Razor & Tie
Acoustic / Pop / Folk
2008/9/9
http://www.myspace.com/darwilliams
http://darwilliams.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar_Williams
距上次發片三年，這位美國民謠老歌手帶了她的第九張專輯，一股獨特氣質的清新民謠
When people describe an artist as underappreciated, what they usually mean is that cynical journalists, merciless market forces and an uneducated listening public have conspired against this person. They blame, in other words, everyone except the artist. And they’re usually right to do so. But Dar Williams—who has been quietly adored by a relatively small but loyal fan base since she debuted on the folk scene in the early 1990s—is a more complex case. Williams, a native of Mount Kisco, N.Y., is a classic made-for-coffeehouses artist, writing about the world around her, her encounters in it, and the conclusions she’s drawn; she’s as comfortable rhapsodizing about a favorite babysitter (“The Babysitter’s Here,” from her self-released debut, 1993’s The Honesty Room) as she is inveighing against the evil political monolith (see “Empire,” from 2005’s lauded My Better Self). For all the praise she’s received as an incisive writer, there’s little heft to Williams’ lyrics, even if her views are unassailable: “We’re heading for a nasty business, keeps our country growing / Where the weapons that we’re selling are the only seeds we’re sowing,” she sings on “Bought And Sold,” from her 1997 release End Of The Summer. It doesn’t help that her music is consistently clean-scrubbed and measured, even at its most expansive. At times, the mildness is unnerving—“Empire” is probably the comeliest song ever about how disgusting imperialism is. Meanwhile, Williams’ voice is just as frustratingly pretty. No matter what she sings about, her albums all have that sun-in-your-hair feel.
Promised Land held the promise of a departure from this WE-tv fare. Brad Wood—whose producing credits include alt-rock ruffians Smashing Pumpkins and onetime indie-rock rebel Liz Phair—was on board, for one thing. And Williams, who has never shied away from an unexpected cover song (she crooned Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” on My Better Self), here does a rendition of “Midnight Radio,” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a musical about a guy who suffers a botched sex-change operation and lives to sing glam-rock about it. Promised Land’s guest lineup has sterling bona fides, as well: power-pop chameleon Marshall Crenshaw, Gary Louris of Americana demigods The Jayhawks, and veteran singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega, who sounds both expert and fresh on the springy, spring-loaded duet “Go To the Woods.” (There’s an old saying in the acting biz: Never work with kids or animals because they’ll upstage you. Let’s officially add Vega to that list.)
1. It's Alright
2. Book of Love
3. The Easy Way
4. The Tide Falls Away
5. Buzzer
6. The Business of Things
7. You Are Everyone
8. Go to the Woods
9. Holly Tree
10. Troubled Times
11. Midnight Radio
12. Summerday
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