Customer Reviews

Golden Age of Radio

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

 

 

This is the fourth iteration (release) of this album, first self-released on Hungry Ear Records in 2000, re-released on Signature Sounds in 2002, again in 2004 with a bonus disc, and now self-released in 2009 with a bonus disc that wraps all releases together into one tidy volume.

The first 2009 disc is the same as the 2002 and 2004 releases, whereas the second 2009 disc contains everything from the 2004 bonus disc (except the Leonard Cohen "Chelsea Hotel #2" cover), plus:
a) "A Country Song": the only major difference between the Hungry Ear 2000 release and all subsequent: a fast-paced acoustic version of the title track "Golden Age of Radio"
b) "Don't Wake Juniper": an unreleased B-side.

The highlight of disc two, and the reason this is worth purchasing if you already have one of the other releases, is Ritter's acoustic rendition of the entire album, recorded in 2008. Some terrific versions on there, namely "Golden Age of Radio".

Maybe there was a time when radio would have picked up on a man like Josh Ritter. Perhaps the early seventies, when you could scan the dial and find the likes of James Taylor or Gordon Lightfoot. But in 2009, only National Public Radio or a dedicated folkie type of show would be picking the good stuff off of Ritter's "Golden Age Of Radio." As it is, I wound up discovering him at the 2009 Newport Folk Festival, where he and his band delivered a high energy show that blended the best of his singer-songwriter sensibility with a harder edge that bordered on Springsteen.

"Golden Age" is a more homey, lo-fi type of record, mining both the singer-songwriter and Americana storytelling veins. Ritter has something of a low-tenor that isn't the best singing voice, but as he sings that he's sitting on the porch and pouring his heart out to Townes Van Sandt, you can feel he's got his heart in the write place. The arrangements are, for the most part, spartan. An accordion accents "Lawrence Kansas" while "Harrisburg" has little more than a deep bass violin (I think) underneath it to accent the despairing lyrics. When Ritter lets his band kick in ("Me and Jiggs," the title track), he starts to show the flair that I witnessed in his live shows.

Given that "Golden Age Of Radio" was initially released in 2002, when Ritter was just entering his 20's, he was still working out the earnestness of the folk music he'd just discovered. This is serious stuff, and quite good; a young man on the brink of unearthing his greatest strengths. Fans of Iron and Wine or Conor Oberst will enjoy this the most.

The bonus acoustic songs are amazing, revealing dimensions not heard in the terrific originals, which is surprising because they are sonically sparser. I hope Josh Ritter does the same with The Animal Years. The two music videos on the bonus disc are pedestrian.

If you don't know these songs, listen to them at his website (for some reason Amazon editors deleted the link) and you'll end up buying them because they are so good.

My boyfriend heard Golden Age of Radio over Pandora, apparently live, decided to buy the vinyl, probably drunk, and we got it a week later. We were both disappointed; although, I got to chastise him for his ridiculous decision. His voice is, let's say it, bad. His songwriting does not deserve a place amongst the pantheon of the greats, or even the goods. He's no Dylan; he's no Townes Van Zandt; he's no Neil Young; he just likes to drop these guys' names. What distresses me about that is that he talks about listening to Townes on his porch. What lesson did you get out of that, Mr. Ritter? You certainly didn't learn to be a minimalist with your instrumentalization, i.e.; Doc Watson, every Townes record, and every Bob Dylan record except for Blonde on Blonde. No, you learned an aesthetic or at least how to fake one.
Everything on this record was either over or under done. You don't have to sound like a sap to produce true emotion--listen to "For the Sake of Song." You can sing a song with your head up and your voice clear and still evince this emotion. It's like this guy listened to a blend of 90's emo and 60's-70's singer songwriters and made some sort of horrible medley of utter disingenuity. I'd suggest that you save the money and invest in some people who can pay homage without sounding fake. Go get yourself some C.W. Stoneking, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and some Old Crow Medicine Show. The fact that these genres are different from Ritter's doesn't mean that I don't have an ear for what style of folk he's kind of going for. I love who he's trying to steal from; it's just that those out there who are still doing it well are few and far between.