Per Amazon’s website the pairing of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss was like  putting together “the duo of King Kong and Bambi”; and they are right. Plant and Krauss are the last two I would have thought would collaborate.  To my surprise and delight, after listening to this album I would agree that they are the perfect pairing. 

As one would realize, gone are the days of the wild Robert Plant who’s antics included trashing rooms and riding motorcycles down the hallways of the Chateau Marmont Hotel.  This album seems to take its rightful place and home to todays more mellow Plant.  After Zeppelin it can be seen how Plant decided pursue more mellow outlets than he originally had been identified with, this can be seen with his 80’s project The Honey Drippers.   It has been known that Plant has an insatiable appetite for world music and a drive to explore different avenues and styles for his future albums.  If this album was to be Plants last (which it is not I’m sure) it would be the perfect ending to a musical life well lived.  However, I do not think we have heard the last from him.

Alison Krauss is a household name in the bluegrass world, she is one of the most sought after musicians in Nashville and often is featured as a guest on many bluegrass and contemporary country albums.  Although I’m not the biggest fan of country, I do appreciate bluegrass (Ricky Skaggs, Bill Monroe among my favorites), I must admit that I am a big fan of Alison Krauss and her band Union Station.  I highly recommend her live 2-disc album if you get a chance to grab it, simply incredible.  I’ve converted several of my friends that were ”anti-country/ anti-bluegrass” with that album.

Raising Sand is for playing on rainy days, background music when you are having people over for dinner, long car rides out to Buffalo, or cutting your cats nails.  It’s not for getting in the car and cranking it up really loud to relive your Zeppelin glory days.  Raising Sand is a sincere, well produced, and personal album that reflects the gifts of two excellent vocalists, two who compliment each other on every song.

The majority of songs on this album are soft and smoky, cleary a reflection of what producer T Bone Burnett can create with right combination of artists.  Burnett has produced albums for bands such as Counting Crows, K.D. Lang, and The Wallflowers.

Highlights of this album are cleary the opening song Rich Woman (nice use of harmonies and reverb together),songs Killing The Blues & Please Read The Letter;  both created the most noteriety for  much of this album.  Lastly,  Fortune Teller is a fun romp (possibly the most upbeat song on the album) full of reverb, raw acoustic bass, and Plant’s strong, emotional vocals.  Let Your Loss be your Lesson is one my favorites

Raising Sand gets 4 out of 5 in my humble mellow music opinion.

A selection of pieces from Caught By The River.

Embryonic Oct ‘09

The Dalston Mill Jul ‘09

Small Thoughts, Big Ideas Jul ‘09

‘Sleep Furiously’ Jun ‘09

Jeremy Deller’s Procession Jun ‘09

Iain Sinclair’s Hackney book Feb ‘09

Whatever Happened To My Rock’n'Roll? Jan ‘09

A Rescued Cat Dec ‘08

Here Comes That Weird Chill Nov ‘08

Raising Sand Live May ‘08

CAMRA Community Pubs Week Feb ‘08

No Country For Old Men Jan ‘08

Richard Long Sept ‘07

There are things in life that, when you experience them, you know they’re cool.  You see a cool movie, or you visit a cool place, and you tell everyone about it because it was cool.  There are also experiences that aren’t just cool, but very cool.  Not kinda cool – REALLY cool.  And then there those rare experiences that are so cool, that you feel like you yourself gained in coolness simply for having had the experience.  Listening t0 this album is like that.  Listening to this album makes me feel cooler.

Raising Sand is the first and only (to date) collaboration between Alison Krauss, the first lady of bluegrass, and Robert Plant, front man for classic rock giants Led Zeppelin.  Produced by prominent American musician/producer T-Bone Burnett, and utilizing the playing of some of the world’s top session musicians, the music can best be described as a “roots music” super group.  The vibe is dark, brooding, colorful, and incredibly interesting.  The songs are mainly covers from the 50’s and 60’s, with an eclectic variety of feels and sounds, but all in the classic “American folk” style.

As I mentioned earlier, this album is cool beyond the belief.  It’s cool because of the songs – witty and thoughtful lyrics with catchy but powerful melodies.  It’s cool because of the sounds – recorded beautifully with amazingly complex tones and interaction.  It’s cool because of the arrangements – fluid and easy, despite a surprisingly heavy use of odd meters and unsymmetrical phrases.  And of course it’s also cool because of the vocals – Krauss and Plant are an unlikely duet but work so well together (“one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music” according to Allmusic).

