ARTIST: Ellis Paul
TITLE: American Jukebox Fables
LABEL: Philo / Rounder Records
GENRE: Folk
TIME: 55:14 min
SIZE: 78,0 MB
RIP DATE: Apr-26-2005
RELEASE DATE: Apr-05-2005
Track List:
01. Blacktop Train 04:46
02. Kiss The Sun (A Song For Pat Tillman) 04:02
03. Take All The Sky You Need 04:17
04. Time 02:31
05. Goodbye Hollywood 04:46
06. Marc Chagall 04:05
07. Jukebox On My Grave 03:39
08. Home 04:16
09. Alice's Champagne Palace 04:24
10. She Was 03:52
11. Bad, Bad Blood 04:40
12. Mystified 04:43
13. Clarity 05:13
Release Notes:
Imagine songs in the populist, topical tradition of
Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger set to the soundscapes
of Moby-style electronica. Not all of Ellis Paul's
first album in three years offers such an aural
adventure, but the opening track, "Blacktop Train,"
combines propulsive syncopation, synthesized
punctuation, and an ethereal female vocal that take
the music far from folk convention, while "Kiss the
Sun (A Song for Pat Tillman)" sets acoustic guitar
to a digital pulse. In the centerpiece that passes
for a title track, the veteran New England
troubadour asks for a jukebox instead of a headstone
on his grave, evoking a litany of inspirations that
extend from Hank Williams and George Jones to Marvin
Gaye and Joni Mitchell. Though Paul's reedy vocal
remains relentlessly earnest, and his lyrics can get
a little precious ("Time is a bird that can't be
caged"; "I want to paint your world like Marc
Chagall"), the inventive arrangements and buoyant
melodies help lighten the artistic load.