Friday, June 18, 2010

Country Music Pride

Country Music Pride

The Higgins – Dreamers Like Us

Posted: 18 Jun 2010 02:48 PM PDT

Talented trio of John, Eileen and Kathleen Higgins offer a pleasing array of new material on Dreamers Like Us, released June 8, 2010 on Open Road Recordings. The Higgins have teamed up with some very skilled writers on this album, including Liz Rose, who wrote "White Horse" by Taylor Swift, and cowrote Swift's cleverly-phrased fan favorite, "You Belong With Me." The Higgins also do some writing with fellow Canadians Deric Ruttan, a great songwriter, and Steven Lee Olsen, whose catchy new single "Make Hay While the Sun Shines" is enjoying good airplay on Canadian country radio.

Paul Shatto and Kathleen Higgins do a fairly nice job of production, favoring toward an easy listening sound on many of the songs that is much in line with most of today's country music. They manage stay away from being overtly heavy-handed in production choices on most tracks. The background answering machine-style echo on "Carry Me Away." ("talkin'!") crosses the line slightly into silliness – but then again having fun doesn't downplay the band's talent, and Steven Lee Olsen, who cowrote "Carry Me Away," certainly knows how to write a hit. Dreamers Like Us does fall short on adolescent "Shania Twain meets Taylor Swift" angry chick songs like "All Cried Out" and "Burn You Back." Still it manages to retain its appeal through the fun atmosphere of the album and vocal harmonies for which the group is well-known.

The decision to keep the album short, at eight tracks, seems a good one, particularly given the recent success of the six pak format used on Blake Shelton's latest album, short albums seem to be the wave of the future. It also helps that the cohesive harmonies and skill of the band show through in most songs.

"Yours," written by Pam Rose, Liz Rose and Kathleen Higgins, is the standout, highlight track of the album. It reaches the level of Miranda Lambert, with a compelling delivery sure to catch some notice. It is made all the more interesting with the addition of John's well-blended background vocals and tightly-woven production.

In terms of influences Dreamers Like Us is interesting to look into. Dixie Chicks influences definitely show strong on catchy and single-worthy tunes like "Carry Me Away," and "I Ride Alone." Although the team ethos of the band is clearly an important part of their appeal and outlook, Kathleen Higgins in particular emerges as the songwriter par excellence of the group, with credits on seven of the eight tracks, and her Lambert-esque vocals are inspiring as well. The ideas of most of the songs are northing particularly new lyrically, although they bring a natural, personal-reflection, storytelling ease that is sometimes lacking in hook-heavy contemporary country music.

The band does slow tempo melancholy pieces well. "Where Does the Time Go," is an idea done to melancholy effect by Charlie Major back in the 1990s in a similar way. However, here the lilting female vocals bring the idea a more reassuring lullaby-like quality that seems ultimately more redemptive than the tune by Major. As Amy Blizzard noted insightfully in her review of Dreamers Like Us, the album also channels a sound reminiscent of pop-rock group Sixpence None the Richer, whose hit "Kiss Me" brought the band into the spotlight of the American pop music scene in 1998.

With “Dreamers Like Us” as the first single, this album is sure to live up to the expectations of the Higgins’ fans and offers more of what’s made the trio so well-liked from the start. Made memorable by the lilting harmonies of such beautiful songs as "Yours," Dreamers Like Us is the kind of dream you want to be in.

Tunng …And Then We Saw Land

Posted: 18 Jun 2010 02:40 PM PDT

I have no valid reasoning behind the formation of the following opinion:

This album would be really good to listen while relaxing in a park with your legs kicking in the air as you search Craigslist's missed connections for the person you lost your virginity to. Maybe it was 10 years ago. Maybe it was last month, last night, or maybe it hasn't even happened yet.

Maybe it was in Paris. Maybe it was in Topeka. Maybe it was in Myrtle Beach during bike week. No matter. You have hope. And I predict at the 2:54 mark of Don't Look Down or Back you'll find what you were searching for.

You flip from your stomach to your back. Blocking the glare from the sun you lower the screen of your laptop close to your face, and then back up shaking your head. You repeat these motions until you realize it couldn't have been you. You don't have brown hair.

There's still hope though. By the end of this album you begin to take stock—your in a park on a beautiful day with your computer and you accept the fact that no one would ever want to reconnect with a person they had sex with who would bring a computer to a park on a beautiful day to search missed connections for the person with whom they lost their virginity.

Jack Rose with D Charles Speer & the Helix “Ragged and Right” Thrill Jockey

Posted: 18 Jun 2010 02:14 PM PDT

In the spring of 2008, post-Takoma, American primitive guitarist Jack Rose set off on a tour with D Charles Speer and the Helix.  Along the way, they listened to a lot of Three Track Shack era Link Wray – especially the songs "Scorpio Woman" and his version of "In the Pines."  Rose was so excited about the music, he decided to get some electricity in his life again, and invited Speer & the Helix to join him in the studio.

It's interesting because, if you know all of the components (Rose, Speer, that era of Link Wray), you could probably imagine what it sounds like – which is not meant as a slight in any way.  For Rose fans, it's especially interesting to hear "Linden Avenue Stomp" filled out with a full band that includes, drums, steel guitar, and piano.  It provides a big wall of sound that is very different than the original.  Actually, there's often so much going on in terms of instrumentation on this album that it takes quite a few listens to really appreciate.  “Linden Avenue Stomp” is also a welcomed pick-up in tempo from the opener, a cover of Vernon Wray's "Prison Song."  (Vernon Wray is Link's brother.)  Like it sounds, it's a tale of wrong choices delivered in an especially doomy kind of country – thanks to the low voice of Speer and the slow tempo.  It's an intriguing song, that has a great build – starting with a lone piano, then adding guitar, followed by steel guitar, with the vocal and drum kicking in together.

There's also a great cover of Merle Haggard's "The Longer You Wait," from Hag's second long player.  I can't say enough about the instrumentation – and not just Jack Rose's guitar.  There's also just a nice energy to the songs, which has to be in part due to the all live, no overdub approach of the recording process.  It may also be in part to receiving some inspiration from a bottle of Buffalo Trace during the session – perhaps most obviously in the opening seconds of the final cut – "In the Pines," a fun, rollicking take that is, not surprisingly, similar to Link Wray's version.

Fans of any of the three main ingredients will no doubt find a lot to like here.  Because Rose died last December, some may wonder if this is a worthy release or just some unreleased material that should've remained that way.  It's definitely worthy, and it's a shame we'll never hear what a full album could have sounded like.
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