <i>Ms Billye‘s Waltz</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cadyfinlayson2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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And then there are those artists who seek to master the traditional forms, even though the are not “native speakers”, as it were. Cady Finlayson has more recently taken her grounding in Irish folk in some pretty wild directions. But Harp and Shamrock is a set from 2004, and here Finlayson is still doing her apprenticeship. Finlayson is a fiddler from New York City, but she has both traveled extensively in Ireland, and sought out the best Irish players she could find in the United States. The results show that she chose the right musical path. Finlayson navigates the speedy runs of the jigs and reels in this set beautifully and expressively. But she really shines on slow airs like Ms Biilye’s Waltz. Here, her fiddle has an almost human voice, and her “singing” is as emotionally rewarding as any human voice could be. No words are needed.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JoeRossJanetNaylor-TheHarpersReverie.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/yfg81bnzj1gut3s/Planxty Irwin-Sheebeg Sheemore-Joe Ross.mp3"><b>Joe Ross, Janet Naylor, and Friends</b>: <i>Planxty Irwin/ Sheebeg Sheemore</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/harpersr/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Joe Ross is usually a bluegrass musician, and a fine one. But he can step out and play Celtic music, or jazz-influenced folk. I’m not sure what else he’s capable of, but I will let you know when I find out. Ross has made exactly one album of Celtic music, with harper Janet Naylor. Ross himself wrote about this earlier this week on <a href="http://www.sixsongs.blogspot.com/2012/03/irish-accents-ocarolans-welcome.html">Star Maker Machine</a>. Naylor only made this one album, as far as I can tell, in 1998. The musical territory here is quite similar to what Cady Finlayson is working with, but the results are quite different. The songs on The Harper’s Reverie are presented as chamber music. The instrument that sounds so unusual on Planxty Irwin/ Sheebeg Sheemore is a bassoon. The music is well played, to be sure, but what this approach really emphasizes is the beauty of the compositions. I doubt that Turlough O’Carolan ever imagined these arrangements of his music, but I think he would have approved.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Altan-ThePoisonGlen.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/48jik3exzqha85c/An Ghealog-Altan.mp3"><b>Altan</b>: <i>An Ghealog</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://compassrecords.com/album.php?id=946">purchase</a>]<br />
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And now we arrive in Ireland at last. Ireland is known, among other things, for its seemingly inexhaustible supply of amazing folk sopranos. That said, Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh is certainly one of the best. The Poison Glen, Altan’s new album, is a mix of instrumental pieces and songs. This is the traditional way of making an album of Irish music. The instrumentals here are very fine, but I live for the songs. Most are in Gaelic, but Ni Mhaonaigh’s voice communicates clearly in any language. Altan has been part of the Irish music scene for many years. Some groups have changed their sound, adding a wash of synthesizers, and creating sonic wall paper, while giving Irish music a bad name. The Poison Glen is not strictly traditional, but this music far more grounded in tradition than some of its more flighty cousins. Altan adds wonderful vocal harmonies. The full instrumentation is not listed, but if any electronics are used, they are applied with great subtlety. The songs and instrumentals are a mix of traditional and newer material. The fact that some of the new songs were composed in Gaelic tells you all you need to know about Altan’s desire to keep a connection to tradition while moving that tradition forward.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-73103626027128220662012-03-10T16:36:00.000-05:002012-03-10T16:36:51.675-05:00Songs From the Spirit<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SongsFromtheSpirit.jpg"></p><p><br />
Spirituality as often at its best when it happens by accident. Think about the zealotry of people who find religion as adults compared to the attitude of those who are born to it. I use a broad definition of spirituality, not confined at all to religious belief, but I find that this idea still holds true. So I was happy that this post happened by accident. I originally set out to do a post of hot new releases, but, as I began to choose songs, I noticed a theme developing. The songs were expressing deep emotions, sometimes triggered by a confluence of events. I had a theme on my hands, and two of the albums I had chosen at first fell away, to be replaced by two older albums. The selection of songs brought into focus for me what I mean by spirituality. Let me show you what I mean.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/CarrieNewcomer-EverythingisEverywhere.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/c1lh2qjbi8b38iq/I Believe-Carrie Newcomer.mp3"><b>Carrie Newcomer</b>: <i>I Believe</i></a><br />
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Carrie Newcomer has incorporated spiritual themes, in the way most people use the term, into her songwriting for some time now. She has the gift of being able to frankly discuss this without ever getting preachy. These spiritual themes are even more in the foreground than usual on Newcomer’s new album, Everything is Everywhere. The album is the result of a trip to India Newcomer was able to make, and the chance to work with Indian musicians has made the music sound richer. Given all of this, I Believe, despite the title, might not be the most obvious choice. The song is largely a list of things in the mundane world. For me, that is exactly the point. The song is a wonderful expression of thankfulness for the every day miracles we all too easily overlook, and it is also a beautiful statement of humility in the face of this.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/CarterandGrammer-LittleBlueEgg.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/a67a09q4jine0x9/Till We Have Faces-Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer.mp3"><b>Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer</b>: <i>Till We Have Faces</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://redhouserecords.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RHR&Product_Code=RHR-CD-251">purchase</a>]<br />
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Yes, there is a new album by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, and a very fine one. Carter passed on in 2002, but he was a prolific songwriter, and he left behind many songs that had never seen the light of day in his lifetime. In this case, Tracy Grammer discovered some recordings they had made together that she had thought were lost. Carter was the songwriter for the pair, and one of the best. He alternated between spiritual and earthly themes in his writing. Carter’s spirituality was not tethered to any specific religion, which freed him to write lines like “Rock me Goddess in the gentle arms of Eden”. Nor were his beliefs in any way a hodgepodge; rather, he found common ground in a wide variety of spiritual traditions, and he expressed that beautifully in his writing. Till We Have Faces is one of his finest songs of this sort. The song could be a mysterious telling of earthly love, or it could be a description of a ritual binding of body and spirit. It’s probably both. It’s the kind of song that prompts the listener to explore their own spirituality, which is exactly what the best writing of this sort should do. Grammer’s vocals and fiddle work here are also just beautiful. The background vocals are by Claire Bard, who I need to learn more about.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/KyleAlden-SongsFromYeatsBee-LoudGlade.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/vy3ba65c0ztsbfv/The Cap and Bells-Kyle Alden.mp3"><b>Kyle Alden</b>: <i>The Cap and Bells</i></a><br />
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Kyle Alden found his spirit moved by the works of another artist in another time: William Butler Yeats. On a trip to Ireland, Alden visited sites associated with Yeats, and Alden decided to revisit Yeats’ poetry when he got home. Alden says that the music to The Cap and Bells wrote itself, and the rest of the songs here quickly followed. Yeats expressed a spirituality that was very much tied to the physical world. Nature and the lore of specific places were important to him. If you believe that magic can be tied to specific places, Alden appears to have absorbed some of that magic. His musical settings are not Irish music, but they more than do justice to their inspirations.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/LurrieBell-TheDevilAintGotNoMusic.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/83ox6mmncm83p6z/Peace in the Valley-Lurie Bell.mp3"><b>Lurrie Bell</b>: <i>Peace in the Valley</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Aint-Got-No-Music/dp/B0075MFS26/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331190276&sr=1-3">Available April 17, 2012, pre-order here</a>]<br />
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In making connections to spirituality as most people think of it, Lurrie Bell’s rendition of Peace in the Valley would appear to be the easiest fit. The song is, after all, a gospel standard, so what more is there to say? Quite a bit, it turns out. Bell grew up in the American south at a time when musicians had a stark choice to make between playing the blues or gospel. Blues was viewed as the Devil’s music, and this was taken quite seriously. Bell, of course, moved to Chicago, and made a name for himself as one of the best blues artists in a blues town. His blues often features his electric guitar and a good-sized band. But, before Bell left the south, he played gospel. The Devil Ain’t Got No Music is a statement by a man who is beginning to feel his own mortality, an affirmation of faith and a testimony. Stylistically, Bell can not keep the blues out of his gospel music, but the arrangements are stripped down, and the playing is mostly acoustic, although with a sharp edge. This is the sound of a man baring his soul, and Peace in the Valley is a fine example of the music’s power.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/AndrewMcKnight-SomethingWorthStandingFor.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/zp3nbc3zlh13lrz/Bridges-Andrew McKnight.mp3"><b>Andrew McKnight</b>: <i>Bridges</i></a><br />
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Most people would probably talk about their spirituality in terms of their inner life, and we have seen some fine examples of that. But for Andrew McKnight in 2007, his spirituality was all about how he related to the world outside. His political views are informed by his conscience and beliefs, which makes the political songs on Something Worth Standing For some of the best I have heard. Bridges goes deeper, and explains the trigger for all of this. The song was inspired by the birth of McKnight’s first child, and, in it, he meditates on the sort of world this child will grow up in. Surely, his determination to make that world the best place he can for that child is as much a spiritual statement as anything we have heard here.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-30889350530542187962012-03-03T02:02:00.002-05:002012-03-03T02:48:47.085-05:00Pop as a Flavor<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/PopasaFlavor.jpg"></p><p><br />
What is pop music? At different times, it has been Madonna, The Lovin’ Spoonful, and The Clovers, just to name a few. These artists could not sound more different from each other, but each is or was pop. Pop music then is a menu of musical memories and reference points. Listen to Madonna’s Borderland, or a song inspired by it, and you might recall how you felt when you first heard it. That gives songwriters an opening. The ability to invoke these feelings with a musical feel can enhance what they do. The key, often, is to avoid the excesses of the form you are invoking, but still recall that form, and perhaps comment on it. Here are five artists sampling from different parts of the menu, to great effect.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/TylerFortier-FearoftheUnknown.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ftt6knuzkr61tod/Might As Well Get Saved-Tyler Fortier.mp3"><b>Tyler Fortier</b>: <i>Might As Well Get Saved</i></a><br />
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Tyler Fortier sometimes makes albums that are almost folk, with not much more than his voice and acoustic guitar. But Fear of the Unknown as a whole is what happens the rest of the time. The band on this album is large, and the music mostly rocks. Fortier uses horns, strings, and some other instruments not often heard in rock to create rich textures that suit the songs well. And then there is the song I have chosen. Might as Well Get Saved represents the middle ground between the two extremes of Fortier’s approach to making music. The song is a ballad, and Fortier sets the song for voice and acoustic guitar. But there is a piano line that weaves around the guitar part, and strengthens it. Fortier’s vocal is almost doubled by a background singer doing a close harmony line. And the whole thing rests on a cushion of organ and trumpet. The result is a work of subtle beauty. The lyric tells the tale of an itinerate preacher who warns all who will listen of the end times. The words don’t tell us entirely what to make of him, but the musical setting conveys sympathy. Fortier does not ask us to agree with this man’s theology, but he wants us to feel the loneliness of his self-appointed mission. The combination of words and musical setting convey that beautifully.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/WalterParks-self-titled.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/4zrz0ird8zvhi21/New Mexico-Walter Parks.mp3"><b>Walter Parks</b>: <i>New Mexico</i></a><br />
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New Mexico is almost the negative example of my thesis here. Parks makes this one work by what he leaves out. The lyric could be pure country, and in fact, someone like George Strait could probably have a massive hit with it. Parks tells the story of a woman in North Carolina who feels that she must leave her life and a lover behind, and restart her life in New Mexico. A country version of this would drench the song in pedal steel and strings. But Parks strips the song down, with a spare arrangement for drums, bass, and guitar, with some subtle lap steel that is mostly atmospheric. The arrangement features lots of space that must go unfilled, as the lyric tells us. The emotion of the piece is that much stronger because of its sparseness, and that is emphasized because of what we expect a song like this to sound like. Parks takes a subject that could have been a cliché, and makes it true.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/StevRobinson-RideofOurLives.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/n96icqj29ya07he/Riddles-Steve Robinson.mp3"><b>Steve Robinson</b>: <i>Riddles</i></a><br />
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Steve Robinson goes in the opposite direction, to wonderful effect. Riddles begins with just Robinson’s fine tenor and acoustic guitar. But then the layers of sound begin to accumulate, and soon we are close to a sound like The Beatles at their psychedelic best. One can also hear the fact that Robinson worked with Roger McGuinn for some time, and there are some intimations of the best of The Moody Blues. It adds up to pure pop bliss. Robinson is no musical tourist; it is clear that this is his musical home, and I was glad to accept his invitation to visit him there.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/WillGalison-LineOpen.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/dko6j4f4s4bx3d9/Bobby & Sally-Will Galison.mp3"><b>Will Galison</b>: <i>Bobby & Sally</i></a><br />
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Like Steve Robinson, Will Galison has a sure touch with big arrangements. The songs here are constructed as they were in the 1950’s, but filtered through modern sensibilities. Galison creates great grooves, aches just right on the ballads, and delivers a perfect love duet with Sonya Valet on the title track. But Bobby & Sally gets everything sublimely perfect. The lyric is a quirky and delightful love story, and Galison becomes the second songwriter I know of, after John Hiatt, to use the word amoeba in a song and do it well. The whole thing rides on a vaguely Latin groove, and Galison’s emotive tenor caps it all off. I can’t sit still to this one, and I find it hard to resist singing along. Repeated listens have done nothing to dim my enthusiasm.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/PhillipMasorti-AnotherYear.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/574xl4kh6o63arh/Cheaper-Phil Masorti.mp3"><b>Phillip Masorti</b>: <i>Cheaper</i></a><br />
