Search - Clive Gregson & Christine Collister :: Love Is a Strange Hotel

Low Key but by no means low rent

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 07/26/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Any Trouble founder and Richard Thompson associate Clive Gregson met folk singer Christine Collister on the folk circuit, and before long she was part of the touring ensemble that Thompson was taking on the road. It also found Gregson and Collister discovering that they had a pretty good dynamic between themselves. They recorded four albums as a duet, none of which made a major impact. One of the oddly noteworthy things about Gregson and Collister was that Rhino's short lived label for new artists, RNA, was their home. "Love Is A Strange Hotel" was Gregson and Collister's finest from their short lifespan on RNA.



Played as a duo in the strictest sense, "Love Is a Strange Hotel" is a 12 song collection of their favorite covers. Arrangemnts are guitar and percussion, guitar and piano, or just a solo instrument, all with no overdubs. It's a pretty broad range of song styles; everyone from 10cc to Springsteen to Merle Haggard is included. A couple surprises, such as Aztec Camera's lovely "How Men Are" and the title song, from Boo Hewerdine and Darden Smith (check out their great duet album "Evidence") become unexpected delights.



Like Gregson's first Any Trouble album, Gregson and Collister's "Love Is a Strange Hotel" is a hidden gem. If you can find it used, it is a worthwhile purchase for lovers of spare sounds and acoustic alchemy."