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Dan Janisch "Medicine Man" (Green Door)
The Los Angeles-based Janisch doesn't record a whole lot - this 2007
CD is his first release since 1998's superb "town South of
Bakersfield" debut, "Weeds." In the intervening nine years, he's moved
from a folk-inflected honky-tonker whose style favored Merle Haggard
and Hank Williams to a ready singer-songwriter whose folk, rock and
blues take in '60s acts like Brewer & Shipley and Arlo Guthrie, modern
day troubadours like Peter Case, and intimate, down-and-out alley
singers like Tom Waits. As good as he sounded with pedal steel and two-
step beats, he sounds even better unleashed as a busking-ready folkie.
Janisch opens his latest CD with the superb dobro-blues title song,
seemingly describing a happy visit with a dealer. The mood turns
downbeat and confessional with "Sweet & Simple," lamenting the
commoditization of love songs ("love is sweet and simple, not
available in stores"), but recognizing music's unique healing power
("But when a heart gets broken, it feels beyond repair, a song's the
only place that it can hide, yeah, it's all you've got to share"). A
similar intimacy is heard on several other songs ("She Was a Beautiful
Girl" and the philosophical closer, "Nora Has a Bird"), but Janisch
can also open up, such as on the sea shanty styled "Big Trip," and the
wordy, Dylan-esque "The Strongest Man (That Ever Lived)."
In addition to simplifying his arrangements, Janisch has included a
few sonic surprises, such as the primitive organ solo on "Sayonara
Chinatown" and the toy instruments on "Pretty Little Baby." The
production touches remain flourishes, with Janisch most often singing
to the accompaniment of guitar, bass and the occasional light
percussion, and it's his songs and inviting vocals that are the disc's
real story. [(c)2008 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com] |
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