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by Henry Lipput
“Listen, Then Repeat”
Some albums are like shampoo. Just listening to them once isn’t enough; you have to engage in repeat listenings to appreciate what you’re dealing with, and, more often than not, you’ll find that it’s worth the extra effort.
I have no excuse, however, for not getting Ed Harcourt’s new album on the first listen. “Strangers” is his third disc and I really liked his first album, “Here Be Monsters”(in which he sang about love and bears and spiders), a lot. In fact, it turned up on my Top Ten list for 2002 and the song “Apple Of My Eye” was that year’s dancing-around-the-living-room song (or dancing-around-you-car song depending on where you were listening. I didn’t care for his second album as much, which may have been part of my problem with the third disc.
After even a couple of listens I only really liked a few of the songs on “Strangers.” This may be because Harcourt has a tendency to write good tunes but fill them with lightweight lyrics, especially on the very Kink-y “This One’s For You” and the title song. But after starting the disc in the middle instead of the beginning, I began to really like what I was hearing. Sometimes you have to work your way through an album in a way that’s different than the way it’s presented to you. I think that’s why they put the Shuffle mode on CD players.
The standout tracks on “Strangers” include “Something To Live For” (in which he compares love to “a never-ending open wound that started from a simple scratch”) and features a pump organ that would not have been out of place on Badly Drawn Boy’s “The Hour Of Bewilderbeast.” “This One’s For You” charms with its simple piano playing and a solo, forlorn horn reminiscent of the best songs on his first disc. “The Trapdoor” has a haunting electric guitar that echoes the melody line. And though you may not care for the first song’s electric guitar blasts, “The Storm Is Coming” is a terrific album opener, a great blend of music, lyrics, and performance. “Let Love Not Weigh Me Down” is another song with a fine sense of dynamics.
When I spoke briefly to Harcourt when he appeared at Club Café last month, I told him that I had listened to the new album for a while but that I had just started to appreciate it. “Sometimes it takes a while,” he acknowledged.
Local Focus: Mike Gallagher
Local singer-songwriter Mike Gallagher has made a name for himself performing traditional and original Irish tunes. His latest album, “Saints & Scholars,” is a blend of the old and the new. Gallagher has been a presence on the local music scene for nearly 30 years. He has a clear, tenor voice that sounds as if he was born in Ireland, not in Pittsburgh. The arrangements on the new album feature instruments like acoustic guitar, fiddle, and tin whistle, giving the disc an authentic feel. Highlights include “The Voyage” and the more contemporary-sounding “Sweet Peggy-O.” Produced by Al Snyder, he of the Corbin-Hanner Band and a producer of other Pittsburgh-based artists, the album has a sound that’s as clear as Gallagher’s voice.
Musical historians have pointed out that our folk song tradition grew out of the English and Irish ballads and protest songs that immigrants brought to this country. Gallagher, in addition to his traditional songs, is also an accomplished folk singer and songwriter. In a recent appearance at Club Café, he performed original folk songs that, along with his Celtic ballads, bridged the gap between the two genres. He’s an engaging performer and established an immediate connection with the audience. With less of an Irish tinge to his voice, he sang with a sincerity that was touching and gave close attention to the lyrics.
