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Friday, December 6, 2013

The Dickens Campaign - Oh Lovely Appearance (Self, 2013) ***

By Stef

Drummer Deric Dickens gets the company of Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Jesse Lewis on guitar. Interestingly enough, for Knuffke this is the second album this year in a trio with guitar and drums, after "Sifter" with Mary Halvorson and Matt Wilson, yet the nature of this one is totally different.

The songs are all based on or coming from the American tradition of gospel and country folk music, as collected by the great musical archeologist Alan Lomax, who collected music from around the world, but here the focus lies clearly on the American tradition, which makes the album sound very much like a Bill Frisell and Ron Miles collaboration, but then a little rawer, more direct and less sophisticated. That is by itself not a bad thing, and it clearly adds to the authenticity of the playing.

The music is sweet and sounds familiar, the playing is good and intimate, although at times the volume gets a notch higher and the violence of Lewis electric guitar goes a little beyond what you could expect from the nature of the tune.

Listen and buy from CDBaby.


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