Dec. 4th: And all for no reason, just one piece of lead

Johnny Cash- American IV: The Man Comes Around (American, 2002)

The fourth of Cash's collaborations with Rick Rubin, The Man Comes Around is a mix of carefully chosen covers,  a couple of originals and some re-recordings of  older Cash songs (1957's 'Streets Of Laredo', 'Sam Hall'). The title track is a new song which came from a dream Johnny had involving the Book Of Revelations, the four horses of the Apocalypse and Queen Elizabeth II, as you do. Of the covers, some of the most potentially disastrous work best: here 'Danny Boy 'is almost enough to make you forget the myriad heinous Daniel O' Donnell (and sub-Daniel O' Donnell...) versions; just Cash and a pipe organ, and nothing else. 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' featuring Fiona Apple doesn't quite match the original but almost, nearly makes it.

'I Hung My Head', from Sting's original, shows Cash's talent as a storyteller; the tension is racheted up to an emotional climax, where you almost feel as much for the criminal as for the victim.

The CD's crowning achievement, however, is the cover of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt'. Given Cash's history of addiction, it's one song he's entitled to sing, and he injects an affecting pathos into a song already full of pain and self-disgust. It's enough to put anyone off drugs for life.

Dec.1st: I dig the Stones, you dig 'Sheer Heart Attack'

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan- Sunday at Devil Dirt (US Edition) (Fontana 2008)

I'm a big Belle & Sebastian fan; however I'm a post-Isobel Campbell B&S fan. I first came across the band on 2003's Dear Catastrope Waitress, after Campbell had left, and I personally don't think the band are any poorer without her. I've always found her voice too light for my tastes-and I found the one solo album I own, The Green Fields of Foreverland, slightly too sugary and twee.
However, the combo of Campbell with ex-Screaming Tree Mark Lanegan offered something unexpected and original, and their first collaboration, Ballad Of The Broken Seas (2006) was a pleasant surprise. Sparse, dusty Americana, two disparate voices which somehow complemented each other.
....Devil Dirt is essentially, more of the same, with an expanded sound (organs; a gospel choir and jazz-bar piano outro on 'Back Burner'). Anyone hoping to hear lots of Isobel will be disappointed; the majority of leads are sung by Lanegan, Campbell mostly having a background role of arranger,backing vocalist and songwriter (all songs but one are her originals). On the Fontana edition, several bonus tracks are added, many of which were added to a subsequent EP in the UK, and these bonus tracks are some of the strongest songs on the record, particularly the comparitively danceable 'Hang On'.
Overall, ...Devil Dirt seems a weaker album than Ballads of The Broken Sea, possibly because the partnership's element of surprise  has worn off. In parts it seems more like a Mark Lanegan solo effort than a collaboration.