But the real reason this album is on the AEDSK list is the cool drumming.  Holy cow.  Jay Bellerose, a guy with very deep and impressive credits in the studio, is delivering on this record in a way that I’ve never heard anyone play.  His grooves, his feel, his sounds, his ideas… they are all amazing and so inspiring.  You know that “loose and jangly” feel that americana/folk fans talk about?  Bellerose DEFINES that sound on this record.  You know that mysterious “between-swing-and-straight” pocket that everybody wants to get into?  That’s where Bellerose LIVES for this entire album.  You know that vintage “deep-but-dead” tone that’s so popular in the studio right now?  Bellerose is a passionate expert on vintage gear, and he nails the sound on every track… but in a way that keeps it simultaneously classic and fresh, not just trendy.

For example…

The groove on “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson” is the funkiest sounding train/backbeat I’ve ever heard, and then just try and wrap your brain around his pocket during the guitar solo on that tune, not to mention the fill into that section (2:56).  Then check out the kick/ride tone on the opening track, “Rich Woman,” and don’t miss the triplet fill after the final choruses (3:10).  Listen to the nuances of the one-handed brush feel on “Killing the Blues,” and the tasteful addition of the ride at the slide solo.  “Polly Come Home” has so much space… the room he leaves for everyone else is so effective but so difficult to pull off.  “Gone Gone Gone” is the coolest treatment of a tumbau pattern.  The deep cowbell sound on “Sister Rosetta” is so left field but so perfect.  I mean, what is going on with the cymbal/floor tom groove on “Fortune Teller”?  How about the awesome but completely unorthodox pattern on the out choruses of “Please Read the Letter”?  I could go on and on.

Raising Sand is well worth your money and time to buy it and listen to it.  Make it happen.

In the digitized computerized compressed treble-drenched fluorescent 99-cent disposable downloadable candy-coated cookie cutter MSGed MP3ed airtight televised stifling stalled casino elevator that is generously referred to these days as modern music, it can get a little hard to breathe. Somebody needs to open the window—preferably with a well-thrown brick—and let a little sun and wind in. Luckily, every once in a while, somebody does. More often than not lately, that somebody is T-Bone Burnett.

A truly brilliant producer, and a gifted musician and songwriter, he was born Joseph Henry Burnett in St. Louis in 1948 and raised in Forth Worth, Texas. At just 14, he started wandering out on to the Jacksboro Highway, headed for the dilapidated Skyliner Ballroom to catch performances by the likes of Junior Parker and Bobby “Blue” Bland.

“The way that room sounded is the sound I’ve been going for on every record I’ve ever done,” Burnett told Mix Magazine in 2006. “I’ve just learned more and more about how to do it. It’s been a long time of figuring out how to make it sound as exciting on a record.”

Burnett put together his own recording studio while still in high school and spent his free time recording his friends, and occasionally himself. He stops far short of calling himself a prodigy, though. “I was really bad. That’s what would distinguish me from a prodigy.”

In the early ‘70s, Burnett left Texas for Los Angeles. By 1975, he had landed a spot playing piano and guitar in Bob Dylan’s legendary Rolling Thunder Revue. At the tour’s end, Burnett formed the Alpha Band with fellow Rolling Thunder veterans David Mansfield and Steven Soles and released three critically acclaimed albums before calling it quits.

After a solo career that found Burnett creating albums that generated universal critical praise but modest sales, he dedicated himself to producing. From the crisp roots rock of Los Lobos’ How Will the Wolf Survive? to the gorgeous, fragile acoustic ballads of Elvis Costello’s King of America, Burnett brought a deep breadth and a refreshing sense of space, tone and timing to his production.

Eschewing the heavily synthesized, compressed production process so popular and prevalent in the 1980s and ‘90s, Burnett helped create music that now seems timeless. He did it with young artists inspired by heroes Burnett shared—the Wallflowers, Counting Crows, the BoDeans, Sam Phillips, Gillian Welch—and he also did it with the true heroes themselves. Burnett is responsible for the Roy Orbison concert film masterpiece A Black & White Night and Orbison’s Grammy-winning last album Mystery Girl, and also later albums by legends like Ralph Stanley and Tony Bennett.

It is Burnett’s ability to make music resonate with tradition, without using that tradition as a gimmick or some kind of shtick, that led to two of the most artistic and commercial pleasant surprises of the past 20 years.

In 2000, Burnett composed the score and produced the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou? Featuring such artists as Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanly and Gillian Welch delivering stunning interpretations of traditional American folk, blues and bluegrass songs, the album was a massive, grassroots-driven smash hit. It sold more than 7 million copies, earning a Grammy and awards from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, introducing a new generation of music lovers to the rich hidden history of American music.

