GREAT FOLK record. Not as Jayhawksy as the last one
freereign | Ocean of Corn, MN | 08/01/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While recently participating in reunion shows with The Jayhawks, Mark Olson also been forging a distinctive path for his solo career that is based on an entire different season of musical weather: that of the itinerant songsmith. He is found here crafting songs that are performed on a mixture of rock and folk instruments. The favoring of vocal harmony is rich as ever. He builds chords like a piano player, strumming them on the dulcimer, and tends to fingperpick on accoustic guitar. There is also a drum kit and electric guitar on many tracks. Each song is performed with its own mixture of accompaniment, and a couple with little more than accoustic guitar and djembe. And interestingly, the vocals are favored in the mix.
If you enjoyed the direction taken on "Ready For The Flood" written and performed with Gary Louris, this one will be easy to gravitate toward; a very mature work.
For those of you downloading, there are two extra songs at EyeTunes that are also part of a download card provided with the vinyl LP here--the card contains the entire album plus those two bonus tracks, and the download there requires you purchase the entire album if you want them both."