She lives up to the family name
Vito Minerva | Italy | 04/08/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The (relative) success of Exploration made many (including me) discover this little gem of an album, otherwise lost in the sea of indie records churned out every year. (In this case it was 2001).
When I put this record on the player, I really don't skip a song; the album is varied and short enough - it clocks in at 38 mins - to be played from start to finish. It opens with a Hoyt Axton cover, probably the best thing in the album thanks to the perfect blending of piano, harmonica, pedal steel and Sarah's vocals. By the way, piano and harmonica are courtesy of brother Abe and father Arlo, respectively.
The second track is a declaration of love and gratitude to her parents ("If you only knew/How much I looked up to you/You're the only reason/The reason I came through"), with brother Abe accompanying her at the piano.
The third track is maybe the weakest of the album. It's just a single sentence ("I'm filled up like a bucket of rain") repeated for over a minute over the background noise of an incoming storm.
Tracks 4 and 5 are somehow similar, with a New Age feeling in both. In particular, "River", with its slow Celtic-tinged music and short sentences repeated over and over, is almost trance-inducing. New Age terms are also abundant, like "sadhu" and "swami" which denote Hindu religious teachers and holy men, respectively. Perhaps does the title refer to the river Ganges?
"Never In One Place" is a nice song with accompaniment of acoustic guitars and mandolin and an odd effect on Sarah's voice (it seems to come out of a loudspeaker). It is followed by a nice instrumental tarantelle.
"Lazy Tongue" is the catchiest song in the album; it's a pop number enriched by the solos of trumpet and saxophone. (Strange enough, Sarah vocals fade towards the end, as if the song is going to finish and then suddenly the volume rises again. I don't know whether this effect is intentional or not).
"Johnny By My Side" is another declaration of love, this time to her husband, while "Love We Never Had" is an uptempo country song spiced up by dobro and banjo. Then follows a rockabilly number ("World Turns In G") and in the final track all the musicians join together to play
an a cappella gospel.
In all, if you loved Exploration or have a penchant for folk and country music sung by women, you'll like this album.
"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1