Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece, May 25, 2007
Yes, that much over-used word when the likes of Mojo give 3.5 star reviews to records they call masterpieces. But this is an absolute 5-star record. The best rootsy band in America have astonishingly exceeded their past excellence and delivered their best yet. The stories are intact, but surrounded by a broader range of music and pace. There's none of the Husker-go-country of their earlier records but they rock firmly but gently in parts, strum soulfully in others. But above all, even though it might be a marginally more commercial sound, it's an incredibly warm and human record. Cliché alert and possibly mixed metaphor: but the band seem to inhabit the songs like a warm winter coat, and rarely has music, arrangement, song and performance all come together so snugly.
And it's a grower and grower. Whatever you think 1st listen, by 5th you'll like it twice as much and by 10th you'll love it and repeat-play immediately to the 11th.
I'm struggling to find reference points - it's just great songs, and very American-sounding ones to me a Brit. But think of when already-great bands suddenly gel as a unit and step up a notch, usually with great outside help eg producer, and rooted in a particular place/studio: The Band's 2nd LP, Creedence's Willy and the Poor Boys, London's Calling, QotSA's Songs for the Deaf, Tusk, Exile, Steve Earle's El Corazon, Gentlemen by the Afghan Whigs. Thirteen Cities sits alongside these great records with pride and I hope a touch of deserved arrogance.
Oh and whatever you do don't miss them on tour. They've added Paul Brainard who plays pedal steel and trumpet on their records, and what a difference he makes. They still bar-band rock, and even included their brilliant Husker Du cover, but again have stepped up to sound bigger and broader without losing any of their warmth and charm. Hopefully bigger stages await them, they deserve it.
As the Stooges record is a disappointment, I'd place money on this as record of 07, no contest. The gauntlet is thrown.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Winner From Richmond Fontaine, March 1, 2007
For some reason this CD is not coming out domestically in the U.S. until May 2007, neither on the band's website or here at Amazon. That's too bad, but it's worth tracking down a copy now.
Hailing from Portland Oregon, Richmond Fontaine (which is a band, not a person) is one of the survivors of the unfortunate musical ghetto that was called Alt Country or Americana. Sadly, a lot of bands paid a heavy price for being lumped into this genre, and many of them are no longer together. Richmond Fontaine, though, has continued to evolve and has released one of its strongest CD's to date with Thirteen Cities.
The band's personnel has changed a bit over its ten-year recording history, but the focus is and has always been singer and songwriter Willie Vlautin, whose songs seem like perfect short stories set to strong melodies. Few songwriters function at Vlautin's level, and some of his best work is to be found here. Producer JD Foster returns and adds a sonic density that serves the songs well. The CD was recorded in Arizona, at the same studio where Calexico, another gifted band who are also produced by Foster, has worked, and at a few points the musical arrangements remind one of Calexico's trademark sounds of the desert. But it is the strength of Vlautin's songs that sets this CD apart, strong tunes and evocative lyrics that never cross the line into pretension or cliche.
Thirteen Cities ranks with Richmond Fontaine's best work, like Winnemucca, Post To Wire and The Fitzgerald. They've shown remarkable consistency over their last four releases, while continuing to add new elements and ideas to their music. It's encouraging to see this talented band continue to grow. One hopes that this is the CD that brings them the wider audience they deserve.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece, February 18, 2007
Yes, that much over-used word when the likes of Mojo give 3.5 star reviews to records they call masterpieces. But this is an absolute 5-star record. The best rootsy band in America have astonishingly exceeded their past excellence and delivered their best yet. The stories are intact, but surrounded by a broader range of music and pace. There's none of the Husker-go-country of their earlier records but they rock firmly but gently in parts, strum soulfully in others. But above all, even though it might be a marginally more commercial sound, it's an incredibly warm and human record. Cliché alert and possibly mixed metaphor: but the band seem to inhabit the songs like a warm winter coat, and rarely has music, arrangement, song and performance all come together so snugly.
And it's a grower and grower. Whatever you think 1st listen, by 5th you'll like it twice as much and by 10th you'll love it and repeat-play immediately to the 11th.
I'm struggling to find reference points - it's just great songs, and very American-sounding ones to me a Brit. But think of when already-great bands suddenly gel as a unit and step up a notch, usually with great outside help eg producer, and rooted in a particular place/studio: The Band, Creedence's Willy and the Poor Boys, London's Calling, QotSA's Songs for the Deaf, Tusk, Exile, Steve Earle's El Corazon, Gentlemen by the Afghan Whigs. Thirteen Cities sits alongside these great records with pride and I hope a touch of deserved arrogance.
Oh and whatever you do don't miss them on tour. They've added Paul Brainard who plays pedal steel and trumpet on their records, and what a difference he makes. They still bar-band rock, and even included their brilliant Husker Du cover, but again have stepped up to sound bigger and broader without losing any of their warmth and charm. Hopefully bigger stages await them, they deserve it.
If the Stooges weren't releasing a new record next month, I'd place money on this as record of 07, no contest. And Iggy, you got competition now, the gauntlet is thrown.
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~ Richmond Fontaine
~ Richmond Fontaine
by Willy Vlautin
~ Richmond Fontaine
~ Richmond Fontaine
is Richmond Fontaine's 
