CD Odyssey Disc 60: Irish Descendants

The next Disc on the CD Odyssey is the third consecutive entry from Canada. Yeehaw!

Disc 60 is...Look To The Sea

Artist: The Irish Descendants

Year of Release: 1993

How I Came To Know It: I heard "Last of the Great Whales" on CMT (Country Music Television). CMT is mostly bad, but once in a while they throw on some good Canadian folk music, and I caught it. The song was on this album so I went and bought it shortly thereafter.

How It Stacks Up: I have 5 Irish Descendants albums, and this is the first one I bought. I'd say it is #2 on my list, but it is pretty close to #1.

Rating: 3 stars.

Irish Descendants are straight-ahead, no-frills Canadian folk music, with the Celtic bent common to the Maritimes and Newfoundland.

These guys were four unattractive, out of shape guys who played great music. I couldn't find a good picture of the album cover, so I just found a photo of a bunch of them that captures their general down home look.

What they lack in style, they make up for in their ability to play and sing and write good folk music. This album is about half of their original stuff, and the other half traditional songs that they have arranged. Both are good.

Not unlike Cypress Hill, the Irish Descendants like to sing about a very short range of topics. However, instead of smokin' dope, killin' folks, and scorin' girls, the Irish Descendants stick more to Gettin' Drunk, Goin' fishin' and Hankerin' for Gals. You'd be surprised how different the results are.

This particular album is an old favourite, that I probably overplayed a little in the day, and so it doesn't make it into heavy rotation anymore. I love the sound of the mandolins and the celtic drum and the general "rolling" feeling that makes you think of the sea and coastal communities. Growing up on the coast in BC gives me an affinity for the other side of the country, and I hope one day to go to Newfoundland and explore her natural beauty (and maybe visit a traditional pub or two).

Some of these sea shanties are rollicking, like "Rollin' of the Sea" and some are sombre like "Go To Sea No More", and the Irish Descendants can sing both equally well. The humorous tracks like "Useta Love Her" are suitably humorous, despite the atrocious spelling, and the album overall is a good time.

There are certainly moments where the lyrics turn maudlin and knock you out of the moment, and there are places where they go for grandiose, but come off sounding a little bit like that fat dude who reads the news in the "Rome" miniseries. These moments are rare though, and they mostly hit the right mood for each song.

If you like folk music, this album is worth your money. If you don't like folk music, I wouldn't start here - it is pretty solidly in that movement. Ease in, my friends. Ease in. Before you know it, you'll be buying the Capercaillie boxed set and this album will seem like pop radio.

Best tracks: Rollin' Of the Sea, Useta Love Her, Fisherman's Song

Figurine: Hammer Bot

I've had a flurry of painting lately, so following closely on the heels of the Lunging Vampire, I bring you the equally deadly...Hammer Bot!

OK, not so deadly, but much funnier. This miniature is from a board game called "Robo-Rally", in which each player is a robot left in an abandoned factory. The robots race each other through the factory, avoiding malfunctioning laser beams, pit traps, and crushing walls (and each other). It is a hilarious good time.

We were lucky to get a rare copy of Robo-Rally which had unpainted metal miniatures (most of the later ones were painted plastic). Sheila and I each have four robots to paint - this is my third one, she has done one so far (just hasn't rolled as many).

Yes, we roll which miniatures we are going to paint randomly.

Anyway, here is Hammer-Bot.

I tried to give him a weathered look. Like he has been around the factory a long time and his once impressive red paint job is starting to flake away. I also thought he had a kind of sad "face" so I used the weathering to slightly anthropomorphize him.

Here he is from the back:

And here are the robots we've done so far. From left to right, we have "Tank Bot", "TV Bot", "Hammer Bot" and "Tonka Bot" (not the names they come with, but much better names after we were through with them).

Sheila did "Tonka Bot" and I did the rest. We agreed that all of them should have the same base (the arrow designates what way they are facing for game purposes).

These are all simple figs, that aren't hard to paint, but I really like their goofiness. Tank Bot and Tonka Bot are actually the same figure, but I added a cannon to Tank Bot to make him look a little different.

CD Odyssey Disc 59: Captain Tractor

Another album, another Canadian band! Not exactly Leonard Cohen this time, but still a good time...

