It’s gotten to the point where any time I go to the used CD
\nstore, I automatically look at everything released by
\nPhilo\/Rounder\/Rykodisc Records. The music is always odd, unique,
\nrefreshing, and I’ve discovered a lot of fun artists on those
\nlabels. Christine Lavin comes to mind; so does Disappear Fear. This
\nis how I found Vance Gilbert, and I consider myself damned
\nfortunate to have done so.<\/p>\n
Gilbert’s hard to compare. The closest I can come to explaining
\nit is a more articulate Richie Havens, or a more earthy Harry
\nChapin; his lyrics are crystalline, complex, on the level of Neil
\nPeart. His guitar playing is exceptional, and his voice murmurs
\nlike a lover or trumpets like a clarion, versatile and expressive.
\nIf it sounds like I’m hooked, I am.
\nShaking Off Gravity<\/i> is a ‘semi-live’ release; the songs on
\nit were recorded spontaneously, but cleaned up in production. The
\nsound is sparse, scaled-down, and fits the songs well.<\/p>\n
The CD kicks off with the bittersweet “The Hey La Dee Dah Song”,
\nand never lets up. “Taking It All To Tennessee”, “Watching A Good
\nThing Burn”, “House Of Pain”, all are clear, unflinching
\nphotographs of a breakup happening in slow motion. (One wonders
\nwhat Gilbert was going through personally while this CD was being
\nrecorded.)<\/p>\n
Through it all, Gilbert’s lyrics sting like angry hornets and
\nsoothe like a mother’s voice; I wish I could just quote you all of
\nthem, badgering you all into purchasing this outstanding CD. One
\nline that stands out: “I haven’t heard you mention tomorrow and my
\nname in the same phrase\/Since this Smoky Mountain conversation
\nstarted…” Gilbert is a master of the casual turn of phrase, and
\nwhen you add his sense of humour that bubbles right below the
\nsurface, he’s a joy to listen to.<\/p>\n
Gilbert has two other CDs. I’ve not found them yet, but I intend
\nto. Even if you’re not as lucky as I was to stumble over this CD,
\ngo find it if you like intelligent folk-rock at all. It’s worth the
\nsearch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":27606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7399],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38981","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-vance-gilbert","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38981"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}