Reviews

Alela Diane: To Be Still

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Alela Diane: To Be Still (Rough Trade, 2009)

Alela Diane is a true great among folk artists. She has found some masterful way to make this highly artistic music so easily accessible. As you well know, I’m a rather simple man and my problem with folk chanteusses often is that eventhough I appreciate the artistic value of it, I just find myself getting bored in the long run. Joanna Newsom is a prime example. As much as I would like to love her, I just have to admit that I don’t. But Alela Diane. I love her. That acoustic beauty of the songs. Those amazing vocal melodies. Like hugs wrapped around your heart. To Be Still is her second album and more than half of it is really wonderful folk music. Especially Every Path, Take Us Back, To Be Still and The Ocean are treasures that have taken the form of a song. If I want to complain about something than I have to say that soundwise it’s a bit too clean and polished for me. Therefore my folk album favourite of the year is still Haruko’s Wild Geese, because that home recorded beauty feels a bit more rural and alive.

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Alela Diane Website
Alela Diane at myspace

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Reviews

Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers: Songs In The Night

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Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers: Songs In The Night (Ramseur Records, 2009)

Ramseur Records succesfully brought The Avett Brothers into our hearts. Now The Avett Brothers have moved on to a major label in order to reach that worldwide stardom they so truly deserve, but also Ramseur is still going strong with great artists like Duke & The King, Paleface and this Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers on their roster.

Samantha Crain is a young talented songwriter (born 1986) who has a rather unique but beautiful voice. Samantha and her band The Midnight Shivers have created a very good debut album Songs In The Night. The heart of the album is hanging out on the field where country singer-songwriters and folk rockers are organizing a barn dance, but the body of the music can’t resist the lures of the indie rock clubs of the big city. Despite often being rather dark and melancholic, Songs in the Night is still amazingly enjoyable and easily approachable. The finest songs on the album like Devils In Boston, Rising Sun and Songs in the Night are already really marvellous, but at this given time I would file about half of the album under the category “good songs but nothing truly special”. Extremely promising stuff nevertheless and I’m looking forward to the next album.

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Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers Website
Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers at myspace

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Reviews

Son Volt: Central American Dust

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Son Volt: American Central Dust (Rounder, 2009)

I often forget the fact that Son Volt is a really great band that has released a bunch of fine alt.country albums and one real classic of the genre called Trace.  They certainly must have something good going on, if I buy their album every time. However, American Central Dust doesn’t rank among their finest work. Even though it’s a solid beautiful country album, there’s not enough real jewels to be completely excited about it. No Turning Back, Roll On and Jukebox Of Steel are my big favourites on the new album. Most of the other songs are good too, but American Central Dust would have needed more rock stuff and rougher corners. I do love rootsy music, I do love ballads and I do love love pedal & lap steel, but if there’s almost nothing else than slow or mid-tempo country songs  there’s a danger that it starts to get boring in the long run no matter how thoughtful and how beautifully crafted they are.

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Son Volt Website
Son Volt at myspace

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