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Avg: 4.5 (53 ratings)
- Date Released: July 29, 2008
- Genre: Jazz
- Style: Folk Singer-Songwriter, Jazz Vocal
- Label: Native Language
Disarmingly simple folk-jazz sneaks past your defenses and hits you where you live.
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We Say...
As with Over and Over from 2006, Erin Bode demonstrates her disarmingly clear vocals and guile-free demeanor are better suited for original material that’s on the folk side of jazz. It’s risky to eschew the easy personae associated with female vocalists — sophisticated chanteuse, bawdy blues mama, earnest folkie — but Bode doesn’t go for guises and doesn’t over-sing, even on songs that at first blush can seem nursery-rhyme simple. But she knows how to loft her voice into the prevailing wind of the composition — its message, its rhythm, the depth of its instrumentation — and gather its force beneath her while retaining a feathery touch (but never as breathless as Norah Jones, to whom she is frequently compared). The way she finesses the pivotal change in sentiment on the lyric, “I surrender/Surrender to no one” on the title track is akin to one cutting raw gems into ring settings. And the way she embodies the whimsical-as-a-heart-attack love-song narrative on “Chasing After You,” yet can swoon with anxiety against the strings on the chamber-jazz oriented “Two,” and then cough up rue with such precise intonation (“How did I get so far away?” she wonders with equal parts alarm and confusion) on “Cold Water” reveals her emotional versatility. There are moments when Bode can seem insipid or too kewpie-doll cute. Sometimes the closing lullaby, “Goodnight,” feels that way, yet on other listens it charms. Ditto the slow-building climax on “Sydney Come Down.” But much more often than not, the songs on The Little Garden sneak past the critical watchdog and hit you where you live.
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They Say...
Like Norah Jones, Erin Bode is a sweet-voiced singer with a jazz background and a healthy disregard for musical boundaries. Also like Jones, she gravitates towards quiet, gentle, straightforwardly melodic fare. On The Little Garden she continues her songwriting collaboration with bandmember and multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness, and the result is a bit more mixed than their previous work has been. It may be the deepening of their skill and their musical relationship, but their songs are getting more and more subtle as time goes on -- sometimes a bit too subtle. "New England Friends" is a charming and deeply felt song, but as it progresses you start to get the feeling that it's more about the words than the music (a tendency that we critics refer to as the Elvis Costello Disease); "Two" also feels a bit flat and uneventful, melodically speaking, and "Out of Time" spends way too much time on a two-chord vamp. But the rest of the album moves from strength to strength: "Sweater Song" is sad and heartrendingly lovely; "Sydney Come Down" rocks out gorgeously; "It's All Your Fault" is both witty and soulful, with a brilliant horn chart. And Bode's jazzy take on the Paul Simon song "Born at the Right Time" is a gem. Throughout the album, her voice is a complete joy, and redeems even the songs that are least interesting otherwise.
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| 01. |  |
New England Friends |
3:50 |
|
| 02. | |
Chasing After You |
3:39 |
|
| 03. | |
Sweater Song |
5:26 |
|
| 04. | |
The Little Garden |
6:00 |
|
| 05. | |
Born At The Right Time |
4:32 |
|
| 06. | |
It's All Your Fault |
4:07 |
|
| 07. | |
Sydney Come Down |
4:22 |
|
| 08. | |
Two |
3:48 |
|
| 09. | |
The Cold Water |
4:04 |
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| 10. | |
Out Of Time |
5:10 |
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| 11. | |
Fences |
3:27 |
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| 12. | |
Goodnight |
3:04 |
|
12 Total Tracks, 51:29 Total Length
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Credits
- Gavin Lurssen - Mastering // Joe Sherbanee - Executive Producer // Derrek Phillips - Percussion // Derrek Phillips - Drums // Erin Bode - Vocals // Melissa Dawn Brooks - Cello // Chris Hobson - Engineer // Chris Hobson - Mixing // Adam Maness - Guitar // Adam Maness - Piano // Adam Maness - Accordion // Adam Maness - Organ (Hammond) // Adam Maness - Pipe Organ // Adam Maness - Fender Rhodes // Adam Maness - Wurlitzer // Tony Guerrero - Flugelhorn // Jonathan Vinocour - Viola
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