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One of my favorite music blogs Wears The Trousers recently started their own record label, and their first release will be a tribute to legendary folk singer Odetta. As a great fan of Odetta’s (I had the privilege of seeing her perform live at Mountain Stage), I’m so glad that Wears The Trousers showed her due respect by selecting a talented group of contemporary female singers to carry on her grand legacy. The tribute will be released on November 30th and all profits from its sales will be split between two charities (The Fawcett Society and The Women’s Resource Centre) that benefit women.

Linda Draper’s softly buoyant, harmonica-accented rendition of “Sail Away” opens the tribute, but it is Ane Brun’s haunting croon of “If I Had A Ribbon Bow” that truly conjures up the musical spirit of Odetta.

The pop sheen of artists like Gemma Ray and Haunted Stereo seems a little out of place here. “900 Miles” and “Santy Ano” are substantial enough songs to anchor any vocal and these versions are certainly catchy, but I think other singers (such as Dayna Kurtz and Pamela Means) would’ve been better suited to the kind of music Odetta recorded. Fortunately, this is the only remotely negative remark I can make about the album.

Madam’s eerie Patti Smith-like wail of “Waterboy” and Kellli Ali’s delicate interpretation of “All The Pretty Little Horses” are absolutely gorgeous.

Sandy Dillon’s live acoustic recording of “Can’t Afford to Lose My Man” and Josephine Oniyama’s “The Gallows Pole” are superb recreations of Odetta’s unique brand of gritty fierceness and mellow femininity.

The album includes two versions of “All My Trials,” one by Anaïs Mitchell and the other by Marissa Nadler. I personally prefer the first cover by the incomparable Anaïs Mitchell. Marissa Nadler’s atmospheric take is unquestionably pretty, but Mitchell’s inflective vocal phrasing better represents the organic nature of Odetta’s music.

Katey Brooks belts out “What A Friend We Have”, while Arborea puts a gentle, wistful spin on “This Little Light of Mine” for the finale.

Track List:
01 Linda Draper: “Sail Away Ladies”
02 Ane Brun: “If I Had A Ribbon Bow”
03 Gemma Ray: “900 Miles”
04 Anaïs Mitchell: “All My Trials”
05 Haunted Stereo: “Santy Anno”
06 Madam: “Waterboy”
07 Sandy Dillon: “Can’t Afford To Lose My Man”
08 Ora Cogan: “Motherless Child”
09 Josephine Oniyama: “The Gallows Pole”
10 Pepi Ginsberg: “Beautiful Star”
11 Society Of Imaginary Friends: “Another Man Done Gone”
12 Marissa Nadler: “All My Trials”
13 Kelli Ali: “All The Pretty Little Horses”
14 Katey Brooks: “What A Friend We Have”
15 Liz Durrett: “Chilly Winds”
16 Arborea: “This Little Light Of Mine”

Ora Cogan – Motherless Child (mp3 expired) *

*mp3 posted w/ permission of label

You can currently pre-order physical or digital copies of the album through the label’s website and mp3s will soon be made available on Amazon and iTunes…

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Loving Takes This Course: A Tribute To The Songs Of Kath Bloom is a beautiful two-disc set featuring new covers of Kath Bloom songs by Devendra Banhart, Scout Niblett, Josephine Foster, Corrina Repp, and The Concretes among others. The second disc in the set contains the original recordings by Kath Bloom, an excellent bonus feature that I wish other tributes would include.

This review has unfortunately been gathering dust in my draft folder since April, forgotten until I began writing about the new Judee Sill tribute. Strange how changing trends bring such brilliant, but obscure artists to light. I’m sure I’m one of many who was introduced to the music of Kath Bloom through her work with Loren MazzaCane Connors and the use of “Come Here” in Richard Linklater’s film Before Sunrise. But when I posted about Bloom’s music years ago (relevant posts here and here), I don’t recall seeing any mention of her elsewhere. Yet this tribute album has been all over the place in recent months – I would be remiss if I did not direct readers to the wonderful reviews of this album to be found at Cover Lay Down and My Old Kentucky Blog.

The covers selected for Loving Takes This Course are much stronger than those on the Judee Sill tribute. Whether this is due to the quality of Blooms’ songs or the talent of the artists covering them varies from track to track.

