More subdued than on his zydeco-influenced Dry Bones Dance, Mark Heard returns with an acoustic record. The focus here is on the lyrics, which fall on the ear like music itself. The album is pure poetry from start to finish, with lines like You see me like a prism sees a candle. The passionate outcry on I Just Wanna Get Warm turns into a real outcry at the end of the tune, backed by fiddle and guitar. Nod Over Coffee lyrically works like a string of striking images about the mundaneness of activity. It's N...   [ read more ]

MP3 $10.49

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Coming three years after the interesting (if unsuccessful) iDEoLA experiment, Mark Heard returns with a rich, rootsy album full of intelligent lyrics and well-layered music. Styles range from folk to Appalachian to zydeco. And all of these diverse styles are augmented by the Chapman stick of Fergus Jemison Marsh, more widely known for his work with Bruce Cockburn. The sounds of the more traditional instruments really color this record well -- the accordion, the mandolin, the violin, the hammered dulcimer -...   [ read more ]

MP3 $10.49

Other people also bought:

Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band  Grow Fins Vol. II: Trout Mask House Sessions, Magas  Bad Blood, Low  Songs for a Dead Pilot (reissue)

This final release of new music by Mark Heard remains one of his greatest. The entire album features an electric steel mandolin, which provides a high-pitched chime-y melody to every track. There are great lyrics all the way through. The passionate Tip of My Tongue bursts with an aggressive energy about the inability to express one's self. Orphans of God is a gentle track with subdued vocals -- a heartfelt expression of the human condition. Things take a darker turn on We Know Too Much, with a myth-like my...   [ read more ]

MP3 $10.49

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