Sunday, October 25, 2009

Eilen Jewell - Sea of Tears (LP, Signature Sounds)


Although singer/songwriter Eilen Jewell has drawn comparisons with artists like Lucinda Williams & Jolie Holland, her strongest influences appear to be Bessie Smith & Billie Holiday. Having earned a reputation as a folkie with her earlier albums, Jewell moves towards a more guitar-heavy, 60's-flavoured roots rock with her third release, Sea of Tears.

The album is mainly Jewell's own compositions, but there are a few great covers thrown into the mix. Jewell's vocals are subtle, understated, and relaxed, but that doesn't make her any less expressive on moody, melancholy originals such as "Codeine Arms", "Rain Roll In", and "Fading Memory". She's as melancholy on her own material as she is on memorable performances of "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" (a gem that Van Morrison performed when he a member of Them in the '60s) and Loretta Lynn's "The Darkest Day". She also does a great cover of Johnny Kidd's "Shakin' All Over".

Eilen Jewell is a distinctive artist with a voice that sinks into your head and just won't leave. The album will defintely be on your year-end "Best Of" list - it's that good.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Taken By Trees - East of Eden (LP, Rough Trade)


Taken by Trees is the name adopted by Victoria Bergsman, former vocalist of the Concretes and guest vocalist on "Young Folks" from Peter, Bjorn and John's third album, Writer's Block.

Her new recordings found Bergsman abandoning the Concretes' sprightly sound in lieu of a more sombre, stripped-down style that put her in league with Camera Obscura. Taken by Trees' first full-length, Open Field, was released in 2007.

For the next Taken by Trees' album, Bergsman wanted to try something different so she and recording engineer, Andreas Söderström, traveled to Pakistan to record with local musicians. This, apparently, was quite an eventful journey, with Bergsman literally being carried off by some locals shortly after the duo arrived in Pakistan; the fact that she was an unmarried woman evidently made her common property. Söderström saved her by posing as her husband, and thus disguised, Söderström and Bergsman went on to team up with a Pakistani musician named Malik to record this album.

The album kicks off with the haunting flute of "To Lose Someone" before Bergsman's melancholy vocals start. The rhythmic percussion and flute continue to dominate the song and the backing vocals are Pakistani, a theme that continues throughout the album. A version of Animal Collective's "My Girls" - changed to "My Boys" – is set to a stately, dipping rhythm of xylophone and percussion. Noah Lennox repays the favour by adding backing vocals to "Anna".

East of Eden is an ambitious project, and Bergsman manages to pull it off admirably, although some parts of the album are a trifle self-indulgent ("Wapas Karna", "Bekännelse"). Even though she's borrowed a lot here - from Animal Collective, Pakistani music - Bergsman manages to make it her own.

Initial vinyl pressings come with the album on CD and an accompanying documentary.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session (LP, Classic)



Apologies, once again, for my tardiness. Will attempt to be somewhat regular with updates in future. But don't hold your breath.

A gem I recently picked up is the Classic Records 200 gram vinyl reissue of the seminal Cowboy Junkies album, The Trinity Session. The Cowboy Junkies consists of three siblings – Margo Timmins on vocals, Michael Timmins on guitar and Peter Timmins on drums – and their longtime friend Alan Anton on bass

Recorded in the Holy Trinity Church in Toronto, Canada, the album was made in one night using one microphone and a DAT recorder. Who says great albums can't be made in a day?

The Trinity Session is a mix of blues and country covers and originals, but all the tracks on the album are given airy, slow-tempo treatments that allow them to slowly and deliberately unfold. This treatment is accentuated by Margo Timmins's extraordinary voice. Ethereal and cool, her voice fills an almost unimaginable space, especially on "Blue Moon Revisted (Song for Elvis)".

The other tracks that stand out on the album are the original "Misguided Angel" and the cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" (which includes the lost verse). "Sweet Jane" is definitely the linchpin that holds this album together, and as the band states - "The last piece to this very abstract puzzle was Sweet Jane. The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed embody what we feel rock music should be about - slightly out of step, intelligent, groove orientated and original. They have to be listed as one of the great rock bands ever and Sweet Jane, for better or worse, is one of their most recognized songs. It was and still is the backbone of cover bands all across America. It has been pitilessly slaughtered countless times on countless nights on countless stages around the world. We thought, 'lets take it and see if we can breathe new life into this tired old work horse'. We got our inspiration from The Velvets live album entitled 1969. To be honest it is one of our straighter covers, we didn't change it a whole lot. Originally we had tried to record it for the Whites album, but we never got the right feel. For this collection of songs we chose Sweet Jane as being 'our song - this is what we listened to growing up, this is where our musical tastes come from'".

The Cowboy Junkies recorded Trinity Revisited in 2007, joined by artists who were shaped by the original - Natalie Merchant, Ryan Adams and Vic Chestnut. I haven't torn the shrink wrap off that one yet, but it's probably nowhere near being as good as the original.