Urban Folk music reviews

I'll admit it---I bought this CD for Michael Callen's and Cris Williamson's songs alone. But I was pleasantly surprised to find I like all of the music, in particular the selections by Bill McKinley, Ann Reed, The Flirtations, Janis Ian, and Marsha Malamet.

The music is heartfelt and literally feels true. Good voices, decent orchestration, and a feeling of strength throughout. The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that the tone is a little too much the same throughout, which may be what they were striving for, but I would have liked a couple more songs of wanton, raucous celebration.

One note: When Michael Callen died, a little bit of light went out of the world. His voice is hauntingly brilliant, and if I had to buy all his music one song per CD, I would. :-)

After reading some of the reviews here, I ordered this CD. I am very pleased with it. The songs are moving and inspiring. I had not heard the majority of the music or artists ever before and I listen to this CD daily now and have learned all of the songs. My favorites are Help is on the Way, John Wesley Oliver Jr, Listsen to My Heart and of course the song in the title, Love Worth Fighting For. I highly recommend this CD and look forward to any CD's this group creates in the future.

I was so surprised not to see a review for this cd - it is not only a great introduction to the many gay & lesbian singers but also a educational landmark in the people who have fought againt bigotry and ignorance. Stand out tracks for me are "Love Worth Fighting For" - Michael Callen, "Lay Your Burden Down" - Dan Martin, "Sit With Me" - Holly Near and "Jonathan Wesley Oliver Jr" - Lee Lessack. This is a not only a must for anyone coming to terms with their sexuality and looking for support and understanding but also for anyone looking for great lyrics, music and above all faith. I'm sure there should be Volume 2 in the making!

Robin's unique voice and jazzy homespun instrumental voicing creates a colorful world that most people will find beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking. Highly recommended.

There's a myth that rural life is simpler, sparer, more easily understood. "Robin Holcomb" is for people who know better. An excellent pianist who mixes classical with folk elements, Holcomb writes lyrics that work well as poetry. Yet, she combines simple words into staggeringly complex arrangements. If the line, "The light is only perfect for a very short time" makes you pause in thought, you'll love this album. Recommended If You Like: Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, John Prine

This is an album I come back to again and again, over years. The poetry of it is mesmerizing. All the pieces, every one of them; they all go together and they all build upon each other. And then there's the final breathtaking, heartstopping track. "Deliver me" shatters me every time I hear it, and is the reason why I hold this album in such safe, and sacred reserve. Holcomb's refrain--"the light / is only perfect / for a very, short time" aches with wisdom and longing, and speaks so poignantly of our day-to-day lives. I can only listen to this album occasionally, I hold it in such high regard. In her own inimitable way, Robin Holcomb has channeled a path for that ray of perfect, elusive, light. God bless her for that.

This compelation is quite good overall. It begins with an instrumental "prelude", segues into a new versoion of "Whaver It Takes" recorded by The Kry accompanied by "Columbune Blue" and the West Bowels Community Church Youth Choir (Casse's church). The song is based upon a poem that Cassie wrote just before her death incorporating Phil 3:10-11. The rest of the disc is a mix of good music all based around the theme of the album. It ends with Rebeccah St James's "I Believe In God" with an actial recorded quote from Cassie (a longer version of the home video footage on the beginning of the "This Is Your Time" music video). It reads: "Ok . . God is teaching me patience right now, and, and um ah also total dependancy upon him. I tend to depend on people a lot and um I'm not very patient as far as waiting for God's timing and for God to speak to me, so it's ben really frustrating, but it's really neat um seeing the results. I think that the way I'm advancing the kingdom is just by being a loyal friend and a good example to non believers and also Christians. Um, Just trying to not contradict myself and get rid of all hypocrcy, and um just to live for Christ."(April 18, 1999). Overall this is a great disc and the only reason that it does not get 5 stars is the fact that "This Is Your Time" was not included.

Before I bought this CD, I read the book "She said yes". Now after buying the CD it's even more moving and motivating. All the songs on here help convey the message of the book and it is very inspirational. I highly recommend that you purchase this CD.

It is just a really good CD. There's nice mix of slower stuff, pop, alternative, and folk. And it's for a really good cause, so it has an additionally powerful meaning when listening to it. I REALLY recommend it.

The Boy Done Good is the Saturday Boy grown up.

