Alela Diane's records are perhaps something of an acquired taste, but personally I absolutely love her mixture of Karen Dalton folk with the more esoteric style of Espers. First album, The Pirate's Gospel (2006) is a rejigged version of a self-released CD-R that she put out in 2004. It's a supremely confident record as far as self-recorded and self-released stuff goes and there is a singular personality to it which is quite arresting. It's a dark, moody folk record which centres exclusively around Diane's voice and untutored acoustic guitar. There are some great songs, but ultimately it suffers slightly from its unprofessional recording, despite being extremely well done. No such issues with second album, To Be Still (2009) which is a wonderful record. The songs are better written, more structured and the whole album has an unassailable coherence to it which makes it sound like a journey rather than a series of steps. The instrumentation is added to, with occasional banjo and brushed drums, but it's still all about Diane's remarkable voice (she throws in some breathtaking vocal curlicues) and the deceptively subtle simplicity of the melodies. It's a great record.
Third album, Alela Diane and Wild Divine (2011) is a more band oriented record, but it retains the essential character of To Be Still. There's more of a driving feel to the album, it has more fire in its belly (but that's not saying much to be honest), and in some ways it's an improvement, in some a detriment to what preceded it. The band arrangements for some of the songs are spectacular ('Elijah' for instance is fabulous) and some fall a bit flat and would have worked better if they were recorded with just Diane and her guitar ('Heartless Highway'), but the spooked out folk and old-time Americana feel remains perfectly and timelessly intact throughout nonetheless and on the whole its a really grand album.
From one great voice to another, but a marked contrast. Cara Dillon has possibly the clearest, purest singing voice I've ever heard. I think only Sandy Denny had a better voice in the folk genre, but even Sandy's voice had an edge of grit. Dillon's is crystal, absolutely pure, it's really quite remarkable, and she puts it to probably it's most perfect use. There's little folk purism about Dillon's albums, they often veer scarily close to a kind of lightweight folk-pop, but they're always just grounded enough to stay the right side of corny. In truth, even when they sound a bit light, they are still stunningly beautiful, and it's all because of the voice. Second album, Sweet Liberty (2003) is to my mind her best record (I don't think anybody else agrees though) because it has exactly the right combination of traditional tunes and originals (all co-written with husband Sam Lakeman) and they are all played and recorded with great care, and all showcase not only Dillon's voice but also her excellent interpretation. It's a beautiful album, full of a delicate melancholy leavening what can seem at first an excess of sweetness.
Third album, After the Morning (2006) is another great bit of interpretive modern folk, and although to my mind not as immediately successful as Sweet Liberty, it is still a wonderful record. The difficulty is that the band play more of a prominent role and it brings out the pop side of their approach too strongly. This isn't the Corrs by any nightmarish stretch of the imagination, but it is perhaps a little too well produced and a little too clean. It's a minor gripe though because Dillon and Lakeman's songwriting is as strong as ever and her voice is its usual perfection. Her most recent album, Hill of Thieves (2009) is an improvement again, showcasing Dillon and Lakeman's superb ability to interpret traditional songs in a way that makes them seem fresh and relevant, as well as writing originals that sit perfectly in amongst the traditional tunes. It's a lovely album, again shot through with an innate sadness that suits modern folk so well. It's no surprise that the mini folk supergroup Equation drafted Dillon in to replace Kate Rusby who is in many ways an earthier kindred spirit to Dillon. It's a charming album, much more deeply rooted in the folk tradition than After the Morning, and one which proves that folk music as a moderately mainstream concept doesn't have to sound like the kind of hideous stuff that tends to get churned out under the name of "folk". And that voice, good heavens.
And so on to something completely different. You're Living All Over Me (1987) was Dinosaur Jr's second album and the first to really crack the pop melody crossed with blistering noise combo that they made their own. J Mascis' songs really are lovely and the fact that they came out of a morass of squalling guitars and pounding drums really works beautifully. Everybody knows what Dinosaur Jr sound like pretty much, but You're Living All Over Me is a highlight primarily because it's messily recorded, leaving all the most grungy, scruggy mess of noise at it's most overwhelming, which is precisely what the sweet melodies need to make them really stand out. You're Living All Over Me also has Lou Barlow's first properly successful sound experiment in 'Poledo'. Of Mascis' songs the real standouts are 'Little Fury Things', 'Sludgefeast' and 'In a Jar' but to be honest there isn't a wasted moment on the album, it's all scrappy, messy, noisy gold. A single of 'Little Fury Things' was released with the album and it has 'In a Jar' and a superb (is it ironic? who will ever know) cover version of Pete Frampton's 'Show Me the Way'.
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