Riverhead

Goldenhorse - Riverhead (2002) 

****

Nominated by: KS

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Maybe Tomorrow

Goldenhorse are new to me. I realise they are quite popular but it slipped past my radar in 2002.

I must confess, I wasn't too fussed the first time I heard Riverhead. I struggled to differentiate the songs and the female voice was cool, but she was maybe a bit too cool? I'd had a hard day and the album didn't suit my mood.

Subsequent listens though - and I get it. 

Actually, I grew to love it. This was a slow burn. That first listen in my car on the commute homeward did it a disservice.

Listening at home, in the evening after a long day at the brick factory, was a way better experience.

I'm glad I persevered. The vocalist - Kristen Morrell (I did some research) is terrific. Her style shapeshifts a lot - she seems to adopt a slightly different style in service of each song.

Highlights popped up after the third listen with regularity. I think I like her singing on Maybe Tomorrow best, and the noisier guitar stylings of Spice Islands really appealed.

Riverhead, the song, is another highlight - it develops really well, and the male/female interplay works. 

One slight negative is that side one is (much?) stronger than side two. Maintaining quality over a whole album is tricky. I also don't quite know what to make of Baby's Been Bad - the dip into a kiwi version of ska is a tad off putting - a good B-side I would have thought.

Still, those are just slight niggles. They get back on track with the playful American Wife and the last track is a nice change of pace. It has a darker, quieter mood which is needed by this point with some lovely folky guitar and harmonies which develops into some heavy electric guitar - I'm a sucker for this type of song!

Champion selection Mr Simms. I'm actually going to look for a copy of this one! That's high praise - it's only the third such purchase (after The Chills - which you bought for me - smiley face, and The Waterboys. I have circled back to that album a lot GK.

All my lonesome

Caamp - Lavender Girl (2022) *** 

Nominated by: GK

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Apple Tree Blues

By now, in 2023, there is a danger that Americana tropes have evolved towards cliché.

The hushed, down-home vocals, the warm acoustic based instruments (a touch of banjo - nice), the gentle pace (no frenetic bluegrass style hoedown hootenannies on show), and folksy lyrical material (apple trees, hiding in the cotton, you'll bring your snowshoes, looking cute in the garden). In the increasingly overcrowded Americana world, all land just short of country if you squint your eyes.

The good news is that Caamp skirt around the danger but don't succumb (well maybe at times they do - Fever frinstance).

I enjoyed Caamp - it's pretty innoculous stuff so it would be churlish to do otherwise. But (sorry - there's a but), it felt like something was missing. Grit.

Each time the album finished on Spotify it moved onto other Americana acts and I realized that what Caamp really needed was a female vocalist as a foil for the males. I really like Ocie Elliot with their duo approach and feel that Caamp would benefit from the variety and textures thrown up by that male/female duality. Just an idea.

It's not too surprising that GK likes this easy on the ear material. Some of the tracks reminded me of solo Mark Knopfler, and the singing style is also of the same bent.  

I get why he likes to mostly listen to this kind of music these days. I guess, that's why radio's stratified genre format was created - to cater to what individual people like.  

All up - an easy on the ear, lopping kind of soundtrack for some of my commute this week. 

My feathers arrived at my destinations unruffled. Thanks Biggie Gee

Hello Miss Lonesome

Marlon Williams - Marlon Williams (2015) ****

Nominated by: K Simms esq.

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Hello Miss Lonesome

Marlon William's solo debut begins with a hiss and roar with two cracking songs. Hello Miss Lonesome is a confident Ghost Riders In The Sky style gallop that launches his solo career and this album in brilliant fashion.

Second track, After All, changes tack with a different vocal style and a kind of kiwi take on classic British RnB, and he keeps the pace up admirably.

By the third song, Dark Child, we're straying into darker, Nick Cave style ballad territory and I'm starting to wonder who the real Marlon Williams is, and whether that actually matters. I decided in the end, that it doesn't, in case you were wondering.

He seems very comfortable to slide around various genres and is adept at a variety of vocal looks. He's very versatile in other words.

I'm Lost Without You is a superb song and I mean no disparagement by suggesting that Mr Lee Grant or John Rowles would have loved to have that song to sing back in the day. 

The acoustic country licks of Lonely Side Of Her and Silent Passage make me think of old Westerns from the fifties when a Cowboy at a camp fire would whip out a guitar and the cowpokes would gather round to do the backing singing. Choice!

Somehow Marlon carries this all off with aplomb. Music wise, nice touches abound (love that pedal steel in Silent Passage and the choir in I'm Lost Without You), and Marlon's smooth, confident delivery sells every song.

Downside for me is the profusion of mid paced songs and downer mood that envelopes the last 3 songs on side 2. I get that murder ballads are a big deal in some quarters but I'm a day person. So I tended to skip the last three songs and go back to Hello Miss Lonesome for another jolt of energy and fun!

Excellent choice Kev.