Customer Reviews

I'm a Mountain (Dig)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sarah Harmer does it AGAIN!!!!! This fantastic Canadian musician has consistently impressed me with every album she has put out. I think each one i have bought mainly on the strength of rave reviews from select places...and I have never, ever been let down.

Sarah's three previous albums (Songs for Clem, You Were Here and All of Our Names) all have a slightly different feel - you can never accuse her of sounding same-y the way you could with many modern acts. This album feels different again in a very refreshing and joyous way.

There's a bluegrass-country feel to this album BUT if that's not normally your kind of music, DO NOT let that put you off. This is the kind of bluegrass that could turn you onto the genre for life. The songs are a riotous blend of twilit campfire tunes, yearning ballads, upbeat little gems and brilliantly worded poetry. Sarah's voice is showcased by the music, particularly on 'Oleander' and 'Luther's Blues'. The voice has a quality about it that makes you feel she is there in the room with you, singing you a tune she just thought up...it is a warmth of tone that gives the songs an extra quality which is hard to find every day.

My particular faves are 'Oleander', and 'I am Aglow', and although it's not a Harmer tune, 'Will He Be Waiting For Me'. 'Escarpment Blues', a track written to raise money to fight attempts to destroy the natural wonder of the Escarpment in Ontario, is a protest song in the finest way possible.

The musicians playing on this album are also impressive - there is some astounding finger picking, banjo playing, and fiddle playing on these tunes. I do admit some bias as the acoustic nature of this album is by far the kind of thing I prefer to listen to, particularly on a clear evening just on dusk.

However I firmly believe if you take the time to listen to this album, buy it, and take it home, you will be better for it. Corniness aside, a quote to end:
'who was that Phoenix, anyway? Just some bird who flew away..'

Years ago, our eyes locked in the drifting fog during a brief concert she gave on a Santa Monica street; it still seems like yesterday. This CD brings more of her quintessential sound-simple, sing-song melodies and flows of articulate lyrics. She has a warm voice with rough edges-a combination of slow-flowing honey and whiney after-taste, with a glow that makes itself known more like an aura emanating from masses of golden pollen (think Wolfgang Laib) than like direct light.
As always, her vocals give character to bright-simple sing-songs. But the crack slackers who accompanied her then are gone, replaced by discrete bluegrass virtuosi who bring only what each song calls for. By turns, the music offers country, western, folk, blues, and even a touch of gospel. Dominant result: I don't feel even a hint of the cool, pomo irony that locked me in place on that Santa Monica street. She is always light-footed and deft here, but she respects this roots music and makes it fresh. I am refreshed and intoxicated again, for completely different reasons.

Standouts: tr 6-Will he be waiting for me? (as pure Bleecker St. meets Dolly Parton, rivers of words ripple out-confident in their fluidity and simple elegance, but full of doubt and vulnerability). tr 8-The phoenix. (high-energy, acoustic choogle of folk song about an emotionally charged memory. Lyric: "We see the light of Venus shining high over the Midwestern plains.... Your heart's been burning way too slow and needs some firing up again."). [40:31]

This is the first album I've ever heard of Sarah Harmer and I'm really impressed. Tender, warm and delicate bluegrass melodies coupled with her thoughtful vocals make for a happy and carefree experience. Whenever I listen to this is I think of sunny summer days out on my porch with my cat and a beer.

The first track "The Ring" is my favorite. I don't know what a like more: the strings or her voice.

How often do you find music that is artistic, well-crafted, and that leaves you feeling good? Normally, when an artist makes a big turn from their previous genre, you get a little wary, but not with Sarah Harmer. On this album you can't help but be impressed by the musicianship of everybody, as well as the compositional skills of Ms. Harmer.

This is the kind of bluegrass, country, alt-folk, everything music that everybody can enjoy, even those who don't normally go for this kind of music. It is interesting, often catchy and upbeat, energetic, fun, insightful, and intimate. This album makes you feel like you've known Sarah Harmer for years and are grand old friends.

