Customer Reviews

Sloan Wainwright

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

 

 

Dirty Linen review of SLOAN WAINWRIGHT'S CD, Sloan Wainwright (Waterbug 1995) by Greg Linder

Here's a wonderful voice not squandered on mediocre material or produced into oblivion. and here's wonderful material not delivered in a voice we must make excuses for. Sloan Wainwright marks the full length debut of a singular vocalist/songwriter and her equally distinctive band. Sloan is the youngest sister of folk veteran Loudon Wainwright III, but she sounds not a quark like her illustrious sibling. Instead, her voice carries the forthright, husky self-assertion of Joan Armatrading early recordings; her unorthodox phrasing and poetic enunciation would please the young Tim Buckley; and her melodies are the aural equivalent of smoky, tantalizing aromas emanating from a soul kitchen. Ten of the CD's 12 selections are originals written by Wainwright -- most are moving, articulate explorations of love and identity imbued with the acknowledged influence of Joni Mitchell. Hence the piano-and-vocal-only rumination on "I'm Only Listening": "I can hear the truth/Is it true that what I hear could set me free?/It sounds like the three-inch finch/Singing from the thistle weed." On the other hand, "Hey Girl" delivers a 60's-style pop/soul groove, and "Stand" is a resounding remake of Sly and the Family Stone's 1969 call to activism.

This is a great CD. I picked it up just because I love Loudon Wainwright but the style is quite different. The style is sort of contemporary rock-folk. The musicianship is superb and she has a very distinctive voice. I throw this on when I am looking for something a little different. Having picked it up on a whim it has quickly risen to the top of my play list.