Customer Reviews

Among the Oak & Ash

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Beautiful, haunting and well executed. Garrison Starr is truly a treasure as a solo artist and is equally wonderful here with Josh Joplin. They handled the traditional material with respect and admiration while making their own mark on each song and created original new classics of their own. Rock on.

but this really grew on me and now I really like it. I've never heard the original folk versions of these songs. Josh Joplin and Garrison Starr sound great together, especially on "The Housewife's Lament" and "Joseph Hillstrom 1879-1915". They mix the vibe of these songs well. "Peggy O" sounds like alternative country, "Shady Grove" has a cool bluegrass feel, and "All the Pretty Little Horses" is done more traditional country. The original songs, "Joseph Hillstrom 1879-1915" and "High, Low, & Wide", are just as good as the folk cover songs. I don't like the closing cover of the Smiths' "Bigmouth Strikes Again". All told, all of the songs here are good, performed with a mostly laid back vibe and it's worth checking out if you like alternative country music.

This album has an upbeat, uplifting, almost spiritual quality that works quite well. I am not usually a fan of albums that take on a spiritual vibe, but there is a quality here that isn't unlike what Sufjan Stevens has put out before. The tempo and style of the album remind me of Sufjan Steven's Illinois album while the lyrical quality isn't unlike Sufjan's Seven Swans album.

All the songs have a strong folk vibe in terms of lyrics, but the tempo can make you forget this is a folk album. A song like Peggy O is reminds me of any pop song out there although the lyrics are anything but and really make it exceed. In fact, it is the folk nature of this album on the whole that really lift it above pop albums with quality that is all but absent in mainstream music these days. The song Joseph Hillstrom 1879-1915 would be the stereotypical folk song, but the music makes one forget that. As a result, the album is the perfect way for someone who isn't necessarily a fan of folk music to reach into that realm. However, it is a great folk album from any point of view as the stories told have great quality that is worth checking out.

I hope this is a band that succeeds, and I hope the quality of albums like this are part of a revival of folk music. It is an under-rated genre, and this album shows it.

Among The Oak & Ash is an excellent indie band, delivering a pleasant and refreshing album, which is rich and rooted in fable and folk style music.

Among The Oak & Ash delivers an outstanding performance on two of my favorite songs "All The Pretty Little Horses" & "Joseph Hillstrom (Joe Hill)"

My only disappointment in this album is that most of the songs end abruptly. Not really a big fan of that.

Overall, this album is very worthwhile and should be a great addition for your music collection.

Folk songs turned modern by a couple of hipstery kids. That's what this album is - and that's a good thing. Though the lyrics and some things can be a little predictable because of the nature of folk songs, if you gave this album to someone without telling them the background, they'd probably just like it.

I like the history of some of these songs that have been passed down through the ages, and hearing a modern take on them is great. All in all, if you think you'd like modern-alt-folk-rock, then you'll probably like this. If just reading that makes you gag, then you probably won't. I wouldn't call myself a folk music fan (and I don't like country) I find it perfectly fine and it'll find a home on my playlist.

I have had this for a while now, but decided to let it sink in a bit before reviewing.

I have decided that I quite like it, although I expected maybe a bit more of an old-style country sound. The musicians are quite talented and they play these songs with a new style that actually worked quite well. I was not familiar with a great number of the songs, so I can't say how they hold up against other versions, but I was quite fond of "All the Pretty Horses," as I feel that they did a wonderful version of that song.

The vocals are standout and I believe that there is a lot to be said for all involved here. Excellent vocals and good instrumental performances make for a good disc. I was surprised overall, but pleasantly surprised.

Among the songs on the album, the Smiths cover seems a bit out of place. I absolutely loved the Smiths and I think that their cover was quite well done, but I don't know that it really fits on this disc.

Overall: 4/5 - recommended

I'm always looking for new music and am frequently disappointed with the results. Among the Oak & Ash are a very pleasant exception.

The band's clean riffs and articulate lyrics are reminiscent of early REM, combined with a little bit of the Breeders, the Grateful Dead and a dash of Pete Seeger. Peggy-O is my current favorite, but with all new artists I fall in love with, I tend to move down the playlist as time goes by, favoring most of the songs along the way at one point or another.