Disc 59 is...Bought the Farm

Artist: Captain Tractor

Year of Release: 1997

How I Came To Know It: I first saw Captain Tractor on MuchMusic doing a video for "Last Saskatchewan Pirate" in about 1995 or 1996. That song rules, but I'll talk about it when I roll it - this album is their follow up to that one, so just me drilling the collection (such as it was at the time).

I actually saw the tour for this album back in 1997, when they came to town and played a local pub. It was an awesome show, so if you get a chance see these guys live do so - for a low cover charge you'll drink beers, and dance your ass off. When you're done, collect your ass and take a cab home - see Captain Tractor responsibly!

How It Stacks Up: I have 3 Captain Tractor albums (I used to have 4 but "Celebrity Traffic Jam" is awful). This album is a close second to the classic album that preceded it.

Rating: 3 stars.

Captain Tractor is a Canadian folk/rock band from the 1990s. They might still be making music now, but I haven't bought any of their discs since "Celebrity Traffic Jam" (see above).

Captain Tractor has that unique Canadian blend of roots rock with celtic/maritime folk. I have a soft spot for these kind of bands. In this case, Captain Tractor is from Edmonton - which is kind of funny, since they were made famous by the remake of "Last Saskatchewan Pirate".

"Bought The Farm" has a solid mix of songs. Some are breakup album songs, but they are good tracks about growing apart under the pressures of the road. I imagine this is the writer falling out with the woman who sings on the album that precedes this one, but is not to be found here.

Other tracks have a social commentary feel, about drug abuse or prostitution. These are right in the pocket of where such songs should be - they capture the emotional loss of the downtrodden, but don't come off preachy. Art should never be a speech, it should be a...um...well, a song. I really like these lines from "40 miles of pain":

"Who loves? What is love?
Standing in the rain
When your face paint becomes war paint
you can never wipe it off again
Who loves? What is love?
Standing in the rain
Does anybody here love Mary?"

Of course, Captain Tractor is best known for their fun, rollicking songs about drinking, carousing and various goofy fun things - often with Canadian referencing.

Although the single on this album, "Here We Go Again", is fun and serviceable, my favourite is "Frozen Puck to the Head", which tells the tale of a minor league hockey player who falls in love with a local diner waitress. The chorus is:

"Love hit him
Love hit him
Love hit him like a frozen puck to the head"

Now that's how you fall in love - Canadian style!

I also love all the references to my home and native land, also from "Frozen Puck"

"He was real quiet as he ate his meal
just listenin' to the radio play Rita McNeil"

And from "I Remember You"

"It's raining again in Vancouver
I haven't seen the sun in seven days
I'm sitting here in Kitsilano
Waiting for a chance to play."

Anyway, Captain Tractor is a rollicking good time. They have even inspired me to make an album of all songs about sports. You might say the idea hit me like a frozen puck to the head.

Best tracks: Here We Go Again, Frozen Puck to the Head, I Remember You, 40 Miles of Pain,

CD Odyssey Disc 58: Leonard Cohen

OK, since I am about to review one of the greatest records ever made, a quick announcement - right below this entry (posted earlier tonight) are some photos of my latest figurine - a "Lunging Vampire". I am quite pleased with it. Take a look if you are inclined.

That said, the next disc in the CD Odyssey (rolled randomly) is so good it features in the sidebar of this blog as one of the five "greatest...albums...ever."

Disc 58 is...Various Positions

Artist: Leonard Cohen

Year of Release: 1984

How I Came To Know It: As I noted in my first review of a Cohen album (way back in July when I rolled "Songs of Love and Hate") I have known Cohen since I discovered his poetry in junior high. Various Positions has been in my life almost as long - I think I bought this back in about 1989.

How It Stacks Up: The 10 studio and 1 live Cohen albums I have are all incredible. Amidst that incredible group of albums, "Various Positions" is #1. His first couple albums come close, but they get edged out by the musical growth Cohen shows on this album.

Rating: 5 stars, because sadly this system only goes to 5.

Succinctly put, "Various Positions" is a desert album island. Not only is the album strong throughout, of the 9 songs (Like Sabbath's Vol. 4, Cohen achieves greatness in under 10 songs), I'd say easily 5 of them are 5 star songs by any measure - about 7 are by my measure.

