Old Friends

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Here’s three albums we’ve received for artists who have previously graced Blabber’n’Smoke.

Larkin Poe & Thom Hell The Sound of the Ocean Sound

Larkin Poe have over the course of five E.P.s gradually transformed from a bluegrass outfit into a slinkier, slightly smouldering country and soul tinged folk rock band. The Sound of the Ocean Sound is their first full length release and here they’ve teamed up with Norwegian, Thom Hell, with the album recorded in two sessions set a year apart. Hell and the two Lovell sisters are accompanied by bass, drums and organ achieving a full band sound while the production sets out to achieve a glossy radio friendly sound that is aided and abetted by some of the writing. The soaring harmonies and driving beat of P.S. I Love You seem tailor made for the airwaves although Hell’s falsetto cries let the song down somewhat. Leave has a touch of the Nicks/Buckingham era Fleetwood Mac about it while the opening song I Belong To Love opens with a nice bass thump before some fine sounding resophonic guitar licks remind you that Larkin Poe have their roots in country. It’s a pity therefore that the remainder of the album pursues the route that the Lovell sisters seem determined to follow, a relatively innocuous FM sound that would sit well on daytime Radio Two.

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Rebecca Pronsky. Only Daughter

Rebecca Pronsky on Only Daughter is another one who has moved on from a countrified sound to a fuller fleshed rock approach. Again some of this approaches the sound of Fleetwood Mac circa Rumours (as on Honesty) however Pronsky’s powerful voice and her husband, guitarist Rich Bennet’s production ensure that she remains her own woman. Bennet’s command of his guitar and the sounds he produces have a huge impact on the album with his best contribution coming on the layers that swoon throughout Pronsky’s cover of Mark Kozelek’s Glen Tipton. The ominous dark pounding Big Demands and the bustling opener Rise Up are powerful songs that engage the listener however Pronsky has her upbeat moments with the wonderful rippling guitar of Better That Way capturing a sense of innocence. A fine album and there’s an opportunity to catch Pronsky live as she appears in Glasgow at the Woodend Club on Wednesday 20th March.

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Rob Lutes. The Bravest Bird

Rob Lutes’ The Bravest Birds is our introduction to his studio work having only heard his fine live album recorded with long time collaborator, Rob MacDonald. MacDonald is on board here along with a selection from the cream of Montreal musicians. Live we thought Lutes came across in the tradition of American storytellers such as Townes Van Zandt. Studio bound he is less the folksinger and more the cosmopolitan blue-collar sage, a touch of Randy Newman, Tom Waits and even Springsteen peeking through the curtains at the back of the studio . Lutes has a great voice. Husky, reeking of experience, wise and learned, effortless for the most part. His performance on The Ithaca Waterfall is tremendous on what is a fine song, evocative and moving with some fine guitar interludes from MacDonald. MacDonald shines throughout with his sinuous playing evident from the opening The Ship That Sails Today. Things We Didn’t Choose is a song that reminds one of Bob Seger’s Night Moves, no bad thing indeed as Lutes captures a moment in time and the band imbue it with a fine sense of grandeur. Lutes repeats this on Glory, a powerful ballad that has the emotional draw of Mickey Newbury’s American Trilogy. Pick of the songs is Still Dark, a song that shimmers and shivers with a latent menace.

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The Desoto Caucus Offramp Rodeo

