Album
Type : Full Length
Date
Released : Out Now
Label
: My Proud Mountain/Neurot Recordings
Songs of
Townes Van Zandt Vol. II, track listing :
1. To Live Is To Fly (Mike Scheidt)
2. Pancho & Lefty (Nate Hall)
3. St. John The Gambler (John Baizley & Katie Jones)
4. Rake (Mike Scheidt)
5. Waitin’ Around To Die (Nate Hall & Stevie Floyd)
6. For The Sake Of The Song (John Baizley & Katie Jones)
7. Highway Kind (Mike Scheidt)
8. Our Mother The Mountain (Nate Hall & Dorthia Cottrell)
9. If I Needed You (John Baizley & Katie Jones)
Review :
The
second installment of covers of the country legend's songbook features alumni of
the alternative metal scene interpreting a singer songwriter who was terminally
under appreciated during his life/career but whose status has grown in death.
Can the songs here live up to Steve Earle's (retracted) claim that Van Zandt
was the better of Bob Dylan in the song-writing stakes?
Both
To Live is To Fly and Pancho and Lefty make a convincing
argument, with stripped down voice and acoustic arrangements allowing Scheidt
and Hall, respectively, to put their own talent on display and stamp the songs
as their own. St John The Gambler has Baizley working with a more lush
arrangement and the boon of a female vocalist in accompaniment which contrasts
well with his own voice.
Thereafter
the album flows well- three artists of relatively disparate acts produce
versions of Van Zandt's songs which are by no means samey, but which are all of
a type. If you enjoy singer songwriter material of the more sombre type, you
will find much to enjoy here. Nowhere near as “country” as Van Zandt's 70's
filmic compatriot David Allan Coe but not as fokey as say Dylan's earlier
material, I would postulate that Van Zandt pitches as a more sombre and haunted
Neil Young (no comparison in voice, or even content, but the terrain inhabited
is not too far away).
The
content is certainly dark- Waitin' Around to Die is no easy listen and
nor is The Highway Kind. The songs here reek of alcohol and missed
opportunities. They clearly resonate with members of the metal/alternative
community and thus I would recommend this record to any music fan and indeed,
any heavy music fan. The acoustic may not be your conduit of choice normally,
but you may find a lot in here that is pitch black in theme and delivery. A
strong collection that may well serve to introduce fans of the artists here to
reach back into the world of outlaw country and of a man who never found the
success he deserved.
Words by : Richard Maw
You
can get it here
http://www.neurotrecordings.com
http://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings
http://www.youtube.com/user/NeurotRecordings
http://www.myproudmountain.com
http://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings
http://www.youtube.com/user/NeurotRecordings
http://www.myproudmountain.com
