Songcatcher: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture
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Free Music Notes for Songcatcher: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture
Free Music Review: Returning to Our Musical Roots - In Praise of Songcatcher
Hit: 5 Stars
We may be the only country in the world that does not pay attention to our musical history and heritage. On a national basis, we do very little to encourage the preservation of the music that tells the story of the social and personal growth of our country. Songcatcher, in some small way, does what it can to remedy this tragic loss of our national music. Songcatcher is an exquisite mixture of traditional music and new material performed by some of the best women musicians working today. It is impossible to find a weak link on this CD because there is none. Each song is performed as well as the one before and the one following. If there is any disappointment to the CD, it is becuase there is not enough. To listen to the purity of the voice of Emmy Rosum is to recall the work of Jean Ritchie back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Her duet with Dolly Parton, on a Parton original mother / daughter answer song, "When Love is New", invokes the true essence and fabric of American Folk Music. The bitter emotion found in Allison Moorer's "Moonshiner" is quite true to the spirit and meaning of the song. "The Cuckoo Bird", performed on Songcatcher by Deana Carter, is priceless.Gillian Welch does not do enough. This is a CD that should be in the collection of anyone with an interest in American Tradition Music or in that of the novice who is just wondering what folk music is all about. Songcatcher, quite simply, is one of the best CDs to come along in many years.Free Music Review: Not to be missed
Hit: 5 Stars
Whether or not this album is a "soundtrack" to a movie, or a compilation that stands on its own is really beside the point. Regardless of which category it falls into it deserves to be reviewed for what is here, and what is here is very, very enjoyable.If you have any interest in American roots music, this disc is for your regardless of whether or not you have seen the film. Some of the finest women recording artists today are featured here -- Roseanne Cash, Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, among many others, and they all have recorded songs that have either been steeped in traditional American music for hundreds of years, or songs that were highly influenced by them. While one can justifiably gripe that Emma Rossum's version of the old ballad "Barbara Allen" is way too short (although it is no shorter than the version in the movie) one can also rejoice that a major talent has been "discovered" here. If there is any justice someone will come up with a batch of wonderful traditional songs, give them to Rossum, take her to a recording studio and release the results to the public.
But for me, as others have mentioned, the real highlight here is the remarkable version of the old ballad "Pretty Saro," as sung by Iris DeMent. Accompanied only by a fiddle, DeMent's mournful voice creates an exquisite piece that is not to be missed by her fans, or by any and all admirers of American roots music.
Free Music Review: Missing the Point
Hit: 5 Stars
It would seem that a lot of people miss the point of the CD. Most of the tracks here are traditional songs rooted in the folk traditions of the British Isles that were preserved in the US in the southern Appalachians well into the 20th century. It was through the efforts of many folklorists that these songs and ballads were recorded so that they have survived today. It is such work that is depicted in the movie which inspired this album.Are these recording 100% authentic? No. These songs were actually sung by the original practitioners without musical accompaniment, most of the songs here have some accompaniment, many of them of a more contemporary nature. So what? These songs were ALWAYS adapted throughout history and they changed with the times. As a result we have a more contemporary presentation.
A few tracks here do seem to pay homage to the more traditional sound -- Iris DeMent's Pretty Saro" uses sparse musical accompaniment (a lone, mournful fiddle) and Gillian Welch and David Rawling's take on "The Wind and the Rain" is sung acapella, but NONE of these tracks are field recordings and were never meant to be.
Free Music Review: Get over it!
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm glad that the music in this CD was "inspired" by the movie. For all out there that are dissappointed, you are not reviewing the content of this album, but the intention that it is a true soundtrack. Thank goodness it is not, some of the songs in the movie were boring versions sung by actors and actresses, example Pat Carroll, who wants to hear her sing bluegrass? I guess I am not disappointed because I like variations. The artists on the CD all have roots in traditional bluegrass, the movie was more of a dissappointment to me than the soundtrack, it seemed to be more of a celebration of alternative lifestyles than the mountain music. The only thing I enjoyed in the movie was the traditional fiddle tunes "Leather Breeches", "Old Joe Clark" and "Sally Goodin". There are lots of fiddlers out there that play wonderful variations on these old tunes. If anyone is interested in hearing firsthand some great string artists, suggest you visit Weiser, Idaho the first week in June, you will hear night after night of jamming, happy, hoedowns and "Sally Goodin" played hundreds of different ways.Free Music Review: A Introduction to a Vital Tradition
Hit: 5 Stars
If you are a fan of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack than you will won't to check out this companion CD to the movie "Songcatcher." It isn't that the two discs are of exactly the same type of music, but that the music on this disc is linked to that on the "O Brother" soundtrack as it predates it.The music here is influenced by the old English and Scottish ballads that were brought over to America by the early European settlers. Because of the relative isolation of the southern Appalachians these ballads survived there, and the movie, for whatever faults it may have, tells the fictionalized story of those who worked to preserve this tradition. It was this music that led to the creation of American country music as represented on the "O Brother" soundtrack.
The music here isn't always 100% authentic, after all most traditional ballad singing was done acapella and by only one voice. But many of the songs here do serve as a fine introduction to the songs that made up this tradition and is a must for anyone interested in it.