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The Desoto Caucus are the Danish contingent of Giant Sand comprising Anders Pedersen(guitar, vocals), Peter Dombernowsky(Drums, percussion),Nikolaj Heyman (bass, keyboards) and Thøger T. Lund (guitar, vocals). They’ve basically been Howe Gelb’s sidekicks for the past ten years since Pederson, Lund and Dombernowsky first backed Howe Gelb on his solo release The Listener. When Gelb decamped to Canada to record his acclaimed gospel album Sno’ Angel the trio used the downtime to record an album under the name of The Desoto Caucus. Reconvening with Gelb, Heyman came on board the Sand line up and he now comprises the fourth part of the fully formed Caucus.
While their first release, EliteContinentalCustomClub slipped under the radar Offramp Rodeo is getting a proper release (via Glitterhouse in Europe) and certainly should be high on the listening agenda for anyone who is moved by the magisterial Gelb and his ever widening circle. While it would be unfair to categorise The Desoto Caucus as Giant Sand sound a likes there’s no doubt that these Danes have had the opportunity to marinate in Gelb’s unique sensibilities before finding inspiration for their own flight. While they have that loose limbed sense of ambling through a song, stumbling on shards of jagged guitar and tripping over unexpected sonic blips that characterises much of Gelb’s work they also find inspiration from the likes of Vic Chesnutt, Mark Linkous and Bill Callahan and manage to forge their own identity with Pedersen, who wrote all of the songs (two co written with Heyman) rising to the occasion with some fine lyrics.
Recorded in Denmark the album has a warm intimate close up feel, the percussion gently thumps and sparkles while the vocals and guitars slowly burn like the dying embers of a log fire that occasionally sparks and sputters. Live In The Stream is a strong opener with a propulsive throbbing beat and a hypnotic vocal from Pederson which manages to recall Sparklehorse and ends with a short burst of clanging guitar. OCB is the most Giant Sand like piece here as Pederson and Lund sing in very close harmony about Offbeat Circuit Breakers but the following title song is a much airier affair with pedal steel adorning a strummed guitar and Pedersen crooning like Bill Callahan from Smog. With snippets of marimba, glockenspiel and African percussion there’s a sweet undercurrent to this very pretty song. The kpanloko drum from Africa makes another appearance on the evocative Full Moon, a dreamlike affair with a great percussion track and fine supporting vocals from Sille Krill.
Fine as these selections are the band pull out all of the stops on a brace of songs that up the thrill stakes and demonstrate that this is a band and not just a side project. Despite Pedersen’s claim in his fine liner notes that they find straight forward rock songs difficult Here’s One disproves this from the start as guitars fizz and explode over a driving drum beat that is embroidered by piano, organ, glockenspiel, tubular bells and trombone ending up in an veritable Smörgåsbord of sound. Leaving Odessa is an impressionistic take on images of Texas and life on the road that flies high with some fine stratospheric pedal steel and some very impressive percussion from Dombernowsky. Firesale is another collection of lyrical impressions where the band attempt to capture the feel of being “European explorers in the new world.” The song starts off gently before building up to a cinematic wide screen sound with echoes of Morricone with muted tubular bell and softly shimmering percussion adding a faded grandeur. The short Even So slouches into view and out again briefly but it’s a fine gnarled effort showcasing Heyman’s guitar. Closing the album, Last Call just about sums the band up as Dembernowsky employs numerous percussive devices to drive the song while guitars snake in and out, snapping at the heels of Pedersen’s slow drawl on a song that would not be out of place on Jim White’s Wrong Eyed Jesus album.
Overall this is a strong collection of songs that is improved by the musical dexterity of the band as repeated listens unveil little sonic quirks and embellishments. Well recommended of course for fans of Giant Sand but well worth a listen for anyone interested in the slightly offbeat side of Americana that steers clear of Nashville and finds inspiration in the less travelled roads.

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Amanda Pearcy. Royal Street.

