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ABC016 - SHELLY
BLAKE "Folk Blues
and Things To Use" CD - $10 PPD
Straight up, no chaser, overflowing with
complex emotions, luminous lyricism and sad, stark beauty.
Isn't it time you heard something real?
| 1) Thesis |
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| 2) Left
Fighting Ourselves |
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| 3) North |
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| 4) Visions
Of A Tree |
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| 5) Love
You |
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| 6) Yo
Quiero |
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| 7) American
Scarred |
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| 8) A
College Town |
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| 9) Front
Of The Line |
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| 10)
Emergency Hotline Answering Machine |
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| 11)
Theme To A Real Life hit |
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| 12)
Obstacle |
MP3 |
| 13)
Disconnected |
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| 14)
Mystery Trip |
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REVIEWS:
Except for scattered and cryptic
e-mails, each from a different part of the U.S. East Coast,
I hadn't heard from Shelly Blake in four years. However,
Blake's music has never been far from my mind. His previous
casettes, The Lonely Ornamental Music of Shelly Blake
(1995), Color Notation on the Sociopathway (1995), The
Kindest Cuts (1996), and Secret Breathing Lessons (1996)
were lo-fi masterworks; emotionally raw, breathtaking
poetry. In the interim, Blake moved to Boston, got married
("Spend a lot of time singing to my wife," he
reports) and, if this recording is any indication, found
some peace if not comfort. Recorded on 4-track by Providence,
RI-based artist-musician Will Schaff, Folk Blues and Things
to Use is just Shelly's voice, acoustic guitar, and harmonica,
straight up, no chaser, like a 21st century version of
the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Gone is the outright agony
of the old work, but Folk Blues is nonetheless a terrific
tape, overflowing with complex emotions, luminous lyricism
and sad, stark beauty. Isn't it time you heard something
real?
- Jim Santo, Demo Universe, NYC
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