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Cheaper gathers itself out of chaos, and settles into a stabbing groove. The lyric is enigmatic. The song could be a metaphorical expression of the dangers of love, but there are also lines that could be taken as drug references. What comes through clearly is the combined sense of excitement and danger. Musically, it’s easy to hear this one as hard rock, but Phillip Masorti does something far more interesting. The groove comes from drums played with brushes, electric bass, acoustic guitar, and mandolin. The sense of danger is heightened by a ragged fiddle part and a scarred electric guitar line. Masorti’s low baritone slinks on top of this, and the feeling is complete. There is no need to get louder; this one has all of the power it could possibly need.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-73308273536582003482012-02-20T02:33:00.000-05:002012-02-20T02:33:28.000-05:00Gathering of Friends<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/GatheringofFriends.jpg"></p><p><br />
I imagine a room that seems to have only one woman in it, with her guitar. But she only seems to be alone. The muse of songwriting is there with her, invisible even to her. As she sings and plays a new song, other musicians are drawn to her, and they come and listen. Some take out instruments and join in. Soon her song is over, and another singer starts up where she left off, the muse having gone to the new singer. More musicians join in, and more singers take up the task in turn. Soon, there is a full band, inspired by each other and this invisible presence. And then the moment passes, but the songs remain. I am happy to present them now.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HeatherStyka-LifeboatsForAtlantis.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/9r051tj9hh8ehhq/Lucy and Sarah-Heather Styka.mp3"><b>Heather Styka</b>: <i>Lucy and Sarah</i></a><br />
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Heather Styka is that woman alone, but her song Lucy and Sarah soon draws a sympathetic fiddler to her side. No wonder. The song is a remarkable ballad of depression and the power of friendship. It’s not all that easy to make me cry, but the quiet power of this one did the trick. The impact of the song builds through the details of what Styka leaves out, as well as what she puts in. Her performance does the writing justice. Other songs on Lifeboats for Atlantis have fuller arrangements, but the writing is always there, and Styka gives each song just what it needs.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JennRawling-TaketheAir.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/wddmf2bjx9q31r5/Big Old Lake-Jenn Rawling.mp3"><b>Jenn Rawling</b>: <i>Big Old Lake</i></a><br />
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Jenn Rawling is the one whose name is on the album cover, but Take the Air is the work of the duo or Rawling and Basho Parks. Big Old Lake has Rawling on guitar and Parks on fiddle joined by Willem Joersz on standup bass, and the interplay of this trio, plus a drummer playing with brushes for subtle accents, carries the sound here. The song describes the realization that a place the narrator has been away from is no longer home. The situation is bittersweet, and that comes through beautifully. Elsewhere, Rawling and Parks add banjo, keyboards, and even trumpet on three songs. It adds up to some unusual textures for folk-based music, but all makes sense when you hear it.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/TheGoodIntentions-SomeoneElsesTime.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/nvubqt1x6nunkk6/The Sound of Time Passing-The Good Intentions.mp3"><b>The Good Intentions</b>: <i>The Sound of Time Passing</i></a><br />
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First of all, a consumer warning. The Good Intentions heard here are a British folk/ Americana band whose only previous album was Poor Boy. There is also an American group called The Good Intentions, and there is a rock band called Good Intentions, without the The. <br />
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The concept of British Americana is an interesting one. It’s not hard to imagine an American musician writing these songs, but the performances here are both more restrained and more polished than an American band might have done. That means that the pleasures of this album are subtle, but they do get under your skin. These Good Intentions are a trio, all of whom sing, and the vocal harmonies are one of the things that make this album something special. The Sound of Time Passing is a sweetly nostalgic song that shows just how beautifully the group’s approach can benefit a song.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/NancyKDillon-RosesGuidetoTimeTravel.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/dhc6stadtbwbx77/New Train-Nancy K. Dillon.mp3"><b>Nancy K Dillon</b>: <i>New Train</i></a><br />
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On Rose’s Guide to Time Travel, Nancy K Dillon’s songs are pulled between folk and rock. On New Train, this tension comes out in the interplay between the haunting electric guitar and the fiddle. The song is a folk-gospel number, but the setting here gives this kind of song a new power. Elsewhere on the album, there are more folkish numbers, but that creative tension is always there. Dillon’s strong vocals and emotional commitment to the material hold the whole thing together and make it memorable.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/DaveMcGrawandMandyFer-SeedofaPine.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/x5ajxu3go30p86x/Forget The Diamonds-Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer.mp3"><b>Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer</b>: <i>Forget the Diamonds</i></a><br />
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Forget the Diamonds is essentially a rock song, and a fine one. But the electric guitar player has left my imaginary room, and the arrangement is acoustic. No matter. The power that the best rock songs convey is here, along with some tasty fiddle lines in the middle. The quieter moments on this album reveal just how much of a joy it would be to hear these songs performed by just the duo of Mandy Fer and Dave McGraw, But the arrangements here give the songs extra bite, and they thrive under this treatment. Both Fer and McGraw have turns on lead vocals, and each holds their own quite nicely in the fuller arrangements.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-31945808445396295092012-02-09T02:07:00.000-05:002012-02-09T02:07:03.996-05:00Jazz Heritage<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JazzHeritage.jpg"></p><p><br />
More than any others, jazz musicians are acutely aware of where the music came from, and how they fit within it. This is just as true of the singers as the instrumentalists. Whether making a personal statement about their musical roots or taking the next step in the progression, where they came from informs the work of many jazz artists. I am fortunate to have some remarkable examples of this.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MacyChen-After75Years.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/b5wumazc6u9u1j7/天涯歌女 The Wandering Songstress-Macy Chen.mp3"><b>Macy Chen</b>: <i>The Wandering Songstress</i></a><br />
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Macy Chen’s connection is deeply personal, and After 75 Years is one of the most unusual packages I have ever received. The package holds a series of letters and song lyrics, in English and Chinese. There are also envelopes and an introduction, and, of course, the CD. The letters are sent by Chen’s grandfather from 75 years in the past, and back again by Chen into that past. This correspondence is a work of fiction, but that isn’t the whole story. The grandfather was real enough, and he left a family behind in China to pursue a career in jazz in Japan in 1935. Chen also left China, where she had a career in Chinese pop music, to pursue her love of jazz in New York City. In the letters, the two discuss the momentousness of the choice they have made. The songs on the CD are all sung in Chinese, the language in which most of them were written. The English translations are poetically rendered, I believe by Chen herself. If so, I would gladly read a novel of hers if she chose to write one.<br />
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As beautiful as the writing is, the focus should also be on the music. I am no expert on Chinese music, but I believe that I hear accents of it in these songs, most clearly in The Wandering Songstress. I don’t know if the combination ought to work, but it certainly does here. This is certainly jazz, but with a subtle sweetness that comes from somewhere else. The music swings, and Chen sings with enough emotion that these songs can be fully enjoyed without translation. My advice is to spend time with both the writing and the music, but not at the same time. Each deserves your full attention, and rewards it richly.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SylvieBoisel-Amour.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/2mu098023x6cfit/Cry Me a River-Sylvie Boisel.mp3"><b>Sylvie Boisel</b>: <i>Cry Me a River</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.sylvieboisel.com/cd_amour_sylvieboisel.html">purchase</a>]<br />
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Sylvie Boisel began her singing career in Paris, but she now calls Australia home. In her approach to jazz singing, she has brought Paris with her. This program of eleven songs includes staples of Paris from Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg. So it would be easy to descend into cliché, and many singers have succumbed. Boisel never does. Her love of this material shines through. The production is lush, but never overdone. Everything is hit just right here, but this is no museum piece either. Boisel puts this across as part of a tradition that is very much alive. Amour is her debut, and I am looking forward to seeing how her talent develops.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/AlexisParsons-selftitled.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ejal4psofp78y9q/Just Squeeze Me-Alexis Parsons.mp3"><b>Alexis Parsons</b>: <i>Just Squeeze Me</i></a><br />
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Alexis Parsons also finds inspiration in a program of standards, although she has made a point of choosing ones that are not the best known. But, on what I believe is Parsons’ debut, she has made a brave choice to perform these songs with just one accompanist, Frank Kimbrough on piano. So there are no drums or bass keeping time; Parsons and Kimbrough have to do that themselves. It gives both of them the freedom to be a little looser with the beat, a potential booby trap. They navigate it beautifully. Parsons has a sweetness in her voice that doesn’t get overdone in these arrangements, so it comes off as a winning quality. My first thought was that the performances lacked intensity, but I realized that that was just my reliance on a rhythm section. Once I got over myself, I realized just how emotionally committed these performances are. So, listen to this once, and then maybe once more once you know what to expect. Alexis Parsons will reward your extra attention here.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/CatherineRussell-StrictlyRomancin.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/9fau3bq2crqzg62/No More-Catherine Russell.mp3"><b>Catherine Russell</b>: <i>No More</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://store.hmusa.com/strictly-romancin.html">purchase</a>]<br />
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When I reviewed <a href="http://oliverdiplace.blogspot.com/2010/05/catherine-russell-inside-this-heart-of.html">Catherine Russell‘s last album</a>, I remarked that I could hear her love and respect for the history of jazz song. But that album drew on blues and even some avant garde influences. Perhaps Russell has reached a point in her career where she felt ready to put her stamp on a more straight-ahead set of standards. Or maybe, she will go back to what she did before, or something new and unexpected, next time. For now, Russell has delivered Strictly Romancin’. This one is a set of standards served up in a fairly traditional way, arranged for voice and a small jazz combo. This one breaks no new ground, but the performances are stellar. Russell’s commitment to this material is total, and she makes these songs new just by believing in them. Lyrically, the emphasis is on romantic notions of love. Today, many people are jaded, but Russell is not, and she makes love sound beautiful again.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JocelynMedina-WeAreWater.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/qs1o48bis870a6z/Same Mistakes-Jocelyn Medina.mp3"><b>Jocelyn Medina</b>: <i>Same Mistakes</i></a><br />
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The foundation of Jocelyn Medina’s album We Are Water is a strain of jazz that began in the 1960s, and flourished in the 70s and into the 80s. For lack of a better term, there was a “cosmic consciousness” that some artists would embrace, that would eventually lead to new age music. On the way there, there would be some overdone self-indulgent jazz albums as well. Medina goes back to the roots of this. Musically, she strips down the style, and arranges it for a mostly acoustic small jazz combo that really cooks. In her lyrics, Medina talks about her relationship with the forces of nature, but she does so in a (pardon the expression), completely natural way. Her soprano floats along with the band, but she also has enough grit in her voice to make this real. And that’s the key. Medina believes in this material, so she doesn’t have the need to oversell it. More than anything, what comes through is her joy. The listener can not help but feel it as well.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-55292678687868914622012-01-28T17:14:00.000-05:002012-01-28T17:14:14.269-05:00Hat Check Girl - Six Bucks Shy<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HatCheckGirl-SixBucksShy.jpg"></p><p><br />
[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hatcheckgirl2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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It would be easy to report that Hat Check Girl is the duo of Peter Gallway and Annie Gallup. That’s them on the album cover, and that was true of their debut album, <a href="http://oliverdiplace.blogspot.com/2010/12/hat-check-girl-tenderness.html">Tenderness</a>. But the inside cover of the new album has three musicians listed in bold type, and guest musician Mark Dann listed in plain type. The new “member” is drummer Jerry Marotta, who also co-wrote all but two of the new album’s thirteen songs. Yes, that Jerry Marotta! Liner note freaks like myself will know the name from Marotta’s work with Peter Gabriel and others. You might expect that Marotta would add punch, and that his presence here would mean that this album rocks out. There are times when his drumming adds a pulse that really propels this music, as in What Hemmingway Said, but it is never over the top. Marotta has a talent for creating texture with his playing, and that is often more to the point here. Marotta’s contribution is sometimes little more than a subtle line played with brushes. On top of that, Gallup and Gallway’s guitar lines intertwine like a caress, as do their breathy vocals. Dann adds bass and/or keyboard lines with a light touch. It all adds up to the most sensual-sounding music I have heard at least since Chris Isaac’s Wicked Game.<br />
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This sensuality is very much to the point. Six Bucks Shy is a collection of songs about heated moments. It can be the delicious passion of a forbidden tryst or the adrenaline rush of an actual crime. The songs present the passion of stolen moments, when voices can not be raised for fear of discovery. The writing does something rare. I admire songs which tell stories, but also those which capture the complex mood of a moment in time. These songs do both. August Sin sounds like the heat of the day it describes, and the tryst it presents is described in all of its languid passion. But the back story of how these lovers came to be here is also sketched in lightly. Getaway Car captures the rush of a minor heist, but also fills in the back story of the two characters. Echo Echo uses something as insubstantial as a radio signal floating in the ether to tell the tale of a tender parting in wartime. Cigarette Girl describes the push and pull of a flirtation, while it gets inside the hearts of its two characters to show us what each risks in this meeting. All of these and more are wonderfully economic pieces of writing. But the marvel of the bunch is Leave Most of It Out. Annie Gallup’s narrator talks around the real subject of this song. She reminisces about her now gone husband, and describes how she is raising their children. Only gradually, you realize the part she can not bring herself to put into words. The husband died in the World Trade Center on that awful day in 2001. No graphic description of that day could convey the sorrow as eloquently as this woman’s silence.<br />
