TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket
November 11, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of leaf mulch
A fascinating and ultimately tragic figure, producer/songwriter Richard Swift died at 41 from consequences of alcoholism in 2018. During his lifetime he played with Black Keys, Shins, and the Arc, in addition to producing for Damien Jurado, Nathaniel Rateliff, Sharon Van Etten, and many more. A short documentary called From the Edge Of America follows experimental soul/jazz/gospel artist Lonnie Holley into National Freedom Studio, Swift's compound in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Holley encounters a dilapidated piano with which he becomes obsessed, eventually recording his National Freedom EP. The doc portrays the humble Swift in his element, surrounded by bits and pieces of art and equipment. 4 Hits & a Miss is the Secretly Canadian label's effort to initiate the uninitiated, gathering a modest collection of Richard Swift's solo work within one sleeve, from his early lo-fi recordings as a Christian artist to his posthumously released recordings. Like his studio, the compilation introduces Swfit as a musical explorer, capable of Nilsson-esque piano pop, Brian Wilson inspired mini-symphonies, apologetic romanticism, and remarkable psychedelic soul. "Dirty Jim" from his posthumous Hex highlights that psychedelic side, like a ragtime Nathaniel Rateliff extending a final apology to his family: Every daughter in my home / Every one I've left alone / Sorry for the tears I gave you. "Atlantic Ocean" and "Buildings In America" exhibit Swift's genius for melodic steampunk tin pan alley (as one reviewer branded it), both self-conscious and occasionally transcendent, but typically composing within that cloud of his own self-doubt: I played your heart, but I broke two strings / Jesus Christ, you're a lovely thing. Most remarkable is the vintage soul represented by songs like "Broken Finger Blues" or "Lady Luck", impossibly soulful stuff recorded and played largely on his own, often sung in a flawed but beautiful soprano: My body is broken / My body is blue / Try to remember / What's it's like not to lose. On "Songs Of National Freedom", he sings, I made my way into the spotlight / Just to realize it's not what I want. Richard Swift is an artistic frontier well worth exploring, especially for fans of classic pop and soul. Prone to doodles and marginalia, his work isn't for everyone, but as this collection attests, some will find it endearingly essential: My name will go missing / But the songs will be here ...
--------------------------
As long as we're in lookback mode, let's make sure we don't take for granted the recently released remastered Super Deluxe box reissue of Elvis Costello's indispensable King Of America sessions from 1986. Nearly forty years on, the initial impact of the T Bone Burnett-produced album might be forgotten, how Costello decamped to Hollywood, leaving his Attractions behind for a crack session group featuring members of Elvis Presley's TCB Band, as well as Jim Keltner, Mitchell Froom, T-Bone Wolk, and more. King Of America sounded like nothing he'd previously released, just as it forecast so much of Costello's subsequent work. In addition to the wonderfully remastered original LP, the 97-track project includes solo demos recorded months prior, as well as outtakes and live tapes from a terrific 1987 show at London's Royal Albert Hall. Alternate versions the original songs are interspersed with Costello's run through country classics like "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and Ray Charles' "What Would I Do Without You". Another disc features outtakes from sessions with Allen Toussaint and Crescent City Horns, while yet another offers live recordings alongside roots music luminaries like Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Lucinda Williams and more. Elsewhere, there are early takes on songs that would appear on subsequent Costello records, as well as a handful of brand new re-recordings. At six-CDs, it's an admittedly overwhelming amount of music, but taken in reasonable doses, King Of America & Other Realms is a marvelous snapshot of the 31-year old's artistic vision that would not only go on to influence the latter half of his career, but the sound of roots music as well. Even without the treasury of bonus material, Elvis Costello's original fifteen-cut record remains essential for immediate classics like "Brilliant Mistake", "Indoor Fireworks", "Poisoned Rose" and "Sleep Of the Just". On the other hand, if six-CDs leaves you wanting more, Elvis Costello created an imminently listenable Spotify playlist of influences for Vanity Fair.
--------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment