The Album Review Club - Week #141 - (page 1860) - JPEG Raw - Gary Clark Jr.

[threespires]

I'm getting Dylan, A bit of Hendrix, J.J. Cale's mellowness mixed with a bit of 60's blues. The organ on "I Wonder" is sublime, just dropped in the background. As is the bass. Best song on the album for me. I've not watched the documentary but I have no idea why this album and artist weren't recognised. Seems bang on for the era. My only gripe about the album is the similarity between a lot of the songs. I've enjoyed listening to it 4 times over the past 24 hours, yes I have nothing else to do!

It gets a solid 7 from me. I liked it.

I thought the occasional bit of James Taylor in there too.

 

[RobMCFC]

Cold Fact – Rodriguez

I remember watching the Searching For The Sugarman documentary on DVD soon after it was released. I followed the advice (I think it was Mark Kermode) and didn’t research the story before I watched. I was rewarded with an amazing story that can be filed under “the power of music”.

Whilst listening to this album didn’t have the same wondrous effect on me, it was a really nice album to listen to. Predominantly Rodriguez on his acoustic guitar, occasionally with a Latin flavour, the sound is nicely fleshed out by the other musicians, and there’s a few studio effects to scuzz up proceedings. In fact, it’s probably what Beck would have sounded like if he was making music at the time.

The Dylan comparisons are apt: not just the guitar, but the way Rodriguez delivers his words put me in mind of Dylan classics like “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”.

“Only Good For Conversation”, “Hate Street Dialogue” and “I Wonder” are the best tracks here.

The thing is though, whilst there are not really any weak tunes here (OK, I wouldn’t rush to listen to “Gommorah (A Nursery Rhyme)” again in a hurry), there are not any songs that I’d consider great: in that regard, it’s missing just a little of something.

I agree with BimboBob – it’s a solid 7/10.

Well done to @Gaudion M for an interesting an unexpected nomination.

 

[journolud]

Watched the documentary this afternoon which was a really good watch. Would be way too easy to get caught up in the emotion and sentimentality of it in scoring the album so a bit more sober reflection needed yet. I do like the sound though, I like the clarity of his vocals and the plaintiveness of them.

 

[threespires]

Watched the documentary this afternoon which was a really good watch. Would be way too easy to get caught up in the emotion and sentimentality of it in scoring the album so a bit more sober reflection needed yet. I do like the sound though, I like the clarity of his vocals and the plaintiveness of them.

Had exactly the same thought as the moment I'm struggling to separate the music from the story. I'll see where I am next week but I can too easily see myself conflating the two. Whether that's a bad thing I'm not sure.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Had exactly the same thought as the moment I'm struggling to separate the music from the story. I'll see where I am next week but I can too easily see myself conflating the two. Whether that's a bad thing I'm not sure.

In retrospect I should have said nothing of the film and just said listen to the album and don't Google.

 

[threespires]

In retrospect I should have said nothing of the film and just said listen to the album and don't Google.

Nah. It's a great story which I think deserves to be heard and after all it was good enough to win an Oscar.

 

[journolud]

Nah. It's a great story which I think deserves to be heard and after all it was good enough to win an Oscar.

Agree. Timing dictated I listen to the album first and it is very striking on it’s own. The film was also a great watch and if I’d happened to have watched it independently would have inevitably have come to the album

 

[GoatersLeftShin]

By rights, this album should've been a low-scorer for me. My first thought was "he sounds just like Bob Dylan" and as I've said before, I love Bob Dylan's songs but not when he sings them.

However, I really quite liked his voice as it was a lot more 'tuneful' than Dylan's. I really looked forward to each track on the album. I could pick out lots of bits from other artists - Dylan, Donovan, Buffalo Springfield came to mind. I also thought it was an album that could've been written more recently by someone like Jake Bugg.

I also read the back story to this as well and thought it was incredible! If it was a film, I'd just think it was very far-fetched! Then again, it was in the time before the internet existed as we know it today.

Overall, a really good pick - one for the garden now the weather is picking up!

8/10

 

[Mancitydoogle]

By rights, this album should've been a low-scorer for me. My first thought was "he sounds just like Bob Dylan" and as I've said before, I love Bob Dylan's songs but not when he sings them.

However, I really quite liked his voice as it was a lot more 'tuneful' than Dylan's. I really looked forward to each track on the album. I could pick out lots of bits from other artists - Dylan, Donovan, Buffalo Springfield came to mind. I also thought it was an album that could've been written more recently by someone like Jake Bugg.

I also read the back story to this as well and thought it was incredible! If it was a film, I'd just think it was very far-fetched! Then again, it was in the time before the internet existed as we know it today.

Overall, a really good pick - one for the garden now the weather is picking up!

8/10

I also picked up on the Donavan likeness.

 

[RobMCFC]

A gentle reminder that in the next week or so, we'll be entering the end-of-round playlist listening/guessing game.

This is open to anybody, whether you've nominated an album, reviewed other albums or just happen to be lurking on the thread.

All you have to do to play is submit a track to @Coatigan before the deadline (tbd - depending on whether we have another album to listen to in this round) and await further instructions.