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Hailing from Texas, Amanda Pearcy‘s second album is an exploration of sadness and loss and having read her biography one is tempted to imagine that she’s singing about herself in many of these songs. Widowed and with a child she fell into a turbulent second marriage before eventually getting to where she is now, settled, married again and producing some fine and moving music.
Pearcy has an attractive bluesy husk of a voice that is perfectly suited to her blue eyed gospel soul and country sound that peppers the album. She opens with Bring You Home, a brave choice as this in not exactly the toe tapping door banger one might expect at the beginning of an album and it’s certainly not the most immediate song here. With a string arrangement (by producer Tim Lorsch) the song hesitantly picks its way across a delicately plucked guitar as Pearcy unveils her heartache singing “When my tears have made a salty ocean of me I’ll chart a course across the dark sea of me.” Strong stuff. At times it’s reminiscent of Mary Gauthier and after submerged oneself in it for a few weeks it does assert itself as a perfect opener setting the tone, if not the style for much of the album to follow. Having crossed this sea of heartbreak Pearcy finds herself in border territory with the Mexican tinged Barking Dogs. Here she’s running away from the past and the song is an excellent border ballad with a hint of tension and freedom mixed in with the exotica of Mexico. This mildly up-tempo route continues in The Story Of My Heart which replaces the Mexican violin with pedal steel although the accordion which wheezes throughout helms the song firmly in the south. This tale of a female barfly is a classic hard luck story and could well have been sung by Dolly Parton or Loretta Lynn in their heyday. After this it’s a fair bet that several country divas would give their eye teeth to get a hold of Lackin’ In Nothin‘. A slow tempo beer stained country waltz with classic lyrics, Pearcy sings it with Jon Byrd, evoking numerous country partnerships of the past.
If the above weren’t enough to have the average listener crying in their beer Pearcy reaches deep down and produces a couple of tear jerking ballads that could stop you in your tracks. Nickel In The Vase is a relatively unadorned tale of a blind beggar boy but the emotional vocal delivery sends shivers down the spine. In a similar vein the title song is another bare boned song with tugging strings on an evocative song where the singer seeks out garnet gemstones in New Orleans in order to drop them in the ocean wishing she could drown her regrets, a superb piece.
It’s fair to say that all of Pearcy’s songs on the album of a high standard. Better On My Own is a bluesy slink with some fine slide guitar from George Bradfute that strays into Cowboy Junkies territory while A Thousand Tender Recollections is given a deep soulful gospel rendition. Forgiven wafts along on a pillow of accordion and sweet guitar with a particularly fine solo from Bradfute, the tender delivery in contrast to the existential lyrics. Pearcy ends the album with two covers. The Rolling Stones’ No Expectations again visits Cowboy Junkiedom while the faux antiquary of Wish I’s In Heaven Settin’ Down pops up after the official track listing is done. Both are well done but here they pale in comparison to what has gone before.

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Rose’s Pawn Shop. Dancing On The Gallows

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Touring over here soon Rose’s Pawn Shop are a vibrant bunch who play with a kick in their step with their banjos and fiddles well to the fore. Based in Los Angeles they seem to have a reputation there as a good time party band be it playing in theatres or busking on the streets. There definitely is a Celtic swing to some of their songs which as we all know makes for good time listening. Dancing On the Gallows is their second release and was released in the States back in 2010 however it’s getting a push on the back of their UK tour.
Opening with the almost Irish strains of the title song there’s a rollicking good time feel with lashings of banjo and some great harmonies and they continue in this vein with the fiddle and guitar duet on Danger Behind The Wheel. The Bed in Which You Lie adds some rhythm section oomph and beefs up the guitar giving the song a fine honky tonkin’ truck stop vibe while Pine Box reins in the band’s more extravagant flourishes and contents itself with being a very fine medium paced ballad. The highlight here, Pine Box flows like all good Americana songs should as if one was driving on an endless highway and there are some fine guitar flourishes that are reminiscent of the Allmans’ back in their heyday. Almost as good is the following Box Of Flames which pummels along like a runaway train before reaching an exciting guitar driven climax. If they can achieve this level of intensity live then I’d venture they are a sure bet to go and see.
Tour dates are here with two Scottish gigs including an Edinburgh date at Bannermans Bar on Monday March 4th where they will be supported by those fine friends of Blabber’n’Smoke, Old Dollar Bill

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Mary Dillon and Heidi Talbot

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Catching up on some Celtic Connections related items here’s our take on a couple of albums released by participants in this year’s shindig.
First up is Mary Dillon with North, a fairly traditional album of songs from this Northern Irish singer and sister of Cara Dillon. Mary was a member of Irish band Deanta way back in the nineties but retired from the music business for the past decade or so to raise her family. Stepping back into the fray North is a fine selection of mostly traditional songs on which she sings beautifully and is supported by a very talented group of musicians including former Deanta band mate Neil Martin who arranges the strings on the very affecting lament Edward On Lough Erne Shore. With all of the songs having a connection to Northern Ireland and having grown up with the majority of them Dillon seems to live and breathe by them and this is apparent in the delivery. Her voice appears as if out of a mist, clear as a bell, intimate and warm whether it be unaccompanied on the haunting Ard Ti Chuain which closes the album or the gently lilting and mildly ribald When’s A Man’s In Love which open the proceedings. This is an album that’s as warm as a glass of whiskey on a cold winter’s night, to be savoured and taken at one’s leisure.

