Howdy, neighbors!
Here are some reviews of the new country, bluegrass and Americana records that I had the good fortune to listen to in September, 2007. This month: Carolyn Mark,
...It's not everything I heard, but it's a nice sample of stuff that either tickled my fancy or ticked me off... Many records that aren't included here are reviewed elsewhere in my full Guide To Hick Music.
Enjoy!
Carolyn Mark "Nothing Is Free" (Mint, 2007)
Although I'm not a big fan of Carolyn Mark as a vocalist, I certainly accept her as a paragon of the DIY ethos in its more mature phase: she writes the songs she wants to write, she makes the records she wants to make, she gets very talented people to play with her, and in pursuing some odd song topics, she doesn't write the same-old, same-old kind of songs. Purists can debate her bona fides as a "real" country singer, but she certainly has a pleasant little rasp, and knows her way around the twangier tones -- I suppose it's easier to think of her as an urban alt-folkie, mining a certain vein of acidly-observed interpersonal barbs and party-going vignettes that bring Joni Mitchell to mind, in a way. There are several noteworthy tracks on here, notably the tart, double-edged "Point O View" and the galloping, bluegrassy "Get Along," as well as the scathing, sinister "Pink Moon And All The Ladies," which may or may not be some sort of commentary on the late Nick Drake and his legions of fans, but is certainly one of the stronger tracks on the album... Mark's lyrics can be a bit uneven, though -- the song "The 1 That Got Away With It," for example, opens with a couplet, "There's two kinds of women you let in your life/exciting new mistress and boring old wife..." that holds a bitterness worthy of Linda Thompson's newer stuff, and a poetic economy that almost makes it sound like a grand, old honkytonk classic. She doesn't sustain it, though, and the song meanders into spacy, self-referential metaphors that detract from the promise of a song that could have really gone for the jugular. Most of her songs hew close to the insular self-expression of the Pacific Northwest's lo-fi scene -- if you value small-press poets and local legend musicians just for who they are, Mark is an undeniable hero, but if the glimmers of brilliant songwriting may make you wish for a more focussed, more craftsmanlike approach. Mark remains an intriguing, challenging artist, true to her indie roots, even if this means she sometimes shies away from the symmetry and concision that make pop songs so memorable.
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