Max Richter - Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/31/max-richter-three-worlds-music-from-woolf-works/

Mark Eitzel - Hey Mr Ferryman - Album Review

Review for www.no more workhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/30/mark-eitzel-hey-mr-ferryman-album-review/

Interview with Mark Eitzel – Hey Mr Ferryman

Interview for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/27/interview-with-mark-eitzel-hey-mr-ferryman/

Akira Kosemura - Our Own Picture

Review for www.no more workhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/26/akira-kosemura-our-own-picture-review/

Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth

The third solo album from Stephen Malkmus came out in 2005, opening with the jarring squeaks of Pencil Rot.  Buried underneath annoying studio trickery is a half decent tune.  Not far into the album we get the vaguely irritating I've Hardly Been, not the ideal start!  Thankfully It Kills, is the kind of guitar heavy, relaxed tune Malkmus has made his own post-Pavement, with a little snatch of banjo and a hint at, of all things, Rod Stewart's Do You Think I'm Sexy thrown in.  The easy, lazy charm of Freeze The Saints works well, enhanced by some really excellent guitar work.

But the eight minute No More Shoes is the centrepiece.  Sounding pure seventies, the song is built on a rolling guitar riff and a 'do-do-ing' refrain which acts as a jumping off point for Malkmus to indulge in some awesome guitar work.  It's a powerful track and the best thing on the album.  After this, Mama is a bit of a throwaway, sounding like a cross between The Beatles' Ballad of John and Yoko and Creedence Clearwater Revival's Rollin' On A River.  And what follows isn't too inspiring.  Kindling for the Master aims for the same poise as Bowie's Golden Years, while other tracks such as Post Paint Boy and Baby C'mon would be fairly run of the mill only for Malkmus' guitar work.  So overall, not a standout effort within Stephen Malkmus' catalogue but rescued by some decent tunes and some above average guitar work.

Palace Brothers - There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You

This debut, released in 1993, was where it all started for Will Oldham.  It opens with its shortest and most jarring song Idle Hands Are The Devil's Plaything, featuring a very ropey vocal from Oldham over a spritely banjo and seemingly random percussion.  Though it's preferable to the six minute dirge that follows, Long Before.  I Tried To Stay Healthy For You sounds very close to the melody for Auld Lang Syne and sounds kind of bizarre.  The guitar and banjo The Cellar Song is a distinct improvement before the strange strum of (I Was Drunk at The) Pulpit.

The title track sounds more like a real band effort, but O Lord Are You In Need is the one song here which indicates where Oldham was planning to go in his Bonnie 'Prince' Billy persona, it's more relaxed and 'crafted' than anything else here.  Merida is a kind folky, backwoods blues and is one of the stronger tracks here, along with the slow, creepy Riding.  So, although there are some good, if a little basic songs here, it's not the ideal introduction to Will Oldham.

Uncle Tupelo - March 16-20, 1992

For Uncle Tupelo's third album, released in 1992 at the height of heavy grunge, the band kept largely to acoustic folk.  This collection of originals mixed with traditional American songs sounds almost timeless.  Early on, a grim reading of Coalminers rubs shoulders with Jeff Tweedy's jauntier Wait Up.  Jay Farrar's contributions are generally strong - the brief Criminals is an early highlight, a bitter strum of being "criminals looking for something to do", while Shaky Ground has echoes of REM (not surprising as Peter Buck produced).  Tweedy's no slouch here either, Black Eye lays the groundwork for Richmond Fontaine's more stripped down material.  By contrast, versions of Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down, Moonshiner and Atomic Power are a little too close to folk pastiche for comfort.  Although a whole album of this can get a bit repetitive, the original material here saves the day.  Towards the end, Fatal Wound is a gorgeous, laid back going-nowhere ballad with a fine steel guitar part.  Overall, the country feel to the album might seem off-putting at first but the quality of the songs grows on repeated listening.