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Sam Phillips: Fan Dance

Sam Phillips' last album of all new material came out five years ago, in 1996. Although that album, Omnipop was intriguing, complex and an overall satisfying experience, it did not garner much commerical success. Not that Sam seems to care. Since then, Phillips released Zero Zero Zero, a collection of tracks from her four previous albums, remixes of songs, and a few unreleased material. Then she was quiet for a couple years, until just recently, when she burst back onto the music scene with Fan Dance. Fan Dance find Phillips at her most bare, stripping down the songs to mostly acoustic guitar and a few other instruments, all of the songs sounding very raw and with very little overdubs, quite the change from Omnipop. Not that this is a bad thing. Fan Dance is Phillips at her best. Lyrically, she is just as mysterious as ever, and the music always fits the words. The album's opener, "Fan Dance," finds Phillips backed by such studio greats as Jim Keltner and Marc Ribot. The song also sets the done for the rest of the album, with Sam's guitar as the main focus. Next up is the beautifully chilling "Edge Of The World," followed by "Five Colors," which takes it's chorus from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu's Tao Teh Ching. The song features backing vocals by Gillian Welch and the music is mostly focused on Sam's acoustic guitar. Carla Azar's drumming comes in with perfect timing, making the song one of Phillips' best. After "Five Colors" comes "Wasting My Time," a beautiful and haunting song featuring Phillips backed by cello arranged by Van Dyke Parks. "Taking Pictures" is next up, and the song is a wonderful piece of work about nostalgia for nostalgia. "How To Dream" is a sweet number about, well, how to dream. After "How To Dream," Phillips changes tunes a little bit with the more mysterious and more produced "Soul Eclipse" and "Incinerator." The next song, "Love Is Everywhere I Go" is a beautiful song that reminds us that love is everywhere and we just need to open our hearts to it. "Below Surface" is a short, haunting song, and it is followed by the intriguing "Is That Your Zebra," which features only the words "What When Who How Where When." Phillips closes the album with "Say What You Mean," which she co-wrote with husband/producer T-Bone Burnett.

Overall, Fan Dance is a wonderful listening experience, both satisfying and disturbing, intriguing and mysterious. Phillips has once again produced an album that is well worth listening to for either long time fans or newcomers alike. 1