It's time to take a moment to mention a couple recent albums I've acquired and listened to.
The Beauty of the Rain, Dar Williams
It's hard to believe that I've been listening to Dar's music for about 7 or 8 years now. This is her fifth studio album, and it's quite good. It's very resonant. It's lush, and nicely produced. The standout tracks for me are "Mercy of the Fallen" and "Closer to Me." The first is just a very well-done song from the lyrics to the execution, one of her best. The second is not necessarily as wonderful, but it's a song that I just really like a lot. The refrain is kind of silly, but I love the line, "am I a habit that you're too tired to break?"
Since her masterpiece album Mortal City, Dar's moved away a bit from the sparser acoustic albums and more into an orchestral band-oriented mode. This album features a lot of guests, and I think it's stronger because of that. The only disappointing moment on this album for me is the title track, which I find somewhat plodding.
Evolve, Ani Difranco
I love Ani. I do. It's not obsessive, that is to say, my bedroom isn't plastered with posters and there have been concerts in my cities of residence that I have not attended, but I try to see her in concert once a year or so, and I own all of her cds. I don't think that there is an album that I love more or listen to more than her Out of Range. We've had some rough times (Up^6, To the Teeth), but in general, it's been a good relationship.
Evolve is a little bit challenging. It's not especially catchy, it's taken me a few listens to really feel engaged, but there are two standout tracks, in my opinion, the excellently jaunty "Slide" and the Latin-y "Here for Now." In the liner notes, DiFranco says that Evolve is the end of an era with her current band, and I look forward to seeing what she puts out next.
Posted by waking slow at March 24, 2003 03:59 PM