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Coming soon to a stereo or iPod near you:
Carla Bruni
Quelqu'un m'a dit
(V2 Records)
I fell in love with this CD by Carla Bruni before I knew who she was. We'll get to that part in a bit, but first let's talk about the music. Quelqu'un m'a dit is a beautiful, folky collection of French songs a la Joni Mitchell - pure and subtle vocals and melodies that lingered with me long after, which is all the more remarkable when you consider that the songs aren't in English and I don't speak French. This is a true vibe listen - while you're cooking dinner, looking to relax, or spending some quality time with the one you love.
So the CD had already become a big favorite of mine when I realized that this is the Carla Bruni - European supermodel, jet-setter, heiress... a beautiful woman with links to Jagger, Clapton and yes, the Donald, too.
There's no word of an American tour yet, but let's enjoy this evocative CD in the meantime. If you're a member of the WFUV CD of the Month Club, you'll be receiving it as the February selection. If you'd like to sign up for the CD of the Month, it's easy to do at wfuv.org. [Rita Houston - Feb 05]
Mary Gauthier
Mercy Now
(Lost Highway Records)
[Release date 2/15]
Mary Gauthier (pronounced "Go-Shay") first caught my ear on a workshop stage at the 2000 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, performing several understated but powerful John Prine-influenced songs. I discovered that her dark lyrics derived from her own life experience - growing up in Louisiana, stealing her parents' car and leaving home at 15, living on the street, celebrating her 16th birthday in a Baton Rouge detox and her 18th birthday in a Kansas jail. Along the way, she moved to Boston, opened a successful Cajun restaurant (with the inspired name Dixie Kitchen), and found salvation in music. After releasing three albums (two produced by Crit Harmon, one by Gurf Morlix), she calculated that career ambitions required a move to Nashville, a roll of the dice that paid off with new management, a major label record deal, and a brand new CD, her best yet.
Mercy Now, which Mary calls "a break up album," begins with the decidedly downbeat "Falling Out of Love." But the title track, which comes up next, offers a quietly hopeful refrain, "Everybody needs a little mercy now," applied at first to her father and brother, then her church, country, and every living thing. She includes a new version of "I Drink," a brutally honest song from her second album, and a cover of Harlan Howard's unreleased "Just Say She's A Rhymer," which fits in with the breakup theme.
Working once again with Austin-based Gurf Morlix, she also breaks new songwriting ground with a couple of longer, uptempo songs - "Prayer Without Words" (influenced by Blood on the Tracks-era Dylan) and "Wheel Inside the Wheel" (which uses a New Orleans-style funeral parade as a tribute to the late Dave Carter). After a couple of melancholy gems, "Empty Spaces" and "Drop in the Bucket," the album closes with a biting rocker, "If It Ain't the Wind, It's the Rain," that would make Lucinda Williams proud.
