Kate McDonnell [Where The Mangoes Are]

Now here's something really nice, a disc that i bought maybe a year ago, from Amazon, brand new with cellophane for something like £2, which includes postage and packing, i search through cheap discs, and if i find something which catches my eye, i listen to the samples, this one sounded good enough, so i bought it, for £25 i can easily acquire ten discs, so a year ago i gave it its first listen, and i felt it was really quite ordinary, but what a difference a year gives, i played this today, and now it sounds fantastic, her voice sounds like Beth Nielsen Chapman, when she sings harder and her voice breaks she sounds like Joan Baez, nearly the whole album are Kate McDonnell originals, some of them wouldn't be out of place on a Joni Mitchell album, she's a great Folk Singer-Songwriter new find.

Kate McDonnell is American, not well known, she brought this album out in 2005, the front cover picture [by Michael Nakao] shows a close up of her face, her hair in her eyes, along with the orange lettering, i think this is a lovely portrait, better than conventional straight on shots.

Well on this listen i now like a whole load of tracks, 1, 4-5 & 8-11, that's over half the album!, and here's a short synopsis of each, 
1 Tumbleweed [4:10] - In essence a Soft Rock song, very electric, very lyrical, though unlike most of the tracks on the album, nice organ swirls on the instrumental bridge [3:01+], very sparse lyrics, almost just rhyming words only, best lyric 'greasy spoon, coffee soon'.
4 Mercy [4:15] - A certain military rhythm to the brushes on the drums, at times she can really cry, the chorus is just one word 'mercy', the track slowly builds up and up to a nice high, best lyric 'how can i love the guy next door, i don't even know his name'.
5 5:05 [5:11] - McDonnell has this ability to weave short guitar themes, which serves as a great motif throughout the whole song, about a boat on the ocean, there's a certain feel to the song which reminds me of Joni Mitchel's Hejira album, best lyric 'i'm inches from the water, but miles from the shore'.
8 Lemon Marmalade [5:55] - This is my favourite track on the album, some really good acoustic guitar work here, there's a fantastic phrase on the guitar running throughout the whole album, giving it a real Bluesy feel, the track is nearly six minutes long, giving it real time to weave its magic, it's guitar really casts its spell over a nice length, the lyrics give the album its title, best lyric 'the sun will stick to everything, like lemon marmalade'.
9 Luis [3:05] - A clever song, about a daughter who died, and the need to bury her, i guess the parents are separated, yet brought together in the death of their child, some really good mandolin work [Scott Petito], i like the way it ends fairly abruptly, best lyric 'now she's just skin and bones, it's time for her to go on home'.
10 Mayday [4:43] - I listened to this album on random, and this was the first track i listened to, a strong Soft Rock feel to it, best lyric 'now i look back on that January, and how we melted the winter freeze'.
11 Goodbye Song [4:30] - A Steve Earle song, originally called just 'Goodbye', it has a certain TexMex feel to it, makes me want to delve into Steve Earle some more, a sad song of goodbye and regret, perfectly vibed by a superb fiddle [Mindy Jostyn], best lyric 'most November's i break down and cry, but i can't remember if we said goodbye'. 

Jess Klein [Bound To Love]

Now here's something worth shouting about, i love Singer / Songwriter albums, especially one that truly gets on the inner vibe of something, Jess Klein has this ability to spin nice little 'slices of life', i'm always on the lookout for new Artists, i search Ebay and Amazon constantly, there's tricks on certain websites, 'search for similar Artists', or 'search for similar albums', and then give each disc a sample / listen, in the old days you had to take a risk and buy an album to discover new music, now it's so much easier, Jess Klein is one of my successes, and yet this is still a new album for me, still getting to know her, i think i'll get her album 'City Garden' next.

Jess Klein is American, she's 40 this year, she has a back catalogue of roughly ten albums, this one came out in 2009, i bought it because it has one of the most marvellous front covers [by Karen Macmillan], with Klein standing in the doorway, overlooking her porch, there's the most incredible light in the whole picture, this is nearly impossible to photograph, either the thing ends up a complete silhouette, or the light from outside washes out the whole picture, to capture the wallpaper is a near miracle, and it's such an incredible pose too, i love everything about it, except that it's a digipak.

