MUSIC REVIEWS: JOSH RITTER’S SO RUN’S THE WORLD AWAY

By R. A. Pearson

The newest CD released by Josh Ritter, So Runs The World Away, is undoubtedly his best since The Animal Years released in 2006. The CD contains 13 cuts and represents a major deviation from other works by the artist which may cause the listener to do a double take after hearing the album for the first time. However, the CD has immense staying power and a full range of songs that will first grow on the listener, then totally consume them.

The second and third cuts on the CD, “Change of Time” and “The Curse” are representative of the songs found on the album. The music and instrumentation are adequate and well done but not overpowering while the vocals and lyrics carry the selections to a new level. The song “Another New World” about the voyage of a ship called the Annabelle Lee is another great title on this CD. However, the best song in the collection seems to be “Folk Bloodbath,” a song about murder, death, justice, and redemption on the Western frontier. Other songs of note on So Runs The World Away are “”Lantern,” “Rattling Locks,” and “Southern Pacifica.”

Musicians on So Runs The World Away include Austin Nevins on guitar and glockenspiel, Liam Hurley on drums, Sam Kassirer on keyboards, and Zack Hickman on bass and guitar. The collection was produced by Sam Kassirer. It is a great CD.

Mark Knopfler’s new CD Get Lucky sixth solo studio album released by the artist since his days with Dire Straits. It is an 11-track album which contains good, solid Mark Knopfler style songs and music.

The listener to Get Lucky will immediately notice a tremendous Celtic folk music influence on many songs on this CD. The opening song, “Border Reiver” about smuggling along the British borders in the late 1960s is a good example with classic folk instrumentation. The last two cuts on the album, the haunting “So Far From The Clyde” and “Piper To The End” also contain the themes and musical styles of Celtic folk traditions. There is another moving somber ballad on the collection, “Remembrance Day” about the souls lost to the many wars the nations of the world have fought. Knopfler also breaks out a British blues style in “You Can’t Beat The House” a song about gambling. Other interesting cuts on the CD include “Cleaning My Gun,” “The Car Was The One,” and the title cut, “Get Lucky.”

Musicians on the CD include keyboardist Guy Fletcher and Richard Bennett on guitars, Danny Cummings on drums, John McCusker on violin, Matt Rollings on keyboards, and Glenn Worf on bass. Get Lucky produced by Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay, and Guy Fletcher.

This is the type of collection hard core Knopfler fans will enjoy but there are no smash hits here.

The new Doors movie, “When You’re Strange” has brought about the release of a new Doors collection of music used in the movie When You’re Strange, Songs From The Motion Picture. The CD contains both studio and live versions of various Doors songs blended with short Jim Morrison poems read by Johnny Depp who narrates the movie. The studio cuts on the CD include “Hello I Love You,” “People Are Strange,” “The End,” “L. A. Woman,” and “Riders on the Storm.” Live songs include the famous take of “Light My Fire” from the 1967 Ed Sullivan Show, “Break On Through” from the Isle of Wight Music Festival, “Roadhouse Blues” recorded live in New York in 1970, and “When The Music’s Over” from a 1968 Danish TV appearance. In all there are 13 songs on the CD.

'“When You’re Strange,” The Movie covers the Doors from their formation in 1965, when Manzarek met Morrison at UCLA’s film school, until Morrison’s death in 1971. The film reveals a unique perspective on the creative chemistry between drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison. “When You’re Strange” was directed by the award-winning writer and director Tom DiCillo.

The soundtrack follows the 2007 release of a Very Best Of The Doors CD celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Doors 1967 debut album The Doors. This two CD set contains 34 of the Doors most popular and influential tracks including the version of “The End” used for the film “Apocalypse Now.” This is a good set for a casual Doors fan who is unwilling to purchase all six LPs now on CD or invest in the Doors Box set. There is also an abbreviated version of the CD available at discount stores like Wal-Mart with 20 tracks on one CD.

The new Jimi Hendrix release, Valleys Of Neptune, released in March of this year is a totally unreleased studio album featuring 12 previously unreleased studio recordings by Jimi Hendrix and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Most of the recordings were made in early 1969 after the success of Electric Ladyland (1968). While the CD includes Hendrix songs such as “Red House,” “Fire,” and “Stone Free,” the recordings are fresh and new. The CD also contains Hendrix’s renditions of the Elmore James classic “Bleeding Heart” and “Sunshine Of Your Love” by Cream. However, the title cut, and highly sought after, “Valleys Of Neptune,” has never been released and proved to be the inspiration for this late addition to the Jimi Hendrix collection.

Valleys Of Neptune was mixed by Eddie Kramer, the engineer for all of Hendrix’s albums throughout the artist’s lifetime. The CD was produced by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer, and John McDermott, the team behind all of the Jimi Hendrix CD and DVD releases since 1996. By the number of Jimi Hendrix tee shirts and apparel one sees out and about, the Hendrix legend lives on.