eMusic Review 0
Luke Winslow-King was born in Michigan and moved to New Orleans a decade ago, a familiar migration for many a Midwestern boy, its loose women, all-night jazz and free-flowing drink a kept promise to hungry-eyed dreamers everywhere. Post-industrialization, it's the reason why anyone moves to a city: boredom. A limited gene pool for procreation. A life defined by family, clergy, teachers, coworkers, boyfriends, whoever. Not defined by you being what matters.
The adopted home of New Orleans defines Old/New Baby, Luke Winslow-King's incredible new record for eMusic Selects. Its Dixieland and ragtime jazz — stronger beacons than any lighthouse — don't just influence these songs, they direct them. Winslow-King is familiar with M. Ward and the other indie singer-songwriters of the day ("All the Same" and, structurally, "The Sun Slamming the Highway" in particular exhibit familiar traits), but both the root and the dressing of all twelve songs come from the parishes. There's banjo, sousaphone, washboard, trumpet, trombone, slide, clarinet, accordion, viola, cello, you get the idea, all of it played, arranged and recorded expertly. (Engineer Earl Scioneaux — through whom we discovered this album — deserves tremendous credit.)
As you might expect, the music itself is intensely likeable. From the… read more »