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I would be leery of hearing covers of these songs. Gallup, Gallway, and Marotta have crafted eloquent gems of songs, and the performances smolder with barely contained heat. It would be all to easy to do to much with these songs, or too little. Hat Check Girl hits everything exactly right.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/w5dr777a4qm1e51/Getaway Car-Hat Check Girl.mp3"><b>Hat Check Girl</b>: <i>Getaway Car</i></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/22v613kagyl0124/What Hemmingway Said-Hat Check Girl.mp3"><b>Hat Check Girl</b>: <i>What Hemmingway Said</i></a><br />
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<b>Blog business:</b> This will be my last full album review here for the time being. I have become involved in some things, and I find that this kind of post requires me set aside a large block of time that I am finding it increasingly difficult to find. I will be going back to spotlight posts and single-song coverage. On the plus side, I am hoping that this will mean that I can get back to posting far more often than I have been lately.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-14662585282849194212012-01-07T02:39:00.001-05:002012-01-07T18:08:01.751-05:00New Year’s Special: at the “Lord of Two Faces”<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Lord_of_Two_Faces.jpg"></p><p><br />
A belated Happy New Year to all of my readers. New Years is the time not only for looking forward, but also for looking back at the old year and summing up. This is why the month of January takes its name from the ancient Roman god Janus, who had two faces, and was always looking behind him and forward at the same time. The Lord of Two Faces, a club named after him, would feature a selection of music that moves forward by drawing on the past in new ways. It’s a tricky thing to balance. The music can sound like an oldies act if overdone in one way, or it can come unmoored from the body of tradition that inspired it if overdone the other way. But, when the proper balance is found, the resulting music can sound both familiar and refreshingly new at the same time. Let’s have a listen.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MarkPocketGoldberg-OfftheAlleyway.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/d9kanq677nakkv6/This Train-Mark 'Pocket' Goldberg.mp3"><b>Mark “Pocket“ Goldberg</b>: <i>This Train</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/markpocketgoldberg/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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The foundation for the music of Mark “Pocket” Goldberg is clearly the blues. The music is partially electric, but Goldberg’s instrument is the stand up bass. In terms of vocals, Goldberg has the bluesy growl you would expect if you thought that Howlin’ Wolf and Tom Waits were somehow related to him. Despite that, Goldberg can sound very soulful on the ballads here. This Train is more of a blues incantation than a ballad. Goldberg and his band are after a gritty intimacy here, and they hit it perfectly. Rather than sounding like something crafted in a recording studio, (even though it surely was), this music sounds like something that was in a man’s heart and just had to come out. The gospel-like backing vocals in This Train are done in a way that only enhances this effect. All of the songs here were written or co-written by Goldberg. Within the blues form, which he stretches somewhat, Goldberg writes more involved lyrics than are typical of the blues. This allows Goldberg to tell detailed stories, but the emotional immediacy of the blues is preserved.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/TheWayDownLow-TakeOne.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/12nn17uuphjx207/Check My Condition-The Way Low Down.mp3"><b>The Way Down Low</b>: <i>Check My Condition</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.thewaylowdown.com/index.php">purchase</a>]<br />
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The Way Down Low are a four piece band whose members play mandolin, acoustic guitar, banjo, and upright bass. Three of the band members sing. Must be bluegrass, right? Not exactly. Bluegrass is certainly an element, but so is rock. The band displays a sensibility that reminds me of the Violent Femmes. And there is also a jazzy element that shows up more prominently in some songs than others. The Way Down Low get all of this to make perfect sense, through their high energy performances. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of all this is the fact that this is their debut album. They show an assurance and a well defined sense of musical identity that is very rare for a new band. The future for the Way Down Low seems very bright.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/ElephantRevival-BreakintheClouds.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/uat29x8nlb83ll1/Drop-Elephant Revival.mp3"><b>Elephant Revival</b>: <i>Drop</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/elephantrevival2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Elephant Revival is a five piece band. Between them, the play eighteen different instruments, so they have a lot of options in terms of arranging their songs. One of the highlights is their beautiful arrangements for strings. Band members play violin and cello, and they bring extra violin or cello players on some songs. I use the word violin instead of fiddle, because of how it is played here. The music of Elephant Revival combines elements of folk and classical in songs that have a delicate power. That may seem like a contradiction, but they make it work. The band has both male and female singers, both on lead and background vocals. So again, they have a lot of options, and they know what to do with them. The singers each have their own personalities that come through when they sing lead, but the band has a consistency in their sound, even when they are working with a wonderful variety of musical textures. You can ignore all of this, and just enjoy a wonderful set of emotionally engaging songs. But this music is also very rich, and should greatly reward repeated playings.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BiscuitKings-HambonesandTrombones.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/va85irij2z68wsr/The Day I Met My Waterloo-Biscuit Kings.mp3"><b>Biscuit Kings</b>: <i>The Day I Met My Waterloo</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/biscuitkings2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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In the Day I Met My Waterloo, we are musically in New Orleans. The house is rockin’, and you can just about smell the gumbo in this song. But step back a bit, and you will notice that the smallish band is playing entirely acoustic instruments. Biscuit Kings are the duo of singer and songwriter Johnny Pierre and bass player Jeff Goldstein. Pierre plays guitar, keyboards and percussion, and there is a decent sized group of guest musicians. But this album is all about making a big sound with a group that is no larger than absolutely necessary. One key to making that possible is Pierre’s voice. He half-growls half-sings in a friendly but gruff baritone that is actually quite musical. When he gets to the ballads, of which there are quite a few, his voice manages to be intimate and emotional at the same time. Some of the instruments eventually get plugged in, but the power of this music comes from that voice, and the tightness of the band. Normally, I would wonder how the music would hold up when performed live by just the duo, but Pierre and Goldstein have earned my trust here.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MalcolmHunter-NostalgiainMySquareHead.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/d1tjin95pri17fd/Hangups-Malcolm Hunter & the Makeshift Dream Orchestra.mp3"><b>Malcolm Hunter & the Makeshift Dream Orchestra</b>: <i>Hangups</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/malcolmhunterthemakeshif/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Suppose I told you that someone had discovered a long-lost tape from 1979 of an album that was never released, and that featured collaborations between Steely Dan, Michael Franks, and Gil Scott-Heron. To my knowledge, no such tapes ever existed, but Malcolm Hunter’s album Nostalgia in My Square Head is what they might have sounded like. It’s a heady mixture, and it really works. In the midst of all of this, Hunter includes a cover of a Charles Mingus tune, and it feels right at home. Hunter’s voice has that cool breeziness that Franks was known for, but with some of Scott-Heron’s grit. The arranging ideas, especially the interplay between Hunter and his background singers, are from the Steely Dan playbook. But this album doesn’t feel like a pastiche at all. It feels like the work of a talented artist who is paying homage to his inspirations, and laying down a solid foundation from which to build his own thing. Hunter is going to be an artist to keep an eye on as he develops his talent, and this is a great place to start.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-79494807720317354872011-12-28T03:34:00.000-05:002011-12-28T03:34:16.211-05:00Happy Birthday to Me<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HappyBirthdaytoMe.jpg"></p><p><br />
Oliver di Place was born on December 23, 2008. I’m celebrating a little late this year. That happens during the holidays. In this third year, I have reached the point where the blog is almost what I imagined at the beginning. This is a place where you might hear folk music, singer-songwriters, Americana, or jazz singers. This year, I was able to add my first musical love to the mix: blues. I also opened the Oliver di Place Cabaret for business this year; this is where you can hear music that defies categorization. For this year’s birthday celebration, let’s hear some of all of that, and see how it connects or doesn’t.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MitchellHarris-TravelingbyMoonlight.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/j2tk582dkd6ozh2/The Canyon-Mitchell and Harris.mp3"><b>Mitchell & Harris</b>: <i>The Canyon</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/annamaemitchellandgpatha/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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From the folk/ singer/songwriter camp comes the duo of Anna Mae Mitchell and G Pat Harris, known collectively as Mitchell & Harris. Mitchell plays mostly rhythm on acoustic guitar and is the voice of the duo. Harris plays basses and does all of the writing. They are joined by a small band, playing a mix of electric and acoustic instruments. The sound is based on folk, but not bound by it. The Canyon is a fine example of how this album works. It is a haunting ballad that fits Mitchell’s voice perfectly. The musical setting beautifully enhances the mood while leaving Mitchell’s voice front and center, where it belongs. As a writer, Harris shows himself to be a fine storyteller, and also a great mood setter. His narrator has fled to the desert, and you can feel not only the heat rising off the sand, but also the loneliness of a place where not another living thing can be seen.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BertDeivert-KidManBlues.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/gcoobdn94sps4ns/Kid Man Blues-Bert Deivert.mp3"><b>Bert Deivert</b>: <i>Kid Man Blues</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bertdeivert1/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Ask me for two countries where I would not look for blues music, and I might name Sweden and Thailand. Actually, now that I have heard Bert Deivert, I can’t say that anymore. Deivert was born in the United States and lived there until he was 24, but his recording career started after he moved to Sweden. The acoustic blues styles from before World War II are his main inspiration, and that comes through loud and clear in his playing and singing. But Deivert is seeking and finding something that transcends historical recreations. He makes this music his own, and, by the time he gets to Thailand, Deivert has created a powerful new dialect for the blues. This album was recorded in Sweden, Thailand, the Mississippi Delta, and Germany. Deivert makes unique connections in each place. As fascinating as this is, it wouldn’t mean much if Deivert didn’t have the passion of a blues player and singer. He does, making Kid Man Blues, both the song and the album, a wonderful blues discovery for me.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BeauHinze-SixPack.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/jbmaf11bpphmycj/Thunderstorms & Dominoes-Beau Hinze & the Back Porch Shufflers.mp3"><b>Beau Hinze & the Back Porch Shufflers</b>: <i>Thunderstorms & Dominoes</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/beauhinze3/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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I suppose the music of Beau Hinze falls in the alt-country or Americana category. But this is acoustic music, and it is played and recorded in a way that dispenses with the layer of artifice that is so common in country-based music. Hinze sings in a rough manner that drops into spoken word for a moment here and there. This makes it all more real. Hinze is an imaginative writer. In Thunderstorms & Dominoes, he places a group of hard-working cowboys in a cabin together, and he has them stuck there due to a flood. What could be a calamity proves instead to be a rare opportunity to relax and enjoy each other’s company. In Hinze’ hands, the sense of comradery is almost a living thing. <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Elizabeth-Brainchildren.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/8b1c92mp7tywup2/Melting Snow-Elizabeth!.mp3"><b>Elizabeth!</b>: <i>Melting Snow</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/elizabeth62/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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On Brainchildren, Elizabeth! is usually a jazz singer. The are a couple of ventures into pop territory, but the jazz creeps in even there. There are also a couple of instrumentals. Her instrument is the trombone. Usually the trombone is a brash instrument, and you might expect a singer who plays one to be similarly brash. I have heard that done in jazz to good effect, but that’s not what happens here. Both as a singer and on trombone, Elizabeth! brings a quiet intensity to her performance. Her emotional expression is definitely subtle, but her songs are filled with emotion. She and her band go more for texture than improvisational fancies, making this a good album for people who are just discovering jazz. For the rest of us, Brainchildren is the work of a subtle artist backed by a responsive and talented band.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/DonRyan-TangleTown.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/t9jiqsy6ut0fq00/Tangle Town-Don Ryan.mp3"><b>Don Ryan</b>: <i>Tangle Town</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/donryan/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Tangle Town, the album, is conceived of as a performance at a music hall in a fictional world, with slightly different natural laws than we are used to. It is a studio album, but there is a brief moment of “audience noise”, followed by an “encore” to close the album. The music makes reference to folk, country, and blues, but Ryan never lets us quite hear what we expect. The song Tangle Town starts off sounding like folk, but halfway through the band comes in, and we are suddenly in a woozy version of country. Similar things happen in other songs on the album. None of this is for show. Allow this music to take you where it will, and you will find the album to be a rich emotional experience. You will also find Ryan to be an artist of rare originality.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-63621813092936646802011-12-24T15:13:00.001-05:002011-12-24T15:14:14.787-05:00For a Song Christmas Eve Special: Chelsea Boys<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/ChelseaBoys.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/0ihjgllqmdjwe4j/Chelsea Boys-Spottiswoode & His Enemies.mp3"><b>Spottiswoode and His Enemies</b>: <i>Chelsea Boys</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/spott6/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Christmas is often referred to as the season of love. Jonathan Spottiswoode takes that to heart in Chelsea Boys. In a wonderful role reversal, he places a straight couple in the minority amidst a group of gay men. It’s not a problem at all. “They won’t care that you’re a girl”, he sings. In this season at least, love is love, and they all join in the celebration with singing and dancing.<br />