As ever, there is no greater pure lyricist as Cohen. It isn't really fair, I suppose. He was an award winning poet before he was a songwriter. Still, the work here is strong even for him.

I really like the range of topics on this album, and the range present even within each individual song. "If It Be Your Will" takes an intense personal commitment of love and make that love universal. "Hallelujah" wraps up personal love and religious love until you're not sure which he is singing about. "The Captain" takes a political protest, and turns it into an internal struggle of right and wrong.

This is an album where the lyrics will haunt you, while the siren's call of Cohen's oft-underrated music writing draws you in. The music isn't just beautifully written, it is also beautifully arranged, and whether it is strings or piano, or guitar, Cohen always seems to know just what instrument calls forth the right emotion to go with the lyrics. In fact, a big (and my first) shout out to Producer John Lissauer, for everything he might have had to do with that.

Some lines in these songs have stuck with me for twenty years, and I still revel in hearing Leonard sing them out. Here is just a sampling:

From "Heart With No Companion"

Through the days of shame that are coming
Through the nights of wild distress
Though your promise count for nothing
You must keep it nonetheless.

From "Night Comes On"

The crickets are singing, the vesper bells ringing,
the cat's curled asleep in his chair.
I'll go down to Bill's Bar, I can make it that far,
and I'll see if my friends are still there.
Yes, and here's to the few who forgive what you do,
and the fewer who don't even care!
And the night comes on; it's very calm;
I want to cross over, I want to go home,
but she says, "Go back, go back to the world."

From "If It Be Your Will"

It if be your will
that I speak no more
and my voice be still
as it was before;
I will speak no more,
I shall abide until
I am spoken for,
If it be your will.

This album has been with me through a lot, and at each stage, it has taken on new levels for me. When I was a single young man in my early twenties, it was a comfort to me when I needed it, and an inspiration when I sought one.

As I aged, it morphed seamlessly into something intrinsicly part of my married life. In fact, "Dance Me To the End of Love" is the theme song of my wonderful relationship with Sheila. We even have one of those corny stone plaques in the bathroom quoting the title.

It isn't corny for us. It's beautiful, and so is that song, and so is this album.

Best tracks: All tracks.

Figurines: Lame Bird and Lunging Vampire

It has been a while since I posted any painted miniatures. This is for two reasons.

First, it is football season, which tends to cut an entire day out of possible painting time, so it is a lot more slow going.

Second, I had recently painted a bird figure, but it was a disaster. I was going for a Prairie Falcon (I love doing North American birds of prey). This is what it was supposed to look like:


Unfortunately, it came out like this:

I'm sorry, what was that? Picture too small to see how well I did? What a terrible Blogger "accident".

Instead of looking at that, let's look at my recently finished "Lunging Vampire" which I think turned out a whole lot better:

I love this figure because he is charging at his foe, and he has a great facial expression. He was fun to paint and surprisingly easy.

Here is from a side view. I tried to do his two swords very differently - getting an old school metal look on his falchion and a weird alien-metal kind of feel for his strangely-shaped broadsword by starting with an undercoat of metallic blue.


I did a good job on his face, I think. Here is the "he's coming right at me!" pose.

Remember, kids. If you are out hunting vampires without tags or out of season, always yell "he's coming right at me!" before firing your crossbow.

Of course, this guy is wearing full plate mail and looks like he knows how to handle both his swords pretty well, so you're probably dead at this point. Die, poacher!

CD Odyssey Disc 57: Cypress Hill

My last random disc was actually some music made by a friend. I liked it a lot, but I think it unwise to review my friends' music, just as it is unwise to review their bathrooms. So I'll say I liked it plenty, and move on to Disc 57 - which was chosen by me under the "it's new" category.

Disc 57 is...Till Death Do Us Part

Artist: Cypress Hill

Year of Release: 2004

How I Came To Know It: I originally heard of Cypress Hill when my buddy Spence made an album of all the original artists doing the songs covered on Rage Against the Machine's "Renegades" album. Cypress Hill did the original "How I Could Just Kill a Man". I liked Cypress Hill, and this album is just me drilling into their collection.

How It Stacks Up: I have 5 Cypress Hill albums, but this is the most current one I own. I'd say it is 4th out of those 5.

Rating: 3 stars.

