Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
Steve Marriott Tribute: One More Time for the Old Tosser [Import]
Bach: The Complete Flute Sonatas
Barcelona Raval Sessions [Import]
Amazon.com
Is a Woman represents another reinvention for the ever-evolving Kurt Wagner and company: this time out they assume the sound of a late-night piano bar, and the results--utterly cool and completely irony-free--are thrilling. The songs are carried by pianist Tony Crow and stripped of their familiar brass and strings; Wagner's guitar is the primary rhythm instrument. Certain touchstones of Lambchop's sound remain--Paul Niehaus on steel guitar, Paul Burch on vibes, Deanna Varagona on baritone sax--but they appear infrequently, and in shadowy form. Throughout, Wagner's clipped phrasing and brilliant, confounding lyrics are the focus; his vocals are front and center, dredged up out of the orchestral bed that buried them on recent discs, and entirely forsaking falsetto. This may not be soul music--at least not in the Memphis-sound sense of that word that applied to the band's preceding albums, Nixon and What Another Man Spills--but it is deeply soulful. --Anders Smith Lindall
Album Description
This record is a subtly beautiful and haunting work of sparse melodies and emotionally rich storytelling. Merge Records.