The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features

Richard Swift

The Novelist/Walking Without Effort | Secretly Canadian
By MIKAEL WOOD  |  June 27, 2006
3.0 3.0 Stars

060623_swift_main1
Strong Effort: Richard Swift
This young singer-songwriter is a member of the school of West Coast pop eccentrics who count Tom Waits, Harry Nilsson, and Van Dyke Parks as professors emeritus. On The Novelist and Walking Without Effort, two self-released mini-albums Secretly Canadian has reissued as a two-CD set, Swift attempts to outfit his handsome acoustic-guitar ballads with big-band trimmings he can’t afford; you hear where the budget-bin horn arrangements and sloppy vocal harmonies are going, even if they don’t quite get there. As a result, the music exudes an appealingly ramshackle quality neatly complementing lyrics that detail his search for something to grasp onto amid the tumult of the outside world. “I need to sing with all I have,” he proclaims in “As I Go,” Effort’s swinging highlight. Good for him for doing so.

RICHARD SWIFT + WALKMEN | Avalon, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston | June 29 | 617.228.6000

On the Web
Richard Swift: http://www.richardswift.us/

Related: Force of nature, Family affair, Branching out, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

[ 11/27 ]   Pixies + Jay Reatard  @ Wang Theatre
[ 11/27 ]   They Might Be Giants  @ Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun
[ 11/27 ]   Legends In Concert  @ Fox Theatre @ Foxwoods
[ 11/27 ]   John Fogerty  @ MGM Grand @ Foxwoods
[ 11/27 ]   Fat Angus  @ Steve’s Backstage Pass
More Information
ARTICLES BY MIKAEL WOOD
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   ANNIE | DON'T STOP  |  November 17, 2009
    Things have gotten pretty crowded in the electro-pop demi-monde since Annie released her indie-hit debut, Anniemal , back in 2004.
  •   JACKSON 5 | I WANT YOU BACK! UNRELEASED MASTERS  |  November 10, 2009
    If you’ve ever wondered how great it might be to hear a slowed-down version of “ABC” that lacks all the youthful charm of the original, this set of previously unreleased Jackson 5 recordings is for you.
  •   PINK MARTINI | SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS  |  October 30, 2009
    The members of Portland’s Pink Martini have covered plenty of well-known songs in their decade and a half together, like “Que Sera, Sera” on their 1997 debut, and the theme from I Dream of Jeannie in their early live shows.
  •   ERIN MCKEOWN | HUNDREDS OF LIONS  |  October 21, 2009
    This local folkie has spent the past few years sifting through the ample riches of the Great American Songbook, first on 2006’s excellent Sing You Sinners , then on Lafayette , a spirited follow-up taped live at Joe’s Pub in New York.
  •   BARONESS | BLUE RECORD  |  October 14, 2009
    For a band of ultra-prosaic album titlers, Baroness are big thinkers when it comes to their music.

 See all articles by: MIKAEL WOOD

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group