Cypress Hill is some awesome gangsta rap from some guys from the LA area that have been around since the early nineties.

In their first 3 albums, Cypress Hill basically sings about 3 things and only 3 things. These things are:

1. Killin' folks
2. Smokin' dope
3. Killin' folks trying to take your dope.

However, starting with their 4th album, they branched out and added a fourth topic of interest:

4. Scorin' girls.

This sounds really lame to listen to, but Cypress Hill is uniquely able to find new ways to make these topics interesting.

This particular album has a good song about scorin' girls called "What's Your Number?" which must have been some kind of hit (since it is advertised as being on the album with an extra sticker). I wouldn't know, since I don't listen to hip hop radio. I did note that this song is based off of the bass line in the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" which is pretty cool.

Other tracks cover the topics well, including Ganja Bus (#1), Another Body Drops (#2) and Last Laugh (#3).

I was never a big rap fan, so I am amazed that 5 albums in, I am still finding new things to like about Cypress Hill. Gangsta Rap is certainly no experience I can relate to, but the visceral quality to their music - mixed with a bit of black humour and a healthy dose of talent - is the right combination to get my feet wet.

This album is strong, particularly given that it is over a decade after their first release. Not many rap bands last that long, and for good reason.

In the end, you would be well served to just get Cypress Hill's first three albums, but if you wanted a fourth - you could do worse than "Till Death Do Us Part"

Best tracks: Another Body Drops, Ganja Bus, Busted in the Hood, What's Your Number?.

CD Odyssey Disc 55: KISS

Back to discs chosen. This one was both chosen by me, and chosen for me - read on to learn how this can be...

Disc 55 is...The Elder


Artist: KISS

Year of Release: 1981

How I Came To Know It: As I mentioned the last time I reviewed KISS, this is likely the first band I ever knew. In the case of "The Elder", it is the last KISS album I've ever got. For almost a decade now my buddy (and fellow KISS fan) Spence has been asking me "Did you buy KISS: The Elder yet?" and I dutifully answered no. I guess he got tired of waiting, because the last time I saw him, he just bought it for me. Very cool - thanks, Spence!

How It Stacks Up: I was really pleasantly surprised by this album. I now have 11 KISS albums. I'd say this is around 7th or 8th, which is pretty good. I'd say 7th.

Rating: 3 stars.

"The Elder" is KISS' concept album. In 1981 they wanted to do something different, and so Bob Ezrin suggested a concept album. While some shriek in horror at the notion, I am a notorious sucker for a concept album - no wonder Spence knew I'd like this one.

In this case, the story is about as schlocky as you would expect from a hard rock concept album. There is some horrible evil that appears "once in every age" and some wise dude known as "The Elder" is responsible for finding a training a champion to defeat the evil.

This may sound lame, but almost thirty years of role playing games makes this plot seem pretty basic and reasonable. All it needs is an added location where "everyone who has ever gone there never returns" that our hero can go to...and then return.

But never mind goofy concept album plots, how is the music you ask? Damned fine. The music is excellent, and KISS plays well on this album. It could use a little more Ace Frehley, and the track that sounds most like him (Dark Light) is not his strongest work, but I really love the KISS lineup when it is the originals, but with Eric Carr in place of Peter Criss. Each to his own, but I really dig Eric Carr's drumming.

It also helps that this album is produced by the undisputed King of Seventies Rock, His Majesty, Bob Ezrin. Ezrin does all kinds of great KISS albums, and a bunch of great Alice Cooper besides. He also rules the world of the concept album. KISS wanted the best; they got the best. Get it? Get it?

Anyway, the songs are predominantly strong (with the notable exception of the stinker "Escape From the Island"). I really like the ridiculously over the top (but awesome) Mr. Blackwell.

Overall, the lyrics read like they were written by me in Grade 6, as part of some dreamy project to turn a KISS record into a book that would then be made into some kind of rock and roll fantasy musical.

Of course, I deny ever doing such a thing. I didn't even know about "The Elder!" In point of fact my hard rock fantasy novel/screenplay opus was entirely based on "Destroyer" (God of Thunder was the bad guy's theme song). I find it funny that I would have been hard at work on my crazy idea in 1981...likely the same time as KISS. Let's just say their's is better.

Should you buy this album? Verily!

