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ROCK PAPER SCISSORS
BEN BOWEN KING/Sidewalk Saints: The Stephen Foster tribute set should have opened your ears to offbeat Americana. King is a killer slide guitarist and rather than make a chops galore fest, he turns his attention to curbside gospel, kind of what was left over in the 1920’s after minstrel shows had run their course. Sort of a forerunner to the Maxwell Street blues scene, across America, gospel and religious flavored music would be played on street corners by buskers with eclectic backing (think one man band kind of stuff where the percussion was spoons and homespun stuff like that). Not a museum piece and not a slab of pomo irony, this look as another piece of roadside Americana that has slipped away is a fascinating audio docu. You don’t have to be an NPR type to get into it.
153 (Talking Taco)
WAKE THE DEAD
WAKE THE DEAD/Blue Light Cheap Hotel: Extended family Dead travelers were thought to have started this as a lark, but several sets in , they show that giving classic Dead tunes a Celtic slant was no joke or novelty. While the cast of musicians has changed a bit around prime mover Danny Carnahan, he still surrounds himself with Deadicated players that know which end is up. They dive into the catalog again with great results making this a diversion for more than just Deadheads, and more than a diversion in general. To show this is the real deal, they add straight folk and original material to the mix for the first time and there’s no loss in energy or style along the way. A first class. Alt.adult set from start to finish.
www.wakethedead.org
DVD SUPPLEMENT
ENNIO MORRICONE/Arena Concerto: A companion piece to the recently released cd from the same concert, this is Morricone’s first concert cd and the extras are a must for the uber fan. The music doesn’t stray from the cd, but if you really dig the composer, there’s features that give you the kind of extra insights that geeks are known to expound as essential. The surround mix and Dolby mix add quite a lot to the proceeding as well.
18005 (DRG)
Volume 30/Number 94
February 2, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
(c)2007 Midwest Record
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