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As a bonus, this one has a beautiful video. It’s an animated short, with art by the Brazilian illustrator Maria Eugenia. Eugenia has more of her work available for viewing on her blog <a href="http://www.cadernodedesenhos.blogspot.com/">here</a>. She has done wonderful work for books both for grownups and children. Just make sure you have plenty of time when you follow the link, because you will want to stay a while. <br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d3epuPdSHbk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-71372572635868383492011-12-21T15:14:00.001-05:002011-12-22T00:00:44.760-05:00For a Song Solstice Special: Solstice Night<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MichaelLewis-TheNaturalWorld.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/akhok1o715993go/Solstice%20Night-Michael%20Lewis.mp3"><b>Michael Lewis</b>: <i>Solstice Night</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.michaellewismusic.net/music">purchase</a>]<br />
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Sometimes in winter, there is a magical moment. It has snowed enough to completely cover everything, so the familiar world has been replaced by the mystery of smooth white shapes. The storm is over, the clouds have skittered away to their burrows for a winter’s nap, and the whole scene is lit by the full moon that wasn’t there a moment ago. Most of these images are not in Michael Lewis’ song Solstice Night, but he captures the same feeling in music as this scene does in in vision and feel. Lewis has only our sense of hearing to appeal to convey the full range of sensory and emotional response, and he succeeds brilliantly. No wonder he places this magic on the night of the winter solstice.<br />
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Lewis is the songwriting half of Traveler’s Dream, but The Natural World needed to be a solo album, because Lewis is after a different sound here. Some of the arrangements are a bit fuller than Solstice Night, but this music is rooted in the relatively young tradition of singer-songwriter music, rather than the British Isles folk stylings of Traveler’s Dream. The songs on The Natural World are personal, detailing the comfort Lewis draws from nature, and the awe it inspires in him. Where the Traveler’s Dream material is shaped by traditional forms, here Lewis can shape is words however he wishes. The result is every bit as much a collection of poetry as of music.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-5022008436466931012011-12-17T18:23:00.000-05:002011-12-17T18:23:59.887-05:00Shorelines<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Shoreline.jpg"></p><p><br />
Sometimes a post tells me how it wants to be written. My last post, about Stanley Greenthal, was absolutely intended to lead into this one. Here then is a feature about music from the British Isles, with four examples with roots in Ireland, and one from England. But, as I was putting all of this together, I was struck by how three of the album covers, including the Greenthal, feature water imagery. And then I realized that none of this music is purely traditional. All of it has roots in tradition, but some of it crossed the sea, while some stayed home and had musical influences come to it across the water. So, even though some of the artists here live and work inland, this is music that lives on the shore, and grows and is nourished by what comes in with the tide.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Beannacht-GranaFirinne.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ndtkw2t0cakb8eb/Lovin'%20Ain't%20Ever%20Wrong-Beannacht.mp3"><b>Beannacht</b>: <i>Lovin‘ Ain‘t Ever Wrong</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/beannacht/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Only one band name and album title in this post are in Irish Gaelic. Beannacht means “blessing”, and they hail from County Hunterdon. Now maybe you are an expert on Irish geography, and you are surprised you have never heard of it. That’s because County Hunterdon is in New Jersey. The music of Beannacht combines an Irish lilt in the background with American folk music closer to the surface. In the remarkable case of Love Ain’t Ever Wrong, the result is an Irish blues song, and it works. The most noticeable Irish part of this music is the vocal approach of Deardre Forrest. The Irish are rightly famed especially for the beauty of their female voices, and Forrest’s is no exception. The other half of Beannacht is Forrest’s uncle, Tom Johnston. He also sings, and provides a solid rhythm on guitar at all times. Johnston wrote almost all of the music here. Both members of the group write lyrics, with Forrest being the stronger lyricist at the moment. But Beannacht is a new act, and they are only going to get better. That is certainly something to look forward to.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/QueenElvis-LittleWorld.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/jtzipb6p9ixhkht/Round%20and%20Round-Queen%20Elvis.mp3"><b>Queen Elvis</b>: <i>Round and Round</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/queen-elvis/id360006090">purchase</a>]<br />
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So, now let’s actually go to Ireland. There we meet Queen Elvis, a group that takes its name from a song by Englishman Robin Hitchcock. Hitchcock tends to ignore the rules in his songwriting, and so it is here as well. Round and Round is a waltz, featuring acoustic guitar and cello. The cello is plucked at first, making an almost percussive sound. Then we hear the amazing voice of Caroline Stanley. She sings powerfully in a low alto, with smoky tones. The only clear influence here of traditional Irish music comes in some of the bowed lines in the cello. Over all, Round and Round is a song of war, given a stern beauty by this performance. Little World is the only release so far from Queen Elvis, and it is just a three-song EP. I haven’t heard, but I hope there is a full length album in the future.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Fling-selftitled.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/tw1uww8r33v43v5/Ballyshannon%20Bends-Fling.mp3"><b>Fling</b>: <i>Ballyshannon Bends</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://flingfolk.com/">purchase</a>]<br />
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I had reported about Fling’s debut, also an EP. That one has become impossible to find, but no matter; All of the songs on it and much more are here on their debut album. The EP was all instrumentals, but there also three songs here with vocals. Curiously, those are all American songs, and they are performed that way, although with a slight Irish accent. But the instrumentals take inspiration from everywhere. Yes, there are a number of traditional Irish airs and dances here, but some tunes remind me of the folk-punk of the Pogues. And then there is Ballyshannon Bends. This one might have been at home on the Stanley Greenthal album; it sounds to me at first like it could have come from Greece. But the song is named for a road with perilous curves, located in County Donegal, and it speeds into folk punk territory by the end. It is performed, like everything on this album, with the irresistible combination of fine musicianship and high energy.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JohnDoyle-ShadowsandLight.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/w2s1hv9wblsd2cg/Selkie-John%20Doyle.mp3"><b>John Doyle</b>: <i>Selkie</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://compassrecords.com/album.php?id=933">purchase</a>]<br />
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John Doyle may be the musician in this post who is most steeped in traditional Irish music. Even though the songs on Shadow and Light are all originals, they show a strong love of Irish storytelling. But Shadow and Light was recorded in Nashville. On Selkie, Doyle plays electric guitar, the other instruments are lap steel and stand up bass. The bass player is Todd Phillips, who I know best for his jazzy playing with David Grisman. Elsewhere on the album, more traditional instruments are heard, like fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and concertina. Doyle plays acoustic guitar and sometimes bouzouki. But even there, the fiddler is Stuart Duncan, who I first heard playing western swing. So there is no doubt from the sound that Shadow and Light is the work of an Irish musician, but Doyle finds common ground with other traditions throughout, and the result is an album of rare beauty.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/AntheaNeadsAndyPrince-Penhayl.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/6yj4d73k2wgzhgs/River%20of%20Lights-Anthea%20Neads%20%26%20Andy%20Prince.mp3"><b>Anthea Neads & Andy Prince</b>: <i>River of Lights</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.neadsandprince.com/www.neadsandprince.com/Record_Shop.html">purchase</a>]<br />
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Anthea Neads sings in a beautiful English folk soprano. She has a light tone, but the emotion of each song comes through wonderfully. Her musical partner here is bass player Andy Prince. Usually, a bass is heard in the background, as a supporting instrument. Not here. Prince is a melodic player, and the tone he gets from his instrument makes it a second voice, intertwining with Neads to make a greater whole. There are other instruments here, mostly for color, but Neads and Prince are the stars. English folk and folk-rock are the foundations here, but Neads and Prince are unafraid to go adventuring from there, and the results are well worth it.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-153888669742862612011-12-15T03:18:00.000-05:002011-12-15T03:18:02.598-05:00For a Song: The Waves<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/FirstSong-StanleyGreenthal.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/nd31s4qikrc3ixt/The%20Waves-Stanley%20Greenthal.mp3"><b>Stanley Greenthal</b>: <i>The Waves</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stanleygreenthal/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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The bouzouki is an instrument that is often heard in Celtic folk music. But the word bouzouki is not any form of Gaelic. In fact, the instrument comes from Greece, and the word is also Greek, possibly derived from Turkish. So maybe that explains the mix of musical influences in the work of Stanley Greenthal. there are Celtic songs and dances, from Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany. But there are also instrumental pieces from Greece, Macedonia, Crete, and even Turkey. The Waves is an original song, sung in English, but inspired by the songwriting techniques of Crete. So words and phrases repeat, like the rhythm of the water gently lapping up onto the shore. The result is hypnotic and beautiful. The water’s caress of the sand becomes a powerful metaphor for love. First Song is an album with many such treasures. It makes unexpected connections, and finds a common beauty in varied traditions.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-3923580408970818962011-12-10T15:29:00.000-05:002011-12-10T15:29:16.210-05:00Christmas Cabaret<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HolidayCabaret.jpg"></p><p><br />
The Oliver di Place Cabaret is pleased to announce the line up for this year’s holiday shows. Prepare to go on a musical journey to parts unknown and unimagined. Prepare to have your ideas of holiday music stretched to the limit. But most of all, prepare to smile and laugh and dance. Welcome.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/ChrisBauer-YuletideGroove.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/1r4aegbz1oaw3u4/I'll%20Be%20Home%20For%20Christmas-Chris%20Bauer.mp3"><b>Chris Bauer</b>: <i>I‘ll Be Home For Christmas</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrisbauer3/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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To start off the evening, let’s ease in with some holiday jazz. Now this kind of thing, even when it’s instrumental, can easily get syrupy. But Chris Bauer leads a solid straight-ahead combo here, and he sidesteps the musical traps of the season. In a Yuletide Groove is a set that reveals a sincere love of both the season and its songs, with no sweetening needed. It helps a lot that Bauer gets such a full and rich tone from his harmonica. From the sound, I assume that he is playing a chromatic harp, which has a wider tonal range and is better for chording than a regular harp. It is also harder to bend notes on a chromatic, but Bauer mostly doesn’t need to. He finds the richness of his instrument, and his band provides a solidly swinging backdrop. Yuletide Groove is a generous program of holiday favorites that has a mellow vibe, but also great energy.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/DougMunro-VeryGypsyChristmas.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/9ic4y6s44t48448/Santa%20Claus%20Is%20Coming%20To%20Town-Doug%20Munro.mp3"><b>Doug Munro and La Pompe Attack w Cyrille-Aimee Daudel</b>: <i>Santa Claus is Comin‘ to Town</i></a><br />
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[<a href="ttp://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dougmunro/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Doug Munro and his band are playing what is called gypsy jazz here, the style pioneered by Django Reinhart. Singer Cyrille-Amee Daudel appears on three songs, including the one I have chosen. Elsewhere, the melody is heard on fiddle or clarinet. There are lead and rhythm guitars and bass, but no drums. They are not needed, because Munro and his rhythm guitar player get a sound that is both percussive and melodic, and they and the bass player power the music along nicely. The tightness of the band makes this album a joy to listen to. Daudel contributes a nicely understated sweetness to the songs she sings, and she gets to cut loose in brief scat solos that are emblematic of the pleasure these musicians were obviously having as they made this album.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/AsylumStSpankers-ChristmasSpanking.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/n2fs3n0yi91f52h/Red%20Nosed%20Reindeer%20Blues-Asylum%20Street%20Spankers.mp3"><b>Asylum St Spankers</b>: <i>Red Nosed Reindeer Blues</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/asylumstreet5/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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I was always taught that holidays were the time to ask questions, to help you gain a better understanding of your culture, heritage, and faith. Here’s one: what would Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer sound like if it had been written by Muddy Waters? The Asylum St Spankers answer that question brilliantly here. Elsewhere, there is a version of Silent Night played on a musical saw, but over all, this is a collection with a jazzy and bluesy flavor, and the joy and cheer of all of the musicians is abundantly evident.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/InvincibleCzars-TheNutcrackerSuite.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/h45qqswipfg21nu/07-Trepak_Russian_Dance%20_%20Invincible%20Czars.mp3"><b>The Invincible Czars</b>: <i>Trepak (Russian Dance)</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/invincibleczars2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Having asked about Rudolph and Muddy Waters for the last song, it’s only fair to present this puzzler: what would The Nutcracker sound like if it had been the result of a collaboration between Fishbone and The Pogues? You’re kidding, right? Nope. The Invincible Czars have created this work of mad genius, and there is an entire album of it. It works surprisingly well, even when things go off the rails for a bit, as they do in the bridge of Trepak (Russian Dance). I won’t say any more. Just listen, and prepare to be tickled.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/EverrettBradley-Holidelic.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/90s0md8td7c4z5c/Holidelic-Holidelic.mp3"><b>Everett Bradley</b>: <i>Holidelic</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/holidelic/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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If you haven’t gotten up to dance yet, our last act of the evening should fix that. The song Holidelic is a holiday anthem in the style of Parliament/ Funkadelic. There are even P-Funk references in the lyrics. Everett Bradley nails this style, and creates an irresistible dance number for the holidays. Holidelic the album functions as a survey of 1970s and 80s soul and funk styles. Bradley obviously loves this music, and understands its workings perfectly. But more than that, he provides the boundless energy necessary to pull this kind of thing off. For the most part, that don’t make records like this anymore, but Bradley does. There is also an annual live version of this, and it must be quite something to see.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-84553036044337214022011-12-08T04:04:00.002-05:002011-12-08T14:46:22.312-05:00Holiday Folk<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/HolidayFolk.jpg"></p><p><br />
