Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim (Dig)
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CD Details
Artist: Laura MarlingEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-08-19
Music Label: Astralwerks
Soundtracks:
- Ghosts
- Old Stone
- Tap at My Window
- Failure
- You're No God
- Cross Your Fingers
- Crawled out of the Sea (Interlude)
- My Manic and I
- Night Terror
- The Captain and the Hourglass
- Shine
- Your Only Doll (Dora)
Music reviews of Alas I Cannot Swim (Dig)
Music Review: Alas, I Don't Get It
Rating: 2 Stars
I think my folkie roots are pretty solid: which is why I find the Joni Mitchell comparisons seen here unfounded. Joni's songs, at least up until Hejira in the mid-1970s, were jewels of craftsmanship in every sense -- lyrics, singing, musical arrangements, guitar styles and tunings. Nor is she a new Kate Rusby. The nearest point of reference for this CD is Beth Orton.
By which I mean: rather dull, pointless songs in a barely emotional monotone over nothing-special teach-yourself-fingerpicking guitar. About six tracks in, I'd had it.
Maybe Laura will improve, if she has more than fifteen minutes of fame in her. As it stands, all these songs seem to follow a formula: hushed beginning, almost a capella, strange song structures, inconsequential rhymes, odd breaks in meter...followed by a sudden emergence into tin-eared Britpop with dreadful ham-fisted drumming and way-heave-away-boys harmonies. And aren't they all in the same key? I'm not going back to check...life's too short...
It didn't hold my attention at all, and I'll be using my copy as a reflector to keep the crows out of the runner beans this summer.
Description of Alas I Cannot Swim (Dig)
The Mercury Prize nominated Alas I Cannot Swim is the first album by UK artist Laura Marling. This incredible debut was released just after she turned eighteen. Hearing songs like "Ghosts," "Crawled Out of the Sea" and "Night Terror" it is hard to believe that the author is someone so young. The arrangements of the songs are invitingly warm and clever, reflecting the style of the band that backed her up in the studio- oddball indie folksters, Noah and the Whale. To say that she is the voice of folk for her generation may sound like hyperbole, but it's like her music, just the simple truth.Reading-based songstress Laura Marling has been likened to veteran folksters Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. Despite such hyperbolic accolades, her entry into the crowded world of young female singer-songwriters has been remarkably hushed and wonderfully organic. Having started writing songs at the age of 15, Marling's success has been achieved not by shouting, but by whispering her way through the ranks. Perhaps because of her youth--she turned 18 just before releasing this Alas, I Cannot Swim--Marling has an understated yet accomplished manner that just doesn't grate like some of her peers. Plus her songs are good--very good. Backed by imaginative arrangements from leftfield acoustic outfit Noah and the Whale, the tracks here are often coyly charming, though far from naïve. Marling digs impressively deep into all kinds of universal topics, from religion and parents to love and romance. Lead single "Ghosts" introduced to many her soft, alluring vocal style, and other songs here share the same sense of intimacy, even if they differ thematically and musically. Things are kept simple throughout (think acoustic strums and a homespun delivery), but there are subtle and beautiful contrasts throughout; the Beirut-esque carnival aura of "Crawled out of the Sea" and the brooding "Night Terror", for example, which provide darker counterpoints to airier fare like the folksy title track and the compelling "My Manic & I". Disarming yet deep, provocative yet peaceful, Alas places Marling head and shoulders above the bawlers and wailers. --Paul Sullivan
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