“Come Here”, for example, is such a pretty and uplifting love song that it would be difficult to ruin. But I definitely prefer the version by Marble Sounds that opens the album to the one by The Concretes that closes it. Both bands make some interesting, though vastly different, changes to the arrangement that give the song a fresh perspective. But Marble Sounds manage to do this while staying true to the delicate sweetness of the original.

I’m so thrilled this tribute includes “When I See You” (originally titled “When I Feel You Coming”), which is my absolute favorite Kath Bloom song and one of her collaborations with Loren MazzaCane Connors. There’s really no way to improve on Kath’s haunting original, but Laura Jean’s cover is still very good.

Devendra Banhart livens up the music of “Forget About Him”, and the song also seems to give the freak-folk singer’s voice new life. I love Scout Niblett’s voice, but miss the mandolin in her sparse rendition of “I Wanna Love”.

There are three covers on this album that I might like even more than Kath’s originals. Bill Callahan transforms “The Breeze/My Baby Cries” into a forelorn country tearjerker, Mark Kozelek paints “Finally” with an eerie shade of Nick Drake, and Corinna Repp’s fragile wail carves new shivers into “Fall Again”.

Track list for Loving Takes This Course: A Tribute To The Songs Of Kath Bloom:

Disc One: The Covers:

1. Come Here – Marble Sounds
2. The Breeze/My Baby Cries – Bill Callahan
3. When I See You – Laura Jean
4. Finally – Mark Kozelek
5. Window – Mick Turner (Dirty Three) & Peggy Frew
6. Forget About Him – Devendra Banhart
7. I Wanna Love – Scout Niblett
8. Biggest Light Of All – The Dodos
9. Look At Me – Josephine Foster
10. Ready Or Not – Mia Doi Todd
11. Fall Again – Corrina Repp
12. It’s So Hard To Come Home – Marianne Dissard & Joey Burns (Calexico)
13. In Your School – Amy Rude
14. If This Journey – Tom Hanford
15. There Was A Boy – Meg Baird (Espers)
16. Come Here – The Concretes

Disc Two: The Kath Bloom originals:

1. Come Here
2. The Breeze/My Baby Cries
3. When I See You
4. Finally
5. Window
6. Forget About Him
7. I Wanna Love
8. Biggest Light Of All
9. Look At Me
10. Ready Or Not
11. Fall Again
12. It’s So Hard To Come Home
13. In Your School
14. If This Journey
15. There Was A Boy
16. Come Here

Bill Callahan – The Breeze/My Baby Cries (mp3) *
Kath Bloom – Come Here (mp3) *

*mp3s posted w/ permission of Forcefield PR

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Crayon Angel: A Tribute To The Music of Judee Sill features Beth Orton, Ron Sexsmith, Final Fantasy, Marisa Nadler, Frida Hyvönen, and Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear among others covering the songs of folk singer-songwriter Judee Sill. The album will be released on September 22nd.

With the exceptions of Ron Sexsmith’s performance of the album’s title track and The Bye Bye Blackbirds’ take on “There’s A Rugged Road” (my personal favorite of Sill’s songs – Shawn Colvin’s version is also great), it seems Sill’s music is much better suited to female voices. The other male covers seem flat to me, and I’d much rather listen to Judee’s soft coos and operatic trills. But Beth Orton’s recording of “Reach for the Sky” and Frida Hyvönen’s rendering of “Jesus Was A Cross Maker” (my other favorite Sill song) are particularly good. And the stand out track is “The Kiss” by Marissa Nadler & Black Hole Infinity.

Track list for Crayon Angel: A Tribute To The Music of Judee Sill:

01 Ron Sexsmith: “Crayon Angel”
02 Beth Orton: “Reach for the Sky”
03 Daniel Rossen: “Waterfall”
04 Frida Hyvönen: “Jesus Was a Cross Maker”
05 Shalants: “Lopin Along Thru the Cosmos”
06 Final Fantasy: “The Donor”
07 Nicolai Dunger: “Soldier of the Heart”
08 Trembling Blue Stars: “Lady-O”
09 Colossal Yes: “The Phoenix”
10 Marissa Nadler & Black Hole Infinity: “The Kiss”
11 Princeton: “Down Where the Valleys Are Low”
12 The Bye Bye Blackbirds: “There’s a Rugged Road”
13 Meg Baird: “When the Bridegroom Comes”
14 Bill Callahan: “For a Rainbow”
15 P.G. Six: “Til Dreams Come True”

Daniel Rossen – Waterfall (mp3) *

*mp3 posted w/ permission of Forcefield PR

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