Customer Reviews

Ashgrove

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

 

 

I've been a big Dave Alvin fan for awhile and continue to think that he is one of America's best songwriters and he's an excellent live performer too.

The new Ashgrove CD contains some of his best writing but it's hard to get into a groove when listening to this CD because the song styles shift rather abruptly. This is an outgrowth of what many of us like about Dave Alvin. He is a great electric rock and roller but he is also a thoughtful acoustic songwriter. In the past, his CD's have focused on one or the other. For example, his live Continental Club CD is a rock and roll CD while Blackjack David was more of an acoustic CD.

Ashgrove tries to be both and it succeeds for the most part. In Nine Volt Heart and Everett Ruess, Alvin has written two incredible folk classics that I will never tire of hearing. The song, The Man in the Bed is another acoustic winner. In between these songs are more rocking songs like Out of Control and the title track that show off Dave's electric blues guitar prowess. It just seems that the shifts are so abrupt that it's hard to listen through it from beginning to end. I guess it's the perfect CD for the IPOD generation where you can take the songs you like and listen to them in the order in which they make sense.

In any case, Dave should be congratulated for writing more great songs, and if you get the chance, see him live. His touring band is comprised of different people than on this CD and they are great musicians for the road just as the studio team led by Greg Liesz did a great job in backing Dave for this CD.

I just saw Dave Alvin perform many of the songs off this CD (a pitiful Santa Fe turn out). When I played the CD, it wasn't up to his live performance. Yet as I listened to it more, I grew to appreciate the textures portrayed of working class lives like the folk music of old set in the modern world. Dave Alvin plays great rock guitar and his voice holds up well as a seasoned troubador. My favorite is "Out of Control" a song filled with darkness, a 9mm pistol, an ex wife in a trailor turned to God but still willing to get it on, and "baby" performing for some chump in a cheap motel...Then there is "The Man In The Bed Isn't Me" a great song about old age and dying....You believe these songs..there is nothing phoney about them...

In a music world gone astray with false musicians and American Idols, it is comforting to know that the real thing exists. Dave Alvin is the real thing. Mr. Alvin inhabits the exclusive group of gifted American singer-songwriter guitarists, which include the likes of Springsteen, Dylan, and Cash, who tell stories about this big country and its ordinary folks in songs the radio mostly seems to miss.

To be sure, the radio does miss Dave Alvin's material. And we are shortchanged because of it. Mr. Alvin has a deep, resonant voice mellowed by perhaps a few too many cigarettes, is a virtuoso guitarist, and has a wonderful pen for music and lyrics. Mr. Alvin generally delivers excellent CDs ("Public Domain" won a Grammy) and "Ashrgrove" is no exception.

"Ashgrove" is really two CDs in one with its ten cuts shifting back and forth in song style between blues-rock and country-folk. I like both sounds on the CD, but I find the country-folk songs particularly strong musically and lyrically.

In "Rio Grande" Mr. Alvin tells the story of the restless pursuit of a lost love, which, for those that have experienced it know, rolls endlessly like a river to the sea. "Nine Volt Heart" is wonderful song about family life built on the potency of music on the radio. Maybe this is Mr. Alvin gentle reminder that music does matter and can make a difference in the quality of life.

"The Man In The Bed" contemplates the inevitability of growing old from the view of a man whose body fails, but whose mind remains sharp. He thus becomes trapped in his body, trying to convince everyone, including himself, that the person in the bed is an imposter. In "Somewhere In Time," Mr. Alvin muses about the interrelation between thoughts, time and true love and seemingly transforms them into a physical law of nature: even if disconnected for the present moment, they will all reunite at some other instant.

The title track describes the time when American music was polished in live clubs. Ashgrove is a burned down blues club that Mr. Alvin tries to revisit. By bringing us back to Ashgrove, Mr. Alvin also perhaps tries to resurrect music to point that it really does matter. This is an appropriate trip for Mr. Alvin to lead, because his music does matter in this excellent CD.

If Dave Alvin is not the best kept secret in the world of contemporary music, tell me who is? This fine work is simply another example of his sterling talent. His live performances are legendary and this latest offering provides a taste of his diversity and artistry. From blues rockers to moving ballads, Dave Alvin creates musical masterpieces that validates his position as one of America's finest singer-songwriters.

