Back to Laura and Tom

You may have been expecting a Laura Marling review next - I know I was. But my dear daughter has said an awful lot of what I would have done here and said it better than I would have done. More of an 8.5 on my scoreboard than the 7.2 there, but otherwise Jess has it pinned...

Tom Russell's Mesabi? Oh well, I suppose so.

I don't like giving heroes bad reviews, but I fear this album is one of his dodgier ones. It's streaming here, so give it a listen and make up your own mind.

The title track is a good opener: setting Bob Dylan's childhood against Tom's and their shared hope of escape through music ('don't let me do the work my father did'), driven by Calexico's pumping brass and a strutting beat, and featuring the fine description of the Mesabi iron range as 'the Bethlehem of the troubadour kid"... But too much of what follows strikes me as either wet or clumsy or both.

Tom's always had a sentimental streak (what country writer doesn't?) but the catch is seldom far from his throat here, along with lines like

Christmas Day can break a man in two

When he's drunk, in the kitchen all alone

And the children don't call...

Come on, lad: get a grip.

The other problem is that he's got a lot of true stories he wants to tell: about child stars, self-loathing actors, the voice of Jiminy Cricket - but interesting stories don't necessarily make great songs. And when prosaic lines like

When Walt Disney terminated Bobby Driscoll's contract

seem to be required a writer's alarm bells should be ringing.

It's something of a relief when Tom goes back to the more familiar territory of Juarez and the borderline - 'Jai Alai', 'Goodnight, Juarez', 'And God Created Border Towns' (and had he not, I'm sure Tom would have done it for him; he must be on commission from the Mexican Tourist Board with all the namechecks...)

It's nice to hear Lucinda Williams duetting on 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall', but they take it too slow - it's not one to drag out. Then we're back onto a more even keel with the closer, 'Road To Nowhere', with nice brass, shimmering electric guitar and a bouncing beat - if you ignore some rather hackneyed lyrics.

So, disappointing, all in all. Particularly following his last release, Blood And Candle Smoke, which was, for me, his strongest and most consistent record since the classic Borderland back in 2001. Tom's one of the great songwriters. If you're not yet persuaded of that, those albums are the place to start. And to encourage you on your way, try this...

La Rentrée

Funny how a few trips away disrupt the normal business... I am reminded that the site has been somewhat content-lite for a while (thanks, Mark) and there's a fair amount to catch up on after the summer.

First off, another plug for the wonderful Secret Sessions, a site of music and interviews bound to introduce you to some new things which will become fixtures in your life. My two favourite sets of Secret Sessioners so far are Other Lives and Givers, two young American bands of very different styles. You can read a review of Other Lives' new album Tamer Animals here. 

Givers are a bouncy crew from Louisiana who share some of Vampire Weekend's energy and Highlife inflections. In comparison with the Brooklyn boys, however, Givers seem rather keener on having fun than wowing the colour supplements. They are playing in Brighton on 6 November and I'm looking forward to making their acquaintance.

The autumn gig list is filling out nicely with Ahab, Cloud Control, Chatham County Line, June Tabor & The Oysterband and Steve Earle already in the diary - to warm up for Gillian Welch.

On the record front, I'm enjoying Laura Marling's A Creature I Don't Know, but want to give it a bit more time - there's something about her style which means I don't immediately hear and grasp the words... they seep in more gradually.

Tom Russell, on the other hand, is a very clear narrator but I've found first listens to his new one Mesabi rather disappointing - he's a bit too concerned with telling stories to let his songs grow more organically, and his sentimental side is more prominent than I like. But the excellent Calexico are on board again and Lucinda Williams guests -I'm going to give this one more time too.

Finally, a couple of Len-linked recommendations:

• for The Decemberists' I-Tunes Session which includes strong new versions of some of their own songs alongside a sweet version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye' (apparently a favoured recent encore in concert - as you can see here);
• and Other Lives' version of Len's 'The Partisan' here - they clearly know a decent song when they hear one.

On Margate Sounds Revisited

Eden On The Line has just had its first birthday (pause for gasps and applause) and I've just been rereading the review of On Margate Sounds on last year's August Bank Holiday. Time now for a couple of updates on people who played there:

• the splendid Liz Green has a new single out which will apparently be available on vinyl next Monday. 'Displacement Song' was Pick Of The Week in the Guardian Guide and thoroughly deserves to be picked. You can hear it here. An album O Devotion will follow in November.
• the equally splendid Two Wings seemed to go rather quiet after their fine set at the Tom Thumb, but you can now hear three wonderfully quirky songs on a new website here. I hope that means there is more activity imminent - a tour would be nice, chaps. I would wear my limited edition Hanna Tuulikki t-shirt from The Wire...

An Appearance By Nick Drake

In Millers Road, Brighton. I suppose I should pass the story on to the National Enquirer... After revisiting Five Leaves Left and the immortal 'Time Has Told Me'.

Wooden Shjips

I'm really enjoying Wooden Shjips' latest album West. The critics tend to be a bit sniffy about their stoner/Krautrock grooves and go on about all the songs sounding the same. There is something in that, of course, but when you've got such a distinctive and irresistible sound, why not go for it?

Excellent driving music, though I suspect my partner may need some persuading, as we head down through France tomorrow...

Even if there is something in the argument that you only need one of Wooden Shjips' records, West may well be the one to go for - recorded in a proper studio and sporting what looks like it will be a very fine, evocative sleeve. A vinyl copy is on order...

I see them as the natural heirs to Hawkwind, who featured in an good documentary I caught on BBC4 the other week. I saw them back in December 1972 at the King George's Hall in Blackburn, Lancashire. (Think of it as the Fillmore North... and you will be almost completely mistaken.) One of the first gigs I went to and wonderful... pleasingly loud, great lightshow, the wonderful Stacia dancing, a certain Lemmy Kilmister on bass. What more could a fifteen year old want? A lift, actually, so as not to have to rush for the last bus back to Clitheroe.

Anyway, In Search Of Space and Space Ritual are still worth a listen, if you're in that sort of mood. 

An interesting fact or two to finish with: Stacia is now an artist, living and working in her native Ireland. You can see some of her work here. She married Roy Dyke, the drummer in Ashton, Gardner & Dyke - they of the 'Resurrection Shuffle'.