Aaron has posted another pair of review over at the Lonesome Road Review, neither of which are for albums I would necessarily independently seek out.
The first is my review of The Laws’ new album, Try Love. The Laws have played Alberta
fairly frequently, but I don’t believe I’ve caught them live. I do know that they played some of the area bluegrass festivals several years ago. While there is nothing obviously wrong or lacking on Try Love, neither is there anything particularly distinctive or memorable about it. Your opinion, of course, may vary: http://lonesomeroadreview.com/2011/04/06/try-love-by-the-laws/ I rated it 3.5 out of 5 because- while it doesn’t appeal to me- it is a well-crafted album.
The other album reviewed is from the UK and comes from The Toy Hearts. I have to admit- I avoided this album for quite a few weeks because the artwork absolutely creeped me out. I realize it is staged to play up to the album’s title, but really…I just think it looks cheap, misguided, and distracting from what isn’t a terrible album but it looks like it is. http://lonesomeroadreview.com/2011/04/06/femme-fatale-by-the-toy-hearts/
I tend to like my roots music with a bit of gravel, and the isn’t too much grit on either of these albums. What they did do was challenge me to write about music that I didn’t necessarily personally appreciate- I was forced to listen to them with others’ ears because it was obvious I wasn’t the target audience. Hopefully, I succeeded in sharing a balanced treatment of the art created by these musicians. Thanks for visiting Fervor Coulee, Donald
Donald Teplyske
