Now Playing on Festival Radio
Friday, April 01, 2005
Over the Rhine, Ellis Paul, Greg Trooper and more.
All right, crimestoppers, it's time to blog new adds again.
Over the Rhine: Drunkard's Prayer
Midway through their tour for Ohio, Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine came to the realization that their marriage was falling apart. They canceled their tour and then spent the next few months reinventing their relationship. The result is Drunkard's Prayer, recorded in their living room using primarily piano, guitars, upright bass and some steel guitar and occasional percussion. The theme song for the album is "Born" :
The CD is filled with the sounds of a relationship coming together. As such, it makes for some compelling songs, with moods ranging from celebrations of romance and longing to songs of trouble and doubt. Throughout, Bergquist's continues to prove that she is one of the great pop vocal stylists of our time. This CD is fine, and may be their best and most consistent to date, particularly following the sometimes rambling Ohio.
Ellis Paul: American Jukebox Fables
You can tell from the first 45 seconds of this CD that it is not the conventional folk/rock that we've come to expect from Ellis Paul. "Blacktop Train" begins with some vocal scatting by singer Rachael Davis over some acoustic guitar and then the drum loops and horn samples kick in, followed by some looping banjos. I dig it. Folk purists, of course, will accuse Ellis Paul of selling out, but they cannot say they weren't warned. All the signs are there on the back of the CD, where the good folks at Philo talk about how Paul "expands his sonic palette still further, adding contemporary flourishes to his signature mix of folk storytelling, beat poetry and songcraft."
Flynn (some producers apparently only need one name), does add some contemporary touches to Paul's work, including some occasional drum sampling and looping; however, after the first listen I don't find them too intrusive, particularly because Paul's songs and voice are clearly the star here, and because the expanded sonic palette does not overshadow Paul's singing - rather it takes over the instrumental breaks, though I could do without the looping drums most of the time. Overall, this is one of Paul's strongest collection of songs yet, touching on subjects as diverse as America's westward migration, Pat Tillman, Marc Chagall, homes burning down, death, a bar in Homer, Alaska, and crime sprees.
Greg Trooper: Make it Through This World
If I were not such a cynic, I would say that this is the album that makes Greg Trooper a household name, since it's filled with more of his well-crafted hook-filled country/folk songs, and ably produced by Dan Penn with a Memphis soul feel with lots of swirling Hammond B-3, classy guitar fills and background vocals where you can feel them swaying through the shiny spinning petroleum based shiny groove.
Unfortunately, I still remember that I thought Trooper's last CD would be the one that made him a household name. And the one before that. Since I am such a cynic, what I do predict is that lots of cowboy hat wearing dudes and/or navel-baring waifs from Nashville will cover this batch of Greg Trooper tunes and have hits with them, while this CD languishes in the listening station in the folk music section at Borders, since radio doesn't play hook-filled songs anymore unless they are sung by people who wear coyboy hats or are navel-baring waifs.
It's sad because Trooper not only is a great songwriter, but a really fine vocalist. Maybe he doesn't have enough twang for Nashville. I don't get it. Please go buy this CD, because I know you'll enjoy it immensely, and then when you hear the tunes sung by a cowboy hat wearing dude or navel-baring waif, you can amaze your friends by saying "Greg Trooper wrote that song. The original's much better."
It comes out on April 12 on Sugar Hill Records.
Other New Adds
The Blind Boys of Alabama: Atom Bomb (RIP, George Scott)
Rob Siegel: Voices From the Right Brain - Live at Club Passim
Blue Highway: Marbletown
Martyn Joseph: Thunder and Rainbows (The Best We Could Find, 1988-2000)
Various Artists: The Appalachians - Companion to the Public Television Series
Various Artists: Oasis World Sampler, Volume 5 #1
Various Artists: Oasis Acoustic Sampler, Volume 5 #1
Kate Campbell: Sidetracks
CanCon: You could do a lot worse than this list of 50 Essential Canadian Tracks. They make some pretty good music north of the 49th.
