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┌────────┐
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Meg Baird
Title | Don't Weigh Down The Light
Genre | Folk Format | Album
Source | CDDA Time | 46:27
Label | Wichita Recordings Store | 2015
Catalog | WEBB445CD Rip | 2015
Bitrate | 222 kbps Size | 77.66 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | Lame 3.98.4
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. Counterfeiters 3:27
02. I Don't Mind 6:12
03. Mosquito Hawks 3:21
04. Back To You 4:18
05. Part Houses 5:03
06. Leaving Song 1:03
07. Stars Unwinding 5:23
08. Good Directions 5:24
09. Don't Weigh Down The Light 5:41
10. Even The Walls Don't Want You To Go 3:43
11. Past Houses (Reprise) 2:52
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
As a member of psych-folk outfit Espers, half of the family duo the Baird
Sisters, and as a solo artist, Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Meg
Baird has lent her lovely voice to a variety of folk-based projects.
Baird's true roots are deeply entwined in the Celtic/Anglo folk traditions
as well as in American; she's well-versed in traditional ballads and songs,
and her delicate, crystalline lilt fits perfectly in that milieu. Still,
Baird is better known within the indie and underground rock scene than the
more established streams of the folk community.
Singer and songwriter Meg Baird takes her time between solo records. Her
first offering, "Dear Companion", was released between Espers' albums in
2007. Her second, "Seasons on Earth", appeared in 2011, a year after the
excellent covers set "Leaves from Off the Tree" with Sharron Kraus and
Helena Espvall. "Don't Weigh Down the Light" follows after another
four-year break, and is her first album since relocating to San Francisco
from Philadelphia. What ties all of her albums together is her root
sources. They are deeply steeped in, even haunted by, the English folk
tradition informed but not dominated by psychedelia. Cut at Bauer Mansion
Studio and mixed by Eric Bauer and Bob Marshall, this set offers a contrast
to earlier outings in that Baird is confident enough to play several
instruments with only longtime collaborator Charlie Saufley (Hexadic)
accompanying her.
As evidenced by the pre-release track "Counterfeiters," this is a spidery,
subtle collection. The two-chord progression in this song comes right out
of Neil Young's "Down by the River," though it's teased out and turned with
fingerpicked acoustic guitars, a swooning slide here and there, and
well-utilized reverb adding space and texture to Baird's plaintive, lovely
voice. The pronounced, strummed 12-string on "Mosquito Hawks" is accented
by a single-string lead line, while rounded, elegiac tom-toms underscore
the longing in her lyric. Her voice is much more disciplined than on any
previous album, adding heft and depth. It comes from the well of experience
as her pitch glides on the tags, allowing emotion to flow freely and
underscoring her lyric metaphors with meaning.
The ghostly upright piano on "Past Houses" comes seemingly from the ether,
adding dimension to a wispy, languid tune adorned by gauzy electric and
acoustic guitars. "Stars Unwinding" is a nocturnal minor-key ballad that
recalls - and updates - the tonal palette Pentangle employed on early
albums. Its floating organ hovers around an aching lyric and modal
fingerpicking. The title track is perhaps the most intimate thing here. Its
unhurried pace is underscored as only guitars and reverb add ballast to a
restrained lyric line. This is deceptive as it contains many gentle arc,
and shadowy contours, making it nearly hummable.
It opens onto the heartbreaking "Even the Walls Don't Want to Go," with its
gently striated harmonies, and open, ringing, drone-like lead 12-string
guitars and strummed rhythms. Baird's vocal is most impressive on this
track; it recalls Liz Fraser's of the Cocteau Twins, and makes this the
most blissed-out breakup song in recent memory. With repeated listening -
which it most certainly warrants - "Don't Weigh Down the Light", despite
dynamic and instrumental economy, feels almost lush in its melodic
sophistication and articulate, poetic lyrics. It carefully builds -
creatively and emotionally - on everything Baird had accomplished so far
and ascends to another level entirely.
┌────────┐
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└────────┘