Now Playing on Festival Radio
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Fairport Convention still going strong
The gang in Fairport Convention continues to put out quality folk/rock af ter all these years. Their brand new one, Over the Next Hill, released in the US on Compass Records, features tight vocal harmonies, crisp ensemble playing, and occasionally frenetic fiddling -- all the things you've come to expect from Fairport over the last three+ decades.
Tift Merritt's new CD, Tambourine, reminds me most of Lone Justice in their prime, combining elements of country, rock and Memphis soul, with glorious horns. I've had a hard time taking it out of my CD player to preview other material, it's that good.
Mutual Admiration Society consists of singer/songwriter Glen Phillips, backed by the members of Nickel Creek. Together, they've put out an album of mellow folk/pop. I would have been happier if they had taken more opportunity to let the Nickel Creek gang really let go on their instruments.
The Wailin' Jennys is three women from Manitoba doing a mix of Celtic-flavored traditional tunes and folky, acoustic originals. I've been playing Cara Luft's solo CD for a couple years, so the talent of this group comes as no surprise to me.
David Jacobs-Strain has put out a really fine album mixing blues with world-beat instrumentation on a couple tracks (oud, anyone?), and the results often go beyond what one would expect from what is otherwise a traditional blues album. If you like acoustic blues, and like recordings to take a little step beyond the traditional, check out Ocean or a Teardrop, particularly the title track.
Friction Farm, an acoustic duo from South Florida, plays pleasant acoustic/folk pop, with a sound a little reminiscent of the Indigo Girls.
Cowboy Jack Clement, one of the great producers and songwriters in country music history, has a new album out with some of his classic songs done, not surprisingly, in the classic country style. The production on Guess Things Happen This Way is very retro and Cowboy Jack gets to croon a couple of the great tunes he wrote that are associated with Johnny Cash - the title track and "Ballad of a Teenage Queen." If you like that classic country sound, you'll dig this a lot.
Todd Snider's East Nashville Skyline continues Snider's tradition of writing witty tunes that celebrate the underdog and those on the fringes of the culture. By turns witty and poignant, this CD also contains some of Todd's most pointed political statements on such tunes as "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males", where he lampoons the title characters, and "The Ballad of the Kingsmen", where he takes on those blaming popular music for teenage misbehavior. Another high point is a cover of Fred Eaglesmith's "Alcohol and Pills."
Kenny White's Symphony in 16 Bars is a subtle album of jazz-influenced piano pop, with superb playing and arrangements. The songwriting is tuneful, with hooks a plenty, and the words are full of striking images. From the title track, on missing an absent lover: "How do you fit an ocean into a riverbed?/How do I turn your memory back into you instead?/I might as well try naming all the stars/or write a symphony in 16 bars." Good stuff.
Canada's acoustic bluesman Ray Bonneville has a new CD out, Roll it Down on Red House Records. The production is more fleshed out than his last CD, Rough Luck, which was pretty much Ray and his guitar, but the full band sound does not obscure Ray's wonderful blues picking, solid songwriting and classic blues voice.
Oysterband
Next week's features artist is Oysterband. Why? Because they're great, I haven't featured them yet, and I thought that since it's Labor Day weekend coming up, that they would be appropriate artists given their longstanding record of writing songs favoring the little people against the Man (most notably in Thatcherite England. Since I'm away for Labor Day weekend, I couldn't think of anyone better to give to you for that extra day.
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
I was fortunate last week to go the Columbus taping of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me", the NPR news quiz. Dang, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Some of the best bits didn't make it to the final show, and much of what went on was visual. During the "DJ Carl's Countdown" segment, one of the tunes was "Torn Between Two Lovers" and Adam Felber and Mo Rocca each grabbed one of Roxanne Roberts' arms and started pulling her back and forth. Adam Felber in particular was hilarious.
Tift Merritt's new CD, Tambourine, reminds me most of Lone Justice in their prime, combining elements of country, rock and Memphis soul, with glorious horns. I've had a hard time taking it out of my CD player to preview other material, it's that good.
Mutual Admiration Society consists of singer/songwriter Glen Phillips, backed by the members of Nickel Creek. Together, they've put out an album of mellow folk/pop. I would have been happier if they had taken more opportunity to let the Nickel Creek gang really let go on their instruments.
The Wailin' Jennys is three women from Manitoba doing a mix of Celtic-flavored traditional tunes and folky, acoustic originals. I've been playing Cara Luft's solo CD for a couple years, so the talent of this group comes as no surprise to me.
David Jacobs-Strain has put out a really fine album mixing blues with world-beat instrumentation on a couple tracks (oud, anyone?), and the results often go beyond what one would expect from what is otherwise a traditional blues album. If you like acoustic blues, and like recordings to take a little step beyond the traditional, check out Ocean or a Teardrop, particularly the title track.
Friction Farm, an acoustic duo from South Florida, plays pleasant acoustic/folk pop, with a sound a little reminiscent of the Indigo Girls.
Cowboy Jack Clement, one of the great producers and songwriters in country music history, has a new album out with some of his classic songs done, not surprisingly, in the classic country style. The production on Guess Things Happen This Way is very retro and Cowboy Jack gets to croon a couple of the great tunes he wrote that are associated with Johnny Cash - the title track and "Ballad of a Teenage Queen." If you like that classic country sound, you'll dig this a lot.
Todd Snider's East Nashville Skyline continues Snider's tradition of writing witty tunes that celebrate the underdog and those on the fringes of the culture. By turns witty and poignant, this CD also contains some of Todd's most pointed political statements on such tunes as "Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males", where he lampoons the title characters, and "The Ballad of the Kingsmen", where he takes on those blaming popular music for teenage misbehavior. Another high point is a cover of Fred Eaglesmith's "Alcohol and Pills."
Kenny White's Symphony in 16 Bars is a subtle album of jazz-influenced piano pop, with superb playing and arrangements. The songwriting is tuneful, with hooks a plenty, and the words are full of striking images. From the title track, on missing an absent lover: "How do you fit an ocean into a riverbed?/How do I turn your memory back into you instead?/I might as well try naming all the stars/or write a symphony in 16 bars." Good stuff.
Canada's acoustic bluesman Ray Bonneville has a new CD out, Roll it Down on Red House Records. The production is more fleshed out than his last CD, Rough Luck, which was pretty much Ray and his guitar, but the full band sound does not obscure Ray's wonderful blues picking, solid songwriting and classic blues voice.
Oysterband
Next week's features artist is Oysterband. Why? Because they're great, I haven't featured them yet, and I thought that since it's Labor Day weekend coming up, that they would be appropriate artists given their longstanding record of writing songs favoring the little people against the Man (most notably in Thatcherite England. Since I'm away for Labor Day weekend, I couldn't think of anyone better to give to you for that extra day.
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
I was fortunate last week to go the Columbus taping of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me", the NPR news quiz. Dang, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Some of the best bits didn't make it to the final show, and much of what went on was visual. During the "DJ Carl's Countdown" segment, one of the tunes was "Torn Between Two Lovers" and Adam Felber and Mo Rocca each grabbed one of Roxanne Roberts' arms and started pulling her back and forth. Adam Felber in particular was hilarious.
