Sam Phillips - A Boot & A Shoe

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Free Music Notes for A Boot & A Shoe

Free Music Review: Sam finds melancolic bliss with her "Boot & A Shoe"
Hit: 5 Stars

But whereas "Fan Dance" was bristling and anxious in this naked skin, projecting a noir-ish paranoia to it, "A Boot And A Shoe" practically revels in the simplicity...paranoia gives way to melancoly, melancoly gives way to hope. And, judging by the lyrics in this fraternal twin of "Fan Dance", melancoly and hope is all our Sam has in the wake of her recent self-professed "failure at love" with Mr. Burnett. Songs waft and wane from hopelessness to reckless abandon like a woman looking at the world anew. As stated in the swoon-worthy "Reflecting Light": "Now that I've worn out the world, I'm on my knees in fascination."

Which is not to say this album is a major departure for Phillips... all the necessities are here: peppy pop confections to stay in your head for days ("All Night", "Infiltration"), devastatingly beautiful ballads ("I Dreamed I Stopped Dreaming"), a heaping helpful of mystery and intrigue ("Red Silk 5", "Drawman") and of course that biting lyrical cynicism.. "Help is coming one day late", coos Phillips on "One Day Late", but she paints her cynicism in pastels as opposed to the basic colors of "Fan Dance", letting the melancoly pull you in to an almost rapturous effect...until you begin to notice that like Phillips, you need to get through the sadness and cynicism to feel the hope. "There always has been good like stars you don't see in the day sky" she continues on "One Day Late," only affirming this journey.

It's important to note that "A Boot & A Shoe" is a much more percussive record than "Fan Dance" - often the drums are mixed to provide a "boom and bash" umph that was somewhat missing in the previous record. A few of the songs are augmented by the silky strings of the Section Quartet, another seemingly calculated distance from the dark tone Van Dyke Parks's orchestration in "Fan Dance" songs such as "Wasting My Time". But that's the point to "A Boot & A Shoe": where "Fan Dance" was soft, this one is hard, where it was dark, this one is light - and, more importantly, where "Fan Dance" was atmospheric and spiritual, this album has it's feet firmly planted in reality, with the occasional jump to another plane...in essence it is the perfect bookend and a brilliant record, even if it lacks a bit of the character and artifice that made "Fan Dance" her masterwork.

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