Customer Reviews

Golden Age of Radio

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Josh Ritter's "The Golden Age of Radio" does what many albums fail to do; it creates a world that you can lose yourself in, that almost sweeps you off your feet. When I first heard it I was blown away, with the gentle first track "Come and Find Me" into the second "Me and Jiggs" which has more of a alt-country feel to it, but is neither abrupt or disappointing. Ritter's lyrics are beautifully woven, and each song is recognizably distinct, however most are reminiscent of Drake and Dylan. An amazing buy, you won't be disappointed.

I had never heard of Josh Ritter until I heard him play live for our Four Directions Summer Research Program at Harvard Medical School this past August. He gave the most amazing performance (and he was so nice, too!) This CD has become one of my favorites. The songs ROLL ON and ME & JIGGS were the first to catch my attention, but now I like many others, like ANNE, OTHER SIDE, GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO, etc. I understand that Josh Ritter is very famous in Ireland, but I think he soon will be a household name in the U.S. Some artists I could compare him with are Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen. If you like these artists, you must get this CD!

This is one of the best albums I've heard in a few years. Every song is very catchy - you won't want to quit listening to it! After hearing the haunting 'Come and Find Me' on Six Feet Under, I had to rush out and buy the album. This is one purchase you won't regret - especially when he becomes a household name (as he inevitablly will) and you can tell all your friends you heard of him 'way back when.' He has a new album coming out in the Fall of 2003.

Josh Ritter's "Golden Age of Radio" is a classic CD. Bursting with talent, Ritter's songs are lyrical and quirky, original and wise beyond his years. This recording is among the best released this year. On the opening track, "Come & Find Me," Josh sounds like Nick Drake with his breathy soothing vocals, "We walked up in the fields alone; silence fell just like a stone." "Me & Jiggs" is a sweet midtempo toe tapper where Ritter references Townes Van Zandt and writes in Townes' league, "I'm feeling good; it's 7 o'clock; we're going to drive 'cross the county line; you find Saturday night like an orphan child that the good days left behind." "You've Got the Moon" raises more Nick Drake comparisons as he pounds the guitar strings. Josh reflects on how precious life is on "Lawrence KS." "Anne walks alone past the Domino sugar factory; she's as easy to know as a mystery," Josh sings on "Anne" with its original melody. "Roll On" has great word play, "West of her is where I'd like to be." "Leaving" has a simple tune that repeats and cuts against emotions about moving on. "I'm still waiting for the whiskey to whisk me away," he sings on "Other Side." "Harrisburg" rolls by like a Springsteen ballad. "Drive Away" strikes me as a beautiful ballad that Lucinda Williams might sing. Josh rocks on the title track, "I got a worried mind I know; I hear the ghost of Patsy Cline on the Grand Ole Opry show." The CD concludes with the quiet "Song for the Fireflies." I'm enjoying this CD as much as Jack Johnson's "Brushfire Fairytales." Along with Evan Olson's "Red" & Mason Jennings' "Century Spring," this is one of 2002's great sophomore efforts. Seek it out! It's outstanding!

I do not want to say that Josh Ritter is a "new Dylan" or the second coming of Townes Van Zandt, because he is definately the first Josh Ritter. I do want to say that catching his first album before he has exploded into mainstream consciousness must be similiar to what it was like to discover Dylan or Townes when they were still getting started. His song writing is at that level. In addition, as my wife points out, he sings better than a lot of "your raspy male singers". After listening to the album I immediately started writing my own lyrics. Yes, they're bad, but I'm having a ball. Thanks, Josh

This dude is going places. I caught the end of "Me and Jiggs" on NPR's World Cafe the other week and had to find out who this dude was! I bought the slightly different version of this cd off of his website, but man is it great. He's got elements of John Prine, Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake, and Steve Earle that blend into a fantastic, unique blend. Favorite tracks include "Roll On", "Harrisburg", "Lawrence, KS", and "Me and Jiggs". It's a super nice blend of alt-country and folkie. Try his website for his first album which was released in '99 and is equally as good.

This is a great CD! I love the images, characters and sensations evoked by Josh's lyrics. They really draw me in. Wistful or exuberant, Josh's songs somehow linger in that mysterious instant when what we have experienced, in reality or vicariously, becomes what we are. Lyrics and music are intertwined beautifully throughout the CD, both on Josh's solo tracks and on those done with his talented musical cohorts. This CD rates not only 5 stars but a whole pile of them. I am looking forward to the next CD, but I don't expect to ever tire of this one.

If only radio were in the midst of a golden age that sounded one-tenth as sweet as singer/songwriter Josh Ritter's latest release, maybe the music biz would pull itself out of the Texas-sized slump it's in. The 24-year-old native Idahoan (Ritter now makes his off-road home in Boston) constructs such loving and tuneful melodies about small-town life and general life
crises, he almost convinces the listener that they've heard these nuggets somewhere on a late-night AM radio frequency. Opener "Come And Find Me" is so softly strummed, it sounds like Elliott Smith playing with a pair of angora gloves, and it only gets better from there. The pretty leaving-town-tomorrow ode "Lawrence, KS" sparkles with a Dylanesque lyrical
rhythm, while the hummable "Me And Jiggs" is a steel-tipped anthem about sitting on the porch singing Townes Van Zandt songs and painting names on the local watertower. The title track, too, stuns: a spunky paean to country music and ghost towns - and the ghost of Patsy Cline - crackles before exploding into a sunset-warm poem. Pay attention; like his narrators, Ritter's going places.

- Kristy Martin

What can't I say about this man, his lyrics and raw style blows me away everytime I here the album. I first picked it up 2 years ago in a little record store in Boston. His style is hard to define. A strong Johnny Cash infleunce along with Nick Drake, Townes Van Zandt, Will Oldham, Bob Dylan and another style I can only describe as Joshritterish. His music uses no fancy drum machines or techno beats or distortion peddles; only a great voice, an acoustic guitar, and amazing lyrics that pulls your soul into his music. Josh Ritter has an incredible talent for capturing his audience.

'Golden Age of Radio' is a great overall, folk album. The songs really make you wonder of times past and reflect on deep moments. The HBO series, Six Feet Under, used his first song, "Come and Find Me" at the end of one of its episodes this season. In the context of the scene at the end, it was haunting, I thought it must be something that Dylan did or possibly Nick Drake, and searched the lyrics on google and came up with Josh and bought this album.

Coincidentally, Josh was playing right near me a week later, in an intimate venue of 150. We went to see him and he was excellent. Humorous, while humble he strummed through each song masterfully, while adding interesting anecdotes to how he wrote some songs and how he came to be a musician. It was a great evening.

My favorites include, "Come and Find Me," "You've got the moon" and "Leaving." The ending track, "Song for Fireflies" ends with a very moving guitar that brings this album altogether very nicely. If you like "New" folk, then definitely pick this one up.