Heidi Talbot chose to have the official release party of Angels Without Wings at Celtic Connections, fittingly enough as it was recorded in Glasgow’s new Gorbals Sound Studios. While she’s backed in the main by her regular band including husband John McCusker and Boo Hewerdine the album includes contributions from such luminaries as Jerry Douglas, Mark Knopfler, Tim O’Brien, Karine Polwart and King Creosote. While stellar line-ups don’t always guarantee a result Talbot has hit pay dirt here as the album is as swell a selection of modern folk songs as one could wish for. From the Hurdy Gurdy folksiness of the title song to the bare boned The Loneliest the playing is excellent and Talbot’s voice hits home with its childlike vulnerability. When The Roses Come Again is perhaps the most traditional sounding song here but the best is saved for last with two heart tugging songs, My Sister The Moon and Arcadia that are sumptuous and beguiling. Pillows of sound waft from the musicians while Talbot sounds vulnerable, cosseted by the very sympathetic playing. All in all a fine showing from a singer who deserves to be held in the same regard as Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson.

Richard Thompson. Electric

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While no one in their right mind would say that Richard Thompson, solo, acoustic, is anything less than riveting it has to be admitted that when he straps on his electric guitar and cuts loose there’s a certain frisson of delight. Frequently cited in polls and lists of the “greatest guitarists” Thompson can rarely be mistaken for anyone else with his biting razor sharp playing which owes little to the usual blues roots and has a uniquely British sense despite him having lived in L.A. for the past two decades. News that his follow-up to 2010’s live album, Dream Attic was to feature a “power trio,” be produced by Buddy Miller and to be called “Electric” was tantalising to say the least and here, at last, is the beast.
Recorded in Miller’s home over a two week period and captured on analogue tape the album is another feather in Miller’s producer’s cap with a warm and crisp “live” sound heard to best effect on the one song that does sound a little like a power trio, Sally B, with drummer Michael Jerome almost aping Ginger Baker’s style. That the opening to the following Stuck On A Treadmill sounds dangerously similar to Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir is a red herring although it does allow Thompson to blaze away with an amazing solo of the type that he generally reserves for live performances. Album opener Stony Ground sets the scene well with Thompson’s guitar set to folk rock as he relates a sad tale of a toothless old man lusting for the widow next door. With lyrics reminiscent of those on Hokey Pokey Thompson describes his comeuppance at the hands of the widow’s sons
“Kicked him in the head, poked him in the eyes, shoved him in the gutter and there he lies, dripping with blood, dripping with snot, but he’s still dreaming of her you-know-what.”
Straight and Narrow takes Thompson almost into sixties garage territory with its Farfisa sounding keyboard and affords him another opportunity to solo with his notes dripping like quicksilver on a song that pulses with energy. As good as this is the highlight of the rockier songs here is undoubtedly the amazing Good Things Happen To Bad People. This is a stunning song with its muscular beat and ringing guitars that thrash and flail as Thompson (in fine voice) denounces a Jezebel who “cried the day I walked you down the aisle.” Presumably, the acoustic guitar here is by Miller but it lays down a fine challenge to Thomson who unleashes a wicked solo that tears and bites with a ferocity appropriate to the protagonist’s wounded anger.
There are some quieter moments on the album with Salford Sunday in particular standing out. An impressionistic take on a hung-over Sunday morning in a dreary northern town it has an incongruous jauntiness in its step. Another Small Thing In Her Favour is classic Thompson miserabilism, it details the end of a relationship with a tender vulnerability both in the lyrics and the playing. The Snow Goose reminds you of just how good Thompson is when solo as he picks his way through a typical slice of pessimism singing
“Northern winds will cut you, northern girls will gut you, leave you cold and empty Like a fish on the slab.”
Sparse, with only acoustic guitar and occasional accordion, it is cold and lonesome and the introduction of Alison Krauss on harmony on the chorus only serves to emphasise this. A wonderful song and a fine reminder that Thompson might be one of the finest guitarists around but more importantly he is one of the finest songwriters we have.

