| Stacey Earle...Dancin� with them that brung me Gearle Records **** Stacey Earle�s sophomore effort really shows off the talent of a maturing musical artist whose natural songwriting abilities promise even greater things to come. Big brother Earle doesn�t hold a candle to her, though he�s a great songwriting talent himself. It must run in the family. Stacey was an unwed mother at 15 and a single, divorced mother of two boys at 26. Now at almost 40 years old, she�s proving to be a late bloomer who has released an album that puts many a big budget production to shame. This is a nice, acoustic folk/Country/Pop album that�s filled with intelligent songs about love, life and trying to sort out the meanings of both. Stacey�s fragile, slightly twangy mountain-girl voice sounds like early Nanci Griffith with a touch of Iris Dement. Her sparse, yet well-crafted sound brings to mind a running creek winding it�s way down from the hills, or the distant sound of an Appalachian porch jam echoing from somewhere far away in the night. Stacey�s band mates are all obviously well-gifted in their respective fields and accompany her arm in arm through her musical journey. Her three-piece band �Jewel� (named after her Grandmother), includes husband Marc Stuart on Acoustic Lead Guitar, and her son Kyle on drums. Stacey covers one of her big borther�s songs �Promise you anything� on the opening cut, and special guest Sheryl Crow helps out on another song with vocals, harmonium, and piano to good effect. Stacey calls �Dancin� with them that brung me� a tribute to all of those who have helped her along the way. She also says that all of her songs were written for herself. Then, in the next breath, she bids all of the folks who hear her songs to take �em home and make �em their own. Well, I�m sure that quite a few of us will do just that. Willie Nile...Beautiful Wreck of the World River House Records **** God, let�s hope this great album doesn�t end up gold-dust in the cut-out bin. If that happens, this will be one of the great lost albums. Another critically applauded, yet unfortunate low seller. You have to play this album loud to get it�s full effect, and what an effect it is. It fuckin� rocks and with it�s kick-ass lyrics and top-form instrumentation, not failing to mention it�s hilarious, biting social commentary. Sometimes fatalistic, sometimes crystal-ball gazingly psychic, the rapid-fire mind-snagging big city rock of Willie Nile will turn your head. With it�s poignant, incisive word-play and sharp tongued expirations on life, love and the hereafternoon, this stuff will rip your face off and replace it with a blank look , seeded by something better yet to grow in it�s place. Willie pukes up explicit exclamations on life�s intricacies given birth to in the shadows of Springsteen�s Jersey Shore; schooled in a world populated by the bastard children of Bob Dylan and Patty Smith; raised in the work force of The Ramones and Tom Waits; and then retired into a home-life, populated by echoes of The Beatles. Death and the Afterlife finally bring Elvis and Hank into the picture. Every song�s a winner, though I�m sure certain songs will grab different personality types on differing levels. �Beautiful Wreck of the World� sounds Pogues-like, with it�s Irish bar-room singalong chorus that goes: And we�ll all fall down as the proud Queen of England eats pie from her crown and we�ll all get high, you and I it�s the beautiful wreck of the world �The Man Who Use to Be� is a song of lost love that sounds like a tune John Lennon could have written. �Brain Damage� is the best country-rockabilly-raveup since god knows when. The intensely dark foreboding of �The Black Parade� will induce even the happy to sing along, and the melancholy �Somewhere, it�s Raining� will shift your eyes in the dark in search of a light. I found myself with tousled hair after listening to the weirdly beautiful, hallucinogenic fairy-tale �Oatmeal Box� which reminded me of Little Nemo�s adventures in slumberland with it�s dream-like qualities. Lucinda Williams called �On the Road to Calvery�, dedicated to the late Jeff Buckley, �One of the most beautiful songs I�ve ever heard.� Willie Nile is a talent to be reckoned with and he literally bowled me over. A lot of other critics and music artists agree. Bono, of U2 calls Nile�s album �a classic�, and BillBoard Magazine named it one of it�s top ten albums of the year. Come on people, let�s give �Beautiful Wreck of the World� the chance it really deserves, and not relegate this wonderful, poetic, rocking treasure to the cut-out bins. |