Just as surprising is the oddball pairing of Alison Krauss with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant on last year’s terrific Raising Sand. Burnett produced and plays guitar on the album as Krauss and Plant weave incredible harmonies through songs by Townes Van Zandt, Mel Tillis, Tom Waits, Gene Clark, the Everly Brothers and Doc Watson. Even after going platinum, being heralded as one of the best albums of the year and winning the 2009 Grammy for Album of the Year, it still seems like a weird idea. Who would ever think to pair one of rock’s grittiest and most legendary lead singers with one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass, much less propel them with slapback echo, reverb and swaying vibrato through a set of obscure songs written by some of music’s greatest unsung heroes? You’d have to be a genius to pull that off. Luckily, there was one on hand.

“What I am shooting for is to make music that is as good as music gets,” Burnett told Charlie Rose last year. “Why not?”

–Ari Surdoval

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant doing the Everly Brothers’ “Gone Gone Gone” from the Burnett-produced Grammy winner Raising Sand.

What makes you weak in the knees?  Here’s my list:

1.  Robert Plant’s voice in many songs, but particularly in on the Raising Sand album he did with Alison Krauss, during the third verse of “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us” where he’s singing harmony, and on the song “Please Read The Letter” when he sings “my house was full of rings and charms and pretty birds.”  If you’re ever in a car next to me and see my eyes roll back in my head, you’ll know what’s playing on the stereo.

2.  The Dire Straits song “Romeo and Juliet” where Knopfler sings  “All I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme…”  I think it’s the most charming line of any song I’ve ever heard, Romeo telling Juliet all the things he can’t do, but pledging just to love her the only way he can. 

3.  Find your significant other.  Put their hand palm up in front of you and run your fingers from the crook of their arm down to the wrist.  *sigh* Now go have a cigarette.  I’ll wait for you.

Back now?  Okay.

4.  A clean house, perfectly tidy with everything put away and no cooking smells.  Seriously, I’ve been known to almost swoon in a perfectly staged home for sale.  If I have a house showing where the home is perfect and I return home and the dishes are done and everything is picked up and clean, with no TV on, let’s just say my husband ends the evening a very happy man.  Very happy.

5.  Walking out of an air-conditioned building into a sunny and very hot day.  That first 30 seconds of intense heat after being chilled is pure pleasure.

6.  Cold ice cream with hot fudge sauce.

7.  The guitar solo in the middle of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”

Your turn.  Share please!

originally performed by robert plant & alison krauss, from the cd raising sand.

copyright © 2009 fearless spirit media. all rights reserved.

Another favorite song. -

Nothin’ by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

The CD, Raising Sand, that this comes from is wonderful. This song is magical. Robert Plant has always been one of my favorite singers, the voice he has in this song… God, I can’t even describe. Truly like sex. Just low and slow and sexy and… unh, was it good for you, too? When I listen to it while wearing headphones, it’s like he’s whispering it. Even better… “Sorrow and solitude These are the precious things And the only words that are worth rememberin’ “

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5LYORzdJjs

Today’s Monday Moment is MUSIC!

I must have been under a rock, but these two music videos are awesome (the music is…)

I bring you Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

“Gone, Gone, Gone” a remake of The Everly Brothers and “The Fortune Teller” a cover of The Rolling Stones.

Make today your best Monday EVER!

Raising Sand – 2007

Raising Sand, a collaboration between Zeppelin legend Robert Plant and bluegrass heroine Alison Krauss, was produced by Americana expert T-Bone Burnett, and is a lesson in pitch-perfect musical production.  It’s an album of mostly covers, given a breath of new life by the unlikely harmony of two very different singers.  Without a doubt, the greatest success of the album is hearing Plant and Krauss sing together; their voices blend together into a sultry, warm intonation that lend an air of wisdom and worldliness to the lyrics.

All of that said, the album is very low-key, and also quite long.  There are 13 tracks here and nine of them are over the four-minute mark.  It’s easy to appreciate the extra-refined production value and rich instrumentation, but listening to Raising Sand is a commitment that requires effort.  It’s best savored as mood-setting music, and there’s every type to be found: sexy and confident, forlorn and heartbroken, haunting and creepy, atmospheric and earthy.  This is due to Burnett’s finesse, the outstanding musicianship (the studio musicians were some of the best in the business), and of course, the absolute professionalism and brilliant vocals of Plant and Krauss.

Each track has its own merits, but there are definitely essential ones.  The first track, “Rich Woman” has a classic stalking blues rhythm plus a swampy reverb, and Plant and Krauss are at their most alluring here.  “Killing The Blues” is a gorgeous country-folk song where the vocals dance effortlessly over the sweet and lulling music.  Krauss goes solo on “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us” a creeping, gypsy-tinged track filled with emotion thanks to Krauss’ pure voice.