<i>The image above is actually a wine stop, available from <a href="http://strikadistribution.com/products-page/wine-stops">Strika Distribution</a>.</i><br />
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Here is the first of two holiday posts this year. Originally, the plan was to split it into a post of mostly acoustic holiday songs and another post of a wild mix that might turn out to be the Oliver di Place Cabaret Holiday Party. This is the acoustic post, but something interesting happened while I was putting this together. This post wound up being a celebration of the varying traditions that are celebrated at this time of year. I chose the songs I liked best from five wonderful albums, but I am also thrilled that it worked out this way.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/DossettGiddensComptonNewberrySypher-TheGathering.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/oj7003wjqldxr5x/01%20Gathering%20Night.mp3"><b>Laurelyn Dossett, Rhiannon Giddens, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, and Jason Sypher</b>: <i>Gathering Night</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/laurelyndossettrhiannong/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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The Gathering started out as a six song cycle by Laurelyn Dossett, commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony. These are the first six songs on the album, and they do not have an orchestra on them as recorded. Instead, there is a five-piece folk ensemble. Rhiannon Giddens, from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, is the only one I had heard of before, but on the strength of this album, I am going to have to fix that. The six songs that start the album The Gathering are the original cycle, and Gathering Night is the opener. The cycle tells of a woman who is anxiously returning home after a long absence, on a winter’s night. The symbol of the candle in the window is evocative of many winter holidays, including Solstice, and the power of this symbol comes through beautifully in this haunting performance.<br />
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Once Dossett had assembled this fine band to record the six songs, they decided to expand the recording to a full length album by adding seven Christmas songs. These include a stunning rendition of O Holy Night arranged for just a single voice and stand-up bass, and a joyous version of Christ Was Born on Christmas Day for the full band, that closes this wonderful album on a high note.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/TravelersDream-ColdBlowstheDay.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/7fhj53dscds4fl8/Holly%20and%20the%20Ivy%20Revisited-Traveler's%20Dream.mp3"><b>Traveler‘s Dream</b>: <i>Holly and the Ivy Revisited</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.travelersdream.net/music/4174">purchase</a>]<br />
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Traveler’s Dream is the duo of Michael Lewis and Denise Wilson, but each plays several instruments, so they often sound like a larger group. Cold Blows the Day is an album of Christmas songs, mostly familiar. There are many such albums, of varying quality. Aside from the quality of the musicianship, what makes an album like this work is a set of performances that make it clear that the artists care about the meaning of the songs. Lewis and Wilson deliver. There appear to be very few Solstice songs, but there are more than most people realize, and they are hiding in plain sight, as Christmas songs. The Holly and the Ivy is one of these. The line in the chorus about “sweet singing in the choir” almost certainly replaced earlier words as the song became Christianized. But Lewis and Wilson, with Holly and the Ivy Revisited, put the song back in the woods that it came from. Their lyrical changes are not restorations of lost text, but simply an attempt to restore the original spirit of the song. The care for the roots of this music comes through beautifully in their performances throughout the album.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/RobinGreensteinandCecliaKirtland-SongsoftheSeason.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/lwwnv3us4x861xp/Hanuka%20(Ladino)-Robin%20Greenstein%20and%20Cecelia%20Kirtland.mp3"><b>Robin Greenstein and Cecelia Kirtland</b>: <i>Hanuka (Ladino)</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/robincecilia/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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On Songs of the Season, Robin Greenstein and Cecelia Kirtland joyously perform some of the familiar Christmas songs. But the real gems here are the less familiar songs. There is a set of Kwanzaa songs here, and also a wonderful set of Hanukkah songs. When most people think of Hanukkah, they think of the celebrations in the Ashkenazi tradition of the Jews from eastern Europe. But another group of Jews turned west instead of east, and settled for a time in Spain. These are the Sephardic Jews, and they developed their own traditions, and their own language, Ladino. Hanuka (Ladino) is one of their songs, and the performance here is just beautiful. I know most of this background because my uncle is Sephardic, but I never learned the language, so I don’t know what the song means. Can anyone help in the comments? <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Wonderland.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/u1z3n7xoq5w2a1e/Let's%20Make%20a%20Baby%20King-Louise%20Taylor.mp3"><b>Louise Taylor</b>: <i>Let‘s Make a Baby King</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.signaturesounds.com/album/wonderland-winters-solstice-celebration">purchase</a>]<br />
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Wonderland is one of many multi-artist samplers with a holiday theme. Often, this kind of album forces the listener to sift through the chaff to find the few good songs. But this collection comes from the Signature Sounds label, so the talent level is very high, and no sorting is needed. That said, Luoise Taylor’s performance of Let’s Make a Baby King is a standout. Jesse Winchester wrote the song as a pop-gospel number, but Taylor transforms it into a spiritual with a bluesy flavor and real power. Taylor plays guitar and adds African-sounding percussion and little else, but that’s all she needs.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/DanaherCloud-HolidayAlbum.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/mchaar4wmklr3u9/Santa%20Claus,%20I%20Believe%20in%20You-Danaher%20%26%20Cloud.mp3"><b>Danaher & Cloud</b>: <i>Santa Claus, I Believe in You</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/danaherandcloud2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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I featured Danaher & Cloud’s last album <a href="http://oliverdiplace.blogspot.com/2011/06/storytellers.html">here</a>, and you can look for coverage of their next one after the new year. But, in between, they have released The Holiday Album. This collection is almost evenly split between familiar songs and originals. The album opens with a haunting rendition of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I have never heard of Gretchen Guard before, but based on the wonderful cover of her song Follow Now, O Shepherds, I will need to find out more. And an original song, The Little Birds in the Snow, is an eloquent reminder of the true spirit of the season. But I settled on Santa Claus, I Believe in You for its classic sound. This is a frothy and jazzy number that needs only to be heard by the right person in the music industry, and it will become a massive hit in a big, overblown arrangement. But I like it just as it is here, with a small combo, a spot-on fizzy vocal, and a wonderful lead part on fiddle.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-51869920505785411402011-12-03T14:07:00.001-05:002011-12-03T14:08:20.569-05:00Folk to Blues<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/FolkToBluesFinal.jpg"></p><p><br />
<i>A big thank you goes to my daughter Caitlin for creating the image above.</i><br />
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Folk music, in its broadest definition, is music that is handed down within a given tradition. This can apply to Tuvan throat-singing, Mexican polkas, or even English murder ballads. Or to the blues. Indeed, many American folk singers include blues songs in their repertoires, and some show the influence of it in everything they do. Still, there is a qualitative difference between a folk artist performing a blues song and the performance of a blues musician. To me, the difference is the approach to the song. A folk artist emphasizes the song in their performance. The lyrics are clear, and the playing likewise. This can be done in an emotional way, and I thoroughly enjoy these kinds of performances. But a blues artist takes a song, any song, and focuses on the emotion of the piece. The performance is raw, with everything out in the open. Subtlety comes from the shades of emotion in a performance, in conveying a glimmer of hope amidst the sorrow, or love amidst the anger.<br />
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The above makes it sound like there is a sharp line between a folk performance and a blues one. But life is rarely so neat, and so it is here as well. There are degrees of “folkness” and “bluesness” in the performance styles of most artists who plow the ground where the two meet. Let’s meet some of these artists, and I’ll show you what I mean.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/ErnestTroost-LiveatMccabes.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/5pz953bd70sirpa/Real%20Music-Ernest%20Troost.mp3"><b>Ernest Troost</b>: <i>Real Music</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ernesttroost/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Ernest Troost was a New Folk winner at Kerrville a while back. He plays acoustic guitar, and his playing style shows that he knows well the styles of the great pre-war blues masters. As a writer, Troost’s work is informed by the blues, but not bound by it. His approach to vocals is folk all the way. His words are important, and he is emotionally invested, but he’s keeping some for himself as well. Live at McCabe’s presents a selection of Troost’s songs from his three studio albums to date. The show begins with just Troost and his guitar, and the band members join him one by one. So some of the songs are presented in sparer arrangements than the studio versions, while others have a fuller arrangement than before. Over all, Live at McCabe’s is a great introduction to the bluesy folk of Ernest Troost. He is new to me, but I will be keeping an eye on him from now on.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/DermodyBurden.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/8fdo83abcb3kb6q/First%20Light-Grant%20Dermody.mp3"><b>Grant Dermody</b>: <i>First Light</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dermody2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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<i>Thank you, Marco Prozzo, for the cover image. You can see more of Prozzo‘s work <a href="http://www.marcoprozzo.com/">here</a>.</i><br />
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Two of the best know acts working this ground between folk and blues would be Eric Bibb, from the folk side, and the duo of John Cephus and Phil Wiggins, from the blues side. Grant Dermody has worked extensively with both. His album Lay Down My Burden has liner notes by Phil Wiggins, and Eric Bibb plays on several songs. Dermody is a singer and Harmonica player, and he has the Piedmont blues style down. Dermody also knows how to write in this style. And his choices of covers include many of the old masters. But Lay Down My Burden closes with a Tibetan chant, and the album also includes a wonderful version of Amazing Grace. Dermody is also a creative arranger. A couple of songs here feature just two harmonicas and voice, and other songs have a four piece band, but with mandolin where you would expect a guitar. So First Light is solidly in the blues tradition, and a Dermody original, but elsewhere, Dermody explores the boundaries of the blues, and sometimes steps outside of them. Over all, he shows himself to be a confident musical explorer. He is also a generous band leader, sometimes stepping back and giving the lead vocals to someone else. If you buy only one album from this post, it should probably be this one, because Dermody most eloquently sums up the theme of this post in his album, and it is a thrilling trip.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MaryFlower-MiseryLovesCompany.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/s7tej4qv5s7ed4x/I'm%20Dreaming%20of%20Your%20Demise-Mary%20Flower.mp3"><b>Mary Flower</b>: <i>I‘m Dreaming of Your Demise</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/maryflower5/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Mary Flower is here for a couple of reasons. She likes to open her songs with just her guitar, before adding her voice and a second instrument, and those guitar intros are pure blues playing. Also, I’m Dreaming of Your Demise add the piano of Dave Frishberg, so the song makes a good bridge to the piano blues in the rest of this post. But Mary Flower’s singing is a wildcard here. This is neither a folk nor a blues approach to the song. Instead, Flower is a jazz singer. Dreaming is a song sung by a wronged lover seeking revenge, but it is even more chilling because it is delivered with a wink and a smile. The structure of the song, with its extended lines in the vocal part, also place it in the jazz tradition But Flower’s playing is blues all the way. The best measure of her enormous talent is that she makes this combination sound completely natural, even though I’ve never heard anyone do it before.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BigJoeDuskin-BigJoeJumpsAgain.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/8i8rycmbxeyy94s/Get%20Out%20of%20My%20Way-Big%20Joe%20Duskin.mp3"><b>Big Joe Duskin</b>: <i>Get Out of My Way</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bigjoeduskin/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Big Joe Duskin was a throw-back. Born in 1921, Duskin began performing before World War II, playing piano in the classic boogie woogie style, and singing in a manner that is pure blues. However, Duskin did not make his first album until 1978. By then, he was living representative from another world, that of pre-war blues. Duskin died in 2007, and Big Joe Jumps Again! Was made three years before that. In all, Duskin only made three studio albums and two hard-to-find live ones. Boogie woogie is usually thought of as fast music, but I chose Get Out of My Way to show how Duskin could burn up a slow number as well. I love the ornamentation, played mostly in the right hand, that changes from verse to verse. Duskin’s voice had to have been stronger when he was younger, but all of the emotion this song needs is there. I can imagine the then 83-year-old Duskin shouting to the drummer and bass player on these sessions, “Try to keep up!”. <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/EdenBrent-AintGotNoTroubles.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/609ez558z7mpigl/Ain't%20Got%20No%20Troubles-Eden%20Brent.mp3"><b>Eden Brent</b>: <i>Ain‘t Got No Troubles</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/edenbrent2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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If you haven’t listened to Ain’t Got No Troubles yet, hold off for just a second. Forget that this is a blues post, and look at the picture of the woman on the album cover shown above. Try to imagine what her voice must sound like. Got it? OK, now listen. Wow! Where did that come from? Eden Brent is an old fashioned blues belter, and a fine one. She is also a New Orleans blues pianist in the tradition of Professor Longhair and Dr John. That said, she has a wonderful light touch on her solos, dancing across the keys while never losing the backbeat. She is surrounded by a great band, including George Porter Jr of The Meters. Some people may think of the blues as depressing music, but this album is a fine example of how exciting this music can be, and why such a wide variety of artists are drawn to it.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-68692079030299568162011-11-29T03:12:00.000-05:002011-11-29T03:12:46.348-05:00Visitors<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Visitors.jpg"></p><p><br />
