Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Literate folk-rock filled with interesting ideas and music, January 23, 1999
By A Customer
This husband and wife team wears their influences on their sleeve - quite literally, on the CD sleeve. Books (Chekhov, Rilke) and records (Dylan, Beatles, Byrds) that inspired the words and music of their third LP can be found annotating each song's lyrics.Despite the tinge of intellectualism, the music is as warm and inviting as the oversized cups the Kennedys hold in nearly every photo. Their coffeehouse folk is rife with fluid melodies and chiming 12-string guitar, and their vocalizing takes inspiration from mid-60s duos like Ian & Silvia and Richard & Mimi Farina. Whether they're riffing on the writings of Vaclav Havel or Emily Dickinson, finding inspiration in the music of Gabriel Faure or Buffalo Springfield, picking at guitars, banjos and mandolins, or simply paying homage to New York radio legend Vin Scelsa, the result is superbly crafted, highly-literate and very memorable music.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
First rate folk-rock-pop, family style., January 23, 1999
By A Customer
I did something I rarely do -- I ordered this disk without ever having heard a note of the Kennedy's music. But I had read warm comments and reviews, and also an interview in which I was impressed with the seriousness with which they approached their work, and also their warmth and wit. I'm pleased to say the gamble brought me as welcome a surprise as any disk I've bought this year. The Kennedys offer a delightful mix of original and traditional acoustic folk with a scattering of other styles. Their writing is not particularly deep or insightful, but it is idealistic, polished, and uplifting. Maura Kennedy has a lovely sweet soprano I could listen to all day, and Pete Kennedy's virtuosic picking on a variety of fretted instruments anchors busy, well constructed arrangements that always seem just right. This is as joyous, positive, and enjoyable a record as you'll hear this year. Not to be missed!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful & fresh, September 19, 1999
By A Customer
Fresh wonderful music based in the best of Rock and Folk with influences by the Byrds, the Beatles, and Gabriel Faure. Reminescent of the best early 70s music (ie. Cat Stevens and Jim Croce) but with a lyricism and musicality that is unique. Highly reccommended.
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