One of the more upbeat songs is the classic blues-rock “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)”, and it’s a welcome change of rhythm that is allowed to be just a touch messier than the rest of the album.  “Please Read The Letter” is the most heart-wrenching track on Raising Sand.  Krauss provides the harmony here to Plant’s lead and there is an incredible amount of frank desolation in their voices.  I also like “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson” because Krauss comes out of her shell and delivers a sassy, countrified vocal that is markedly different from her carefully restrained performance on the rest of the album.

Raising Sand won the Grammy for Album of the Year at the 2009 ceremony.  While I think that maybe it could have benefitted by having a couple less tracks (hey, just more material for another great album!) and perhaps even being dirtied up a little, there’s no arguing with the fact that Plant and Krauss an exceptional duo, possibly one of the best duet pairs ever.  That and the terrific quality of the music here are the best reasons to own this album.

]]> http://joelfrancis.com/2009/06/19/elvis-costello-secret-profane-and-sugarcane/ Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:27:12 +0000 thedailyrecord http://joelfrancis.com/2009/06/19/elvis-costello-secret-profane-and-sugarcane/

By Joel Francis

When Elvis Costello picked up an acoustic guitar in the mid-‘80s after two baffling albums full of horns and keyboards, the result was one of the high points in Costello’s already-great discography. Costello teamed with producer T-Bone Burnett for that album, “King of America,” and 23 years later the two are back together for “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane.”

Costello has never quite eclipsed that peak, settling into a pattern of churning out reliable genre exercises in country, jazz, classical and rock and collaborating with Burt Bacharach, the Brodsky Quartet and Allen Toussaint. Burnett, on the other hand, has become the go-to man for Americana/roots recordings, winning a Grammys for his production on Robert Plant and Allisson Krauss’ debut album and the “O Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack. The reunion of Costello and Burnett creates an accessible entry point for a public that reaches beyond his usual audience of the core and the curious.

Unfortunately, the magic that sparked “King of America” is absent on “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane.” While Burnett has rounded up an all-star cast of bluegrass musicians, the music feels like a stiff genre exercise. It is almost as if Costello is guesting on his own “Pickin’ On” tribute, or starring in “O Brother Where Art Costello.” Costello’s decision to revisit two songs from his back catalog reinforces this notion. “Complicated Shadows” was a great Johnny Cash-inspired slow-burning rock song in its original incarnation back in 1996. Here, it’s half the length and feels like Costello slapped his old lyrics over a generic bluegrass arrangement.

It neither helps nor hurts the listening experience to know that these songs were culled from an unfinished opera about Hans Christian Anderson, previous albums and leftovers from other projects. With little exception, they are all painted with the same brush and do little to distinguish themselves from the gray wash of an album that is neither offensive nor interesting.

The songs that do stand out are the two co-written by Burnett and Costello. “Sulphur to Sugarcane” is an extended innuendo delivered with a broad poke in the ribs and exaggerated arched eyebrow. It recalls the routines of Dusty and Lefty, the off-color cowboy duo played by Woody Harrelson and John C. Riley in the film “A Prairie Home Companion.”

“The Crooked Line,” however, is a standout in the good way. This next-to-last tune rewards the listener for nearly making it through the album with the harmony vocals of Emmylou Harris. Harris may be the best and most underrated duet singer in music. She consistently works harder on her supporting vocals than most singers invest in their singles. Her voice soars, subtly complimenting the melody, adding a mesmerizing countermelody. Whether on Lyle Lovett’s “Waltz Through the Bottomland” or Bob Dylan’s “Mozambique,” her voice never ceases to inadvertently creep into the spotlight and eventually command full attention.

Drawing on the chemistry she and Costello established in their previous collaboration on his “Delivery Man” album and subsequent tour, Harris doesn’t disappoint on “The Crooked Line.” Like a jazz musician breathing life into a trite pop standard, Harris signing salvages a ho-hum song and arrangement and turns it into something worth repeated listens.

“Secret, Profane and Sugarcane” has been released on Starbuck’s Hear Music label, and it seems a perfect fit for the latte-drinking, NPR-listening caricature scribbled up in political circles. For this audience, Costello’s name means maverick, Burnett’s means quality and the country-folk stylings make it unique, yet comfortable. But fans of Costello, Burnett and bluegrass alike can do much better than this.

