2020 is shaping up to
be a great year for live shows. I’ve already been to two (David Francey and the
Beaches) and I’ve got five more on tap. I could tell you who they are, but why
spoil the surprise?
I’d love to see this
next artist live, and wouldn’t you know it, she’s in Seattle next Saturday. I
can’t swing that, so I comfort myself with the knowledge that she was only the
opening act. Instead, we’ll all have to settle for this album review.
Disc 1345 is…Lazy
Days
Artist:
Ana Egge
Year of Release: 2007
What’s up with the
Cover?
There is something comforting about lying down in tall grass in the summertime,
but maybe not in bare feet. Too many bugs.
How I Came to Know
It: I discovered Ana Egge
through her work as a backup singer on a Matt Patershuk album. “Lazy Days” was
just me digging through her back catalogue and buying every album I could get
my hands on once I was hooked on her solo stuff.
How It Stacks Up: When I last reviewed
an Ana Egge album I only had two of them, but I’ve since doubled that number.
I’m still on the lookout for two more but of the four I have, “Lazy Days” comes
in at #4. Hey, something had to be last.
Ratings: 3 stars
“Lazy Days” was exactly what I needed – a record
full of relaxing songs about summer just when I was getting fatigued from all
the cold and rain of the Canadian winter. The sun even came out today, and I
couldn’t help but think it was the universe tipping its hat to this happy sun-drenched
record.
“Lazy Days” is that rarest of beasts – a folk
concept album. In this case, it is an entire record of songs about the lazy
days of summer and generally doing as little as possible. It sounds like a lot
of repetition, but here you can’t get too much of a good thing.
That good thing is Egge’s gorgeous vocal
performance; sweet, full and heavy in the air like the scent of a hundred
blooming cherry trees, but without all the pollen that might make your eyes
water.
I was grooving along to all of these songs
when halfway through I recognized the Belle and Sebastian song “Summer
Wastin’”. At first I thought it was the only cover on the album only to
discover reading the liner notes that…the whole record consists of covers.
Turns out Egge has combed through her
knowledge of rock, folk and alternative music and found 10 lazy summer songs spanning
many decades, all of which fit together like they were made for each other. I’m
embarrassed to say I wouldn’t have known any of the others without looking, but
the album features songs originally by artists as disparate as the Kinks,
Stephen Stills, Arcade Fire and Gene Autry.
It is a testament to Egge’s skill as an artist
that she blends all the songs so seamlessly that you think they are all hers. I’d
have thought the same of “Summer Wastin’”, except that I knew the song
already.
I checked out a few of the originals and Egge
consistently gives them a treatment that is equal to the original or better.
Early returns were so good I even braved the original “In the Backseat”
by Arcade Fire on YouTube. I usually can’t stand Arcade Fire, and in its
original form that was true again. I’ll give Egge credit, though. Her version
was pleasant to listen to, and getting me to appreciate Arcade Fire in any incarnation
is no easy task.
While the arrangements vary from song to song,
Egge turns them all toward contemporary folk interpretations. When she does ‘rock
out’ it tends to get in the way of the song. This is particularly true for the Le
Tigre cover “Much Finer,” which features a groovy bass line, but some
not-so-groovy squawk-box shouts in the background.
Fortunately, Egge mostly finds the songs bones
and clings close to them, letting the melody draw that sweet voice along like a
river, low in late summer, meandering slow through a field. And while she lets
the songs work their magic, the record isn’t completely stripped bare of
production. There are layers here, but the layers serve to just make the song
feel full and slow.
On “Lazy Days” Egge pays homage to the summer
holidays, and she misses no opportunity to press that feeling home. The lyrics,
vocals and arrangements combine to give you a full soak in the delicious
experience of doing nothing. It may not be my favourite of her records, but it was
just the warm hug I needed on a cold winter’s day.
Best tracks: Sitting in the Midday Sun, Johnny’s Garden, It’s My
Lazy Day, Wastin’ My Time
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