The time between now and the turning of the year is the season of visits. In a good year, every weekend is carefully divided between shopping expeditions and social obligations. Either someone has asked you over, or you have asked them. There are many opportunities to catch up with seldom seen family and old friends, but there are also new people to meet. This post is a musical version of this activity.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/OneAlternative-AirSculpture.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/d9hljnhwu1ly5tr/Consider%20the%20Source-One%20Alternative.mp3"><b>One Alternative</b>: <i>Consider the Source</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/onealternative13/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Sometimes, you get invited to a friend’s house, and there is someone you haven’t seen in years, someone you lost track of and thought you would never see again. I met the three musicians in the original line up of One Alternative in 1987, at a small folk coffeehouse in New Brunswick NJ. I don’t even know if I introduced myself, but I doubt they would remember me in any case. Jill Haley plays oboe and English horn, and Mark Oppenlander and David Bozenhard play acoustic guitars. The music they made had elements of folk, classical, and jazz. A year later, they were recording with additional musicians on electric bass and drums. The sound was heavier, sometimes too heavy, I thought. Still, I always wondered what became of them. I use a couple of services that connect musicians and bloggers, and I was pleasantly surprised recently when I was contacted through one of these services about the new One Alternative album, Air Sculpture. A drummer and bass player are now part of the regular line up, but the sound is better integrated. There is more of a jazz influence than there used to be, with improvisations in the midsections of songs that can be pretty wild. To give you an idea of where they are coming from, the two covers on this album are of songs by Weather Report and Frank Zappa. But Consider the Source is the song I have chosen, because it takes me back to the sound I first heard from them and liked so much. The song is entirely acoustic, and the rhythm section drops out of this one. The original trio casts a beautiful spell here. The interplay between these three musicians is a wonderful thing to hear. By the way, Air Sculpture is a generous package, with a full length CD of music, and a second disc with videos of a couple of live performances and a history of the group.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/PostcardComets-BodiesofWater.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/4zx1uzuhe7kf1fx/Drown-Postcard%20Comets.mp3"><b>Postcard Comets</b>: <i>Drown</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Of-Water/dp/B0023RQLZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1322462808&sr=1-1">purchase</a>]<br />
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I have never been invited to an internet party, but there should be such things, and this would be the right time of year for it. At an internet party, you meet people you have only known up to now online. In person, the friendship could deepen as you learn more about each other. I met David Partridge of Postcard Comets on a forum on MySpace. Earlier this year, I featured a song from their latest album, Super Normaal. They have settled into an acoustic-based sound that works very well for them. Bodies of Water is their first album, and here they hit a 70s rock vibe that I wouldn’t have expected to work, but it does. Drown has a great groove that gives the song its power. The song I chose from Super Normaal has a similar groove, but it works in a completely different way.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SamLlanas-4AM.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/5wvd26mjrzolebm/Fare%20the%20Well-Sam%20Llanas.mp3"><b>Sam Llanas</b>: <i>Fare the Well</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/samllanas/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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At one of these holiday gatherings, you may meet someone who you have only known as part of a couple, but who shows you another side of himself now that he is single. The Bodeans were originally a four piece roots-rock band, but they withered to a duo. Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas were writing all of the songs together. Both Neumann and Lllanas play guitar, but Neumann also adds a host of other instruments. For their albums, they would add whatever studio musicians they needed. Earlier this year, Sam Llanas left the “band”, and now he has released his first solo album. For 4AM, Llanas is working in a full band again. Bukka Allen, who played keyboards on the last Bodeans album, is here playing accordion, and this gives the album a special feel. Llanas is making soulful rock here that borders on classic R&B. Fare the Well is a fine example. Lllanas’ vocals on this album are the most emotionally invested performances I have ever heard from him.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/KathySparling-AsYouBelieved.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/r0cu3paholsaeha/Love%20Song-Kathy%20Sparling.mp3"><b>Kathy Sparling</b>: <i>Love Song</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/KathySparling/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Somewhere during the season, you will meet someone entirely new. As You Believed is Kathy Sparling’s debut album. On Love Song, Sparling shows herself to be a writer to keep an eye on. She is explaining to a lover why she doesn’t want to marry him. It becomes clear that she loves him, and wants them to grow old together. No, her issue is with the rituals and hassles of a wedding. Sparling alternates between tender expressions of love and humorous descriptions of the potential wedding from hell. it’s a wonderful juggling act, and Sparling pulls it off perfectly. Her performance here and throughout the album shines with sweetness and warmth. Sparling’s main instrument is the ukulele, and she surrounds herself with a collection of musicians that swells to a folk orchestra at times. But even when the band includes eight other ukuleles strumming along with her, as it does on the song The Moon is Coming With Us, the music is rendered with a light touch that serves the songs beautifully.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/PharisJasonRomero-PassingGlimpse.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/jdl0kq3o07c5s19/Lay%20Down%20In%20Sorrow-Jason%20Romero.mp3"><b>Pharis & Jason Romero</b>: <i>Lay Down in Sorrow</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/pharisjasonromero/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Of course, the one kind of visitor you only see at this time of year is a caroler. People you have never met show up at your door, and sing songs which are instantly familiar. Pharis & Jason Romero are not singing carols here, but their covers are old songs that evoke older, simpler times. They also perform original songs, but these have that same classic feel. Lay Down in Sorrow is a secular song that has the quality of a hymn. It is one of the originals here. The performances here are quiet but passionate. Pharis Romero plays acoustic guitar and sings, while Jason plays mostly banjo and also sings. One of the remarkable things about this album is the sound of Jason’s banjos. A banjo usually has an almost abrasive or percussive quality, ringing out, and certainly not blending with only an acoustic guitar. But Jason gets a sweet, almost mellow tone from his instrument that I have never heard before. I believe he makes his own banjos, so that may explain it in part, but surely some credit goes to his playing. The result is a group sound that can be powerful when needed, but is always unified, and always heartfelt.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-36822185492882809842011-11-19T03:23:00.000-05:002011-11-19T03:23:39.122-05:00Looking Back<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/LookingBack.jpg"></p><p><br />
There are times in a musician’s career when they take a moment to reflect on the past. Joni Mitchell twice summed up phases of her career with live albums, before making her next bold leap. A greatest hits or “best of” album can be a contractual obligation at times, but sometimes it can be an artist taking stock of their work to date. And a reissue, especially if it comes with extras, can allow an artist to revisit a moment in time, and sometimes even fix mistakes. Recently, enough albums like this have come my way to make a post, and here it is. When I set out to do this post, I neglected to take into account that albums like this often have generous amounts of music on them. So, where most of the albums I deal with have just over a half hour of music, four of the albums heard here are over an hour long each; that’s why this post is so late, and I would like to thank my regular readers for your patience. Consumer warning: three or four of the artists in this post, depending on your musical taste, make musical sense together, but then things go off the rails. All of these artists are here because I really enjoy their work. I hope you will keep an open mind, and enjoy them too.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SlaidCleaves-SorrowandSmoke.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/f6zrnv2a09qqvk2/Broke%20Down-Slaid%20Cleaves.mp3"><b>Slaid Cleaves</b>: <i>Broke Down</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.slaid.com/blog1/archives/category/store">purchase</a>]<br />
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Slaid Cleaves’ album Sorrow & Smoke is not only a look back, but also a homecoming. The Horseshoe Lounge in Austin Texas is where Cleaves made his breakthrough. At a pair of shows there last year, Cleaves played many of the songs from his breakthrough album Broke Down, including the song Horseshoe Lounge. Music from three other albums is included here, as well as some choice covers of other Texas songwriters. On his studio albums, Cleaves is usually accompanied by a full band, but here he has just another guitar player and a keyboard player with him. The keyboard is usually either a piano or the accordion heard here. So the songs are presented here in an intimate setting, and Cleaves’ talents as a singer and songwriter shine through. I chose the song Broke Down as much for the fact that it was the title track of Cleaves’ breakthrough album as anything else. The quality of the music is remarkably consistent over the length of Sorrow & Smoke.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/GuyClark-SongsandStories.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/d4afew0edmwow54/The%20Cape-Guy%20Clark.mp3"><b>Guy Clark</b>: <i>The Cape</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.dualtonerecords.net/store/product-info.php?pid284.html">purchase</a>]<br />
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On Songs and Stories, Guy Clark looks over his career with the help of his full band. The “Stories” in the album title are mainly song introductions, but the songs are more than enough to make up for that. Some of the older songs here got a country treatment in their original studio versions, but now the arrangements are more on the folk side of things, and the songs are better for it. Guy Clark turned 70 this year, and you can hear his age in his voice. But he takes the gravelly sound he makes now, and makes use of it. The Cape is one of many songs here that sound different when sung with the voice of experience. It says a lot about Clark’s strength as a writer that his age has caught up to his material, but he was able to write these songs when he was so much younger. Wisdom, warmth, and humor all come through wonderfully. Clark is a generous host, letting his bandmates Verlon Thompson and Shawn Camp take the lead on two songs each. Overall, Songs and Stories is an album that leaves me feeling that I have spent just over an hour in some very good company.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/PaulGeremia-LoveMyStuff.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/45w628ekw4rf84v/Lovin'%20Sam%20(The%20Sheik%20Of%20Alabam')-Paul%20Geremia.mp3"><b>Paul Geremia</b>: <i>Lovin‘ Sam (The Sheik of Alabam‘)</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://redhouserecords.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RHR&Product_Code=RHR-CD-239">purchase</a>]<br />
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For Love My Stuff, Paul Geremia went through recordings of his live performances throughout his career, and compiled an album from them. This is a generous sampling of 18 songs, most of which have never been on an album before in either a live or a studio version. Geremia is an old style blues artist. Before World War II, most blues artists lived and worked in the American South. The music was acoustic. In blues, musicians do what is called bending notes, which is sliding a note sharp or flat for emotional effect. Those old blues players would bend time the same way, stretching or compressing a musical phrase. To modern ears, this can sound sloppy or like a mistake, but it is done on purpose, and it is a powerful technique once you know what you are listening to. Paul Geremia is the only modern blues artist I have heard who plays this way, and he does it very well indeed. Geremia applies this technique to folk blues and to jazzier numbers as well, and either way, it works beautifully.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/PersusionsoftheDead.jpg"></p><p><br />
[<a href="http://persuasionsofthedead.com/order.htm">purchase Persuasions of the Dead</a>]<br />
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Sometimes, there are second chances. In 1999, The Persuasions went into the studio and recorded the tracks for their album Might as Well. This was a set of songs that the Grateful Dead had become known for, so it might have seemed to be an odd project for the legendary a capella group. But the Persuasions had previously done an album of Frank Zappa songs, and they were never afraid to add unusual songs to their repertoire. Normally, The Persuasions took pride in the rich sounds they made with just human voices, but Might as Well had guest musicians, including not only more voices but also instrumentalists too. Producer Rip Rense was never quite satisfied with the resulting album, but group leader Jerry Lawson left the group in 2003, and that seemed to be that.<br />
Fast forward all the way to this year. Somehow, Rense managed to reconvene the entire group, including Lawson, and create a new version of the album. It has a new name, given by Tom Waits: Persuasions of the Dead. The new name is warranted, because the album has been resequenced, with songs that never made it onto the original album. Some of the original instrumental parts have been toned down, but there are also entirely new instrumental parts, some by musicians who were not even part of the earlier sessions. The Persuasions and the other singers on the album have redone some of their parts, and the whole thing has been remastered. The results sound glorious. With all that goes on here, the album shines the spotlights in the two places they belong: the singing sounds full and rich, and the quality of the songs shines through.<br />
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Sadly, I do not have permission to share songs from Persuasions of the Dead with you. The same thing happened when I reviewed the last Persuasions release, <a href="http://oliverdiplace.blogspot.com/2009/12/persuasions-live-at-mccabes-guitar-shop.html">Live at McCabe‘s Guitar Shop</a>. Happily, I do have to permission now to share some of that music, so here it is. You can buy Live at McCabe’s at the link below, but there is also a combo deal on the site for Persuasions of the Dead, if you would like to buy both albums together.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/8z0tx3aqbdz2dxk/Peace%20in%20the%20Valley%20-%20The%20Persuasions.mp3"><b>The Persuasions</b>: <i>Peace in the Valley</i></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/6a9qdwtgky6qrml/Under%20the%20Boardwalk%20-%20The%20Persuasions.mp3"><b>The Persuasions</b>: <i>Under the Boardwalk</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://thepersuasionslive.com/persorder.htm">purchase Live at McCabe‘s</a>]<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/Ljova-LostinKino.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/n5c6rn9rfg828a9/Midnight%20Oil%20Change-Ljova.mp3"><b>Ljova</b>: <i>Midnight Oil Change</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://ljova.bandcamp.com/album/lost-in-kino">purchase</a>]<br />