Sabe, por mais que a banda negue que um disco que por ser diferente do seu estilo habitual causará polêmicas, sabemos que na realidade as coisas são bem diferentes. Ganham uns poucos fãs, mas e os seguidores de longa data ?

Isto escrevo porque dediquei meu dia hoje para, felizmente pensava eu ao me propor, escutar os novos trabalhos de Franz Ferdinand, intitulado “Tonight” e da parceria de Robert Plant e Alison Krauss.

ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS – Raising Sand

Bem, começando pelo laureado álbum do vocalista do Led Zeppelin e da sua mulher, que para minha surpresa dominou os Grammy deste ano (surpresa por não ter ouvido falar antes, e não pelo dueto em si), ganhando inclusive o prêmio máximo da noite, de melhor gravação do ano. Assim como o Oscar, para me fazer entender, há lobby e LOBBY. Digo que foi isso que justificou os prêmios. Porque, convenhamos, oooo disquinho mais fraco esse.

Não adianta dizer que é por ser um estilo totalmente diferente do metal do oLed, porque falta energia de qualquer jeito. Não chega a ser ruim, mas está bem abaixo de uma média razoável. Sim, o single é mais pop (cara de MTv as 00:00 hs), mas as músicas em geral são arrastadas, e como cantora Alison Krauss deveria ficar mesmo é no karaoke da família Plant. Só para citar, a música ‘Through the Morning, Through the Night‘ parece ter saído de uma comédia romântica de Ashton Kutcher com uma lição de moral no final. Sentiu o drama ? Passa longe desse disco.

*****

FRANZ FERDINAND – Tonight

Agora, um papo mais revoltado. Revoltado pois tinha numa estima (ainda tenho na verdade, porque sei valorizar bem o legado) do Franz Ferdinand. Já apontados como o U2 dos tempos contemporâneos, e para mim, uma poucas coisa que realmente se destacaram no seu estilo na última década o mais novo trabalho veio como um balde de água fria. Perdão aos trocadilhos mas ‘Tonigh’ nós não vamos mais escutar esse lixo. Mesmo tendo eles anunciado que o CD seria um álbum mais dançante (meio vago, né ?) não significa que a qualidade seria boa ou não.

Um fracasso na medida da expectativa. Para quem não produzia algo novo há um bom tempo o nível das músicas deixa muito a desejar, algumas, segundo minha opinião, são enjoativas e um desperdício de dinheiro ou HD. Por que trocar o estilo da banda ? Os maiores hits da banda (ex. ‘Take me out‘, …) sempre tiveram uma batida mais rápida e bem ritmada mas tínhamos um rock de boa qualidade que conquistou fãs pelo mundo. Esses mesmos foram agora desrespeitados pela carência da banda de fazer algo mais pop. Tudo, fazer um disco nesses moldes nunca matou ninguém. Mas então que faça direito, assim como Queen já fez e recentemente o The Killers fez no seu novo álbum.

Enquanto temos um single para não passar em branco nas rádios (‘Ulysses‘) que ainda é a melhor coisa do CD (mas está muito longe do que a banda já fez um dia) temos um número que parece infindável de músicas remixadas, um disco mais de estúdio que qualquer coisa, que faz as faixas ficarem chatas e você contando os segundos para acabar (pessoalmente conheço DJs que fariam ou no mesmo nível ou melhor).

*****

Para ambos os casos tenho esperença, pois quem já escutou ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ ou ‘The Dark side of matinee‘ sabe do que estou falando.

Concordas comigo ? Mas já vou avisando, se discorda use de palavras com educação, palavrão e ofensa só com os Call Centers.

Aqui não.

]]> http://cdnrose.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/in-the-finest-led-zep-traditionbootlegs/ Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:00:44 +0000 cdnrose http://cdnrose.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/in-the-finest-led-zep-traditionbootlegs/

Listening to bootlegs of the live shows…

And, seriously, I don’t think anyone could ever’ve guessed that Allison Krauss would ever, ever, EVER perform any arrangement of Black Dog - anywhere!

It makes me happy that she did though – proves anything really is possible…

Ta! Heather

This is the first of a handful of upcoming posts dealing with the Grammy Awards. Because this is a music blog!

On Grammy Sunday last week, Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times live-blogged throughout the day, reporting winners and providing some color commentary about the annual celebration of the best in music. He opened up the live blog with a hopeful prediction: “In about eight hours, Radiohead’s “In Rainbow [sic]” will have been named album of the year, rocketing the Grammys back to relevance. OK, so that probably won’t happen…” Let me first break down this statement. 