I don't consider myself a fan of county music, though I am a huge fan of folk music. I'd say this album is more a fusion of "alternative folk-rock" than it is of "alternative country-rock," which it is categorized under. Excellent music to unwind to after a long day when you need some alone-time.

When I first heard about this project on MySpace, I was a little skeptical. I had followed Josh Joplin from the more adult alternative pop-oriented Josh Joplin Group albums (the first of which, "Useful Music" is still one of my favorites) to the more traditional folk of "Jaywalker" in 2005. I wasn't sure, though, if I could follow him to an album of really old-time Appalachian folk songs. But I did and on the whole I enjoyed the album on my first couple of listens.

I'm sure there are all sorts of folk acts you could compare this to, but with the first couple of tracks I got thinking of the Decemberists and how they take old-fashioned songs (really old-fashioned as in from centuries gone by) and put a modern spin on them with an electric guitar here and there. Such is the case with Among the Oak & Ash. They take these really old-time songs and put some modern touches to them so that the songs don't sound as if they existed long before MP3s or even phonographs. The way Joplin and Garrison Starr vocalize together and sometimes switch leads puts me in mind of the Weepies as well. Even if others might not think those comparisons apt, putting them in that company is a complement--at least to me.

Anyway, overall this is an enjoyable album if you like folk music. If you don't you're probably not reading this. I don't have any favorite tracks yet, though "Peggy-O" seems like the infectious kind of song that can get in your head for hours. I suppose what disappoints me is that most of these songs are covers. The great thing about Josh Joplin's music, whether it's the Group or solo, are his clever lyrics that can be alternately funny and moving. That's sorely lacking in Among the Oak & Ash. But maybe that will come with another album, if this experiment works out, which I hope it does.

That is all.

If you told me a set of early American historical ballads could fit into an alternative, folk, and bluegrass set, the cynic in me would have dismissed the premise as mission impossible with the suspicion that keeping the tales fluid and interesting would be a waste of time.

Besides the obvious immediate appeal of the jingle-jangley "Joseph Hillstram" and the propulsion of the morbidly interesting "Bigmouth Strikes Again," Oak and Ash have much of the pioneer country covered with pleasing spirituals (like "Angel Gabriel") and countrified songs (such as "Shady Grove"). Most of the numbers are folk tales, and some of the mix may be sleepy hollow to some ears, but even the minor selections are pleasant and listenable nonetheless.

Borrowing from old standards, adding a few originals (penned by Josh Joplin, the male half of this singing duo), folklore, old newspaper stories, and even an old shoebox letter romance are brought in a convincing and engaging fashion.

Just when you thought that educational musical C.D.'s were (or are) limited to the primary grades, then Oak and Ash has news for you. And most of it is The Good News.

After listening to this set, you have any doubts about the singers' heartfelt inspiration, then you might have missed Harrison Starr's voice falter on the gentle acoustic "The Water Is Wide". After over a year of listening to this diamond in the rough, Oak and Ash have made believers out of me.

Now normally I steer completely clear of anything that is labeled country, and I've read there are some country elements to Among the Oak & Ash. Needless to say I was at first hesitant to check this out, but I've been appreciating folk music recently (do Flight of the Conchords count? Folk parody must count) and I banked on Garrison Starr's hipster looks to ensure this wasn't going to be too country. Well, I'm pleased with this duo of Starr and Josh Joplin.

So I guess all the songs are covers (if you will) of old, traditional folk songs. Starr and Joplin give it their own alternative take and it's not bad. It's more folk than anything I suppose. I'm not familiar enough with this genre to give the music a proper label. Instrumentally this album is pretty bare and simple - a couple instruments, some light percussion, nothing too wild. Heck, "Pretty Saro" is just Joplin singing by himself. Here and there a harmonica is featured, which I find to be cool. And it's not even an instrument I'd say I like! Some songs are catchy and some are frankly forgettable, but overall a good collection.

I think this would serve as a great soundtrack to a movie, perhaps a dramatic adventure like Into the Wild which had a soundtrack similar in style. I highly recommend checking out both the movie and the soundtrack.