Buy “Electric” here

Jim Dead. I’m Not Lost.

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“There’s a thunder looming” goes the weather forecast for Deadsville , that mythical hinterland where Jim Dead and occasional compadre Craig Hughes hunker down and sustain themselves with helpings of tinder dry musical epistles that smell of brimstone and dread. Expertly mapped out on Ten Fires, Dead’s last album, he returns to Deadsville in I’m Not Lost with Hughes riding shotgun having ditched the rhythm section somewhere back along the trail.

Dead and Hughes have indeed hunkered down in Glasgow’s Ohm studios and transformed the damp bleak Scottish winter into their sun scorched and parched mythical landscape. A six-song expedition this is leaner than and not as mean as Ten Fires. No one gets lynched but the outlook remains as bleak as bleached bones as Dead sings and almost moans in ominous fashion. Steady Us opens the disc with Hughes in a Morricone mood, his guitar cracking the sky open and then rumbling along with menace as Dead delivers some nihilistic words. Nine Years continues in this vein with Dead coming across like a voice from the grave, a sense that is accentuated by the whelps that close the song. Gold + Silver finds Dead solo, hesitant and fractured but Hughes returns with his switchblade guitar on the snappy suicide note of Giving Up The Ghost. Stealing A Mile is the standout track here, slow, brooding, filled with menace and foreboding. With Hughes’ guitar creating a sonic sandstorm over Dead’s acoustic drone Dead foretells of the storm a coming and proclaims “I’ve not cared much for sunny days or bright afternoons in the haze. Give me clouds and give me rain.” As on most of the songs the lyrics are opaque allowing the listener to imagine a scene while the music is almost cinematic.Dead states on his website that he’s been listening to Calexico and and it’s most apparent here. The closing song Head Full Of Booze however comes across almost as a traditional number lamenting the demon drink and the havoc it wreaks. With Hughes’ guitar more lyrical and almost pedal steel sweet it could have been Hank William’s last song.

Overall I’m Not Lost is another reason to reckon that Dead is our number one homegrown American artist. A download only release it’s merely a precursor to the full follow up to Ten Fires and at around £4 it’s a steal. You can get it here

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Rachel Brooke. A Killer’s Dream.

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Regular readers might know that we’re suckers for the darker side of Americana, the underbelly, the dank, dangerous deadlands where a switchblade might be as handy as a guitar. Be it under a blistering desert sun or on a spooky New Orleans backstreet, murder, mayhem and madness do brighten up the day’s listening. With this in mind Rachel Brooke’s latest album, A Killer’s Dream, was almost predestined to land here with its promotional tag line of American Gothic Roots music, a fairly good description. Looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth (aside from a prominent tattoo on her arm) Ms. Brooke appears to dwell in a twilight world of misty menace peopled with the ghosts of country past, R’n’B ghouls and faded jazz divas and the album is a collection of portentous songs filled with omens and foreboding.
With an extremely able backing band Brooke ranges from old time country, rockabilly, gutbucket blues and New Orleans jazz as easily as one changes a shirt. In addition to guitar and vocals she manages tympani, xylophone, vibraphone, bass drum and percussion while slide guitar, fiddle, musical saw and trumpet all feature over and above the bass and drums. The album kicks off in fine style with her lonesome voice on the 38 second Have It All before the band crashes in with the magnificently sloppy blues of Fox In A Henhouse where Brooke’s waiting for a love rival with a .38 in her hand. Late Night Lover is slinky, sexy and spooky while a cover of Fats Domino’s Every Night About this Time would sit well in the sleazy roadhouse in Twin Peaks. Away from the raucous rough and tumble of the opening songs Brooke tumbles into a country mode with Life sentence Blues, a spare cry from the heart while Old faded Memory, a duet with Lonesome Wyatt features an elderly pair reminiscing and regretting on a live spent together that they never had. The most delicate song on the album it’s the highlight here as Brooke sings clear as a mountain stream. It’s back to the louche side of life on the slippery trumpet driven Ashes To Ashes while The Black Bird hints at sinister goings on. The title song closes the album and weirdly enough is the most upbeat song here with a sound not too far removed from early sixties girl group offerings from the red Bird label. It’s sassy and almost tongue in cheek compared with its predecessors. A hidden track at the end closes the album on a sombre note.

