Darden Smith
"Circo"
Darden Smith has a sound all to his own, if I could vaguely think of some one to compare him to it would be Lyle Lovett. This album is creative, eclectic, great production, great vocals, with today's technology it possible to make an awesome sounding recording, but few do and stay within the prescribed boundaries. I love a recording that pushes the envelope a bit. The music here is so beautiful and so not overproduced, but it is such a great production. The texture of the music is so good, any audiophile would appreciate it. Roscoe Beck is an incredible bass player and a big part of what makes this CD work so well. Darden has a nice melodic voice to craft out his poetic tunes, with great emotion. The backup vocals of Kim Richey and Shawn Colvin really add a lot to the sound.
The genre' is alt/country for the lack of any better place to put it, just
plain good music. Music is supposed to be an art, but so much country music
isn't, this is a gem. I love the use of the stereo field on this production, it
really is used for what it's supposed to be, many recordings might as well be
mono, you can't really distinguish different things coming from the left and
right channels like you can here. There are all sorts of production tools used
that creates a very warm almost analog sounding recording. It sounds like a lot
of tube equipment was used, both in production and mastering.
As for some standout tracks;
"Hands On the Wheel" - upbeat acoustic country song with great lyrics, great
vocals by Shawn Colvin, this song has so many rhythmic things going on at once,
it just plain moves. Spiritual themes, great lyrics "Give Your life To God and
Keep your Hands On The Wheel" - this reviewers favorite.
"What Are We Gonna Do?" - upbeat, acoustic country, can't say enough about the
great interaction of the instruments and how well that you can hear everything
in the mix .
"Rise" - Poetry in music - medium tempo with some killer steel by Lloyd Maines,
Darden has a soft voice, but it is so effective with a well-worn edge, great
melody and chorus, great hooks.
"Shooting Star" - Great slow love ballad, great lyrics, great vocals, just
terrific tonality on this song.
"God Loves A River" - jazzy acoustic bass, jazzy bouncy rhythms, awesome
acoustic guitar, great vocals, beautiful imagery in lyrics .
"Make Love So Hard" - great love song, in a great groove, incredible production,
very emotive, great background vocals by Kim Richey, who also wrote this one.
In closing, I must say that reviewing this was a great pleasure and it's a must
have for No Depression Folk. Release date 5/18/04
Visit Darden and find out more at: www.dualtone.com
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