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What have we here? Midnight Oil Change opens with the most haunted accordion part you may ever hear, just two chords alternating, like the beating of the Tell-Tale Heart in its effect.. That is soon joined by an electric guitar. The third instrument you hear is a viola being plucked. For lack of a better term, and taking the album this comes from as a whole, this would be considered classical music. The composer and violist is Ljova. It isn’t too hard for me to imagine a more conventional orchestration for Midnight Oil Change, especially once the strings and brasses enter. But Ljova isn’t about conventional. Lost in Kino is a collection of music Ljova wrote and recorded for films during the years 2006 to 2011. Most of these are what might be called “deep independent films”, the sort you would have to dig to find. They include short films, animation, and documentaries. I doubt that many of them had soundtrack albums. So Ljova wanted to preserve this music, but also focus on pieces that would work without their visual context. The songs in the first half of the album were recorded with the gypsy band Romashka, who I need to find out more about. Much of the second half is Ljova playing multiple parts on the viola and the famiola, (like a viola, only with six strings where the viola has only four). Throughout the album, Ljova draws on folk music, mostly from eastern Europe, but also from Apalachia for one track, and China for another. The result is a wonderful document of Ljova’s work for film, but also an album of music that really works beautifully as a whole, and out of context. There is much here for the more adventurous fans of folk music to enjoy, and Lost in Kino is also a fine continuation of a classical music tradition of composers including folk melodies and motifs in their work.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-66415033026986914872011-11-09T03:25:00.002-05:002011-11-09T03:27:45.529-05:00Songs to Look At<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SongstoLookAt.jpg"></p><p><i>The image above comes from a music video by Brian Jin, called Memories of a Song. You can see the whole thing <a href="http://www.cgexplorer.com/2010/04/24/memories-of-the-song-animated-music-video/">here</a>.<br />
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I am old enough to remember when MTV was new. It first went on the air in cities, and I didn’t see it until two years later, when my local cable system finally picked it up. I can’t remember the first video I saw, but I remember the excitement I felt. I was thrilled that artists and bands who would have been unknowns only a few years earlier were getting their music heard, and the best videos were also an amazing new form of artistic expression.<br />
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Of course, things are different now. MTV hasn’t been music television in many years. The big budgets that major labels once gave artists for their videos are long gone, and they wouldn’t make business sense now. So, that means that the artistry of music videos is gone forever, right? Actually, no. Budgets are much tighter now, but creativity still thrives. In fact, it may be that tight budgets are forcing artists who want to make artistic videos to be more creative than ever. This is the first time I have ever shared music videos on Oliver di Place, and I probably won’t do it often. But these five examples of the art demanded to be shared. Each shows a different way of marrying sound and vision. The music is quite a mix of styles. But the visuals, or visualizations if you like, are the point this time out. Let’s take a look. <br />
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<b>Hilary Grist - Tall Buildings<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NitJaGiViwc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/reo11mbaps8eakh/Imaginings%20Tall%20Buildings%20Hilary%20Grist.mp3"><b>Hilary Grist</b>: <i>Tall Buildings</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hilarygrist3/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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I never thought I would be posting any videos here, and I don’t think this one had been released yet when I posted the song Tall Buildings before. But you can see why I had to repeat myself. Grist got some friends together, and built a miniature city out of recycled cardboard. The amount of detail is truly astounding, with cardboard people in at least some of the windows who can move by means of stop-motion animation. This city is such an astounding creation that it is being displayed this month at the Beaumont Gallery in Vancouver.<br />
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<b>dogbrain - My Reprieve<br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/31162588?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="265" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/31162588">My Reprieve</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user701571">Jason Kessler</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/u4i0msux6irr8a8/My%20Reprieve-dogbrain.mp3"><b>dogbrain</b>: <i>My Reprieve</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dogbrain2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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The video for dogbrain’s song My Reprieve is a short film, directed by Jason Kessler. I hadn’t heard of Kessler before, but he is apparently well known in the world of independent film. My Reprieve has the quality of an old Twilight Zone episode. This perfectly fits the song, about a man about to be executed, who is hoping for a last-minute phone bringing his pardon. The music has a woozy, disoriented feel, which is perfectly mirrored by the quick cuts in the film. The song comes from the album Nest, which includes a remarkable mix of musical moods, from classic R&B to songs that hint at Delta Blues. There are also a few more unclassifiable songs like this one. I will have more to say about this album in a future post.<br />
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<b>Christine Leaky - Lovely<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dP9yZvPBWsE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/423r33433dr5ccq/Christine_Leakey-Lovely.mp3"><b>Christine Leakey</b>: <i>Lovely</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://christineleakey.bandcamp.com/">Not yet released, preorder here</a>]<br />
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The video for Lovely shows a different approach to matching visuals to music. This one has images that are recognizable, people, flowers, and such, but there is no attempt to tell a story. Instead, what you get is a perfect matching of visual and musical mood. Christine Leakey’s songs have a breezy feel and a Brazilian lilt. The gauzy and sometimes abstract look of the video works perfectly.<br />
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<b>Danaher and Cloud - Hey Banker, Hey Banker<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdPh3uPOLmY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/9eds5fuggtpfwc8/Hey%20Banker%2C%20Hey%20Banker-Danaher%20and%20Cloud.mp3"><b>Danaher and Cloud</b>: <i>Hey Banker, Hey Banker</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.danaherandcloud.com/cds.html">purchase new album here when released</a>]<br />
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Hey Banker, Hey Banker is a protest song. Where a well wrought political song will tell a story to make a point to someone who may not have seen it that way, protest songs are written to energize a crowd that shares your position. The video is a slide show. The pictures do not move, but their sequence is brilliant and powerful. Images from the Great Depression, in black and white, alternate with color images of the here and now. The result is an statement of greater eloquence than even words and music can achieve. The song is a worthy accompaniment. It will be found on Danaher and Cloud’s forthcoming album Late Bloomers, which I will also have more to say about in a future post.<br />
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<b>Drew Smith - Love Teeth<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lsHD0FHRFvY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/3ur99pa0ekhaub3/Love%20Teeth%20-%20Drew%20Smith.mp3"><b>Drew Smith</b>: <i>Love Teeth</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/fossils/id385994589">purchase Fossils as a download</a>]<br />
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I love well done animation, and Love Teeth, while clearly not made on a big budget, is a fine example. The video is the work of Korean animator Sohee Jeon, who I hadn’t heard of before. But, based on this example, I want to know more. Love Teeth, both visually and in the story it tells, has a marvelous fairy tale quality to it. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but this one needs to be watched all the way through. Drew Smith’s album The Secret Languages is due out early next year. Love Teeth represents the quieter side of Smith’s music. Based on a few advance tracks and what I have heard of Smith’s previous album Fossils, this will be one to keep an eye out for.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-58297846145509394382011-11-04T03:39:00.000-04:002011-11-04T03:39:08.169-04:00Bread and Bones - Could Have Been a Dream<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BreadandBones-CouldHaveBeenaDream.jpg"></p><p><br />
[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/breadandbones/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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In Bread and Bones, the whole is greater than the sum of some very good parts. The group is a trio, with Beth Duquette on lead and harmony vocals only, Mitch Barron providing subtle support that is always right on a variety of basses, and Richard Ruane on lead instruments and lead and harmony vocals. Ruane wrote all of the original songs here, but when Duquette takes lead vocals, she inhabits her narrators so completely that it’s hard to believe that they were created by a man. I don’t think it was intentional, especially since the original songs were written over the course of nine years, but Could Have Been a Dream winds up being a set of songs about physical, emotional, and spiritual dislocation. I think the sequencing of the songs was probably intuitive, because Ruane is an intuitive songwriter, but the intuition was dead on, and the album winds up making an eloquent and powerful statement.<br />
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What you hear on this album is Ruane’s playing, and Ruane and Duquette’s voices. Barron’s bass parts do not announce themselves, but they add texture and enhance the emotion of the songs. Ruane usually plays acoustic guitar, but sometimes he switches to mandolin, ukulele, or even banjo on one song. That song, Emily Sits By the Window, is the one time I heard instrumental overdubs, with Ruane playing banjo, guitar and mandolin. But mostly, the songs sound they way they would live. There are no lead parts on the instruments; every thing is in support of the vocals. The group does show their prowess instrumentally in the way they vary the textures from song to song. Ruane sings in a range that straddles the line between baritone and low tenor. He rumbles a bit on the low notes, but he knows how to use that to his advantage. He has a folk style, direct and full of feeling, without much ornamentation. Duquette sings in a bluesy alto, and I have the feeling she could really belt one out if it suited the material. But the two of them blend masterfully, with their different styles meeting in the middle, and always in service of the song.<br />
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Ruane’s songs are about moments captured. There isn’t much storytelling here, although what happens in these moments sometimes tells a story of a kind. So the song Could Have Been a Dream presents a woman who remembers the mother who gave her up into fosterage when she was two or three years old. She has a collection of scattered impressions, filtered through the awareness of a young child, and her one clear memory is the refrain of a lullaby her mother sang to her. The song hints at why the mother had to give her up, but a child that age could never have understood all of the details, so the narrator of the song doesn’t either. It’s a great piece of writing that really hits home. You can tell, listening to Emily Sits By the Window, that this is an older woman; her memories come to her as she watches the sky outside, and then slip away again. We end up knowing some details of her life, but we can’t put her full story together, and we don’t need to. In the Air has a narrator who is probably a trapeze artist in a carnival. The song is about working at love without a net, and the metaphor works that much better because Ruane does not press the point. These are some of the songs of emotional dislocation. Physical dislocation is described best in North Along the River. Here we meet a group of fugitives who can not settle down, or even move about in daylight. The song does not say why they are fugitives; it simply and eloquently describes the rootlessness they feel. Will I Be Welcome and Breakwater are both about the idea of home. Welcome has a narrator wondering if he still has a home, while Breakwater tells of a man who knows he will always be able to find his home again. Who Do You Think It Was is a cover of a Charlie Sohmer tune, and finds a man in the midst of a test of his spiritual beliefs. The song has a gospel feel to it, with a great vocal blend. The album concludes with No Angels. This one says that we as human beings must rely upon ourselves and our intelligence, not on a higher power. It is a fitting conclusion to the journey this album has taken us on, and it feels in context like a message of hard-won hope.<br />
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I have nothing against flashy playing, but Bread and Bones don’t feel that they have to prove anything like that on this album. Could Have Been a Dream is a collection of finely written songs, with wonderful vocal performances, and solid instrumental backing to put the whole over with eloquence and grace.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/snncj37iafpznng/Could%20Have%20Been%20a%20Dream-Bread%20and%20Bones.mp3"><b>Bread and Bones</b>: <i>Could Have Been a Deam</i></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/w9px54whx2j388r/Emily%20Sits%20By%20the%20Window-Bread%20and%20Bones.mp3"><b>Bread and Bones</b>: <i>Emily Sits By the Window</i></a>Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-13368626013272699692011-10-29T04:11:00.000-04:002011-10-29T04:11:01.402-04:00Bump in the Night<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BumpintheNight.jpg"></p><p><br />
Halloween music. I don’t think it can be called a musical genre, but you know it when you hear it. Or do you? A few years ago, I put together a one-hour set of Halloween songs for myself and my family to enjoy. I was greatly surprised when I played it for my wife, and she kept saying, “that’s not a Halloween song.” So I guess it’s a personal thing. In assembling this year’s Halloween set, I put out a call far and wide for submissions. Maybe some artists did not have a song they thought was appropriate, but I might have disagreed. One thing that makes it difficult is that most songs don’t appear on Halloween albums. That is true of all but one of the songs I chose for this set. (The exception will be obvious when you get to it.) To me, a Halloween song needs to have a creepy ambiance, and either take place at Halloween or have supernatural elements. Enter if you dare, and let me show you what I mean.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/BobMalone-BornTooLate.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/mjcmy4l6bfq0k2d/So%20What%20If%20It%27s%20Halloween-Bob%20Malone.mp3"><b>Bob Malone</b>: <i>So What If It‘s Halloween</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobmalone7/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Is Halloween the scariest day of the year? Bob Malone may not think so. In So What If It’s Halloween, he explains that people are often scarier when they are not wearing their costumes. Malone is a very talented musician who works in jazz, old-style R&B, and Americana, for starters. His refusal to stay with a single musical genre has probably kept him from being better known, which is a shame. Because he is such a musical chameleon, one song doesn’t do him justice. I have in mind to fix that soon. Stay tuned.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/MarkTulk-CentralState.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/8bt6zbtbvm75lf2/Ghosts-Mark%20Tulk.mp3"><b>Mark Tulk</b>: <i>Ghosts</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/marktulk2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Ghosts has the quality of an incantation, as if the singer is summoning a spirit back from the other side. The song can be taken as a literal invocation, or as a summoning of old memories. Mark Tulk makes music that is richly textured, and he communicates his passions with hushed intensity. The textures vary enough to make his album Central State a richly varied listening experience, one that only gets better with repeated listens.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SusanJames-HighwaysGhosts.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/13bdscc2pc0vghs/Cold%20Moon%20On%20the%20Highway-Susan%20James.mp3"><b>Susan James</b>: <i>Cold Moon on the Highway</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://susanjames.bandcamp.com/">purchase</a>]<br />
