Alpaca Lips [Import]

Ranier & Das Combo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Glitterhouse
• ASIN: B0012VP1E6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,674,059 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Tracks: Here Comes Lilly, Rude World, The Good Book, Pastime Paradise, Flashlight, One Wrong Turn, Bo Weavil, De-Railed!, Don't Know Why, Drive, Horse Hair, Something's, Story Teller, Unseen Enemy, Bo Weavil Reprise, Lament of Love, All Done In.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A winner recorded just before Rainer's illness, June 27, 2009

By 

Nobody important - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Alpaca Lips (Audio CD)

Rainer Ptacek died tragically in 1997. It is a bit surprising to learn from the liner notes to this album that these recordings were made just before Rainer's first seizure in 1996. I say that this is surprising because there is a weariness to these recordings. In the latter part of Chris Whitley's career, he played in a style that was frequently so loose that it seemed as if the music would fall apart entirely at any moment. These recordings have some of that same feeling.

Of course, the Rainer Ptacek-Chris Whitley comparisons are inevitable. Like Whitley, Ptacek favored a National steel guitar, slide and fingerpicking. Like Whitley, he liked to experiment with sounds, occasionally mixing in somewhat unusual effects, and like Whitley, his playing was rooted in blues, but wasn't truly blues. Unlike Whitley, Rainer's voice, shall we say, lacked power, and the nasal tone isn't for everyone. However, Rainer's approach to music was far more exploratory than Whitley's, drawing on John Fahey as much as traditional blues, and only somewhat related to rock.

Returning to this particular album, it is somewhat more loose than some of Rainer's other recordings, including, ironically, Live at the Performance Center. That album was recorded at the end of Rainer's life, but Alpaca Lips actually seems to be a bit more world-weary. The playing is more loose and more melancholy here. That is not to say that it is sloppy or lifeless. Rainer always kept things moving at a comfortable pace, and he rarely flubbed a note. However, his tone and timing are strangely less controlled on this album than on Live at the Performance Center. That isn't entirely a bad thing. There is a lot to be said for the kind of informality here. It gives the impression that you are just listening to an intimate living room concert. Fans of Rainer Ptacek should buy this album without reservation.

Incidentally, Amazon currently lists the artist here as Rainer & Das Combo. However, this is Rainer solo, without the band known as Das Combo.

Further listening: Aside from Chris Whitley and John Fahey, try John Hasbrouck.