.
Now this is a different kettle of fish alright.
Starts acapella like something off a rounder pre-war folk ballads
compilation or a Harry Smith anthology out-take. Yet in photos
Mr.Midwood looks more like Bob Marley. Go figure? Sparse as the info.
about the mysterious Ramsay is (a websearch on his name trawled up a lot
of cast lists for U.S. soap episodes – so he’s done a fair bit of
acting ). Question is – is he acting on this disc? That first song is
a fantastic bit of faking if he is. Sounds more like he’s just got a
natural sense of the folk blues tradition which when combined with some
fabulous musicians ( Randy Weeks, Don Heffington, Skip Edwards...yup the
Neal Casal A-Team out in strength) who provide note perfect swamp brews
behind then things get close to perfection as on opening band track
Chicago. From there things just get better and better. ‘Spinnin on
this rock’ is southern soul like it should be. Imagine Cropper and
Redding grooving....yes really. Not up there with Otis in the vocals but
the lazy lament hits all the right buttons. Touched off to perfection by
some wandering bayou fiddle. Great lyrics..."I live my life in a
mohair sweater....." ‘Mohawk River’ is superb – just shakes
its hips to a list of locations, strange characters and some lovely
harp. Sonny Boy Williamson with a political slant? The voice is pure
backwoods ...artifice or original who cares when it sounds this right.
Then the drums start sounding like tinpots and that chorus slinks round
again like the river it names. By the third track it seems obvious that
Ramsay has produced a stunning debut that takes Jim Whites southern
slant a stage further and deeper. ‘Feed my monkey’..is a farmer’s
lament to consider alongside Haggard and Russell. " Lord have mercy
that’s my life...I’ll close my eyes and get a beautiful wife"
and there’s some cracking drumming again offset by accordion. Kip
Boardman piano leads us into ‘Esther’ – a cowboy bar-room lament.
The voice is evocative and the lilting melody reminds me of Jesse
Winchester’s first lp. The range and precision of the backing is as
good as anything on Swordfishtrombones as banjo introduces ‘Waynesboro’
and takes the breath away. There’s been a lot of playing with the
implications of the Harry Smith Anthology and the backwoods sound but
Ramsay nails it and with more intelligence than most..." Yes Mr.
Zimmerman the times is a changing" he intones. Somehow I don’t
think he’s adopting the stance –there’s some serious mining into
the past going on here. Where he’s been no-one seems to know and the
mystery heightens the promise somehow – where’s he going this new
kid in town? ‘Grass l’grow’ is folk ballad– riddle music like
early Dylan but with a tender touch in the voice. It
says on the sleeve ‘recorded at Kip’s house’ and you can hear the
house here. A relaxed false start sets up ‘Alligator’s lament’ –
a mystical/ semi-religious organ driven boogie – you can smell the
smoke. The lyrics sound like ‘Jungle Rock’ on dope. Weird shit and
groovy tune. Fans of Jim White, Beefheart, Johnny Dowd or anything off
the highway and down in the ditch stop your car and have a look now. ‘Heaven’s
toll’ slips by and he’s gone and you’re left pondering the 7"
Fame single look of the CD and the masterful cover that suggests that
allusive 70’s rare album nobody else ever found but you. Ladies and
gentleman welcome this generation’s Waits. Ain’t no other comparison
high enough – my record of this and last year and probably next.
Mohair Ram.
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This disc first crept out in 1998 and for anybody lucky enough to
have tracked down 'Special 20' then I'm preaching to the converted. He
plays a '47 Gibson, named his record after a Hohner harmonica and sounds
like the bastard son of Doc Watson and The Replacements. There you go
what more recommendation do you need? He's released a Czech solo record,
a CD-EP and more recently a vinyl 7" on Jackass Records. He was a
member of the Haynes Boys who made one CD 'Guardian Angel' out of
Columbus, Ohio (Gibson Brothers territory!). 'Special 20' saw him joined
by some excellent musicians who had worked with everybody from Steve
Earle to Lucinda Williams to Ron Sexsmith. The textures are wide -
ranging from opener 'Just Like Home's' recorded at home on 4-track (I'd
love to hear the rest) garage blues shaker to the REM-like 'Everywhere
is Somewhere'. At other times he sounds distinctly Ryan Adams/
Replacements like before throwing a power pop curve with 'Help me find
my spacegirl' a revved up Byrds if they had been in The Plimsouls.
