Are we really midway through the year? As Sandy Denny once so beautifully sang, “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” For me much of it has been spent listening to music, enjoying the long days of summer and finding solace in the things I enjoy. I hope you can do the same.
Jeff Black
‘Folklore’
Lotos Nile Music
Stripping his music down to its bare essentials, in this case solo and acoustic, Missouri bred folksinger Jeff Black’s 10th album is an apt lesson in saying more with less.Recorded at his own Arcana Studios, backing his world weary voice with six and 12 string guitars, five string banjo, and harmonica, Black set about to wind together some of the looser strands of his last two releases, both of which collected odd bits of songs left over from his earlier albums.
With Folklore he again shows how insanely prolific he is. Black had written an entire album’s worth of material, which he subsequently discarded, and in what he offhandedly refers to as a “fit of creative insanity” speedily wrote and recorded the 13 songs that comprise this statement.
Advancing the etymology of the title-defining Folklore as “stories from the past” he weaves a series of incidents that are both precise and universal; in short, they represent Americana at its finest.
Family is paramount to these tales, the faded cover photograph is of Black’s grandmother, Lotos Nile (for whom his record label is named), while the songs themselves are lush in their descriptions of the ties that bind. “63’ Mercury Meteor” recalls a long ago road trip with his father and kid sister in tow, while “No Quarter” tells a far less bucolic story, one of jealousy and rage and those moments that can result in absolution or mayhem.
As the protagonist thankfully sets his weapon down he admits to not “even knowing what I was fighting for.”
If one song best sums up the ethos of Folklore it must be “Sing Together” in memory and honor of Pete Seeger, an artist who best embraced and exemplified the tradition that Black has followed.
“If we can sing together” it reminds us, “we can change the world.” Jeff Black clearly thinks so. Listening to this powerful statement, so do I. ****
Band of Horses
‘Why Are You Okay?’
Interscope/Virgin EMI
Working with legendary producer Glyn Johns on 2012’s Mirage Rock, Band of Horses rediscovered their love of mainstream (in a good way) rock, even as they continued to explore their country/blues affectations. The result was an album that, while receiving mixed critical reviews, became their best seller to date and propelled the band into the big leagues. Why Are You OK? is an equine of a different breed, richly layered in complex synthesized attitude and atmospheres, it employs Ben Bridwell’s voice more as a tonal instrument and less as a storytelling device.
Produced by Jason Lytle and executive produced by Rick Rubin, the arrangements are (not surprisingly) more urbane, grandiose and at times perplexing.
Opening with “Dull Times/The Moon,” a seven-minute plus oeuvre that slowly builds toward psychedelia, the album draws on each phase of the group’s 12 year span. The grunge guitar drive of “In A Drawer” (with guest guitarist J Mascis) provides a glimpse of the band at their diesel driven best, while “Casual Party” and “Country Teen” demonstrate that when push comes to shove Band of Horses can write catchy pop numbers with the best of them.
What’s lacking seems to be a sense of compositional experimentation. While Lytle’s production is both adventurous and expressive it often seems to mask songs that don’t quite reach the lofty heights of those found on either Infinite Arms, their Grammy nominated masterwork, or even the less accomplished but far more daring Everything All The Time.
To call Why Are You Okay? a disappointment is imprecise but for a band that has set such a high bar for itself it does feel a bit like a holding pattern. It’s better than the vast majority of records being made but for those of us who adore Band of Horses that might not be quite enough. ***
Beth Orton
‘Kid Sticks’
Anti-87426 Records
2012’s Sugaring Season found Beth Orton as far removed from her electronica/folk roots as one might ever have thought, writing songs in a more conventional verse/chorus/bridge template and using the talents of some heavy hitter studio musicians.
With Kid Sticks she moves several steps forward by taking a half step back, bringing the duality of her music full circle.
Having left her native England for the sun splashed confines of California has had a radical effect on her approach to music. Sure the songs are still built around her tuneful acoustic guitar but they are textured with drum loops, thumping bass, handclaps, and any manner of percussive devices.
The resultant double time rhythm sounds deliriously close to dance floor music, hedonistic and goofy in all the right ways. “Petals” and “Dawn Star” are more traditional in their approach, reflecting the emotional intensity of Orton’s voice and her inherent knack for gorgeous melodies.Yet even there she slides in a clever synthesized bass line, a nod to her new environs. Scratch what I said earlier: this is not going full circle; this is the vibrant sound of an artist creating an arc, open to possibilities and fresh outcomes.
Kid Sticks doesn’t rank among my favorite Beth Orton albums, it is more than a bit uneven and at times the production values seem to fight against the material, but it certainly bodes well for her next adventure. ***1/2
Tony Joe White
‘Rain Crow’
Yep Roc Records
Plenty of talented artists can successfully emulate the swamp/rock/blues/gumbo sound of Tony Joe White but five decades removed from “Polk Salad Annie” no one outdoes the original.
Seconds after the disc spins you can identify the music as his and once that voice, stirring, troubled and downright otherworldly, kicks in there’s no mistaking who is in charge. Produced by his son Jody (also a member of his touring band) Rain Crow validates the obvious; that White still knows how to make old school records as well as anyone and he’s only gotten better with age.****
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