In an age where every blogger seems to be in a race to get firsties on posting about a buzz band to be, Aquarium Drunkard places their focus on looking back at great, forgotten, and sometimes rare recordings. It is through this wonderful website that I discovered Karen Dalton.
Last weekend in an impulse buy I purchased a new Dalton compilation, and its too good not to share here. The description below comes from Othermusic.com
"The posthumous excavation of rare Karen Dalton recordings continues with this latest installment from Delmore Records. I can safely say you shouldn't be worried about diminishing returns here, as this is a supremely intimate tape that captures Dalton and then partner Richard Tucker holed up in a remote cabin in the mountains outside of Boulder, Colorado one evening in 1966. The highlights are undoubtedly her renditions of a number of Tim Hardin tunes that heretofore had been undocumented. "Green Rocky Road" in particular is just stunning, as if you're listening to a cloud slowly unfurl across a landscape, effortlessly floating into infinity. There's also a devastating version of her classic "Katie Cruel" and a practically somnambulant version of folk standard "Cotton-Eyed Joe" that's impossible to not get completely lost in. Anything that expands our understanding of this incredibly enigmatic and troubled singer is a cause for celebration, and here's hoping that the well hasn't run dry yet as all these releases thus far have all been uniformly excellent." Othermusic.com
Preview this gem using Delmore's bandcamp widget bellow.
Simply magisterial stuff.
ReplyDeletesomnambulant! If I knew what that meant, I am sure I'd agree.
ReplyDeletefurthermore, how much do you think this would loose if it were produced in a slick studio? How many gems like this are simply not being produced in the wake of sleek home studios...
ReplyDelete