Martens is implying, like many music fans have done over the last several years, that the Grammy Awards are no longer a relevant indication of the best in music. However, if Radiohead wins Album of the Year for In Rainbows (yes Todd, it’s plural), then the Grammys will suddenly become relevant again. “Why,” you ask? Because Radiohead is an incredibly talented and innovative band with an enormous following that hasn’t quite managed to find a place in the consciousness of music’s mainstream media or casual listeners (although, Rolling Stone, the most mainstream and well-known authority in music journalism, has given four stars or more [out of five] to every one of Radiohead’s albums except for Amnesiac, which received three and a half stars). A Radiohead victory will mean a new era, as the Grammys will begin to recognize a greater collection of more eclectic music for its top honors. 

I completely disagree with these sentiments and conclude that if the Grammys are not relevant in 2009, then they were never relevant. Bear with me as we take a journey through time and explore some past winners in the four major categories* of the Grammys.

1969 
Album of the Year: Glen Campbell – By the Time I Got to Phoenix
Record of the Year: Simon & Garfunkel – “Mrs. Robinson”
Song of the Year: Roger Miller/O.C. Smith – “Little Green Apples”
Best New Artist: Jose Feliciano

1979
Album of the Year: Soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever
Record of the Year: Billy Joel – “Just the Way You Are”
Song of the Year: Billy Joel – “Just the Way You Are”
Best New Artist: A Taste of Honey

1989
Album of the Year: George Michael – Faith
Record of the Year: Bobby McFerrin – “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
Song of the Year: Bobby McFerrin – “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
Best New Artist: Tracy Chapman

1999
Album of the Year: Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Record of the Year: Celine Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
Song of the Year: Celine Dion – “My Heart Will Go On”
Best New Artist – Lauryn Hill

2009
Album of the Year: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand
Record of the Year: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – “Please Read the Letter”
Song of the Year: Coldplay – “Viva La Vida”
Best New Artist: Adele

Over the last 40 years, there has been a decent mix of eclectic Grammy winners and super-mega-sensation Grammy winners. Remember Jose Feliciano? The Puerto Rican guitar virtuoso who was catapulted to fame because of his bastardized cover version of the Doors’ “Light My Fire.” “Mrs. Robinson” and “Just the Way You Are?” We look back now and say, “That’s good music,” or “Music was just better back then,” but these songs are the epitome of pop, mainstream music for mass consumption. I’d even argue that this year’s winners are more eclectic and far-reaching musically than many of the winners of the past. The former frontman of Led Zeppelin collaborating with Alison Krauss for a blugrass album? A 20 year old British girl keeping the throwback female blues/soul genre alive? Give me that over “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” any day of the week. 

So no, Radiohead didn’t quite shock the world this year at the Grammy Awards, but the ceremony is still as relevant as it’s ever been. 

*For those not familiar with the distinction, Record of the Year is awarded to the producer and performer of a song, while Song of the Year is awarded to the songwriter. Album of the Year is for an album.

The epic string, Cranky with the Culture never really seems to end, but for myself the awards season in both music and film are a reason for optimism. The fact that the Plant-Krauss-Burnett collaboration, Raising Sand won all the major Grammys and that Slumdog Millionaire is the odds on favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar seem to be signaling the rise of a certain kind of authenticity in our culture. And it isn’t just the Academy peers that support these two projects. Raising Sand is currently the number 1 album on Amazon and number 3 on I Tunes. Slumdog has made $75 million in North America and $55 million internationally.

I know the word “authentic” is culturally loaded, but it seems to apply to both works. The 5 piece band T-Bone Burnett assembled for Raising Sand is both amazingly original and yet centered in shuffle beats of great R & B and what Plant described as “the Shimmy” of Bo Diddley and other Chess stars. As to Slumdog, Danny Boyle’s direction is both kinetic, and in the neo-realistic tradition that goes back to the Italian street pictures like Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief. There are no actors you recognize, nothing to take you out of life as it is really lived on the streets of Mumbai. And yet, like Raising Sand, its humanity is right out there–not buried in some pseudo hip ironic frame.