Best tracks: Only You, Under the Rose, The Oath, Mr. Blackwell

CD Odyssey Disc 54: Aimee Mann

Disc 54, where are you? Oh - right here. I guess you were lost temporarily...

Disc 54 is...Lost In Space

Artist: Aimee Mann

Year of Release: 2002

How I Came To Know It: I believe Sheila heard about Aimee Mann and this album in particular from an online friend a few years back.

How It Stacks Up: Since first hearing "Lost In Space" we've gone on to purchase all her solo albums, of which there are 6 (there might be a 7th, but is a Christmas album, so noooo thank you). I would put "Lost in Space" at the top of this list - tied for first probably with "The Forgotten Arm".

Rating: 4 stars.

For those who don't know, Aimee Mann is the former lead singer of the band "'Til Tuesday", which had a hit back in the 80s with "Voices Carry". Til Tuesday has 3 studio albums, and I've been diligently searching for them for a while without success. I don't anticipate they will be as good as Mann's solo work.

Aimee Mann is that rarest of beasts - good pop music. The arrangements are straight pop/rock, and there is no denying that. However, the songs are beautifully constructed, and about very adult subjects.

"Lost In Space" is an album that has a lot of imagery comparing drug addiction to love when the love is failing, but you're holding on to it anyway. It is pretty depressing stuff, which is a refreshing change for the usual vacuous offerings from pop music these days.

The first track on the album, "Humpty Dumpty" captures this feeling of being unable to repair something once beautiful. Following a couple of minor notes, Mann's ethereal and amazing voice leads us into our journey:

"Say you were split, you were split in fragments
And none of the pieces would talk to you
Wouldn't you want to be who you had been?
Well, baby I want that too.

"So better take the keys
And drive forever
Staying won't put these
Futures back together
All the perfect drugs
And superheroes
Wouldn't be enough
To bring me up to zero."

Ouch. Painful, but a nicely descriptive and evocative painful! Ah, art - making a painful experience of one person enjoyable to a bunch of others.

Many other tracks build on this idea of being unable to exit something you know is wrong for you. Pavlov's Bell sings about the learned reactions we know about from...er...Pavlov's Bell, and "The Moth" is a song about how a moth will burn its wings black and die before it will retreat from the flame that fascinates it.

This album comes very close to a concept album, except that each song clearly stands on its own. I don't think there are any bad tracks on here, and some are truly amazing like "Invisible Ink". Is this album worth 5 stars? Oh, so close. I'm going to hold out though, because I'm a hard marker (see sidebar).

When I am trying to get people hooked on Aimee Mann, this album is almost always where I start. Maybe I've got it for your birthday...hey, the first one's free, kid.

Best tracks: Many, including Humpty Dumpty, Lost In Space, This Is How It Goes, Pavlov's Bell, Invisible Ink

CD Odyssey Disc 53: Kris Kristofferson

I still have a backlog of 8 new discs to review (I've heard them all now at least once, but I'm mixing in a random disc every other time to keep things chaotic.

This entry is actually one disc, that was originally two records, so this review is a 2 for 1 deal, just like the album.

Disc 53 is...Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame AND To the Bone

Artist: Kris Kristofferson

Year of Release: 1975 (Who's To Bless...) 1981 (To the Bone)

How I Came To Know It: I have known Kris Kristofferson since my Mom listened to him when I was a child. I first reviewed him back on Disc 39 of the Odyssey, so I'll try not to be repetitive. Mom owned "Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame" so I know that album fairly well, but "To The Bone" I hadn't heard until I got this package deal.

How It Stacks Up: I have eight Kristofferson records now, of which I know six fairly well. "Who's To Bless" I'd put 2nd or 3rd. "To The Bone" is at best 7th, and maybe 8th.

Rating: "Who's To Bless" gets a solid 3 stars. To The Bone gets a bare 2.

I won't get into the basics on Kristofferson since I covered those back at Disc 39 (great songwriter, remade a lot, kick ass vampire killer etc.). I'll focus on these two albums.

Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame

I really liked this album, even with its faults. It is strong mix of political songs like "The Year 2000 Minus 25" which I think must be about the Vietnam War, to some strong 'booty call' work in "Easy, Come On" and "Stranger" to his tough break up stuff with "Who's To Bless And Who's to Blame"

This latter song I think was the "hit", but it is hard for me to tell. I grew up with this album, so all the songs sound very familiar. In any case, I really like the title track, which is a longing song about heartbreak, and how it is hard to lay blame in a failed relationship, because when things go wrong, they just go wrong - there aren't any clear cut villains.

More than his first album, this record augments Kristofferson's voice with back up singers and more interesting musical arrangements. As Sheila rightly pointed out to me, he is kind of an American Leonard Cohen (during Leonard's late 70s/early 80s sound). Did one of these artists steal the other one's sound?

It doesn't matter - as Kristofferson points out himself in "Don't Cuss the Fiddle":

Don't ever cuss that fiddle boy
Unless you want that fiddle out of tune
That picker there in trouble, boy
Ain't nothin' but another side of you
If we ever get to heaven, boys
It ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong
We're in this gig together
So let's settle down and steal each other's songs

Bottom line, while there are some forgettable tracks on this album, overall it is strong, with a few really memorable songs. Good for 3 stars.

To The Bone:

By contrast, 1981's To The Bone is simply not that strong of an album. It is a hard core break up/divorce album. These can work, but this one doesn't. Most of Kristofferson's talent is squandered in songs that come off as too angry or too pathetic. It is too bad, because I like his work, but every artist is due for a clunker once on a while. This album is Kristofferson's.

So my goal is to find a CD release with just "Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame" that has quality recording production. Then I can de-pair this terrible connection for ever more. Overall, though it is worth having. And although Sheila doesn't really like Kristofferson, I think we can all agree he is a good guy to have around if you are having a battle with vampires.

Best tracks:

Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame: The Year 2000 Minus 25, Stranger, Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame, Don't Cuss That Fiddle.

To the Bone: Magdalene, Blessing In Disguise

CD Odyssey Disc 52: Queen

The Odyssey returns to the island of classic rock (in this case, England).

Disc 52 is...The Miracle

Artist: Queen

Year of Release: 1989

How I Came To Know It: This particular album I picked up because I already loved Queen, and I thought the single "I Want It All" was one incredible rock anthem. After further review, that song is still awesome. I've had this album on tape and wore it out, and now my disc is looking a little sorry even - I can sing along to the whole thing, and frequently do. Yeah, that was me you saw at the traffic light.

How It Stacks Up: As I noted when I reviewed The Game, I have 13 of Queen's 15 studio albums. I'd say The Miracle is at the low end of those - maybe 10th, but it is still awesome, as pretty much every Queen album is.

However - of note this is one of the worst album covers ever. It could be the worst album cover in my collection. Even Freddie's moustache is missing.

Rating: 4 stars.

This album snuck up on me a bit. Often when I am about to listen to an album for the CD Odyssey, I can't help but think in advance what I will likely rate it.

In the case of "The Miracle", I expected a solid 3 star album. Yet, it surprised me. This album is more than solid, it is excellent.

Starting with the song I bought it for (I Want It All), which is a 5 star rock song, but the album is more than that.

This album has Queen expirementing with a lot of 80s sounds, like drum machine beats and other early electronic sounds that really damaged other albums from the late 80s (some of Springsteen's stuff comes to mind). Queen uses this stuff without letting it take away from their distinct sound. When it is ocassionally goofy, like in the song "Rain Must Fall", it is pretty clear they mean to be goofy.

In addition to this new element, this album has a fair bit of what we expect from Queen, in funky bass playing, the classic rock guitar of Brian May and Freddie's cabaret singing and lyrics.

I particularly noticed the bass licks on this album, which are very much at the forefront of a lot of the songs. John Deacon definitely gets his fair share of star treatment, particularly on "The Invisible Man" and "Breakthru" (both killer tracks in totally different ways).

While not my favourite Queen album, The Miracle is near the top of Queen's catalogue when it comes to showing their range - they really try a lot of different styles, and make each one their own.

I guess there isn't much to say - as my buddy Spence would say "just another great Queen album".

Best tracks: Khashoggi's Ship, I Want It All, The Invisible Man, Breakthru, Scandal, Was It All Worth It

CD Odyssey Disc 51: Lyle Lovett

The alternating between random and chosen continues. Today, we play Calvin ball and predetermine which disc is next. I picked this one because it has a remake of the Townes Van Zandt song "Loretta", which was on an album I just recently reviewed.