Over the Rhine: Drunkard's Prayer
Midway through their tour for Ohio, Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine came to the realization that their marriage was falling apart. They canceled their tour and then spent the next few months reinventing their relationship. The result is Drunkard's Prayer, recorded in their living room using primarily piano, guitars, upright bass and some steel guitar and occasional percussion. The theme song for the album is "Born" :
"I was born to laugh
I've learned to laugh through my tears
I was born to love
I'm gonna learn to love without fear.
...We've seen the landfill rainbow
We've seen the junkyard of love
And baby, it's no place for you and me."
The CD is filled with the sounds of a relationship coming together. As such, it makes for some compelling songs, with moods ranging from celebrations of romance and longing to songs of trouble and doubt. Throughout, Bergquist's continues to prove that she is one of the great pop vocal stylists of our time. This CD is fine, and may be their best and most consistent to date, particularly following the sometimes rambling Ohio.
Ellis Paul: American Jukebox Fables
You can tell from the first 45 seconds of this CD that it is not the conventional folk/rock that we've come to expect from Ellis Paul. "Blacktop Train" begins with some vocal scatting by singer Rachael Davis over some acoustic guitar and then the drum loops and horn samples kick in, followed by some looping banjos. I dig it. Folk purists, of course, will accuse Ellis Paul of selling out, but they cannot say they weren't warned. All the signs are there on the back of the CD, where the good folks at Philo talk about how Paul "expands his sonic palette still further, adding contemporary flourishes to his signature mix of folk storytelling, beat poetry and songcraft."
Flynn (some producers apparently only need one name), does add some contemporary touches to Paul's work, including some occasional drum sampling and looping; however, after the first listen I don't find them too intrusive, particularly because Paul's songs and voice are clearly the star here, and because the expanded sonic palette does not overshadow Paul's singing - rather it takes over the instrumental breaks, though I could do without the looping drums most of the time. Overall, this is one of Paul's strongest collection of songs yet, touching on subjects as diverse as America's westward migration, Pat Tillman, Marc Chagall, homes burning down, death, a bar in Homer, Alaska, and crime sprees.
Greg Trooper: Make it Through This World
If I were not such a cynic, I would say that this is the album that makes Greg Trooper a household name, since it's filled with more of his well-crafted hook-filled country/folk songs, and ably produced by Dan Penn with a Memphis soul feel with lots of swirling Hammond B-3, classy guitar fills and background vocals where you can feel them swaying through the shiny spinning petroleum based shiny groove.
Unfortunately, I still remember that I thought Trooper's last CD would be the one that made him a household name. And the one before that. Since I am such a cynic, what I do predict is that lots of cowboy hat wearing dudes and/or navel-baring waifs from Nashville will cover this batch of Greg Trooper tunes and have hits with them, while this CD languishes in the listening station in the folk music section at Borders, since radio doesn't play hook-filled songs anymore unless they are sung by people who wear coyboy hats or are navel-baring waifs.
It's sad because Trooper not only is a great songwriter, but a really fine vocalist. Maybe he doesn't have enough twang for Nashville. I don't get it. Please go buy this CD, because I know you'll enjoy it immensely, and then when you hear the tunes sung by a cowboy hat wearing dude or navel-baring waif, you can amaze your friends by saying "Greg Trooper wrote that song. The original's much better."
It comes out on April 12 on Sugar Hill Records.
Other New Adds
The Blind Boys of Alabama: Atom Bomb (RIP, George Scott)
Rob Siegel: Voices From the Right Brain - Live at Club Passim
Blue Highway: Marbletown
Martyn Joseph: Thunder and Rainbows (The Best We Could Find, 1988-2000)
Various Artists: The Appalachians - Companion to the Public Television Series
Various Artists: Oasis World Sampler, Volume 5 #1
Various Artists: Oasis Acoustic Sampler, Volume 5 #1
Kate Campbell: Sidetracks
CanCon: You could do a lot worse than this list of 50 Essential Canadian Tracks. They make some pretty good music north of the 49th.
