Humming By the Flowered Vine

Humming By the Flowered Vine

ASIN: B0009F2C8E

Track Listings

1. 14th Street

2. What You Said

3. And Still

4. Khaki & Corduroy

5. Letters

6. California Rose

7. Wishful Thinking

8. Poor Ellen Smith

9. Bees

10. Old Downtown

Tracks:

14th Street
What You Said
And Still
Khaki And Corduroy
Letters
California Rose
Wishful Thinking
Poor Ellen Smith
Bees
Old Downtown

Amazon.com

Laura Cantrell has exceptional taste. One listen to her celebrated radio show "Radio Thrift Shop"on WFMU and you will know this instantly, as she mixes old school country and bluegrass with the best contemporary singer-songwriters. The cover art to this, her third album, is by the superlative artist Fred Tomaselli, and her choice of arcane, literate, and lovely cover songs is exquisite: a previously unreleased Lucinda Williams song ("Letters"), an obscure Appalachian murder ballad originally collected by her great-great aunt ("Poor Ellen Smith"), and a fabulous tune by singer-songwriter Emily Spray ("14th Street"). Of course, if good taste were all it took to be a great artist, we'd all be great artsists, right? Laura's not a crooner per se, but she has become an amazing singer, with delightful control over her voice. In fact, Cantrell sounds a lot like the long-lost, Tennessee-born sister to Linda Thompson, especially on the Dave Schramm-penned "And Still," and her own "Old Downtown." This is cosmic, American music, sung with subtlety and produced perfectly by JD Foster. -Mike McGonigal.

From Amazon.co.uk

Laura Cantrell's third album, Humming by the Flowered Vine, emerges into daunting company. Her debut, 2000's Not the Tremblin' Kind, was famously acclaimed by John Peel--who'd probably listened to more albums than anybody else--as "my favourite record of the last ten years, and possibly my life." The follow-up, 2002's When the Roses Bloom Again, was also widely, and rightly, hailed a classic. Humming by the Flowered Vine finds Cantrell understandably reluctant to tinker overmuch with a winning formula. Like its distinguished predecessors, it's a mix of Cantrell's own compositions and obscure cover versions which would only have appeared on the radar of a serious country enthusiast--Emily Spray's "14th Street," Jenifer Jackson's "What You Said," Dave Schramm's "And Still." If Cantrell does borrow from a big name, it's a previously unreleased song--in this case, a sublime version of Lucinda Williams's "Letters."

Humming by the Flowered Vine is a little more opulently arranged than previous albums. However, Cantrell's deceptively offhand, conversational voice remains an instantly recognisable and still treasurable idiosyncrasy, and her third album is a worthy addition to her canon. --Andrew Mueller

Album Description

The follow-up to 2002's "When The Roses Bloom Again" is nothing less than masterful. Produced by JD Foster (Richard Buckner, Marc Ribot), the album features such stellar musicians as John Convertino and Paul Niehaus of Calexico, Amy Helm and Fiona McBain of Ollabelle, Jon Graboff, Mark Spencer, Dave Schramm, Jeremy Chatzky, and many more. Sad and sweet in all the right doses, Cantrell is one of the unique voices and minds in American music, and this third album shows the sort of poise and invention that we associate with the all-time greats, regardless of genre.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2006-06-22

I didn't think this album was as successful a showcase of Laura's musical taste and talent as her previous albums, but this is a beautiful collection of songs nonetheless. Aside from her hypnotic voice, I think what makes Laura so addictive is her impeccable taste in music. The obscure songs she pulls out and covers on her albums are just absolute gems and it sometimes shocks me that many of them aren't better known.

As for this album, the music and production are of the highest quality and Laura is on top of her singing game. My two main complaints are that the album is a bit slight (only 39 minutes of music!) and that there seems to be some out of place songs on here (Letters jumps out at me as one such example).

However, this is still a great album and "14th Street" is worth the price of the CD alone.

Lyrical voice, enjoyable songs.......2005-10-05

I like this CD. Ms. Cantrell has a very nice, lyrical voice, and the songs are pleasant to listen to. They've got a nice bluegrass/country sound that I enjoy. I use the word nice because it's that way. The album is good overall, but I can't say that I can name any one song that stands out for me. I would prefer to give it 3 1/2 stars because of this.

She reminds me of a little of Gillian Welch. The bluegrass quality is the same, but Ms. Cantrell has a very sweet voice compared to the earthiness of Ms. Welch's recordings. Her songs are also not so obviously dark. It's much brighter music.

Note on the mixing.......2005-08-18

Since I concur with the positive comments on the performance posted by other LC fans, I won't bore you with repeating mine here. but I must add a negative comment here on the mixing and/or mastering of this CD: it is ill-suited to LC's extraordinary artistry. LC's beautiful voice is made distant, edgy and the volume is too low relative to the instrumentation. The dynamic range is compressed; the instrumnts are one big muddle, with too much upper midrange and little bass. This especially strange here, as her previous album (WTRosesBA) was mastered in pristine HDCD sound.Too bad about this one, as the perormances are very fine.

Still, I am a huge admirer of LC's work, and hope that no one will be deterred by these comments from buying this, despite the mediocre sound. I hope that the next one will be mixed and mastered at the high level of Ms. Cantrell's artistry.

Interesting blend of new Laura and old Laura.......2005-08-12

From the very first sound (a cymbal roll on 14th St.), Laura Cantrell signals that this album will bring a new sound for her. It's a solid effort, and may well yield a wider audience

Both of Cantrell's first two albums were an exercise in nostalgia-nostalgia, in my case, for an era that I never experienced the first time, yet instantly felt transported back to anyway.

This album differs most markedly in regards to instrumentation. I identified her earlier works with that airy acoustical guitar sound, and also a fair share of steel guitar and violin. Here, we variously find electric bass, piano, even distorted electric guitar. Where her earlier works were all marked by clean, straightforward percussion, often in cut time or even a waltz, here we have find more modern percussion techniques, often no drumming at all. There is much less of the close harmony, and the background singers, when present, have a more pop sound.

Cantrell had earlier demonstrated a tendency to be anachronistic in her lyrical and thematic choices on her own compositions, combining classic country sound with modern lyrics and ideas (or, in other cases, classic lyrics colored with irony by the context of our modern world). But that sublime mix of nostalgia and wry irony is diminished. There are exceptions. "What You Said," particularly, along with "California Rose," "Wishful Thinking," and "Poor Ellen Smith," would fit comfortably into either of her prior two works.

The rest of the album is stylish and enjoyable, but I would describe it as more contemporary folk or pop than country. I'm reminded variously of Sarah McLachlan, Lucida Williams (who wrote "Letters," which appears here), Dar Williams, and Sixpence None the Richer, to name a few. For older fans, the tracks named above more than enough to justify the purchase price, and you may find you like the newer sound of Laura Cantrell as well.

Perseverance Pays Off.......2005-08-10

I had not heard of Laura Cantrell, and purchased this CD on the strength of a glowing newspaper review. I was particularly interested in the reviewer's comparison with Lucinda Williams. The first couple of times I played the CD I was disappointed. There was not the raw energy of Lucinda; in fact a few of the tracks were a little too pretty for my liking. However I persevered, and I have come to like the CD immensely. The music is clever and subtle; there is excellent backing and some very good lyrics. Laura Cantrell's voice grows on you, and while not as raunchy as Lucinda Williams, it fits naturally with the songs on this CD.

Album Review:

Album Review

Album Review