Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Hitdossier 70's, Vol. 1 [Import]
Music: The Rough Guide to Celtic Music
Aladin Und Die Wunderlampe [Import]
Your Body Is a Wonderland [CD-single] [Import]
Amazon.com
Almost You's power lies in naked, cut-to-the-quick takes on Elvis Costello songs by a bunch of mostly acoustic-leaning indie bands his fans should know. Hem finds the lovely melodic framework to "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" with a delightfully low-key, pedal-steel-tinged arrangement and vocals that fall between Emmylou Harris and Joni Mitchell. Kev Russell's Junker, featuring the underappreciated Gourds singer who gives the band its name, gives "Indoor Fireworks" a down-home Texas coloring that's dripping with doleful fiddle and singing saw. The torment of "Riot Act" gets a fabulous twist from Okkervil River, who opt for a dramatic alt-country take on the Get Happy highlight. The first organic tribute to Costello and the only one on which all songs were recorded specifically for the project, Almost You oozes with fondness for the gifted singer-songwriter. Reverence appears here in the form of muted beauty, and it's marvelous to hear. --Andrew Bartlett