Release Date: October 23, 2007

Album: Raising Sand

Rating: ★★★★½ (91 out of 100)

Review: This album is a mix of haunting folk rock, ambient American bluegrass and country fusion that sounds unfamiliarly familiar. The 2009 Grammy Award winning “Album of the Year” is an experimental project between country artist Alison Kraus and former Led Zeppelin rocker Robert Plant. The album is a collision of two worlds that makes for some extremely interesting musical fare. The album really deserves to be heard in its entirety as a complete work of musical art. But, certain songs tend to steal the show, such as the creepy and absolutely addicting Trampled Rose. Listen to Alison’s voice as she harmonizes perfectly with the instrumentalism on the track at times completely blurring the distinction between her voice and the strings. Killing The Blues is also a very enjoyable track, one of a few where Robert’s electric guitar takes center stage without taking away from the other aspects of the track. The overall sound quality, songwriting and flavor of the album leave little to be desired. It’s really an innovative album in nearly every sense and the end result of such an unlikely pairing of musicians is an award-winning folk rock album that is sure to please fans across several genres.

http://www.orangekarmarecords.com

1. Weighed in at WW this morning, I’m down 2.2 lbs which made me happy after a .7lb gain last week. That’s over 16 in 6 weeks. Slow but steady right?
2. I have not used the outrageously expensive walking shoes enough since purchasing them Saturday. I’m back to the Y tonight.
3. I’ve banned all things Chris Brown from this house and vow to change the station if he comes on the radio.
4. I watched the Grammys on Sunday night. I love Robert Plant as much as the next person but after he and Alison Krauss won everything I decided to give Raising Sand a listen( I’ve avoided all things Robert Plant since the whole HoneyDrippers “Sea of Love ” fiasco). I wasn’t impressed at all.
5. A good Grammy thing -  Radiohead’s performance of 15 step.
6. I missed Obama’s presser Mon night because the dog ate my cable ( yes, seriously) but after following up. I still like what he’s ssaying even if Wall Street didn’t. I have hope again.

Ciao !

Robert Plant, best known for his time as lead singer of the 70’s mega rock band Led Zeppelin, has made quite a solo career for himself in the time following his Led Zep fame. The other night at the 51st Annual Grammy’s shows that the 60 year old rocker still has it. The Album, which he preformed with Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand” took home 5 prizes in the night.

The album, which is full of old country songs and rockability was praised by the New York Times in their art section. The Album, which took home Album of the year, beat out modern “heavyweights” of the current music industry, Coldplay and Lil Wayne. An accomplishing feat considering that Coldplay and Lil Wayne put out the top selling albums of 2008.

As a Huge Fan of the Genius that is Robert Plant, especially in his Led Zep days, it makes me happy and even excited that people can still apreciate his talent and commitment to making real and original music after all these years. And whats more, that they see that he deserves real recognition for it.

But even after all of this media hype and long standing fame, Plant still remains humble about his abilities. In the New York Times story “Three Acts Win Big at the Grammys” he is quoted as saying onstage ““I’m bewildered,” Mr. Plant said while accepting the award for album of the year, although he appeared fully confident and calm. “In the old days we would have called this selling out,” he added while gazing at the Staples Center crowd, “but I think it’s a good way to spend a Sunday.” ” I would just like to say kudos to Mr. Plant. Keep on rocking.

The musical collaboration of the decade, Raising Sand is the sound of two iconic figures stepping out of their respective comfort zones and letting their instincts lead them across a brave new sonic landscape. Despite hailing from distinctly different backgrounds, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant share a maverick spirit and willingness to extend the boundaries of their respective genres. This spirit, expertly honed by producer T Bone Burnett, has resulted in an album pitched three steps beyond some cosmic collision of early urban blues, spacious West Texas country, and the untapped potential of the folk-rock revolution.

Supported by the unparalleled musicianship of Marc Ribot, Dennis Crouch, Mike Seeger, Jay Bellerose, Norman Blake, Greg Leisz, Patrick Warren, and Riley Baugus, Plant and Krauss — as both solo and harmony vocalists — tackle an intriguing selection of songs from such tunesmiths as Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Sam Phillips, Townes Van Zandt, The Everly Broth! ers, and Mel Tillis. Raising Sand finds Robert Plant and Alison Krauss exploring popular music’s elemental roots while still sounding effortlessly, breath-takingly contemporary.

The song “Killing the Blues” is featured in the new JC Penney American Living Campaign.

Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville’s most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of “Whole Lotta Love,” but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that’s one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies–almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette’s spare and deliberate soundscape–incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others–is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois’s work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant’s own “Please Read the Letter,” Mel Tillis’s “Stick with Me, Baby”). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of “Rich Woman,” the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing–loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines–create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips’ new “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us,” where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for. –Alanna Nash

Raising Sand is available at Amazon for $9.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