For a few years, Mary Gauthier has been a darling of the critics. Now she seems poised for the popular recognition she deserves. You can say you heard her first on WFUV (and you can hear her on City Folk Sunday Breakfast on February 20th). [John Platt - Feb 05]
Brian Wilson
Smile
(Nonesuch)
The greatest album never released is finally being heard... sort of. After speculating for 37 years what the great lost Beach Boys album would have sounded like, we now get an idea of what almost was. Brian Wilson's version of Smile is a completed, 21st century view of the aborted, unreleased classic. Listening today, we hear what a revelation it would have been. Despite being a remarkable work - a true pop symphony - I still wonder what it would have sounded like with Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al and Bruce singing. [Darren DeVivo - Oct 04]
Tom Waits
Real Gone
(Epitaph)
Tom Waits' new album Real Gone in a hundred words: Stark. Thick. Scratchy. Crackly. Rusty. Worn. Warm. Cold. Gray. Somber. Angry. Raw. Bluesy. Downtrodden. Spirited. Reflective. Suspicious. Comforting. Disturbing. Telling. Fierce. Sweet. Sorrow. Pride. Shame. Muted. Groveled. Graveled. Dry. Rainy. Windy. Dirty. Muddy. Bloody. Cut. Hurt. Dead. And. Lovely. Dim. Dusky. Leaky. Sharp. Dull. Clang. Boom. Steam. Hammer. Loops. Bells. Bass. No. Piano. Forward. Backward. Sideways. Behind. Hard. Wise. Familiar. New. Forever. Never. Hoarse. Horse. Faced. Ethel. Electric. Sugar. Gold. Low. Bare. Free. Trapped. Trampled. Rambled. Brambles. Roses. Weeds. Branches. Blossoms. Sin. Retribution. Leaving. Returning. Wrecked. Repaired. Unmade. Unchanged. Unfazed. Sun. Moon. Stars. Sky. Night. Day. Heaven. Hell. Real. Gone. [Russ Borris - Oct 04]
Ray LaMontagne
Trouble
(RCA Records)
You'll hear hints of Van Morrison, Otis Redding and Joe Cocker in his voice, and traces of "The Weight," "Feeling Alright," and "Into the Mystic" in his songs - yet this is the debut album of a total newcomer. Virtually no one knows who he is (yet), but somehow these songs sound like classics. How does a tune become a classic? Surely it's not only commercial success. Can a song be a classic if no one ever hears it? Many classic tunes come from the fertile late 60's/early 70's period. But Ray LaMontagne was just a kid back then. So how does a guy raised in an ever-wandering family, currently living a life "off the grid" in the woods of New England, create one of this year's classic albums? Well, that may remain a mystery, but what's clear is that this CD, Trouble, marks the arrival of a serious new artist, with something to say that will remind you in a fresh new way of many things you have loved before. [Rita Houston - Oct 04]
Paul Weller
Studio 150
(V2 Records)
Named for the Amsterdam studio where it was recorded, the new album from Paul Weller is a collection of covers and a must-have for all. The songs run from folk classics like "Early Morning Rain" (Gordon Lightfoot), to soul obscurities like "The Bottle" (Gil Scott Heron), to pop cheese like "Close to You" (The Carpenters) all rendered smoothly, and often dramatically reworked. Weller's soulful voice can pull off just about anything, and this CD plays great from start to finish. To fans like me Weller is a rock god, but like many of the great ones, he's mostly underappreciated. Hopefully that'll change with this new one. [Rita Houston - Sept. 2004]
The Thrills
Let's Bottle Bohemia
(Virgin Records)
Catchy, happy, harmony-rich tunes are what The Thrills became known for with their impressive debut last year. Their new one, Let's Bottle Bohemia, furthers that sound with some added dynamics that I'm finding very appealing. Lyrically, the songs are deeper, and at times darker - check out "Not For All the Love in the World" and "Faded Beauty Queen." Which is not to say that the album is a bummer - quite the contrary. Better stated, Thrills keyboard player Padric described it to me like this recently: "If So Much for the City is best enjoyed on a sunny day with a beer, have a glass of whiskey late at night with Let's Bottle Bohemia." I agree. [Rita Houston - Sept. 2004]
Eliza Gilkyson
Land of Milk and Honey
(Red House Records)
This is one of the underrated gems of 2004. It's full of mature, compassionate songs that capture the zeitgeist of the moment from "Highway 9" (about Iraq), to "Tender Mercies" (about the mother of a suicide bomber) to "Peace Call" - an unrecorded Woody Guthrie anthem, where she's joined by Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Iris DeMent. The daughter of songwriter Terry Gilkyson ("Greenfields," "Yellow Bird," etc.), Eliza is a member of the Austin Music Hall of Fame, but she's hardly a household name in the Northeast. Now, in her 50's, she's working to change that. She was a standout at the Falcon Ridge and Philadelphia folk festivals, and she'll be at the Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair on Oct. 1; check her out. [John Platt - Sept. 2004]
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