Well this is only the second time i've listened to this album, but already i'm loving it, the tracks i was impressed with were 1-7, 9 & 11-12, ok so that's virtually all of them, the best two tracks of all were 6 & 7, and i'd like to talk about each of these here,
6 Before I Go [3:47] - The first time i didn't rate this song, but it has this certain low warbling organ accompaniment which i love, a lovely strumming guitar into by Klein [0:00-0:20], there's a certain stammer in Klein's voice, the song is so strong, and the use of repetition substantiates so many things, she sounds like Lucinda Williams here, a happy and great to be alive song, best lyric 'i've been sleeping for some hours, just woke up and you were there'.
7 Fool [4:36] - The song which i guess has been my favourite, though maybe now it's upstaged by 'Before I Go', yes it's got quite a country twang to it, especially in the electric guitar, a song about the 'sorry fools' that put their faith in trying to win things by gambling money, by concludes with the singer becoming a 'fool' by gambling on a possible lover, Klein has a strong yet fragile voice, there's a similarity to Emmylou Harris, it's a gorgeous rambling song, her voice can nicely break at the best moments, for instance 'struck' [1:06], the chorus is strong, then afterwards in the second verse Slaid Cleaves comes in, i guess it's a duet, best lyric 'i placed my bets on the life i'd never seen'.

Bruce Springsteen [The Essential Bruce Springsteen]

This is a two disc compilation set, entitled 'Essential', whatever that means, it's a thirty song collection that's actually compiled by the Boss himself, so i guess no arguing over what's included, and left out!, as the Boss must know best, basically he chooses a couple of tracks from each of his back catalogue, if you want to explore further, then of course you can buy the individual albums, so i guess with Brucie, some of his output is hit, and others are a bit of miss, but this is a nice way to have an easy slimline set of songs that explains the Bruce Springsteen story from 1972-2003, so yes i guess it's already a decade outdated!, but it still works, makes me want to explore him some more.

Bruce Springsteen is American, he's now 65, this compilation came out in 2003, now the front cover isn't great, a really out of focus shot of Springsteen [by Mary Alfieri], but i like the lettering on the top, the back inlay photograph is better, showing Springsteen in a hall / stadium, guitar in hand, empty chairs, and a wonderful sparkling light from above, dazzling the seats of the chairs, i like the track listing also, orange and black, easy to see and read.

On this listen i like tracks 4, 12, 14, 18-20, 23, 25-26 & 29-30, with tracks 14, 19-20 & 25 the very best of all, and it's these four tracks i would like to speak of here,
14 Nebraska - From the album of the same name, there's a smoky hiss of a track, gently strummed guitar, and atmospheric reverb harmonica intro [0:00-0:30], a lazy couldn't care less vocal delivery, roughly a song about a Bonnie & Clyde partnership that killed ten innocent people, during the second half of the song, quiet twinkling glockenspiel starts up [2:38+] when he's about to be executed, which is really quite affecting, the best lyric 'into that great void my soul'd be hurled', it ends with that with Springsteen's harmonic playing.
19 Tunnel Of Love - Also from the album of the same name, a gentle Rock song, likening a relationship to the dangers of a tunnel of love at a fairground, best lyric 'you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above'.
20 Brilliant Disguise - Probably the best track from the Tunnel Of Love album, a great beat and rhythm, with woodblock hits, Springsteen has such a strong purposeful voice, the longer the song continues, the stronger the rhythm and feel of the song gets, there's instruments / complexity slightly added as it goes, which creates a great feel of it getting better and better, best lyric 'God have mercy on the man, who doubts what he's sure of '.
25 The Ghost Of Tom Joad - From the album of the same name, though certainly not the best track on the album by far, similar in a way to Nebraska, a short harmonica solo, Springsteen singing quiet in a gruff voice, about the homeless and forgotten, people sleeping rough and hungry, the last verse references the book The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck, where the protagonist Tom Joad is saying goodbye to his Mother, the song is punctuated by Springsteen's harmonica, and like Nebraska it outro's with the same, best lyric 'he pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag'.

Bruce Springsteen [The Ghost Of Tom Joad] 

I'm not a great fan of Springsteen's 'anthems' [Born In The USA etc], but his more acoustic output really gets me, my favourite album of his is 'Tunnel Of Love', he really gets under your skin, and finds the detail and essence of life in his observations, on first listen i found this just too laid back, in places Springsteen almost ends up talking with a slight guitar twang in the background, almost like a book of poems, but once you notice these very underestimated lyrical tunes, you realise what an incredible Singer / Songwriter Springsteen really is, he has that ability to transport you away to a time and place of his choosing, you truly fall into his world, some of these songs are gut-wrenching, on this hearing this album truly clicked, before i used to like a few of the songs, now i find almost all of them precious gems, songs of unemployment, crime, illegal immigrants, vagrancy, loss, revenge etc, this could well prove to eventually be my favourite Springsteen album in time.

