Adam Carroll & Michael O’Connor – Hard Times
Posted on | December 8, 2009 | 1 Comment
In case you have forgotten the power of an album, in this age of 30 second audio samples, digital only singles, and increasingly short attention spans, Adam Carroll and Michael O’Connor would like to refresh your memory. Hard Times, the new collaborative effort between the two, stands as a complete song cycle about one thing: Gulf Coast losers. Carroll has made a career of writing about wretched people who live off the beaten path, while O’Connor is better known for being a sideman for Slaid Cleaves and Susan Gibson, among others. This record finds them writing together on most of the songs, revealing the intricacies of those who live on the south coast of Texas and Louisiana.
read more »Album Review: Dave Rawlings Machine – A Friend of a Friend
Posted on | November 10, 2009 | No Comments
1. When I first heard that Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch were switching places in their informal arrangement usually billed as “Gillian Welch”, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be like the Esquires, the rare electric incarnation of the duo? Would Gillian sing at all? Now that I’ve heard A Friend of a Friend, I feel foolish for expecting Dave and Gillian to reinvent the wheel — what they have going is impossible to duplicate. Not that there aren’t new ideas on this record — a string section and a group of horns make an appearance, to great effect. On A Friend of a Friend, Rawlings and Welch show that they can let Dave’s fresh tenor lead the way and harness the frenetic energy of his solos and retain the same musical integrity that has defined their career.
read more »Album Review: Lyle Lovett – Natural Forces
Posted on | October 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
1. Could Lyle Lovett be loosening up? His remarkable consistency and ability to execute a multiple genres with his Large Band has always been present, but on his latest release Natural Forces, he shows a little bit of frayed edges, edgy humor, and an endearingly carefree attitude, while still ably interpreting songs from his Texas songwriting heroes in his classic style. Lovett, who turns 53 next month, brings back his ace studio band including Viktor Krauss, Matt Rollings, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and Dean Parks to drive a record that seems a little more loose than his usual buttoned-up style.
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