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Cold Moon on the Highway is here for the mood of the piece, but it also belongs in this set unambiguously for the lyric. Musicians sometimes say, “this place is dead tonight”, and they talk about “gigs from Hell”, where there is an audience that doesn’t care about the music, and where the band has trouble getting paid at the end of the night. James takes these two statements to their logical extremes, and tells of a show that may well have happened at this time of year. Her album is a solid work of Americana, with folk, rock, and country elements. James is a fine lyricist, displaying great sympathy for her narrators, as well as a wonderful imagination and sense of humor.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/AndrewMcNight-WheretheRiverRuns.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/i5mn0xtj91c14l4/Chemical%20Voodoo%20%5BMedium%20Tempo%20Minor%20Blues%5D-Andrew%20McKnight.mp3"><b>Andrew McKnight</b>: <i>Chemical Voodoo</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mcknight2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Chemical Voodoo is an acoustic blues song that suggests that there is a monster in the swamp. Andrew McKnight takes the premise seriously, and, in the manner of the best horror films, he suggests rather than shows. This may be a straight supernatural tale, or an environmental fable, and that ambiguity makes the song that much spookier. Andrew McNight is a fine guitar player, equally at home playing solo pieces on acoustic guitar, working with a mostly acoustic band playing songs with a bluegrass influence, or working with a mix of electric and acoustic instruments making a more pop-influenced sound. In all cases, McKnight creates original songs that sound like something you must have heard before. He knows his various traditions well, and makes classic sounding music in varied settings. Look for another one of his songs on Star Maker Machine next week.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SCOTS-Zombified.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/mdi51i1zbwo43zt/Idol%20with%20the%20Glowin%27%20Eyes-Southern%20Culture%20on%20the%20Skids.mp3"><b>Southern Culture on the Skids</b>: <i>Idol With the Glowin‘ Eyes</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.scots.com/musicskidmart.html">purchase</a>]<br />
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Southern Culture on the Skids has made a career out of celebrating the earthiest, (I’ll say it that way), people of the Amaerican South. Zombified is their “tribute to the horror and exploitation movies that populated Southern theaters and drive-ins during the 60s and 70s”. For some reason, the album was originally released only in Australia as an eight song EP. Now, for the US release, five more songs have been added, and the whole thing has been remastered. The music is crunching Southern rock, done by the modern masters of the genre. Idol With the Glowin’ Eyes is a song of an enchantress who captures the hearts of men with her sinister magic. It is very much in the tradition of songs like Black Magic Woman. Like the album as a whole, this one is a treat, although it is also something of a guilty pleasure for me.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-38966076666608269722011-10-27T04:14:00.003-04:002011-10-27T04:15:39.946-04:00Gabriel Kahane - Where Are the Arms<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/GabrielKahane-WhereAreTheArms.jpg"></p><p><br />
[<a href="http://gabrielkahane.bandcamp.com/album/where-are-the-arms">purchase</a>]<br />
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When I reviewed Gabriel Kahane’s self-titled album two years ago, I found an artist who came from the world of contemporary classical music, and reached into the world of pop music, but on his own terms. The result was an album of sometimes challenging, but always fascinating music. Where Are the Arms is Kahane’s follow-up to that album, and this time Kahane is continuing the journey with some interesting friends. Rob Moose has worked with Bon Iver, Anthony and the Johnsons, and The National. Casey Foubert, who co-produced this album, has worked with Sufjan Stevens, Richard Swift, and Pedro the Lion. And Matt Johnson’s credits include Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright. The featured instrument is usually the piano, but some songs feature acoustic or electric guitar instead. Sometimes there are actual drums, while other songs may have soft percussion, or no percussion at all. The texture of the music shifts constantly, with accents provided by string, brass, and/or woodwind sections. I use the names for these sections that are used in classical music, because that is how Kahane uses them; instead of the wall of sound found in pop music, here each of the wind players, for example, has their own part to play, and it adds up to a wonderfully detailed whole, even though these sections are small.<br />
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Where Are the Arms takes off musically from where the last album ended. Lead track Charming Disease starts off sounding like it could have been on the previous album, but then the song changes. Rock elements join in, and the song becomes more assertive as it goes along. Parts of Speech lays down a shimmering pattern of electric guitars, then adds a kick from the drums, and finally finds Kahane singing in a voice with more bite than I have heard from him before. Kahane shows on this album that he can be a fine rock singer when needed. Last Dance is a lament, but there is a break where Kahane must sing some blue-eyed soul. He pulls it off, and the moment becomes one of this album’s delightful surprises. Calabash & Catamaran starts off sounding like it will be a folk number, (there is even a banjo), but layers of sound are added until it becomes a driven art-rock piece. The album closes with Great Lakes, and things seem to have settled down, but the song has a big rock climax at the end. Overall, Where Are the Arms takes the contemporary art song approach of the last album, and successfully weds it to some indie rock sensibilities.<br />
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Where Are the Arms is a collection of songs about missed and missing connections. Merritt Pkwy tells the tale of a hitchhiker who is picked up by a woman. They wind up spending a romantic-seeming day together, and the listener would expect this to turn into a happy ending if Kahane hadn’t warned us otherwise. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that Kahane displays a wicked sense of humor, and his narrator has a sour memory to take from his adventure. Barn Song explores how language, or the lack of it, can separate young from old. Last Dance looks at how a death always seems to strike before we get to do that one last thing with the person we lose. And LA explores how an environment can lead to alienation. These are weighty topics, and Kahane does a great job of conveying all of these different moods with amazing vocal versatility. But what is even more remarkable is that the album is not a downer at all. Instead, Where Are the Arms is collection of portraits that draw our sympathies. The lyrics are spare, but they are free of cliché, and the performances of Kahane and his guests fill in any blanks. I am tempted to say that Kahane has arrived at his musical destination, but I suspect that that will only be true until the next album. I look forward to hearing it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/f30b34x3uaibvg7/Charming%20Disease-Gabriel%20Kahane.mp3"><b>Gabriel Kahane</b>: <i>Charming Disease</i></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/3lxwd6tv5bck8h2/Calabash%20%26%20Catamaran-Gabriel%20Kahane.mp3"><b>Gabriel Kahane</b>: <i>Calabash & Catamaran</i></a>Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324785595114192552.post-64792064193914803672011-10-22T03:13:00.000-04:002011-10-22T03:13:35.801-04:00Folk Permutations<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/FolkPermutations.jpg"></p><p><br />
My first encounter with folk music came when I was a child in the 1960s. Folk came in two flavors in those days. There were solo performers like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, who sang traditional songs and accompanied themselves with just a guitar or banjo. And there were groups like Peter, Paul, and Mary, usually trios, who might sprinkle in the occasional original or contemporary number, but were still folk because at least most of their material was traditional. The music was strictly acoustic. The subjects of the songs were the usual love and mayhem of traditional songs, plus a mix of protest songs. <br />
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Of course, things have changed, starting with Bob Dylan’s notorious performance at the Newport Folk Festival. Dylan plugged in, and performed original songs. The first result was that Dylan was denounced as, (horrors), not folk. But nowadays, most folk artists use some electric instruments, and original and modern songs are more often heard than traditional ones. For this set, I present five artists and bands who start almost from the foundation I first heard so long ago. But these artists write their own songs, and so they express a wider set of experiences than the music of my youth. They don’t rule out arrangements that may use plugged in instruments, but their sound is mostly acoustic. <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/TheWeatherStaton-AllofItWasMine.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/rznj7wlnjjxfa5w/Everything%20I%20Saw-The%20Weather%20Station.mp3"><b>The Weather Station</b>: <i>Everything I Saw</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://theweatherstation.bandcamp.com/album/all-of-it-was-mine">purchase, price in Canadian dollars</a>]<br />
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The Weather Station is Tamara Lindeman. There are three other musicians helping her out, but she is calling the shots. Lindeman plays guitar and banjo, and the arrangements here focus on her. Everything I Saw opens with Lindeman singing in a breathy near-whisper about the plants she grew in her garden, and you think this will be a neo-hippie flower-power song. But very soon, Lindeman shifts gears. The song becomes requiem for a relationship that has died. The narrator tells us of how she gave everything to this man she was involved with, and finally realized that she was getting nothing back. The intensity in Lindeman’s voice increases as the song goes on. The result is a powerful emotional statement, one of many on this album. <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/JonBrooks-DelicateCages.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/61rm205fe71aj78/Cage%20Fighter-Jon%20Brooks.mp3"><b>Jon Brooks</b>: <i>Cage Fighter</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.jonbrooks.ca/index.php/jb/">purchase</a>]<br />
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Jon Brooks is a storyteller. His songs present characters you don’t usually meet on old folk albums. Some of his characters lead lives filled with violence, but they still find their own personal form of grace. This is nowhere more true than in the song Cage Fighter. The protagonist here grew up as a child soldier in Sarajevo. From that, he became a Cage Fighter, like Wolverine was in the first X-Men movie. The fighting was real, and so were the injuries, but the narrator of the song describes the feeling of being in the cage as “Zen-like”. As listeners, we may be appalled but what this character did, but we sympathize with him as well. It takes a great writer to pull this off, and Brooks is.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/TheBarefootMovement-Footwork.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/43fwzbzdrc24tmx/Tobacco%20Road-The%20Barefoot%20Movement.mp3"><b>The Barefoot Movement</b>: <i>Tobacco Road</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/barefootmovement/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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The Barefoot Movement is a trio, with guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. On this album, there is also an upright bass to fill out the sound, and, only on Tobacco Road, a cello. The fiddler, lead singer, and main songwriter, is Noah Wall. I am fairly sure that it is physically impossible to play the violin and sing at the same time, so Wall plays fills and brief solos between verses. This Noah is a woman, and she sings in a wonderfully emotive folk soprano. Lyrically, Tobacco Road would seem to be the closest to traditional themes of any song in this set, but a close listen reveals layers of meaning. The song opens with the images, beautifully drawn in just a few short lines, of a farm that has fallen on hard times. On the surface then, the song is a story of a farm that has known better times. But Tobacco Road can also be taken as a portrait of a relationship that has changed as the rush of youthful first love has given way to age and the changes that come over time. In the end, this is a song about perseverance in the face of adversity, with the personal reflected in the condition of the soil and crops. It’s a great piece of writing, and Wall and Co back it up with a wonderful performance. <br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/ellencherry-NewYears.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ic57n3jp57k0b67/1998-%20The%20Things%20I%20Long%20For%20and%20the%20Things%20I%20Have%20Are%20Not%20the%20Same-Ellen%20Cherry.mp3"><b>ellen cherry</b>: <i>1998: The Things I Long For and the Things I Have Are Not the Same</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ellencherry5/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Each song on (New) Years imagines a woman in a different year, from 1864 to 2010. The first six songs on the album fall in 20 to 30 year intervals, or roughly one for each generation. The last six songs are more closely clustered, with songs for 1983, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, and finally, 2010. The years chosen are not always the obvious ones, with no songs for the years of either World War, and no song for the 1960s or 2001. ellen cherry plays mostly guitar and some piano, and her style can be folk, jazz, or something in between, as the song demands. She also sings equally well in either style, a rare gift. This allows her to change the style of the music as she moves through the years, and she does this masterfully. Stylistically, 1998: The Things I Long for and the Things I Have Are Not the Same falls between jazz and folk. In the song, cherry takes us back to one of the last years in which you could easily find a pay phone, and imagines the woman’s part of a conversation with her lover. The strength of the writing and the emotion of the performance allow the listener to fill in the other side of the conversation. This is the magic of cherry’s writing. She provides a portrait of her character in such a way that we get to know the people in their lives, even though we never meet them.<br />
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<img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad60/phrogue/SinfulSavageTigers-LastNightoftheRevels.jpg"></p><p><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/m4lbh7kiurlbjcb/The%20End%20of%20the%20Horse%20Drawn%20Zeppelin-Sinful%20Savage%20Tigers.mp3"><b>Sinful Savage Tigers</b>: <i>The End of the Horse Drawn Zeppelin</i></a><br />
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[<a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sinfulsavagetigers2/from/phrogue">purchase</a>]<br />
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Sinful Savage Tigers are also a trio. Between them, they play guitar, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, and every song has a stand up bass. Guest musicians provide fiddles, percussion, and dobro. All of this adds up to a sound that I would call modern stringband. All of the songs have a swing to them. The End of the Horse Drawn Zeppelin is a song that takes the phasing out of an old technology as a metaphor for the end of a relationship. There is a recognition of the need to move on, but also a powerful sense that something of value has been lost. The song is a fine example of the band’s ability to powerfully evoke emotion through indirection, with a strong performance to back it up.Dariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11256856556935958361noreply@blogger.com2