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This two-CD, 25-song set, recorded in Louisville on two nights in the spring of 2002, finds bluegrass’s most celebrated crossover band at the top of its game. Krauss’s warm, feathery vocals, capable of conveying complex emotions in a single note, appear more full-bodied than in studio recordings, yet lose none of their sensual appeal or dramatic tension. She’s perfect, for example, as the melancholy temptress on “Let Me Touch You for Awhile,” coming across as both savior and seductress, while Jerry Douglas’s Dobro echoes the searing strains of passion and pain. With banjoist-guitarist Ron Block, bassist Barry Bales, and guest drummer Larry Atamanuik anchoring the rhythm, the ensemble deftly blends bluegrass with jazz, rock, and folk, combining lightning speed (though rushing through “Forget About It”) with sophisticated chops, tangible emotion, and thrilling vocal blends. The crowd, more spellbound with every note, doesn’t even breathe on “Ghost in This House” and nearly tears the place down on Dan Tyminski’s voice-of-George Clooney showcase, “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.” But who could blame them? It’s only one highlight on an album of uncommon artistry, a moving testament to how good live music can be in the hands of world-class players. –Alanna Nash

Alison Krauss & Union Station – Live is available at Amazon for $14.99. To Order click here
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First ever DVD from Robert Plant. Features both solo and Led Zeppelin material, including: “No Quarter,” “Shine It All Around,” “Black Dog,” “Freedom Fries,” “Four Sticks,” “Tin Pan Valley,” “Gallow’s Pole,”"The Enchanter,” “Whole Lotta Love, ” “Hey Joe,” and more. Filmed in Hi Definition on PBS’ Soundstage program during Plant’s 2005 Mighty Rearranger tour. Total run time: 66 minutes. Mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound.

Robert Plant & The Strange Sensation – Soundstage: Live is available at Amazon for $17.99. To Order click here
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40-song retrospective spanning Burnett�s entire career of music-making. This 2-CD set is released simultaneously with The True False Identity, T Bone�s first album of new original songs since 1992. It is no coincidence that T Bone is releasing both a retrospective and a new album on the same day. In his liner notes for Twenty Twenty, he writes “This is they way I wanted to close the book on these songs from a dead man, and open the book on the new life I am beginning after forty years of wandering in the desert.”

Nobody writes better about surface and depth, illusion and essence, through parable and paradox, than T Bone Burnett. Though he’s had more influence as a producer and catalyst (from his days with Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review to his visionary masterminding of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack), this two-disc, 40-song retrospective dating back to 1977 celebrates his accomplishment as a unique recording artist. Burnett’s range extends from the purest of plain-spoken country songs (“No Love at All,” “River of Love,” “The Bird That I Held in My Hand,” “I’m Coming Home”) to spoken-word enigmas such as “House of Mirrors” and “Hefner and Disney” (with the two switching identities as soulmates in Never Wonder Land) that challenge the listener to resolve the complexities. Among the other standouts are the surging rock of “I Wish You Could Have Seen Her Dance” and “Boomerang,” the roadhouse rockabilly of “Driving Wheel,” the teaming with Elvis Costello (as the Coward Brothers) on “The People’s Limousine,” and the deadpan reading of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Rather than following a chronological or musical progression, the anthology dares fans to connect the dots and risk stylistic whiplash in the process. With the simultaneous release of The True False Identity, Burnett’s first album of new material since 1992, listeners can discover where he’s been as well as where he’s going. –Don McLeese

Twenty Twenty – The Essential T Bone Burnett is available at Amazon for $22.99. To Order click here
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Robert and Alison with Grammys in hand

Despite Robert’s occasional lapses into mass-appeal music, he’s done stuff that he’s knows won’t appeal to everyone, ie. Priory of Brian and Strange Sensation and hasn’t given a fig. So why now? Is he that desperate for dollars? Maybe the Led Zeppelin cash cow maintained by Jimmy Page isn’t generating what it should. After all the last gig was for charity. Is it for attention? Can’t be, I have it on good authority that people were screaming and shouting their love at Strange Sensation concerts, and the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert on December 10, 2007 (aka the reunion concert and O2) was well received if the bootlegs floating around are any indication (plz gimme an official release Jimmy!). So I’m going to say ‘no’ to the attention factor. So it must be for the music which I’ve already discussed in the above paragraph. Vicious circle.

The next Old Time Fiddlers event in my area is on Valentines Day. I have the day off. I should go. I enjoyed the music the other times I went, and my sentimental streak would be appeased. My mom and grandma would be pleased.

Corrí a la computadora para buscar ese disco que  ganó cinco premios Grammy. Me refiero al álbum ‘Raising Sand’, de Robert Plant y Alison Krauss. Deseo compartirlo con las almas vagabundas que pasen por este espacio.

A continuación, el video de la canción ‘Please read the letter’ (nótese en los comentarios que a mucha gente en verdad le disgusta el tema).

Y como ‘bonus’, un corto documental acerca de la colboración entre estos dos grandes artistas: