Search - Maria Taylor :: Lady Luck

Good Fun

Casey Sharp | MS, USA | 06/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I found Maria Taylor through Last FM about a year or two ago. Song Beneath a Song is what drew me in. So I asked for 11:11 this last Christmas. I loved it and went on to her myspace page to find that she worked with Andy LeMaster on her digital album Savannah Drive. When I listened to it I believed it to be the best album I've heard in quite a while. Awhile later I found that she'd be playing at Birmingham's Bottletree. I jumped for the opportunity of course. Her performance was fantastic. I felt that through her band's reverberations through my bones, I'd never be the same...So I picked up Ladyluck and LTF.



Ok, ok... on to the point... Ladyluck. I love it. It played in my car for more than a month... I'd only change the cd for fear that I'd tire of it. It was still the main album I listened to ... and still do.



I was a bit apprehensive that the not so stripped down versions of 'Ladyluck' and 'Time Lapse Lifeline' from SDrive would easily outdo the more "produced" versions on Ladyluck. The Ladyluck versions equal if not grandly outdo Drive's versions.



Songs:

Ladyluck - My least favorite from Savannah, but I somehow know most of the words to this one. Sounds reminiscent and hopeful. I love the lines about "Doesn't always work the way you planned it... I like it better this way."



Time Lapse Lifeline - Most guitar driven track with a nice groove. Possibly my favorite of the album. "Back it up. Back it up. Stop. Fast forward. Rewind."



It's Time - Very driving until a break for the chorus, great for driving through fields. Unique drum patterns. Love it.



My Favorite Love - A darker tone than previously. You might confuse this one for another artist if Maria's voice wasn't so distinguished. Almost as if it came from some of the best parts of another era's music.



100,000 Times - This one is up there on favorites as well. Heightens the album's feeling of 'moving on to better things, but not forgetting the past' vibe. Great to crank the volume on the chorus.



Green Butterflies - Another great one for the fields.



Broad Daylight - Maria takes you back to that other time.



A Chance - Has a slight disco feel... My least favorite of the album.



Orchid - Great guitar parts in the last quarter. This one makes use of one of Maria's greatest musical attributes... Making a song sound joyous and somber at the same time. It has a different effect depending on the listener's mood and circumstance. Masterful.



Cartoons and Forever Plans - Co written with Michael Stipe from R.E.M and Andy LeMaster from Now It's Overhead. Slight island-esque beat. The perfect way to end it: with love and happiness through a repeat of "Did you know..." almost every line. Maria and her crew make each repetition take on its one delicious flavor. Favorite lyric: "Electricity favors us."







Maria Taylor has achieved a near perfect (my favorite) album with Ladyluck. The 'Lady's' combination of hope, excitement, and yearning for the future combined with a somehow happy ache mixes in with its impossible to define genre; making it a treasure for people of varying musical tastes. Many friends have inquired about the artist playing in my car continuously. The `Lady" has even inspired me to pick up my guitar quite often.







Congratulations Ms Taylor! (GGM)

"