Search - Sam Shaber :: Perfect

Gutsy and inventive

Jeffrey Anbinder | New York, NY | 02/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Every so often, someone manages to shake up my notion of what modern folk music is; the Indigo Girls in 1989, Jamie Notarthomas in 1992, Ani DiFranco in 1993, Jonathan Edwards in 1994. For 2000, it's Sam Shaber, who calls her music "acoustic soul," and it fits.Sam, an accomplished guitarist, manages on her second CD to move swiftly from righteously indignant, to playfully flirtatious, to hopelessly codependent, to unashamedly jubilant - sometimes in the same song! - and makes it work. The obvious lack of fear or self-consciousness in her lyrics certainly reminds me of Ani, though (forgive me) unlike Ani, she sings pretty damn well, too.Perhaps the best thing I can ever say about an artist is that she moves me, and that's definitely the case here. Even the last moment on the disc - a snippet of Sam breaking a string - reveals more humanity and vulnerability than a hundred Dan Hill songs.Relevant, powerful, fun, and just plain good listening. Can't wait for the next one (and for the next pressing of her first CD, for that matter)."