markl
Hangin' with the monkeys.
Member of the Trade: Lawton Audio
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2001
- Posts
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Wow. I've been so busy lately, I had to save this one a while until I had time to fully devote to it. It was well worth the wait. Always loved her and this album, and it's never been remastered since first put out on CD way back in 1984. If you don't know Mo-Fi, they are an audiophile label that have been producing many of the definitive digital and vinyl versions of many of pop/rock's seminal albums for many decades. They've been on a particular roll lately, especially on the digital side, and this one does not disappoint.
For those unfamiliar with RLJ, she's a kind of vagabond/troubador, sort of beatnik type. Less hippie-chick than Joni Mitchell, though still in her wake and under her influence, but coming out much later in time (late 70s). Very much in common with early Tom Waits (pre-Swordfish Trombones), sort of a weird throw-back out of time, emulating and recalling a period prior to their own birth (as if they wanted to step into the Nighthawks at The Diner painting and never leave that world). In fact, the two dated for many years before Waits went off with Kathleen Brennan, his still and current muse.
Her music, as typified here on her second album, is sort of ecstatic, a bit meandering, woozy and nostalgic for the very last instant that just slipped away, very evocative of a particular moment in time. Vaguely shaggy and jazzy, but still pop, just extremely well played by the best musos of the time. She creates a lot of rough and tumble characters living on the edge of society just like Tom Waits used to do. Many of the songs create a whole sound world that you can just step inside and get lost in.
Anyway, they don't make 'em like this anymore, nor are they able to make pure recordings like this one anymore-- good ol' analog tape and tubes.
I know the audience here is mostly younger dudes who may roll their eyes and tend to look at MoFi releases of such seemingly "ancient" material from the crypt as if they were beamed in from some lamer time and appealing only to creepy bearded older guys who just don't get it, but I really think this one will have a lot of appeal even to the most cynical new kids on the block.
Good music is timeless, and it doesn't get much more timeless than Rickie's Pirates. Check it out!
Mark
For those unfamiliar with RLJ, she's a kind of vagabond/troubador, sort of beatnik type. Less hippie-chick than Joni Mitchell, though still in her wake and under her influence, but coming out much later in time (late 70s). Very much in common with early Tom Waits (pre-Swordfish Trombones), sort of a weird throw-back out of time, emulating and recalling a period prior to their own birth (as if they wanted to step into the Nighthawks at The Diner painting and never leave that world). In fact, the two dated for many years before Waits went off with Kathleen Brennan, his still and current muse.
Her music, as typified here on her second album, is sort of ecstatic, a bit meandering, woozy and nostalgic for the very last instant that just slipped away, very evocative of a particular moment in time. Vaguely shaggy and jazzy, but still pop, just extremely well played by the best musos of the time. She creates a lot of rough and tumble characters living on the edge of society just like Tom Waits used to do. Many of the songs create a whole sound world that you can just step inside and get lost in.
Anyway, they don't make 'em like this anymore, nor are they able to make pure recordings like this one anymore-- good ol' analog tape and tubes.
I know the audience here is mostly younger dudes who may roll their eyes and tend to look at MoFi releases of such seemingly "ancient" material from the crypt as if they were beamed in from some lamer time and appealing only to creepy bearded older guys who just don't get it, but I really think this one will have a lot of appeal even to the most cynical new kids on the block.
Good music is timeless, and it doesn't get much more timeless than Rickie's Pirates. Check it out!
Mark