The (new?) songs on here are typically brilliant Bragg stuff, and I must say I enjoy the Smokey Gets In Your Ears remix an awful lot, even though I thought the album version was perfect. You might balk at Never Had No One Ever--cover the Smiths?! gasp!--but it'll grow on you. Hey, better him than some trendy twit looking for a hit single. William Bloke was so wonderful I wanted him to release something more immediately, and, um...he sort of did. Thanks Billy!

This album, Michelle's second major label album, is full of breezy beauty and sparkling moments. The atmosphere is airy, less intense than Short Sharp Shocked, and has a fuller sound. The production sounds a little 80s at times, but the songs remain some of her best melodies and cleverest like Everest wordplay (I think she wrote all the music for her first 3 albums at the same time).

Standouts:
God Is A Real Estate Developer ("angels dancin' 'round with pinheads");
On The Greener Side ("send me a dozen long-stemmed roses... I'll bend them into a crown of thorns and send it right back to you");
Silent Ways (everything);
The Cement Lament ("It was that kind of misting rain, it was that kind of night...");
Looks Like Mona Lisa (melody);
Streetcorner Ambassador ("Those patronizing liberals took the words out of your mouth!");
Must Be Luff ("I'll drink the whiskey, don' drink no water, yeah!");
Russian Roulette (the 'mystery song,' "I say Russian Roulette is just a hole in one").

This reissue includes a bunch of pretty polished demos of many of the album songs (usually Michelle and a fiddle accompanist) and live performances. One unreleased demo in particular, "Early Saturday Morning," is beautiful... perfect lazy morning song, strong enough for an album cut, and worth getting the CD for.

As music lovers, we all have certain styles or similarities that mark our musical tastes. This was illustrated for me recently when my friend Steve made me a mixed CD that was heavy on multi-part harmony, something I'm not sure Steve even realized when he was selecting favorites to include, but which makes sense as Steve himself is a bass in a local a cappella group called BlueLine. My wife, although she jokes that the only musical instrument she can play is the radio, tends to favor songs that feature a solo piano and even fell for my poor keyboard skills when we were courting. I personally love music with horns, possibly a result of my high school band days when I played both the baritone and trombone. While I like plenty of songs without a brass section, that sound will likely make me pay closer attention to it.

Not every song on Michelle Shocked's Captain Swing has horns, but those that do are my favorite moments on this album and also responsible for making this my favorite Shocked album, although I also quite like Short Sharp Shocked and Arkansas Traveler. The inclusion of a brass section also underscores how much of a metamorphoses Shocked went through on her first three albums, from the recorded-on-a-Walkman (and basically released without her permission) The Texas Campfire Tapes to this multitrack, multi-instrument album. That first album, where one can even sometimes hear crickets in the background, was just Shocked's voice and her guitar, recorded live during the Kerrville Folk Festival. Her second album didn't add much in the way of instruments, but Short Sharp Shocked was made in a studio with multiple takes that smoothed out imperfections while maintaining her intimate style. For Captain Swing, the pendulum had swung all the way over into lush production although not so much that it overshadows Shocked's clever songwriting, but does transform her at least somewhat from the doyenne of the piney woods past the "skateboarding punk rocker" into a folky k.d. lang-inspired torch singer.

The theme is swing and Shocked is catholic in how she applies it to her songs. She transforms her earlier composition, "(Don't You Mess With) My Little Sister," into a hard-rocking set piece of Bakersfield that wouldn't be out of place on a Dwight Yoakam album. "It Must Be Luff" comes straight out of a dance hall of Basin Street, New Orleans with its combination of tuba bass rhythym, slightly out-of-tune jangly piano, and slide-and-muted trombone. Shocked anticipated the big band revival with "God is a Real Estate Developer," "Too Little Too Late" and "Sleep Keeps Me Awake," while "On the Greener Side" and "Silent Ways" highlight the fast and slow moods of Texas swing. The cool later jazz stylings that combined Glenn Miller with Duke Ellington can be found in "The Cement Lament," with some of the best clarinets you'll ever hear in a rock song; "Streetcorner Ambassador" even makes a play for a modified Miles Davis BeBop groove with its muted trumpet solo and cool jazz rhythm. Even "Looks Like Mona Lisa," where the horns are replaced by a plaintive string part, has at its core a swing bass rhythm part.

The subject of the songs match her earlier albums, though: concerns about the homeless and the inner city, memories of growing up in small towns, and satirical takes on life. But more than anything, these songs have a sense of fun to them that was sometimes missing in those first two albums. They are fast and bouncy and funny at times, sometimes so much that you miss the serious message of some of the lyrics. Shocked duplicated some of this chemistry in her next album, Arkansas Traveller, although the musical theme there was less interesting to me as it was based on bluegrass instead of swing.

