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Avg: 3.5 (35 ratings)
- Date Released: October 8, 2002
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Alternative, Rock
- Label: Nettwerk Records
Graceful pop tunes to get you through bumpy times.
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We Say...
Ron Sexsmith is a gentleman troubadour, a songwriter guided by sincerity and humility, a composer who tempers his unabashedly sentimental lyrics with graceful folk-pop arrangements. And he has remained as such through ten albums, though his album sales have not been commensurate with critics' praise. All of which makes a strange sort of sense: Who better to be the voice of the underdog than one who can justly claim that mantle as his own?
Released in 2002, Cobblestone Runway, Sexsmith’s sixth disc, is a typically tenderhearted effort. On first listen, it’s almost overly familiar. "We’ve been here before," you think to yourself. But with each new visit, Runway expands both emotionally and sonically, and you begin to appreciate the details — like the way Sexsmith uses strings to warm up spacious songs like “The Less I Know,” “Gold in Them Hills” and “God Loves Everyone” (which he wrote in response to the violent 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard), or the gurgly, swirly electronics and delicate piano that lead unexpectedly into propulsive guitar in “Disappearing Act.”
There’s something else that begins to take shape as you listen: a prevailing sense of optimism. On album opener “Former Glory,” for example, Sexsmith reminds someone that their good days aren’t over, no matter how rough things may seem now. As Sexsmith sees it, there’s always hope. “I guess I’m often just writing songs of reassurance to myself, really,” he has said. “I’m trying to say, ‘Keep going.’” -
They Say...
A singer/songwriter whose strong suit is his warmth and humanity wouldn't seem like a likely prospect to be teamed up with a bunch of electronic keyboards, drum machines, and other bits of hi-tech hardware, but after leaving behind Mitchell Froom's tape-loop fantasias for Steve Earle's rootsy and straightforward production on Blue Boy, Ron Sexsmith takes another sonic left-turn on his fifth album, Cobblestone Runway (his sixth if you include his first self-released cassette, Grand Opera Lane). Cobblestone Runway finds Sexsmith embracing electronics with surprising enthusiasm, but he has the good sense not to drown himself in them; while "These Days" features a prominent drum loop and echoey white-noise keyboard patches, the chilly undertow is offset by some soulful backing vocals and the (slightly) rumpled sincerity of Sexsmith's voice and acoustic guitar, and the spacey synth lines on "Disappearing Act" find their complement in a gloriously low-tech electric guitar. Much like Mark Eitzel on The Invisible Man, Ron Sexsmith has found a way to breathe a very human sense of emotional openness into his spare electronic backings ("Heart's Desire" even winds up with a bit of noisy but high-groove jamming), and Cobblestone Runway serves his songs as well as any album he's ever made. Of course, it helps that (as usual) Sexsmith has written a dozen winners here, from the lament for the sad state of love on "These Days" to the realist's bid for optimism on "Gold In Them Hills," and the purposefully childlike "God Loves Everyone" is one of the truly effective musical pleas for human tolerance to emerge post-September 11. On his last few releases, Ron Sexsmith 'the recording artist' appears to be finally catching up with Ron Sexsmith 'the gifted songwriter,' and if Cobblestone Runway's surfaces may initially puzzle a few fans, the heart, soul, and hard-won wisdom of these performances confirm that he's finally mastered the recording studio, and it ranks with his best-realized work to date. (The disc also features a second version of "Gold In Them Hills" as a bonus, featuring a duet vocal with Chris Martin of Coldplay.)
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| 01. |  |
Former Glory |
2:53 |
|
| 02. | |
These Days |
3:21 |
|
| 03. | |
Least That I Can Do |
4:23 |
|
| 04. | |
God Loves Everyone |
3:07 |
|
| 05. | |
Disappearing Act |
3:39 |
|
| 06. | |
For A Moment |
3:01 |
|
| 07. | |
Gold In Them Hills |
3:32 |
|
| 08. | |
Heart's Desire |
4:18 |
|
| 09. | |
Dragonfly On Bay Street |
3:21 |
|
| 10. | |
The Less I Know |
4:10 |
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| 11. | |
Up The Road |
2:51 |
|
| 12. | |
Best Friends |
1:55 |
|
| 13. | |
Gold In Them Hills (Remix) |
3:37 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 44:08 Total Length
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Credits
- David Angell - Violin // Michael Brauer - Mixing // John Catchings - Cello // Steve Crawford - Choir, Chorus // David Davidson - Violin // David Davidson - String Arrangements // Felipe Elgueta - Engineer // Felipe Elgueta - Assistant // Kim Fleming - Arranger // Kim Fleming - Choir, Chorus // Graham Kennedy - Cover Photo // George Marino - Mastering // George Pendergrass - Choir, Chorus // Kristin Wilkinson - Viola // Chris Willis - Choir, Chorus // Ron Sexsmith - Guitar (Acoustic) // Ron Sexsmith - Guitar (Acoustic) // Ron Sexsmith - Guitar (Acoustic) // Ron Sexsmith - Piano // Ron Sexsmith - Piano // Ron Sexsmith - Piano // Ron Sexsmith - Guitar (Electric) // Ron Sexsmith - Guitar (Electric) // Ron Sexsmith - Guitar (Electric) // Ron Sexsmith - Vocals // Ron Sexsmith - Vocals // Ron Sexsmith - Vocals // Ron Sexsmith - Piano (Upright) // Ron Sexsmith - Piano (Upright) // Ron Sexsmith - Piano (Upright) // Christer Jansson - Percussion // Christer Jansson - Drums // Glenn Spinner - Engineer // Glenn Spinner - Assistant // John Rummen - Design // Derek Shapton - Photography // Gabrielle West - Choir, Chorus // Glen Scott - Bass // Glen Scott - Vocals (Background) // Glen Scott - Fender Rhodes // Glen Scott - Piano (Upright) // Martin Terefe - Synthesizer // Martin Terefe - Bass // Martin Terefe - Arranger // Martin Terefe - Marimba // Martin Terefe - Vocals (Background) // Martin Terefe - Producer // Martin Terefe - Engineer // Martin Terefe - Hi Hat // Colleen Hixenbaugh - Photography
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