Category: Reviews

Other Stuff You Might Like: La Blogotheque

Many of the sites I’ve featured in the “Other Stuff You Might Like” series have a common thread: excellent, impromptu concerts by established and upcoming musicians.  We’ve looked at Luxury Wafers, Black Cab Sessions, They Shoot Music – Don’t They, and NPR Music.  (And I’m sure to get around to Daytrotter before too long…)  Now, from France, we’ve got the excellent blog La Blogotheque, and its excellent Take-Away Shows (or, if you prefer, Les Concerts à Emporter).  The site’s catalog of artists is truly amazing, as are the performances, and so I invite you to come have a look…

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Recommended: The Wailin’ Jennys

My friend Julie first introduced me to The Wailin’ Jennys, and I’m really grateful to her for that.  The Jennys are from Winnipeg, and have influences from Bluegrass, Country, and Traditional Scots-Irish tunes.  In a lot of ways, perhaps, it’s both apt and misleading to say that the Jennys are a sort of countrified Indigo Girls.  But I think that the emphasis on vocal harmonies, and attention to craft, make it a moderately-successful analogy.  In any case, their sound features big, goosebump-inducing harmonies, and their performances (as you can see below) are both commanding and gentle.  Not the usual combination, to be sure, and one that is well worth embracing…

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New Music: Folk Music For What Lies Ahead

Just what is folk music?  Is it soft-spoken, intimate confessions poured out over an acoustic guitar?  Is it “We Shall Overcome,” sung on the National Mall?  Is it ever playful?  Joyful?  Does it do something other than teach?  Can it be “pop?”  Clearly, the answers to these questions are subjective, but at their core is a common notion: “Folk” music is “apart” from other music.  There is something different about the folk singer – that mythic figure of storytelling and poetic wisdom.  But is that really true?

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Mailbag: Hip Hatchet – Men Who Share My Name

These past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Hip Hatchet‘s Men Who Share My Name album.  Hip Hatchet hails from Vermont, and is the work of Philippe Bronchtein (vocals, guitar, clarinet, saxophone, piano) and several of his friends.  The songs are acoustic, featuring traditional instruments like clarinet, bassoon, and violin, and are built with delicate harmonies and spacious arrangements.  Indeed, the album reminds me of the wide-open Vermont spaces that I’ve so often wandered – especially those moments when the Sun finally fades, and one is left only with conversation to hold the night back.  To me, the sound of this album seems imprinted by Winter and woodland, and carries all the warmth and determination of a soul that has passed through those things time and again.

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Mailbag: He and Him – At the Foot of Mount Tabor

Honestly, is there anything better than getting great, free music in the mail?  Such is the question I’ve been asking all evening, as I sit and listen to He and Him‘s delightful At the Foot of Mount Tabor.  He and Him is a recent collaboration between Douglas Jenkins (Portland Cello Project) and David Shultz (David Shultz and the Skyline).  The music is a rich combination of acoustic guitar, cello, and a warm baritone vocal.  The kind of sound that reminds you of Summer evenings – those simpler times, perhaps out on the porch, with friends and fireflies.  In a nutshell, if you’re feeling a little out of place, it’s almost certainly “just what the doctor ordered.”

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