Disc 51 is...Natural Forces

Artist: Lyle Lovett

Year of Release: 2009

How I Came To Know It: I saw a Lyle Lovett video somewhere back around 1991 for the song "Here I Am", bought an album and have been hooked ever since. This album I saw in Vancouver shopping for CDs with my buddy Spence. It is the new release - it came down to the new Lyle vs. the new Kris Kristoffersen, and Lyle won this round - but Kris will get his due.

How It Stacks Up: I believe I have all of Lyle Lovett's albums. In any case, I have 10. I'd put this one around 8th. Hey - there's a lot of good Lyle out there.

Rating: 3 stars.

Ah Lyle - such a strange and compelling amalgam of super cool, and super goofy. When he is firing on all cylinders, his cool songs are mournful tunes sung with a deep bluesy pathos, and his goofy songs are whimsical, fun and catchy.

With "Natural Forces" he manages one half of the equation. His bluesy mournful, emotional songs are quite strong on this record - I would argue his best on that front of his last 3 records (dating back to 2003). Hence 8th place.

Songs like "Natural Forces" and "Bayou Song" have an honest yearning in them for open spaces, and natural beauty. Lyle is definitely reconnecting with a simpler life, and simpler pleasures. In fact, this record has a fairly strong thread of a yearning for the past, as though Lovett is recognizing how fame can slowly separate an artist from the basic things that matter.

Bayou Song in particular, is an understated emotional piece of music, with words that accompany that slow measured tone well:

There's a spirit that covers a bayou
A surface, quiet and calm
Slow, dark, vertigo water
Swallow me, feed me, float me to a land

Another beautiful track is "Sun and Moon and Stars" which tells the story of a man who has lived for most of his life pushing others away, and is now sitting in a bar, drunk, wishing he had companionship.

Lyle's softer songs like these always have strong arrangements, and they are beautifully and subtly produced (he has been with Producer Billy Williams faithfully since 1986). They take a couple of listens to appreciate, and they are worth it.

...ahem...

Remember how I said earlier that Lyle is at his best when his goofy songs are whimsical, fun and catchy? Well, these ones have only one element - they are catchy. You do not want a goofy, clunky, unfunny song to be catchy.

This album has two - Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel where the chorus is a constant repeat of "I'm gonna choke my chicken". After 3 listens, I still think at least in part, he means for us to think of what you are all thinking of. He could have at least added some variety by throwing in some "I'm gonna spank my monkey" here and there.

The other one is "Pantry" where the supposedly clever line is "Keep It In Your Pantry" - connecting imagery of the kitchen with faithfulness (pantry/pants - get it?)

Both get stuck in your head worse than the Hockey Night In Canada theme song.

The remake of Van Zandt's Loretta is excellent, and very different from Steve Earle's attempt of earlier this year (also excellent).

One other item of note, is the I have always loved Lyle's songwriting. In this album's case, of the 5 tracks I liked the best, only 1 (Natural Forces) is written by Lyle. I am OK with this - just something to note. It shows that when he isn't writing a good track, he is at least picking one.

Throw in a few other fairly strong tracks, and this album grades out at a 3. Could've been better without the goofy tracks, but without the goofy Lyle, we have no emotional balance with the cool Lyle. It is a package deal.

Best tracks: Natural Forces, Bayou Song, Don't You Think I Feel It Too, Sun and Moon and Stars

CD Odyssey Disc 50: Indigo Girls

I am starting to notice that in the late eighties and early nineties I had more than a passing interest in folk music...

Disc 50 is...Strange Fire

Artist: Indigo Girls

Year of Release: This album was released on an indie label in 1987, but then re-released when they signed with Epic in 1989.

How I Came To Know It: I was at a University party at a friend's house back in 1989, and she put this album on. I really liked it, and went out and bought it that week (on tape!). Thus began a fairly lengthy relationship with the Indigo Girls.

How It Stacks Up: I have 6 Indigo Girls albums. I'd say this one is about #3 on that list.

Rating: 3 stars.

For those who don't know, Indigo Girls are a two woman act from Georgia that came on the folk scene in the late eighties.