Considering her incredible talent as a singer and songwriter, I don't know how there is anybody left who is not a fan.

While I haven't listened to any of Sarah Harmer's previous Weeping Tile albums, I'm a constant lover of both You Were Here and All of Our Names, enjoying each. I'm a Mountain returns to a more folk-based sound, countering her last album - All of Our Names - which was a more contemporary/mainstream compilation, now drawing both on original lyrics and samples of Dolly Parton, Kate Fenner, and Luther Wright. It's pleasant to listen to, continually resonating in a similar sound throughout. After a few rounds, you begin to find distinctions between each song and I took to a few of them. Will He Be Waiting For Me and Salamandre are highlights for me so far.

Sarah has obviously turned 100% folk. This album was honestly a letdown for me after listening to "All Our Names" and "You Were Here," which included more of a variety of folky, jazzy, sultry songs. If you are counting on an album similar to the two mentioned above, think again.

Great folk, bluegrass album, nice lyrics and nice touch of creativity. This is the first album of Ms. Harmer's that I have bought after hearing her song "Almost" on World Cafe Live 19: New Beginnings album (which is put out by 88.5 WXPN in Philadelphia). I love to listen to it; contemplative and fun all at once and you can groove and sing to it too.

The only song I don't like is "Salamander" which happens to be in French (which isn't a problem) but the song just seems out of place on the album overall. The rest of the album is a keeper, 10 out of 11 isn't bad!

Get it, sit back with a glass of ice tea and a book and enjoy! Lovely album, lovely!

Die-hards waiting for a new SH release won't be disappointed. Here we have an album that goes back to her style in "Songs for Clem," which I personally feel is her best album to date. These are two albums in which it feels that Sarah is being most true to her music rather than to pop charts or sales. I suppose one could say that her other two albums, "You Were Here" and "All of Our Names" continue in the vein of Weeping Tile, but to me they seemed a bit too synthetic (although still unquestionable favourites of mine). This album feels like Sarah is really putting herself out there by turning her back on the sound that made her a pop hit and going for a sound much closer to heart (hers).

Sure to be a selling point for fans, Sarah has finally released tracks previously only heard at live performances: "Oleander" and "I'm a Mountain." There is also again a remake of a Weeping Tile track, this time "Goin' Out" (which was one of my favourite songs of theirs anyway so I don't mind). Having 3 familiar tracks in a row does make this album feel a bit like retread initially but with a few more listens even old fans will find something new. And there are many other beautiful new tracks to enjoy, including a cover of Dolly Parton's bluegrassy "Will He be Waiting for Me?" which of course can't be compared to Dolly's sweetness but still shines in a way that only Sarah can, which is why we all love her so much.

To me this album is everything I was hoping for. Not quite as good as "Songs for Clem" but a sound that I have been missing through Sarah's last two albums.

If you are a new fan of Sarah's introduced to her music by "You Were Here" or "All of Our Names" and you find this album wanting, why don't you check out the albums by Weeping Tile? This was Sarah's old band before she went solo and they have a much more upbeat rock/pop feel that just may satisfy what you are looking for.

Sarah Harmer has a lovely voice and is a good lyricist. This is an enjoyable CD to listen to.

What a charming, lilting disc highlighting Harmer's crystalline voice backed by spare, relaxed strings. It wafts across the room like a cool evening breeze. Harmer, who previously released some fine folk pop indulges her love of bluegrass on this disc, recorded over a week in a Toronto studio. The sound is intoxicating, but the real appeal is Harmer's voice and her willingness to be wide-eyed and innocent. "I am aglow with thoughts of you. Are the stories that you told me true? It doesn't matter if they are. They are to me. I am aglow," she sings on one of the disc's captivating cuts. Upright bass and plenty of acoustic instruments only add to the appeal.