ARTIST: Paul Curreri
TITLE: The Velvet Rut
LABEL: Tin Angel
GENRE: Rock
TIME: 47:06 min
SIZE: 53,9 MB
RIP DATE: Aug-19-2007
RELEASE DATE: Jun-11-2007
WEBSITE: n/a
Track List:
01. Mantra 04:04
02. The Velvet Rut 02:37
03. A Song On Robbing 03:54
04. The Wasp 02:13
05. The Ugly Angel 03:48
06. Keep Your Masters Voice In Your Mouth 04:24
07. Fat Killer At Dawn 02:14
08. Intermission For Beer 01:22
09. Loretta 05:34
10. Don't Drink 02:03
11. Where You Got Ain't Where You're From 03:04
12. Why I Turned My Light Off` 03:04
13. Freestylin' Crost The Pond 08:45
Release Notes:
What has happened to Paul Curreri? Last time I
looked (at his gig at London's Luminaire, to be
precise) he was singing sharp, piquant acoustic
numbers, a flag bearer for the New Americana. But on
Mantra, the opening track of The Velvet Rut, he has
turned all dirty Delta blues.
But by God it sounds good. Kicking off with a
smokers cough and edgy drumming, the song sounds
nastier than a Memphis night on bad bootleg. Then
again, should I be surprised that the
Charlottesville singer has that darkness inside him?
He is Kelly Joe Phelps's protΘgΘ after all.
Fans of Curreri's more usual softer style should not
be too worried though. Despite the promise of
something completely different in the opening track,
much of The Velvet Rut builds on that for which he
has a deserved reputation: accomplished musicianship
(he plays all the instruments and supplies all
vocals); and songwriting that pushes Americana well
beyond the reach of the many bland
singer-songwriters flooding the UK at the moment.
Of the Phelps' influenced tracks Loretta stands out
thanks to Curreri's vocal, delivered with the
yearning of a lusty teenager unable to get his hands
on the goods.
Teenage hormones and bluesy guitars may be on The
Velvet Rut, they are not what make it worth
listening to. What makes the album worth buying is
the songwriting. Curreri's lyrics are feats of
imagination in a music sector drowned out by the
sound of insipid love songs delivered with all the
originality of a Simon Cowell act.
Where else but on a Curreri album could you veer
from a wonderful story of an angel climbing from a
bath and causing a natural disaster as their wing
hits the window (The Ugly Angel) through Patti Smith
being told to "kiss my ass and die/If you can't make
beautiful make nice" in a song about faith and
friendship (Keep Your Master's Voice In Your Mouth)
to a lazy dream-stealer (Fat Killer At Dawn)?
Curreri produced The Velvet Rut, and has given it an
experimental, layered feel. This works best on The
Wasp. Sounding like it was recorded in the bathroom,
its off beat clapping percussion would not be out of
place in a Devendra Banhart set. Why I Turned My
Light Off and Freestylin' Crost The Pond bring the
album to a more conventional, intimate end, which
highlights my only criticism of the album.
I wanted more dirty Delta and less reflective, late
night bar. The lack of it left me wondering whether
the sheer shock of sparking up on such a sharply
contrasting note had shocked Curreri as much as it
will his fans.
Still, as criticisms go, it is a minor one, and
Curreri remains one of the most innovative
interesting and under-appreciated songwriters
working today.