Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!  

As you might have expected, from a My Music Monday, a while back, that I'd review Alison Krauss + Union Station's new disk eventually. 

Arcadia came out at the end of last month, so I've had a little time to live with its music. 

At the time of my MMM post, I had somewhat incorrectly stated that long time Union Station member Dan Tyminski had left the group and wasn't on this disk. Yes and no. He had recorded all his musical parts before leaving. Either he didn't record his vocal parts, or they were replaced after he departure. He even has a song he wrote that is covered on this disk.

As you'd expect, the musicianship is outstanding. Each player excels at their craft and it comes together perfectly. Jerry Douglas, Barry Bales and Ron Block have played together for a long time and it shows. Douglas is just a master of the Dobro and slide guitars. Unparalleled. 

Krauss is in fine vocal, as is newcomer (to this group anyway) Russell Moore. There is actually more of Moore than I expected. Usually, an AKUS release has two male vocal performances per and one instrumental per disk. This go round, no instrumental track and four songs with a male lead. 

So, with all the technical issues being on point, it comes down to the songs themselves. 

They're good, but I'm not super-wow'd by them. Some are standouts though. 

"Richmond on the James" is a song I'd say Tyminski would have naturally have led, but Krauss takes that role, and it works. I think I'm more surprised that she co-wrote it. I think I can count her writing credits on one hand. But it's is a solid song. 

AKUS has almost always used RL Castleman has a contributing songwriter and he has two entries here, both of which Krauss shines. But he kind of has a formula when it comes to the band and the singer. They are starting to sound familiar. "Forever" is technically practically perfect, but follows close to 2011's "Paper Airplane". Tyminski co-wrote the other song, "The Wrong Way", so it isn't as familiar. And it's a good tune. 

Russell is a strong vocalist, not too different from Tyminski. It's the songs that are a slight change up. "North Side Gal" is a swamp / bluegrass mixture that really works, though I get it's not for everyone. 

His downside is "Granite Mills". I am all for storytelling songs, which are usually on the morose side. This one is way on that side of the spectrum. As much as I don't want to hear about child labour dying in a mill fire (and I don't), it has the dark side of it (obvi), but unlike most songs like this, there is no beginning or true ending to it. Just a middle. 

"Sorry" has Russell leading with Krauss signing harmony most of the way through the song. And another plus for the disk is her fiddle playing - which has been extremely absent their last two disks. Granted on some songs you have to listen for it, but on others, it soars. It's nice to get that element back. 

Maybe some of the songs will grown more on me. Their first release from a number MMM's ago, "Looks Like the End of the Road" has gotten better with play. Hopefully some of these others will resonate on a deeper level down the way. 

Still, Arcadia is a good disk. Well produced, well played and sang.