I really dig the Indigo Girls, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I still put them on from time to time - and it has been some time since I heard anyone else doing the same.

This particular album was originally an indie release, and it has a very raw quality to the production (similar to their more commercially successful self titled album).

The sparse production is actually a good compliment to their music, which is heavy on emotion and light on arrangement. Later on, they lose this a little and get too cutesy in the production room, but back in the day, Indigo Girls had a great energy.

Part of that energy is furious guitar strumming - in the folk guitar style. Folk guitar strumming is like the acoustic equivalent of punk rock's electric guitar strumming; both show very little in the way of musicianship, but they both sound great if the artist does it with gusto and puts their heart into it.

Indigo Girls definitely strum their guitars with authority - at times I think they are going to break their necks!...of their guitars.

A lot of the lyrics on this album are designed to appeal to English Lit students - like these from "Left Me a Fool"

Everybody loves you, and wants to know your story
You go riding out a mystery, concealed in all your glory
But when it comes to flesh and bone, you remind me of Shalott
Only made of shadows, even though you're not.

These might seem a bit schlocky unless you really dig references to Tennyson poetry. Fortunately, I'm an English Lit student (or was when I discovered the Indigo Girls). Also, I love Tennyson.

Strange Fire also features a remake of that 60s song "Get Together" that I've always liked. I once sang this song - disastrously - at Karaoke at the old Sherwood. Yikes. I remember the DJ trying to urge me to sing higher and hit the notes correctly. I'm not saying I hit the notes - but I'm sure everyone there agreed that my version had a "strange fire" all its own.

Besides, no matter how bad the entertainment got, the Sherwood featured sports trivia between songs. They'd read a sports question and the first person to guess correctly (out loud, so it was a bit of a crapshoot) won some gross eighties shooter, like a Prairie Fire or a Slippery Nipple or Sex On The Beach. It sounds lame now, but as a university student, it was like winning the lottery!

Anyway, getting back to the record, this album is not for everyone, but for folk-music loving English Lit types who like a well strummed guitar (we are legion!), it is for us. If you like that kind of thing, these two ladies do it very well.

Best tracks: Strange Fire, Left Me A Fool, Hey Jesus,

CD Odyssey Disc 49: Townes Van Zandt

Back to my own choosing again for this round of the CD Odyssey, and so I return to my new musical passion - Townes Van Zandt

Disc 49 is...Flyin' Shoes

Artist: Townes Van Zandt

Year of Release: 1978

How I Came To Know It: In my first review of Townes Van Zandt's work, I explained how I came to know him through Steve Earle's remakes album of his songs. I bought this album the same day I bought High Low and In Between.

How It Stacks Up: I still haven't heard all of Van Zandt's albums, because I've had a flurry of CD purchasing outstripping my ability to keep up with listening. I need a good session of painting to get there. For now, I'm going to say this album is not as good as High, Low and In Between - but it is still good.

Rating: 4 stars

I just can't get enough Townes Van Zandt right now. It is like finding the treasure of a lost civilization - in this case that lost civilization is the seventies.

This particular album is a fairly later one - Van Zandt's creative explosion is pretty much 1968-1972. After that he did 3 albums in the next 22 years, as he became progressively less able to function under the weight of addiction.

This album still showcases his considerable talent. As with every other album I have by him, songs from here have been remade quite freely by other artists that I greatly respect.

Lyle Lovett does "Loretta" on his new album, and "Flyin' Shoes" on his double album homage to Texas songwriters called "Step Inside This House". Steve Earle's remakes album covers both "No Place to Fall" as well as doing his own version of "Loretta". That means "Loretta" was remade by 2 artists in a single year (2009). That Loretta girl, gets around. Even I have given her a few spins.

Van Zandt's paints Loretta's portrait beautifully:

Loretta she's my barroom girl
Wears them sevens on her sleeves
Dances like a diamond shines
Tells me lies I love to believe
Her age is always 22
Her laughing eyes are hazel hue
Spends my money like water falls
Loves me like I want her to.

Lately, it is Van Zandt that has me spending my money like water falls, as I obsessively buy all his damned records. When will I stop? I don't know, but "Flyin' Shoes" only encourages me to keep going.

Best tracks: Loretta, No Place To Fall, Flyin' Shoes, When She Don't Need Me.