American Music Club 'Mercury demos'

1991's 'Everclear' seems to have been pretty much universally accepted as the classic AMC album, but some fans have held the belief that the follow up album 'Mercury' contains the better songs. To these ears anyway, that album had huge potential but was dragged down by Mitchell Froom's stodgy production which now makes the record sound ridiculously dated since it is only 15 years old.

This collection of demos for 'Mercury', available at shows and via AMC's website, lets us hear how it could have sounded and the results are stunning. Without Froom's fussy production the songs can breathe and in some cases sound as good as the live versions Eitzel has been playing for years. 'Apology For An Accident' is absolutely sensationalwith a gripping, edgy vocal performance from Eitzel and a terrific guitar break, 'What Godzilla Said To God...' is lighter than the album version, sounding more like Eitzel's solo recording from 'Songs of Love Live' and 'Gratitude Walks' reminds me of the way they played it at the 2004 reunion shows.

As if this wasn't enough there are some songs that didn't make it on the album. Some have already appeared as b sides but 'Crystal Always Knows' is, to me at least, completely new and a great addition to AMC's cannon. The only gripe with this is that there is no demo of 'Johnny Mathis' Feet', one of Eitzel's finest songs and one of the highlights of 'Mercury', but I guess that is because it was written late.

This is not really an unbiased review as I am an AMC fan, but if you are remotely interested in Eitzel, AMC or discovering the work of one of the World's greatest songwriters, you should buy this.

9.0

['Mercury Demos' are out now via Decor Records in the UK]

five years ago...

Laura Barton's mention of The Innocence Mission in the Guardian today reminded me that it is five years since the release of their 'Befriended' LP.

The first few times I played this album, I wondered if it was one of the best records I had ever heard. Five years on, I think it is. I never get tired of it. It is one of those albums that I ended up buying copies of for friends in the hope that they would love it as much as I did. Some did, some didn't.

Written and recorded after the death of Karen Peris' Mother, 'Befriended' was made pretty much exclusively with guitar, bass, piano and tambourine and of course Karen's amazing voice. The lyrics are of course poignant, sometimes sentimental but the music is joyful and on 'Beautiful Change' you can hear Peris smiling as she sings. I have often thought that this record is pretty much perfect. It can make you feel sad but in some ways is the most uplifting album, the writing is simple yet stunning- the first verse of 'When Mac Was Swimming' is...

"When Mac Was Swimming I was running late
Walking around New Orleans looking for a birthday cake
It was a great surprise to him so many people came
Nobody knows darling
Nobody knows how they are loved"

There is so much I could say about this record but if you don't own it, just buy it and find out for yourself. You won't be disappointed and this record will carry you through the Autumn turning to Winter and then when Spring is on the way, you can listen to Karen sing..

"Flower forth,
all you branches of Easter
Why won't the spring come?
Sweep down early, Tomorrow, come.
Tell me that I can just start over again.
Sweep down early, my friend."

And then you can buy the follow up 'We Walked In Song' which is almost as beautiful and then start on their back catalogue, prepare to be blown away by 'Birds Of My Neighbourhood'.

The Innocence Mission don't get the attention they deserve and this is one of the most beautiful records you will ever hear.

[Every Innocence Mission album is available now from www.theinnocencemission.com they are all brilliant. A new one will arrive in the Spring]

Rivulets 'You Are My Home'

I almost fell asleep to this album on the train. This is not a criticism.

'You Are My Home' is the third album by Rivulets, who are really singer-songwriter Nathan Amudson and assorted helpers. I purchased this on the advice of one of those record shop recommendation cards, which said something along the lines of 'if you like Low, Will Oldham, Red House Painters etc, you will like this'. I'm well aware that this usually means the band concerned were influenced by the artists listed and, in fact, the record in question is nowhere near as good as theirs' but I thought I would give it a go anyway. I'm pleased I did.

The sound is extremely minimal, sparse and cold. Amudson has a soft, wistful voice which blends nicely with acoustic guitar and this is the predominant sound of the record. Opener 'Glass Houses' offers a nice melody following this template. That would get dull over the course of an album though and things are kept interesting with the interventions of electric guitar, noise and strings. On the title track and the excellent 'Motioning' both are used to good effect to build songs and create menace and tension. On the second half of the album, things become more accessible with a couple of shorter, catchy numbers.

This is a likeable album. Returning to my near-sleep experience on the train, the quiet noise and nagging acoustic picking of the title track, combined with the slow motion of the train and my new Sennheiser headphones blocking out all sound from the outside world created something of a fuzzy blur around me and with my head resting on the window and everything around me fading away, my eyes closed and.....the train jolted to an unexpected halt at Kentish Town. Oh well.

Anyway, this is a nice album if you like sparse, cold songs, perfect for a Winter's morning. Of the artists mentioned on the record shop card, this is most like very early Low.

7.0

['You Are My Home' is out now on O Rosa]

Lambchop 'OH: Ohio'

Lambchop have always been one of those bands that I felt I should like but could never really get that excited about. I like Kurt Wagner's voice, love it in fact, but the music often seems to meander off down some sort of easy-listening side-street and my interest departs with it. I do, however, keep trying. Every time they release an album.

