Just in case anyone failed to notice... Patti Griffin's new release, titled
Flaming Red, hit the stores last week. I hope that most of you are already
familiar with her terrific first release (Living With Ghosts); it is one of
those albums that I simply cannot live without... it combines the whole
package: great writing, singing and production... but I digress!
Flaming Red is quite different from Living With Ghosts. As we where all
told it would be, Flaming Red is much less a folk album and more of a
rocker-although only the first track (title track) is really raucous to my
ears and most cuts are like little homages to various types or examples of
rock/pop (listen to track 8 and say..."Purple Haze!"). While I am someone
who really, really decries "over production", and this album may take a few
listens for die-hard Living With Ghosts fans... in the end, it is another
fantastic album. Oh, I could quibble (but that wouldn't really be useful
or polite!) with a few things, but... in the end, the bottom line is these
songs are absolutely so good and Patti Griffin's voice and unusual phrasing
are so fantastic, that everything else dissappears and the listener is
simply moved. Several cuts sound radio friendly and Patti Griffin will be
at Lilith Fair, so maybe we'll get to see another great crossover act at
the Grammys...but even if that is somehow a "bad" thing to you (yes... I
get that way sometimes :), this album is really great and Patti Griffin is
a realy treasure. Check it out.
Ciao-
David Elbert
elbert@jhu.edu
ps. My favorite Patti Griffin performance remains her backing vocals on
Ellis Paul's cut "Last Call". When she harmonizes "lay my head in the arms
of the sofa", I just melt. I have to pop that great CD in just to hear
that line sometimes!
pps. Lucinda Williams long awaited Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is also in
stores. What a great week!