The latest releases reviewed
GEORGE STRAIT
Troubadour
MCA
***
Strait by name and straight by nature, King George
hasn't got to be country royalty - if that's not an oxymoron - by
ruffling feathers. The stats are impressive: almost 70 million
albums sold since his 1981 debut. You would be forgiven for writing
the Texas singer off as a mass-market appeaser. But you would be
wrong. Strait is always aware of his fans' desires, but he is a
class act, careful in his selection of material (he buys in all his
songs), and conscientious in his adherence to traditional
country-music values and sounds. So the poignant steel guitar and
the jaunty bittersweet honky tonk piano fill in the lonely spots
around his rich mellifluous voice, as he eases his way through
songs of mature reflection and others a tad less profound but no
less successful. He's 56 and not hiding it, but he can still crank
out a good tune, as evidenced on
River of Loveand the closing
If Heartaches Were Horses.
www.georgestrait.com
JOE BREEN
Download tracks:
I Saw God Today, River of Love, Troubadour
THE TOM FUN ORCHESTRA
You Will Land With A Thud
Company House
****
There are lots of excellent reasons for going to this
weekend's Kilkenny Rhythm 'n' Roots Festival, such as legend Chuck
Prophet and rising names such as Eilen Jewell, Tift Merritt and Sam
Baker, but if you are lucky to be there make sure you catch this
bunch of exuberant Cape Bretoners. There are shades of The Pogues,
Beirut and even new British folk-rockers Bellowhead, while
singer/guitarist Ian MacDougall is a most accomplished Tom Waits
sound-alike. It's a musical stew, with lots of sweeping and
intriguing pieces, if a little clunky at times, but their spirit is
willing and the effect (mostly) compelling. The Scottish
traditional influence on Cape Breton is apparent, but so is a
rock'n'roll instinct - and they truly land with a thud.
www.tomfun.ca
JOE BREEN
Download tracks:
When You Were Mine, Throw Me to the Rats, You Will Land with a
Thud
