Thursday 18 April 2013

Albums for Life: Joint 20: Josh Ritter: Animal Years/Declan O'Rourke: Since Kyabram

I miscalculated; my Top 20 was but 19.
Great, I could fill that void with one of my willfully neglected favourite classics. I sat pondering whether it should be 'Scott 3' or 'Scott 4'. After what seemed like an age, I gave up on the warbling intensity to peel spuds. Then the iPod gifted me 'Girl in the War' followed promptly by 'Galileo'.

Peter said to Paul "you know all those rules we wrote
are just rules of the game and the rules are the first to go"
Paul said to Peter "you've gotta rock yourself a little harder
Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire..."

Who puts the rainbow in the sky?
Who lights the stars at night?

Good advice and time honored questions.
Unremarkable fare but daily bread for sure.
Ritter and O'Rourke.
Who?
They are both unremarkable, low profile, under the radar etc...
No whiff of prima donna here...
Ritter is often dismissed as 'Dylan Lite'.
He's surely cheerier than Bob...



O'Rourke's modest minstrel muse is surely Sexsmith.
They both look like they've been let out of the care centre for the day...


The arrangements too are unremarkable but perfect.
It's the little things.
On 'Girl in the War' I love the cymbal after "I got a girl in the war Paul her eyes are like champagne" splash. Then 'they sparkle, bubble over, in the morning all you've got is rain...' 
Perfect.
On 'Galileo' I love the imperfect unwinding of the melody, then the high falsetto on "someone like you you and made them miiiiine..."
Sexsmith for sure.
Both albums are full of such moments.
If you want to take a punt on something unfamiliar I'd go for these two; imposters in my top 20 for sure. They are the unknown support that blow the main act off the stage.
Simple fare for sure.
Some days the best tastes are the simplest.
These are both fresh bread and unsalted butter to me.



5 comments:

  1. Love the Josh Ritter lp although I went for an earlier one. His new "divorce" lp is well worth getting. I bought the Declan lp but for some reason the hooks didn't take and I hardly played it so gong to have to dig it out and give it another go

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  2. If it's hooks you're after Dave I'd go for the follow up 'Big Bad Beautiful World' which is poptastic. The debut is a more intimate affair; well worth reinvestigation. His new album is getting mixed reviews and is overpriced. Will investigate when it comes down a bit. Amazon's pricing is all over the place! 'Ghost of Song' was meant to be a teaser that sold for £6.99. It was at £15.99 for the first 4 months on Amazon; effectively stillborn. Frustrating...
    Got the new divorce album. Blood on the Tracks it ain't but I'm enjoying it...

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  3. since hmv went south amazon have shifted a lot of their prices upwards

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  4. On Declan O'Rourke - the remark that "it's just natural and rootsy the way music SHOULD be played" raises my hackles a bit. Music can be totally artificial, and brilliant. Or rootsy and dull. Are they still heckling Dylan?
    Prefer the Josh Ritter anyway.

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  5. I think that I do too Seamus...

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