I worked a long day, bought dinner
on the way home and I’m squeezing this review in before I host a football pool
draft. After that’s over I’ll watch the conclusion of the Roger Federer and
Juan Martin Del Potro tennis match.
Sleep is for the dead, my friends.
Disc 1049 is…The End of the World
Artist: David
Greenberg and Harpeth Rising
Year of Release: 2012
What’s up with the Cover? An 18-Wheeler, which is not the
greatest mode of transportation for the end of the world. It’s imposing enough,
and can carry all your stuff but terrible on gas.
Of
course if you are some kind of post-apocalyptic warlord like Immortan Joe and
you can convert it to a war machine that makes it kind of worth it, but this
one just looks like a regular semi-trailer. Although its exhaust does form
words, which is kinda cool…
But I
digress…on with the rest of the subheadings!
How I Came To Know It: I discovered Harpeth Rising
through an article about them in Paste Magazine, and subsequently ordered their
entire catalogue (at the time) direct from the band. This was one of those.
How It Stacks Up: I have four Harpeth Rising albums, but only
one “David Greenberg and Harpeth Rising.” Since Greenberg has decided to take
top billing here, I can’t really stack it up against the other four. If I could
it would land somewhere in the middle.
Ratings: 3 stars
Over a
relatively small number of years Harpeth Rising has had many lineups but the
one constant is lead vocalist and violinst Jordana Greenberg. On this
particular iteration she adds her folk-singing dad, and even gives him top billing.
He does write all the songs, so I guess fair is fair.
On
albums without dad, Harpeth Rising are an unexpected but delightful mix of
chamber music, folk, jazz and pop. It is mostly folk, with the fiddle sounding like
a fiddle at least half the time and a banjo keeping time the rest of it. The
addition of the elder Greenberg maintains the sound, although his western
guitar and Guy Clark-style delivery tends to draw the record more solidly into
folk music.
Fortunately,
I love folk music and the slight shift served me well. Songs like “Senorita” are fairly stock in their
deliberate Mexican stylings and “Goin’ My
Way” is very early Bob Dylan (with flourishes of amazing banjo from the
incomparable Rebecca Reed-Lunn). Despite these obvious and pervasive influences
the songs are solid and succeed on their own merits.
Jordana
seems inspired by the presence of Dad on the record, and her violin (or fiddle,
depending on what she’s up to) is as good as I’ve heard her play. She could always
hit the notes, but on “The End of the World” she reaches another level of emotional
intention and restless energy.
The
singing duties are shared about evenly between father and daughter. David
Greenberg won’t win any singing competitions, but he has a knack for phrasing
and a good bit of gravel to make up for any lack of range. I’ve always liked Jordana’s
sing-song vocals but she isn’t a powerhouse vocalist either. Her vocals can
feel a bit cute, but they contrast well with the earthier sound of David and
the whole thing works well. When she switches to violin to provide the
lightness to his grit the effect is even better.
The
tracks have a nice range between slow and thoughtful and upbeat. There is also
a fair bit of social commentary, but they don’t beat you over the head with it,
and it never feels preachy or ill-placed.
“Goin’ Goin’ Gone” is one of my
favourites; a beat-forward ditty with a ton of energy and a few killer musical
solos. It feels very Kentucky bluegrass, and the restless energy matches the
lyrics about hitting the road very well. This is a song for heading out before
dawn at a fast pace, and continuing to accelerate as the sun comes up.
“Nowhereland” plays slower, but has just
as much verve, pushed along again by Reed-Lunn on banjo and an inspired vocal
from Jordana. It is an apocalyptic song bemoaning how far we’ve fallen off the
road of forgiveness and understanding. It cleverly crosses a slow military beat
with an almost hymnal delivery that belies an underlying optimism despite the
hatred it decries.
There’s
also a fair bit of truck drivin’ imagery and I can envision David Greenberg as a
truck driver in a previous life (maybe the current one, for all I know). “Truck Stop Mama” is so rife with
truck-drivin’ imagery it almost feels like it is mocking itself, but the elder
Greenberg keeps it between the lines.
Overall,
I like what David Greenberg adds to the band. I wouldn’t say I like it more or
less than Harpeth Rising on their own. I just like it…different.
Best
tracks: Goin’
Goin’ Gone, Nowhereland, Truck Stop Mama, Outlaw
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