Woopee. Silly lyrics but who cares when it sounds this great! Then he
gets all folk fingerpicky on 'Sweet Violet' and guess what it's great
too. Dam how I hate people this talented - maybe that's why I don't play
guitar much these days. Without being too gushy I'd say you can't go
wrong with this artist and let's hope he gets his just rewards. Me I
can't stop playing it. 'Hey Rosine' is pure pop whilst last track
'Rewind' is singer-writer new Springsteen bliss and you know I've only
covered half the disc - discover the rest for yourself. Worthy and
righteous. Righteous and worthy. Oh and ..incidently it has one of the
best designed sleeves I've seen in a good while and in 2000 he’s
signed to New West Records so look out for a future release.
(http://www.timeaston.com)
( EUROPE / BLUE ROSE : U.S. / HEATHEN AVAILABLE THRU JACKASS RECORDS)
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He’s from Georgia, he played back up to RuPaul, spent two years in
London playing Buddy Holly ( a bit Marshall Crenshaw there then ) has
his own band Turpentine and played bass in The Fleshtones (respect).
There you have the press bio.in a nutshell. He’s got the press/
website/ self promotion angle sorted and now delivers via this his first
solo self-released item ( http://www.robertbwarren.com)
what exactly? Well what he’s offering is one of the best self-released
efforts in many a while. Like the afore-mentioned Crenshaw it’s not
only the standard of musicianship that strikes home but the sheer
quality of the song-writing. He’s a little bit Peter Case, a tad Lou
Reed and a whole lot of Robbie Robertson in his exploration of his
mythical southern heritage. Right from opener ‘Dark Angel Eyes’ with
its synthesiser/drum machine rhythm track juxtaposed with fingerpicking
from the ‘English Folk Tradition Songbook’ its obvious that Warren
has developed an unusual take on the americana/urban folk genre. The
album is as likely to be filled with breakbeats and acoustic strumming (
Falling into grace ) as taped conversation or bossanova drum machines (
Tomboygirl). It’s a stunning debut that mixes dobro/ congas behind
truly literate lyrics like ‘Josephus cries’ where ‘the trees are
bleeding for the making of turpentine’. Warren has ridden the river
back past Big Pink and dived into his own family history which makes the
whole project so convincing. It’s hard to think of many other young
artists that can truly hold a candle to Russell/ Alvin/Case – maybe
White/ Midwood/ Terrel/ Meisel/ Chesnutt and Hoekstra with whom he
shares a similar musical curiosity come close. Listen to '‘Milledgeville’
a song from the mouth of a asylum escapee. The writing is evocative of a
rural past that has disappeared – faded like his family as he took the
trip north to New York City. The album has such a variety of textures
–acoustic folk to folk-rock and beyond that it sometimes lurches a bit
but the strength of performance on such as ‘I want her faith’ carry
him through. ‘Radio Church’ starts with a radio dial spinning before
a gorgeous finger-picked guitar and organ carry us away over a tale of
religious fire-raising. A full on love ballad ‘Give me my love’
leads into another drum-machine driven pop song ‘Chaos in your wake’
and my favourite song on the album ‘Blue Impala’ which has a Nick
Drake/Pink Moon ambience. It even manages to find a new way of doing ‘The
Car Song’ –top marks. ‘Jacksong’ closes this history book with
more folk guitar and a lullaby to his young son thus keeping the family
circle theme unbroken. A great first solo trip downriver. Look forward
to his next instalment.
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