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Anders & Kendall Wild Chorus

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Guy meets girl, girl sings on his solo albums, guy and girl record album of duets. Well that pretty much sums up Wild chorus, the first proper collaboration between Anders Parker (ex Varnaline, New Multitudes with Jay Farrar, Jim James and Will Johnson) and Kendall Meade(Mascott, backing singer occasionally for Sparklehorse and Lloyd Cole among others). Meade has featured on all of Parker’s solo efforts but when the opportunity arose to record an album as equals they grasped it and the result is a fine collection of songs that range from the pop feel of Across The Years to the muted thrash of Getting Ready. There are lashings of echoing guitar on the album giving it a spacey, almost sixties vibe which is reinforced by some of the arrangements which hark back to the Everley Brothers in places. Elsewhere Parker’s cracked voice and the keyboard arrangement on Play It summons up Eels’ warped pop sensibility while Let’s Get Lost rumbles along with a rockabilly Bo Diddley beat.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the album given the contrast between Parker’s occasionally gruff voice and Meade’s strong alto is that they’ve avoided the well-trodden Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra path. Instead the songs feature a variety of styles allowing both singers the opportunity to sing together, in counterpoint or to answer one another. Their voices do work well together on what is basically a collection of love songs although at times (Let’s Get Lost and Across The Years)it just gets a bit too busy particularly on the latter song. However when it works the couple manage to produce work that stands up well to previous standard-bearers for star-crossed male/female duets. The opening song We’re On Fire is a fine guitar soaked love song where the memory of Parsons and Harris is evoked as the vocals smoke and keyboard adds a slow Southern groove. City Of Greats lightens the mood with acoustic strumming, stratospheric keyboards and an airy feel to the singing while Sleepwalking showcases Meade on a dreamlike swoon of a song. Can You Forgive Me is a barbed wire bite of a song with a percussive snap that opens with a dramatic scene and is suffused with regret thereafter. Oh Love is the most retro fuelled song here with an almost Chet Atkins’ Nashville and they end the album with The Sun Will Shine Again Someday which recalls Neil Young’s mid seventies work and as throughout the album features an excellent arrangement and fine playing from the band.

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Annie Lou. Grandma’s Rules For Drinking

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Annie Lou is the vehicle for Canadian Anne Louise Genest and a brace of the Dominion’s finest string band players and together they deliver an album that is chockfull of wonderful old time country songs. Having spent over twenty years of her life in the Yukon woods Genest has had plenty of time to inhale good old country air and presumably to listen to much of the music made by those who lived in similar fashion down south. Flanked by clawhammer banjo, fiddle and mandolin her homely voice effortlessly captures the innocence of pre war recordings although she does so with a sense of style that is bang up to date as she writes with a sly sense of humour and wit in her observations of country life. The opening song Plaid Parade demonstrates all that is good about the album as Genest inhabits a little girl’s life and reports on the comings and goings around her. The harmonies are superb as the banjo ripples and fiddle weaves in and out, a fine start indeed. On The Main Drag maintains the quality as Genest looks back ruefully on time spent with a wastrel while looking forward to her new life playing with some boys in a bluegrass band. Take Your Leg Off Mine is the plea of a woman wed to a long legged man who takes up too much room in the bed and is sung to the tune of Take a whiff Off Me, rollicking stuff! The band are allowed to showcase their skills on several fine instrumentals but when all’s said and done it’s Genest’s voice and writing which are the stars here and the title song is perhaps the best of the bunch on display. A cautionary tale on the dangers of the demon drink addressed to the fairer sex it bumps along in fine fashion while Genest and vocalists, Kim Barlow and Kristin Cavoukian evoke the spirit of the first McGarrigle Sisters album.

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