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New Favorite (2001)
New Favorite (2001)
7.5
Let Me Touch You for a While / The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn / The Lucky One / Choctaw Hayride / Crazy Faith / Momma Cried / I'm Gone / Daylight / Bright Sunny South / Stars / It All Comes Down to You / Take Me for Longing / New Favorite
What
about some Nu-grass? I must immediately admit that I'm not much of
an expert on Krauss and her band of highly-skilled musicians, but I do know
that she's one of the few artists that managed to give the genre a good (better)
name in the '90's (a decade before Nickel Creek made it look really cool).
Like so many other people, I had my first encounter with them because of the
soundtrack to the Coen Brother' hilarious update of Homer's The Odyssey,
O Brother, Where Art Thou. The film not only managed to give bluegrass
its biggest boost since Bill Monroe laid down the rules of the game many decades
ago, but Union Station guitarist/vocalist Dan Tyminski also delivered an awesome
version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" (lip-synched by the ever-handsome George
Clooney). While the bluegrass of the soundtrack is definitely quite traditional,
New Favorite offers something different. Or maybe that should be: it
does offer some old-fashioned hardcore bluegrass, but the stress lies
on stuff that has more crossover potential, reaching out to both traditionalists
and fans of contemporary country. It's probably the next logical step in her
evolution (I read somewhere that her/their albums become increasingly less
traditional), but it also prevents it from fitting in with both contemporary
country (for which the "heehaw"-factor is too high) and Americana (too slick).
Commercially speaking, this is probably a smart move (both camps will find
something they'll dig), but it also ensures that you're constantly
swept from this side to that side and back again. The playing of the band
is fantastic (really, even a 4 year-old hears this is a world class-unit at
work) on all of the songs, but I'd rather hear more of those bluegrass tunes.
The album starts off with an ongoing alternation: first, you get the modern
melancholy of "Let Me Touch You for a While" (in which both the production
and the vocals are a bit reminiscent of Emmylou Harris' work with Daniel Lanois),
the next moment, you're in complete awe of album highlight "The Boy Who Wouldn't
Hoe Corn," sung by Dan Tyminski. Starting off quite dark and almost bluesy,
the song after a long introduction of about two minutes develops into an irresistible,
danceable slice of pure bliss. There may be no drum kit in bluegrass, but
damn the music is so infectious, while those lyrics of basic feelings, down-to-earth
people and things remind you why it's all called folk music. You could
say that all the traditional tunes are first-class: dobro player Jerry Douglas'
"Choctaw Hayride," their interpretation of "Bright Sunny South" and "Take
Me for Longing" all swing like hell and boast dobro/guitar/banjo-interplay
that's nothing but awe-inspiring. It's not such a safe bet when we're dealing
with the slicker, more pop-oriented stuff. The radio-ready "The Lucky One"
deserves a place among other enchanting, fragile gems, and so does the soothing
"Crazy Faith," but when Krauss & Co. try to cover too much "foreign" ground,
as on the ballad "I'm Gone," for instance, you'll find it hard to suppress
the yawns. Jazzy chord changes, an easy listening-vibe and lyrics such as
"I tried to make you love me / how could I be so blind / to think I'd be the
one / to change your mind" are standard stuff that they'd better avoid
and Dan Fogelberg's "Stars" is also quite bland. That said, Krauss does an
admirable job at trying to combine the two, it's a tricky job that has rarely
worked (not that I know of at least), but occasionally - during the melancholy,
almost ethereal and even beautiful title track - it works very well. I presume
that I'll discover my favorite as I move backwards in her catalogue, as a
little less sheen will undoubtedly satisfy me more, but maybe I'm underestimating
the merits of this album after all. Anyway, if you're the kind of person who'd
like to get a taste of both aspects, the pop and the roots, New Favorite
might be a nice opportunity.