Last updated
May 12 2008
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Elly Roberts reviews
Jason Isbell: Sirens Of The Ditch
Distributed by
New West Records
Strange title - excellent album.
Twenty eight year old ex-Drive-By Truckers’ Jason Isbell goes trucking
alone and gets great results. It’s certainly brought dividends for the Alabama
singer-songwriter.
War, his home and former outfit provide the influences for strangely titled
Sirens Of The Ditch. It took almost four years to surface, so it’s not
exactly rushed, and you can tell.
Recorded at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, best known for legendary singers like
Aretha Frankin and Otis Redding, Isbell has tried to capture the spirit of its
previous occupants with an excellent eclectic blend incorporating Blues, Country,
Soul (he’s managed to recruit Soul legends David Hood and Spooner Oldham) with
certain DBT elements, though this is very much an artist branching out and
stamping his arrival.
Making a dazzling impact, he’s gone for a crunching rocker for the opener –
Brand New Kind Of Actress, a la Bryan Adams with obligatory catchy
chorus and wailing guitar solos. It’s a strong start. Switching code for
Down In A Hole, he opts to delve into swampy R&B, a cool sojourn with
twanging guitars, ghosting keys and lightweight acoustic guitar texturing the
entire song.
On Chicago Promenade, a simple piano leads to an eventual steady rocker.
A delightful pedal steel dressing by John Neff, provides the country template
for swaying rambler Dress Blues which turns out to be one of the album’s
highlights.
There’s a distinct country-rock edge to Grown with Isbell’s rounded vocals
impressing as it moves. His soulful Hurricanes has an impressive bluesy
twist, highlighted by his deft touches on electric guitar solos which Clapton
would be proud of.
His acoustic handy work is equally impressive on stripped back In A Razor Town,
a gentle ballad that shines at very level. Further on, chugging The Magician,
bounces along nicely whilst plucking banjo picks give it that ho down touch, as
he well and truly leaves the DBT script behind him.
As if to say a final farewell to DBT, the hauntingly simple acoustic and piano
of The Devil Is rounds off a very competent and stylish debut.
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Brand New Kind Of Actress
2. Down In A Hole
3. Try
4. Chicago Promenade
5. Dress Blues
6. Grown
7. Hurricanes And Hand Grenades
8. In Razor Town
9. Shotgun Wedding
10. The Magician
11. The Devil Is My Running Mate
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
For prints of any of Elly's concert pics online,
email Elly
or call 07765 862017.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
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