Being a long time fan of John Wesley Harding, the British folk/pop performer, I was quite pleased with this release. The album contains cuts with John playing alone on his acoustic guitar and cuts of John backed by a band. There is some repeat from other JWH's albums, but quite a lot of new stuff, and if you don't have any other of JWH's albums, this is a great place to start. "Build Me a Coffin" is very melodic. "The Person You Are" is a heartfelt, sad little number. "Celestial Shuttle" is both a catchy and poignant song that satirizes pop religion. "Talking Return of the Great Folk Scare Blues" is witty and revealing,a personal favorite. The album ends on a wonderfully gloomy note with "Election Night." Overall this is a smart, melodic folk album.

I own 4 of JWH cd's ( Here Comes the Groom, The Name Above the Title, Why We Fight, and Dynablob) and this by far is my favorite. It is a sample of what he does best. If you have seem him live without a band and enjoyed it - this is the Cd for you. Among the songs are acoustic versions of "The Devi in Me" and "The Person You Are", plus the 8 minute anthem (which he won't play live) "The Celestial Shuttle,and "Build Me a Coffin" . No Harding collection would be complete without it.

"John the Revelator" sung by Lee Roy Parnell with the Fairfield Four could be the only song on this C.D. and I'd still buy it. It's really that stirring. There are beautiful versions of "Morning Has Broken" and "People Get Ready" on here as well. My only complaint.... why in the world was Ashley Cleveland not given a lead vocal on this project instead of just background on "What A Friend We Have In Jesus"? That's the only thing keeping me from rating this C.D. 5 stars.

GREAT GOSPEL MUSIC FROM THE BEST COUNTRY ARTISTS OF 1997. IF YOU ENJOY GOSPEL MUSIC AT ALL GET THIS DELIGHTFUL TREATISE TODAY!

This album is worth pickin' up. They've got a song on here with Patti Labelle called "Sacred Pledge" that's real good. The song "Angel" by Aretha Franklin with K-CI and JoJo is tight too. This album also has Michael W. Smith, Mary J. Blige, Judy Collins, Avant, Kandice Love, George Benson, and a cool song by Gerald Levert called "I'm Gonna Be OK. The album is benefiting Aids in Africa, so it's for a good cause too. I wish more labels would put out albums like this. Definetly go get this album cause it's a keeper!

This CD is incredible - from Britney Spears, Patti Labelle and Kandice Love to Destiny's Child.! John Lennon, Paul Simon & Yoko Ono to Avant, Billy Gilman and Judy Collins. This is the most best cd out this year!

(...)

I have this album on the orginal cassette tape, and enjoy it immensely. I can recall the days of hearing Ellis Paul sing these songs live at Passim's in Harvard Square and around the New England coffee houses and thinking what a talented writer and great singer. After 10 years, I picked his voice off the soundtrack of Me, Myself & Irene. I am very pleased to find on the Amazon website that Ellis Paul has written more albums over the years. Time to start collecting!

This is my least favorite of Lucinda Williams' albums. "Essence" and "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" and even her latest release (not even sure if it's been released, but I have heard some tracks - she's in love during this record, gossip news has it) share a common thread of story-telling, sexiness and evocation not found in World Without Tears, which is hard, rockin' and disjointed.

I find the rawness and roughness to be forced and contrary to Lucinda's "persona" as a southern rocker with tales to tell. It may be that this expression just doesn't appeal to me. It's not a bad album: I listen to it now and then, but as a Lucinda Williams' album, it's not up to par with her stellar previous releases. It's less sexy, less engaging, and event the painful songs aren't solemn in a personal way. Sometimes, painful can be positively effective, but in this scratchy case, I am turned off.

I am a true Lucinda-Lover, and find all of her other recordings much more fulfilling than this.

Lucinda just keeps getting more raw and better. She definitely is breaking new ground here, and I think it's her best work to date.

Just finished my third listening of this album, and it is fantastic. Lucinda's lyrics are more powerful and emotional than ever. Musically, she continues her push into new realms, and some songs can initially be uncomfortable - but really start to rock with additional listenings. For those looking for a rerun of Car Wheels or Essence - you won't find it here. But then Lucinda Williams fans aren't looking for comfortable, are they? "Those Three Days" and "Ventura" are absolute classics!