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

Erin McKeown: Lafayette

Signature Sounds
By MIKAEL WOOD  |  September 12, 2007
3.0 3.0 Stars
inside_ERIN-MCKEOWN---LAFAY
Recorded earlier this year at the tiny New York cabaret Joe’s Pub (whose location on Lafayette Street gives the disc its title), Lafayette is the first live album from Erin McKeown. Her distinctive take on American folk music flowers most fully on stage; her refreshing penchant for physical comedy, which is part of her huge appeal as a performer, doesn’t survive the translation to CD. Still, last year she released one of her best discs yet, Sing You Sinners, on which she tackled various Great American Songbook selections with the scrappy spirit of a street-corner troubadour, and you can hear the residual effect of that project throughout Lafayette, where even the most contemplative material has an immediacy many singer-songwriter types sacrifice in the name of gravity. (Give some of the credit to her crack back-up band, who move effortlessly between head-nodding hip-hop grooves and hopped-up big-band shuffles.) As always with a live album, Lafayette doesn’t beat being there. But it’s certainly better than it needs to be.

Erin McKeown at Boston Folk Festival | UMass-Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard | September 16 | 617.287.6911

Related: Erin McKeown | Hundreds of Lions, Indie springs forward, Erin McKeown, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, 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

[ 11/26 ]   Cartells  @ Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun
[ 11/26 ]   "Thanksgiving Night of Super Stars"  @ Roxy
[ 11/26 ]   Orch Septentrional  @ Moseley's on the Charles
[ 11/26 ]   "Mash-Ups & Top 40"  @ Wonder Bar
[ 11/26 ]   "Signature Thursdays"  @ Rumor
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