Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Still a gem

Time (The Revelator) is still an outstanding album, I think. Gillian Welch has been in the top rank of country singer-songwriters for decades now and this album shows why. The songs are excellent, with thoughtful, intelligent and slightly quirky lyrics and are involving and tuneful from the stunningly powerful Elvis Presley Blues to the slightly jaunty Red Clay Halo. Welch’s voice is wonderfully distinctive and haunting, there’s some great guitar work and the whole thing is a gem.

Not many albums last this well for almost twenty years; this one has, and I can recommend it very warmly.

F.J. McMahon - Spirit Of The Golden Juice

Rating: 2/5

Review:
Pretty forgettable

I’m afraid I don’t think Spirit Of The Golden Juice is a very good. It’s OK in its way, but F.J. McMahon’s songs are pretty generic, there’s not a great deal of variety and in the end it just becomes rather dull. McMahon’s voice is pleasant enough, but there was an awful lot of quite pleasant-sounding stuff like this in 1969 and overall the whole thing rather fades into the background hum of the time.

In short, it’s an album I’m quite glad to have heard because F.J. McMahon’s name was familiar, but having heard it a couple of times I doubt whether I’ll be bothering again for a long while – if ever.

Emmylou Harris - Red Dirt Girl

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Still very good

This is still a very good album indeed. Emmylou Harris has always been a great singer; here she shows that she’s a very fine songwriter, too. These are lovely, haunting tracks with great melodies, fine arrangements and Emmylou’s slightly dark, beautifully modulated voice bringing them to life.

After almost 20 years, Red Dirt Girl still stands up very well, which is a fine compliment to its quality. Warmly recommended.