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.

Marry Waterson & Emily Barker - A Window To Other Ways

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A terrific album

I think this is a terrific album. I have loved Emily Barker’s work for a long time now and this is another cracker in her discography. Barker’s last two albums have been with the wonderful country trio Applewood Road and the equally excellent, Nashville-based Sweet Kind Of Blue. It is typical of her that in a change of style she is now collaborating with the quintessentially English folk singer Marry Waterson and between them they have produced an album of real quality, with thoughtful, musically diverse songs and a wonderful overall sound.

It’s hard to categorise the music here, other than that it’s very, very good. There’s a mix of folk and soul really, with intelligent lyrics about a range of things. I’m particularly fond of Little Hits Of Dopamine - “I’d rather be rock and rolling but you just keep on scrolling...I’m right here, right now and you’re missing out...” - but there is plenty of food for thought and musical enjoyment throughout the album.

In short, this is a bit of real class from two excellent performers and, in Emily Barker, one of the finest songwriters around at the moment. Warmly recommended.

Gordon Giltrap & Rick Wakeman - From Brush & Stone

Rating: 3/5

Review: A bit dull

Both Rick Wakeman and Gordon Giltrap are excellent musicians, but I’m afraid this album is just a bit dull. Both play superbly, of course, but the material isn’t very inspiring and there is an air of slight blandness over the whole recording. There’s nothing actively wrong with any of it, but it just doesn’t hold my attention. Sadly, I can’t recommend this.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Rating: 3/5

Review:
A bit disappointing

For me this album hasn’t aged very well. It’s the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s first album from 1967 and although the musicianship and enthusiasm is still evident, the material and arrangements don’t sound all that good any more.

It may be that I’ve grown up a little in the half century since this came out, so I’ve heard a lot more music. For example, compared to the great original of Candy Man by Mississippi John Hurt or the brilliant cover by Chris Smither, this sounds pretty bland. The pot-pourri ofByrds-like harmonies, vaudeville and a bit of bluegrass seem rather an uneasy mixture now and although there are some enjoyable moments, as an album it’s not great.

I went back to this just to see what I’d liked all those years ago but was a bit disappointed. You may feel differently, but I can’t really recommend it.

Patty Griffin - Patty Griffin

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very fine album

Patty Griffin is still great. She’s been making quietly excellent albums for so long now that it’s no surprise to find that she’s still at the peak of her form. Her voice is just fabulous here; haunting, expressive and beautifully controlled and the songs she sings with it are vintage Griffin. There isn’t a weak track on the album and some, like River for example, are among her very best, I think. She writes such beautiful melodies and combines them with thoughtful, insightful lyrics. River is apparently a response to her coming through breast cancer, but like so many of her personal songs it has a more universal sense – this time of resilience and indomitability.

This is, in short, a first-rate album from a genuine great of the genre. Warmly recommended.