|
From out of Norway comes C.Strøm, he's a solo artist in the grand tradition of wandering minstrels, world-weary folk singers and the early blues masters.
"Recoilogy 2008-2007" is a 22 song (!) collection of primarily traditional folk songs. The songs that aren't proper tradtionals might as well be. (Take "Auld Lang Syne", the lyric is by Robert Burns circa 1788 but the music is a traditional folk song*). A few of the tunes are listed as being written solely by Strøm ("Assailing Where You Go", "Oh How I Long"), but they mesh so well with the older material that only a folk music expert would really notice.
Luckily for us non-experts it's not an issue. This album is so perfectly basic and gloriously lo-fi that you'd think that you has stumbled on a lost set from early *last* century. There are pops, crackles and hiss here that evoke the arcane world of 78 records. Thhis works wonderfully for his songs, if they were cleanly recorded they would run the risk of sounding stale.
The arrangement here is for Strøm's voice and guitar work. The grit in the guitar is what brings him closer to the blues and the rasp of his voice keeps things earthy and real.
If I have one caveat is that this may be too much of a good thing. 22 songs is a lot of anything in one sitting. It reminds me why old LPs had 12 songs tops.
But that's a minor point. I really love this set. It's easy to put on and listen to, particularly "Sweet Afton" which is practically addictive.
--
C.Strøm:
http://www.myspace.com/seestrum
http://www11.nrk.no/urort/user/default.aspx?id=60965
*Wikipedia identifies it as Roud # 6294
|
