Blurt (blurtonline.com) just posted my review of Somewhere Else, the latest Bloodshot release from Lydia Loveless. Click the link below to read the review, eh? ...
On
their second full-length recording First Aid Kit don’t reinvent themselves.
They don’t have to. But they do deepen and extend the sound from their
revelatory debut, The Big Black & the
Blue (included in Reverberation's 2010 Countdown ... http://stevemahoot.blogspot.com/2010/12/first-aid-kit-at-no-15-in-continuing.html). These Swedish sisters sing like they grew up in the Appalachian
Mountains. Yet theirs is a sensibility at once pristine and robust, suggesting
the beautiful, stark landscapes of their native Swede as much as the back roads
of America.
Now
all of nineteen (Klara) and twenty-two (Johanna), the Soderberg sisters sound
more in command of their harmonies, which were potent indeed already. They are
beneficiaries of the YouTube age, to be sure. Attention for their debut was
stirred by their stunning rendition of the Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant
Song.” In the interim between Big Black
and their new album The Lion’s Roar fans
were treated to a mesmerizing version of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot.” If
you’ve never seen it do so; it’s remarkable – soulful beyond the girls' tender
age. Their own songs still aren’t as good as their best covers. But then, if
First Aid Kit's songs equaled their stunning singing The Lion’s Roar would be incomparable.
And
it’s pretty great as it is.
Because
they really do write some fine songs. “Blue” is a charmer; it cries out
for their hero Emmylou Harris to have a go. Few singers could make a line like
“you’re just a shell of your former youth” sound so buoyant and telling at the
same time. The Soderbergs can because they traffic comfortably in melancholy
and uplift at the same time.
“Emmylou”
(speaking of Ms. Harris) is just plain gorgeous. Homage lyrically to Harris and
Gram Parsons (‘You be my Gram, I’ll be your Emmylou”) as well as Johnny and
June Cash, the song also is an anthem to the very idea of love as artistic
fusion. And who won’t fall for that romance?
But even
in “Emmylou” there’s a sweet sense of foreboding, a feeling made more express
in the excoriating (and self-castigating) tone of the title track (“I’m a god
damn coward, but then again so are you”). Indeed, for all the sweetness of
these female-Everly (they remind me of the McGarrigle, Kate and Ann sometimes,
too) harmonies, these ladies’ lyrics are hardly sweet and light.
Mike
Mogis produces. As the arranger for Bright Eyes, Mogis has developed a strong
ear for robust, primarily acoustic performances. His penchant for reverb on the
Soderberg’s vocals is a wee bit excessive – sometimes I find myself preferring
the relative austerity of Benkt Soderberg's production on The Big Black and
Blue.
But generally, give Mogis credit for putting together a lush, beautiful
accompaniment to First Aid Kit’s stunning vocals. Of course, with Mogis at the
helm and the album being recorded in Omaha, a Conor Oberst appearance was
almost a guarantee. He pairs well with them, though, on the co-written “King of
the World,” a lament from a heart alienated from self and estranged from love.
The girls favor Oberst’s limited range and sing abidingly with him in a
spirited tru-et.
The Lion’s Roar
seems to have solidified and accelerated the cult audience building around
First Aid Kit. Their lovely songs and even more beautiful harmonies certainly
deserve an enormous audience.
Continuing today, and culminating with REVERBERATIONS number one album of the year, we’ll be counting down the top twenty-five records of 2011. I’m referring to this countdown as Twenty-five Faves because I have no pretenses about telling you what’s “best.” Sure, I think my taste is better than yours. But nobody died and made me Lester Bangs. And Lester could be arrogant, but I kind of think he would come down on the favorite side of the fave/best dichotomy. His criticism was nothing if not personal.
I've reviewed the majority of these selections. In the event that I have I'll simply recycle the original reviews, sometimes with a little new commentary. If it's a selection I haven't reviewed previously, I will dash off a new, brief, introductory review just for perspective.
Joining:
25. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo (Matador)
24. Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes (Yep Roc)
23. Bass Drum of Death - GB City (Fat Possum)
22. Coathangers - Larceny and Old Lace (Suicide Squeeze)
21. Meg Baird - Seasons on Earth (Drag City)
20. White Fence - Is Growing Faith (Woodsist)
19. Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams (Sub Pop)
18. Steve Cropper - Dedicated (429 Records)
17. Thee Oh Sees - carrion crawler/the dream ep (In the Red)
16. Sonny and the Sunsets - Hit After Hit (Fat Possum)
15. Tom Waits - Bad as Me (Anti)
14. Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know (Ribbon)
13. Pete and the Pirates - One Thousand Pictures (Stolen Recordings/U.K.)
12. Jolie Holland - A Pint of Blood (Anti)
11. Wild Flag - s/t (Merge) 10. Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines (Columbia)
9. Jack Oblivian - Rat City (Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum)
The number eight selection, Eleanor Friedberger's Last Summer was reviewed for REVERBERATIONS in August.
Just what the world needs another “tribute” album. With occasional exceptions (the Roky Erickson tribute Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye springs to mind) these anthologies are occasions mostly for pointless retreads or lame-brain deconstructions of familiar music – your appreciation for the individual treatment owing almost entirely to some combination of your feeling for the original material and for the artist who’s approaching it.
But as long as there are great songwriters and performers there will be people who feel motivated to honor them. And Buddy Holly, who would be seventy-five this year, left behind a beautiful legacy in his sadly foreshortened life (he died at twenty-two). Compilation producers Randall Poster and Gelya Robb collected nineteen tracks for Rave On Buddy Holly, drawing from both the current alterna-crowd and the legacy acts who influenced them.
Generally, the older iconic acts have more feeling for this material than the younger musicians. Nick Lowe stays true to the sound and spirit of “Changing All Those Changes;” here he sounds more like the guy who cut Jesus of Cool and Labour of Lust than the middle-aged crooner he’s become. I’ve always held that the Velvet Underground’s guitar rhythms extended Holly’s style, turning his insistent right hand into something more agitated and urban. Lou Reed’s turn on “Peggy Sue” just feels right. Laurie Anderson’s violin playing adds just the right touch of pleasing anti-musicality (think “Tomorrow Never Knows) complementing Reed’s churning rhythm guitar. Patti Smith’s devotional take on “Words of Love,” inspired by Allen Ginsberg concertina mantras, is dear, spiritual and surpassingly selfless. Tony Shanahan's production frames Smith’s vocal beautifully.