This, their tenth, seems to be more country-soul than alt.country. The piano is largely to the fore rather than the guitar. This allows them to create some really lovely sounding ballads, such as the title track, which is short, sweet and similar to the gorgeous 'Paperback Bible' from their last album with its "green doesn't matter when you're blue" hookline. Its a shame that Lambchop make concise, pretty songs like this so unfrequently. Elsewhere, songs regularly break the six minute mark but without it ever seeming necessary and while songs like 'Slipped, Dissolved and Loosed' is strong enough to keep the attention, 'I'm Thinking of a Number' and 'Popeye' are seriously hard work to get through.

There are some more nice moments, 'I Believe In You', a Don Williams cover, is simple and touching but a record just shouldn't require as much effort as this one does. If you're a fan of Lambchop, especially the 'Is A Woman' album, you won't be disappointed. I shall just have to try again with the next one.

6.0

['OH:Ohio' is out now on City Slang on cd/vinyl and download from 7Digital]

Gig Dilemma

Have now got an absolutely awful gig dilemma.

I have tickets for Micah P Hinson at The Scala on November 6th, supported by Retribution Gospel Choir. Was very much looking forward to it, but now I find that Damien Jurado is playing the Union Chapel on the same night and.....The Sleeping Years are supporting.

Have seen Micah a few times but none since the new LP (which I love), have never seen DJ but would like to and have never seen TSY but am absolutely desperate to. Plus Union Chapel is my favourite venue.

Its a nightmare! Any advice?

Damien Jurado 'Caught In The Trees'

Damien Jurado has been making intelligent singer-songwriter records for over ten years now without ever really breaking through in the way Bon Iver did this year. He is superb at affecting acoustic ballads ('Medication') and can do powerful rockier stuff ('I Break Chairs', 'Texas To Ohio') but when he sticks to the middle ground, as he has done on his last couple of albums, he can get a little lost and sound like 'just another Americana singer'.

This album is a slight change of direction and is his best since 2003's 'Where Shall You Take Me'. Much more of a band recording than recent efforts, both Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad, who adds harmonies throughout, were heavily involved. He also mixes acoustic and electric guitars to excellent effect, allowing the songs to sound far more energetic than previously. Opener 'Gillian Was A Horse' is upbeat and extremely catchy with it's 'I'm no lie detector/ He's no bullshitter' hook and 'Go First' takes an introspective lyric and turns it into an almost anthemic song.

Fans of old-school Jurado will probably turn to 'Last Rights', a really gorgeous ballad with a nagging melody and  'Best Dress', a lovely country sing-along to start with, but also featuring some driving electric guitar as the song builds. This is a feature of the record, Jurado keeps the storytelling and touching lyrics of previous albums but 'Caught In The Trees' has an added energy and vibrancy. This may win him a lot of new fans.

7.5

['Caught In The Trees' is out now on import from Secretly Canadian and out in the UK on 27/10]

Juliana Hatfield 'When I Grow Up'

First ever book review on T&G and probably the first music related book I have read since I started this blog.

I've been a fan of Juliana Hatfield's for 15 years now and of all of artists I like she would possibly have been the one I would least have expected to write an autobiography, or 'memoir' as it is described. She always seemed, from her lyrics, her interviews and her communication, or lack thereof, with fans, to be an extremely private person who would hate the idea of something like this. Over the last few years though, she has seemed to open up a little, posting demos on her website and writing short descriptions of the new songs, finally touring Europe and recently starting to write a fascinating and brilliant blog where she takes one of her songs each week and writes a lengthy explanation of the song. Really interesting and very personal stuff. With that blog (its called 'An Arm And A Leg' by the way) in mind, I had high hopes for this book.

And it sort of disappointed me. A little.

It isn't written in chronological order. There are two narratives running side by side in alternating chapters. One is a long and detailed, night by night, account of a 2003 tour with her side-project 'Some Girls', the other is an account of her career in the form of snapshots of important moments, such as signing her first record contract (an account which will be familiar to any fans of her song 'Lets Blow It All'), recording 'Only Everything' and her (major) label refusing to release 'God's Foot'.

To start with, this works really well because both parts are fascinating. It is really interesting to read an account of a gig from an artist's point of view and this is the most detailed account I've ever read. Anyone who thinks that it is a glamourous life for anyone not selling millions of records ought to read this, so ought anyone who regularly downloads music for free but claims they are not ripping off the artist. The trouble is though, this account is more or less repeated chapter after chapter with just a small amount of variation and small things like an argument with her merchandise guy are built up into really long sections with Juliana repeatedly asking rhetorical questions such as 'Why am I so mean?', 'Why can't I just be happy?' etc etc. At the same time, really interesting things like the whole 'God's Foot' episode (I know this is terrible blog etiquette but...check Wikipedia if you don't know the story) are covered in a couple of pages.

I enjoyed this book and found it very readable, if a bit frustrating. The tour part of the book does serve as an interesting account of the life of someone making a living from music but not selling millions of records. It reveals a lot about Juliana as a person and about the way the industry can chew people up and spit them out. If you're a fan though, you may find the lack of much insight into Juliana's music pre-2003 a little disappointing. Possibly Juliana has done this to make the book accessible even to people who aren't familiar with her career, in that sense it works- if you're not a fan the book is still a good read, and if you are a fan, you're going to buy it anyway!

['When I Grow Up' is out now from old good, and some bad, bookshops. 'God's Foot' still hasn't been released.....]