Customer Reviews

Wire Waltz

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album was not what I expected at all when I first listened, but I really wasn't sure what a lap-steel guitar sounded like, and I certainly didn't know what it could do! Wire Waltz is an album of contrasts and juxtapositions. Hickey sounds like she's having lots of fun, but in a fierce, controlled way. The voice tracks are often slow, minimal, and full of sad, ponderous echos, which are then delicately laid over rebellious, twanging, unpretentious guitar that at any moment can run off into a lively rock-ballad style riff. All of the songs are deliberate, and the band has a clear, defined sound that's like some combination of Patti Griffen and Mazzy Star.

It's an album for listening to (a bunch of times) when you want to feel nostalgic and older, and better for it. Favorite tracks are her David Bowie cover, 'Wire Waltz,' 'I Want You,' and 'Huntsville.'

Megan Hickey will woo you with her voice and rock you with her guitar! While I love the cover of Modern Love - in which Hickey makes the song her own, It's Not Over, Caroline, Wintering In Brooklyn - are haunting and lovely and sad. This record is like fine Scotch - take your time with it - don't gulp, sip!

Megan Hickey is one of the most talented musician/poets to come along in a generation. She combines the soul of Nina Simone, the cool of June Christy, the feel for quotidian beauty of Laurie Anderson, with a skill for the lap steel guitar to rival Roy Clark. The lyrical, soothing moments leave you wonderfully unprepared for suprising innovations of tone and technique. This is an album that anyone who appreciates what music and words can do together should own and cherish.

Just wanted to be the first one to write that judging by the single of the BOWIE Cover this chic rocks. Her mellow harmonies, Juliana Hatfield like voice and steel guitar work can concoct quite the power emo cocktail.

liked it on a first listen, more on the next and then even more. the singer's voice is incredibly intimate and heartbreakingly real. musical salve for the soul. can't wait to hear them live.

First heard review of Wire Waltz on National Public Radio, drove home and ordered it. Combination poetic lyrics, lap steel guitar, and vocals are astonishing. Cover of Bowie's "Modern Love" conjurs Cowboy Junkies while "Its Not Over" is like a Mazzy Star drive by, inhabiting enchanting aural terrain you never want to abandon. "Huntsville 89" is a song that never stops chilling...

I bought this CD after seeing Megan open up for Kathleen Edwards in San Francisco. I was really impressed with her sound, her stage presence, and how the cover of 'Modern Love' stuck in my mind.

On first listen, the CD has a great sound and I was captivated by Megan's voice and the sound of the lap steel. But...after a few listens I found myself getting bored with the sound a few songs in. That is the only problem with this CD: the songs all sound very similar in sound, arrangement and tempo. A little variation in instrumentation and arrangements would have gone a long way to making this a great CD.

I look forward to what she comes up with in the future and will go see her live again if she comes to town.

I first heard The Last Town Chorus sing Bowie's Modern Love on Radio 2 in the UK. I was immediately captivated on two levels: firstly it's not often that a band can bring anything new to a Bowie song and secondly the ethereal quality of Megan Hickey's voice captivated me and I bought Wire Waltz on the basis of that one hearing. I was not disappointed, this is a great album with consistently high quality tracks and Hickey's singing and playing continues to entrance. Just buy it!

I caught just a few bars of Megan Hickey's "Modern Love" cover in an advertisment for some movie about Princess Di. It was so awesome that I had to hunt down who had recorded it. Boy was I glad I did. Not only is that cover fantastic (I never much cared for the original Bowie version, truth be told), but the rest of "Wire Waltz", the second release by The Last Town Chorus, is equally satisfying. Hickey's slow, deliberate croon pushes all my emo buttons. Her lap steel guitar is what gives the band its signature sound, along with the band's strictly minimalist approach to studio production, which I find a pleasant alternative to so much of the overdubbed pop-rock that's out there today.

Okay I admit, I know nothing about music, which is why I dont usually review it. This cd really grabbed me though, so I had to share my feelings and give the band some props. I'm not an expert, but I like what I like - and this I like, very much. I'll definitely be purchasing (and possibly reviewing) their previous, self-titled release as well.

I find this CD a fresh musical wave in a sea of mind-numbing pop. Like others here I bought this because I heard their cover of "Modern Love" and was wowed. Indeed, the vocals and haunting instrumentation on many of these songs are a winning combination. Overall, it's a pleasant CD that works well as background or for quieter moments when you can focus more on the subtle complexities. However, I find that the lead singer's vocals don't change; her emotional expression is static. Quite like Margo Timmins in Cowboy Junkies -- after a while I want to switch to another CD. I admit I am drawn to vocals and I value singers, like Rufus Wainwright, who convey their interpretation of a song via a wider range.