Bruce Springsteen is American, now 63 years old, he recorded this disc in 1995, the front cover picture is crap, well maybe that's a bit severe, it certainly isn't great, but its low key-ness actually goes along with the music.

So many of these tracks were just revelatory today, i have never heard this album so good, it gets better and better on every hearing, my favourite three tracks are 5-6 & 11, and here's a synopsis of all three,
5 Sinaloa Cowboys - My absolute favourite of all, the ending is so powerful and strong, it makes you want to weep, and i catch myself every time, it ends 'there in the dirt he dug up ten thousand dollars, all that they'd saved, kissed his brother's lips and placed him in his grave', now that's so gripping, earlier their Father had warned them 'My sons, one thing you will learn, for everything the north gives, it exacts a price in return', and here his maxim comes true, the hole in the ground of buried treasure, for one of them doubled as his grave, it gives and takes in return, the imagery is fantastic, the music is just Springsteen and his acoustic guitar, a certain Mexican sounding melody, it just ambles along, Springsteen's voice cracks at times, there's a very subtle use of emphasis, try 'ah but if you slipped', it's poetic storytelling at its best.
6 The Line - A touching yet sad tale of lost love, a girl that he met, and then lost, and then spent his life trying to find her, again a gentle strumming song, there's a lovely crux near the end, where he stands between Bobby Ramirez [loyalty], and Louisa [love], and the music almost hangs in mid air at the lyrics 'I felt myself moving', as his hand rests on his gun, again a great moment where Springsteen can say in a few words what others would spend pages to say.
11 Galveston Bay - A surprise addition, i liked this a lot, very very sparse, just really a slight twang from Springsteen's guitar, just very much his raw voice, it's the nearest you'll get to Bruce just reciting a poem, and it's his ability to quote nonchalant insignificance like 'In the early darkness, Billy rose up, went into the kitchen for a drink of water', and yet to make it so profound, as if the whole song hangs on a moment of rare nothing, it's a doodling guitar album with the mutterings of a prophet.

This listening inspired me to buy Springsteen's earlier sparse album 'Nebraska', i'm sure it's going to be just as good.

Lucinda Williams [Car Wheels On A Gravel Road] 

One of my most favourite Female Singer / Songwriter discs, it's hard to pigeon-hole her, she started out quite Bluesy, i suppose delved into Country somewhat, but i guess can be called Americana, she certainly has a way with words, especially on the title track, she isn't bothered if things don't rhyme, and if her words are a bit clumsy with the music, there's real feeling behind the words, some of the tracks towards the end sound a bit filler, but there are gems aplenty, this is her very best disc in my opinion, already a yearly 'regular' in my Blog [29th July 2011 & 26th March 2010].

Lucinda Williams is american, she's now 59, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is her fifth album, it came out in 1998, the front cover photograph [by Birney Imes] is of some small wooden house down a dirt road, i saw stuff like this when i was in the boonies in Maine, a load of timber just knocked together on a huge piece of land, and in this shot Christmas lights up outside [though some people liked to put coloured lights up all year round, and were nothing to do with Christmas], i like the road which naturally leads the eye to the house, and the lettering is slanted, very nice.

The great tracks were 1-3, 7 & 9, with 3 & 9 the best of all, track 9 'Metal Firecracker' is superb, i heard that a metal firecracker is a tour bus, even though in the song it talks about being 'your biker', so i assumed it was about a motorbike, though i conclude the opening words 'Once we rode together in a metal firecracker', rather than 'on' means it's some four wheeled vehicle, i think also 'rode' rather than 'drove' put me on the wrong track, a really upbeat rhythm to it, the crack on a drumstick and we're away, the opening lead guitar has a lovely twangy sound [0:01-0:15], Williams vocals are magnificent, there's a real Country backwoods feel to it, she gets strong and passionate in the right places, halfway through the first verse 'Once i was in your blood, and you were obsessed with me', love the lyrics, and it's a song about the madness of infatuation, and 'secrets', the second verse starts 'Once you held me so tight, i thought i'd lose my mind', the emphasis on 'lose' is crazy, i love that, the chorus is great, Gurf Morlix comes in on harmony backing, makes the chorus stronger melodically than the verses, and the twang of his guitar is really expressive here, one of the very best tracks on the album.

Here's Lucinda Williams singing 'Metal Firecracker' on YouTube.