Ashgrove finds Dave Alvin reconnecting with his bluesy side--a side that almost always finds its way into his live performances but has been heard to a lesser degree in his previous few albums. I prefer his acoustic singer/songwriter mode, so for me Ashgrove as a whole doesn't rank among Alvin's finest work. That's not to say that there aren't very strong moments here: "Rio Grande," "Everett Ruess" and "The Man in the Bed" are all splendid. That said, the disc has more glaring weaknesses than Alvin's previous efforts. "9-Volt Heart" ventures into mawkish territory, Alvin's thug narrator in "Out of Control" fails to convince, and "Somewhere in Time" closes the disc on a somewhat leaden note. But Alvin's strengths as a performer and songwriter more than compensate, and overall Ashgrove maintains the high expectations Alvin has set with his previous efforts.

It doesn't get any better than this. Dave is back to playing his electric guitar after a few years where he focused on his acoustic side. This album is a great mix of all the american styles that Dave has perfected over the years. This is a great album and should be in everyones top 5 by years end.

We can all agree on one thing about Dave Alvin: the boy tells the truth, in his playing and his lyrics. This is another amazing musical gem and my personal favortie since "Blackjack David," his last CD of all-new original material. Not that he's ever done anything less than 4-star quality, mind you.

I wrestle with the mystery of how folks like Springsteen get such (deserved) credit, whilst Alvin consistently releases equally impressive -- if not better!! -- CDs. Should the blame be his punchless record label, today's sorry state of radio, or managment that can't hook him up with a huge tour to reach the masses? The problem sure ain't the material and performance.

An interesting study is listening back-to-back to "Somewhere In Time" off this CD and recent Los Lobos release. The Los Lobos session ranks as my "Song of the Year" thus far in 2004. Nonetheless the more economical version contained here still drills deeply into the soul, exposing deep aches and loss we've all suffered through, minute-by-minute, only to find some hope to help us survive.

The title track is the honest howl of a genuine man. He has lost his youth and is now victim of his own drive and desires formulated at an impressionable age. It's a contemporary perspective worthy of comparison to Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience."

"Out Of Control" is just a brilliant character study, and Alvin may have read my childhood diary before writing "Nine Volt Heart."

"Black Sky" and "Black Haired Girl" are other superb standouts (after "Blackjack David" what other black song will we get?) that showcase Alvin's band this time.

The Guilty Men are a formidable backing ensemble, but session players on this were definitely open for business at the studio. Bob Glaub on bass is especially well situated in the mix, emphasing and punctuating the messages with an underlying and subtle urgency.

Whaddya want? It's summer. So do yourself a great big favor. Put "Ashgrove" on, pour a crisp drink, go outside under the moonlit sky and listen to a CD that'll revise the how you see life while it validates your personal truth and values.

I have most of Dave Alvin's CDs and consider this one to be his best. The pictures he paints with words coupled with outstanding guitar playing make every song on this CD a gem. If you like gritty blues and driving folk/rock music than you will like this fine performance by Dave and his band. I have never bought a bad Dave Alvin record, or even a mediocre one. All of Alvin's music is outstanding and this is one of the best, if not THE BEST!

When talking about such a prolific songwriter as Dave Alvin, it is hard to pick a piece of work and claim it as his best. Ashgrove is solid from the beginning blues riffs until the same blues riffs that fade out to complete the disc. The songs Ashgrove, Black Sky, Sinful Daughter and Out of Control all highlight Alvin's blues influences. Nine Volt Heart, Man In the Bed and Black Haired Girl show Alvin's ability to write beautiful ballads and draw the listener into the songs and capture their imagination. I usually have mental pictures while listening to these songs. Who needs music videos when one can create images based on Alvin's strong song writing skills. The Ashgrove is a blues bar where Alvin would watch blues singers at in his youth. These performers left a mark on Alvin and he pays tribute to them on this disc. Dave Alvin has always been a talented guitar player, but on this disc his playing seems to reach new level of excellence. This is a great piece of work from a very under appreciated American musician.

Artist: Dave Alvin

Title: Ashgrove

Rating: Very Good

I guess you either "get" Dave Alvin or you're left wandering in a murky sonic wasteland. Okay, kidding aside, for me Dave Alvin is the poet laureate of the Lincoln Highway system: the West Coast's retort to Bruce Springsteen.

Alvin's musicological knowledge of roots music is apparent album after album. Stretching from the blues of Johnny `Guitar' Watson to the folk of Rambling Jack Elliot Dave Alvin successfully brings together a vast network of sounds and creates a pop-roots sound for the modern American landscape. After tilting the boat with his last few releases (Blackjack Dave and Public Domain), Alvin is back with a readily accessible album.

In the title track, like most fablers, Alvin spins the likely tale of sneaking across the tracks down to the old club to see the great old black performers before they died. While every white guy that's ever released a blues album lays claim to these cliché ridden credentials, in Alvin's case I suspect he's telling the truth.