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| Tift Merritt’s new album “Another Country” delivers on the promise her previous solo albums, 2002’s “Bramble Rose” and 2004’s “Tambourine”, brimming over with a new maturity and an atmosphere of hope. I lot has happened to Tift in the last 4 years – a stay in Paris to reconsider her career, a 30th birthday (she doesn’t look a day over 27, by the way), the launch of a grass-roots public radio show… It makes sense that she would bring a newfound maturity to this new batch of songs. From her humble beginnings playing to townsfolk on lawn chairs from the porch of the local general store to appearances on Austin City Limits and the Tonight Show, Tift has approached songwriting with an Emmylou-like sincerity and a voice that’s a mix of Dusty Springfield, Karen Bergquist, and the midday sun on a July afternoon. There’s a strong Innocence Mission vibe on Keep You Happy, while Tell Me Something True hearkens back to the soul/gospel vibe of Merritt’s sophomore effort Tambourine. On the title track, a melancholy ode to lost love, Merritt’s gentle voice melts like butter over a warm banana-nut muffin, supported by warm keys and soft guitars. There’s an undercurrent of hope on this album, as evidenced by track titles like Morning Is My Destination and I Know What I’m Looking For Now. But, living a life of hope in a cruel and jaded world isn’t an easy task, as Merritt sings on Hopes Too High – “No place to run to for a girl like me, a whole lot of used to’s and supposed to be’s. I want to burn like August, shine like gold dust, where everyday living can’t hold me.” I’m so glad I found this girl, and I look forward to getting to know her better as she continues to put out heartfelt folk songs. | | |
| Hello, everyone who still checks this. Just wanted to let you know that my year-end list is now complete, and can be viewed on xanga here or on lastfm here, if you so desire. Thanks! | | |
| Glad that I live am I; That the sky is blue; Glad for the country lanes, And the fall of dew. After the sun the rain; After the rain the sun; This is the way of life, Till the work be done. All that we need to do, Be we low or high, Is to see that we grow Nearer the sky. - Lizette Woodworth Reese | | |
| I stood out in the open cold
To see the essence of the eclipse
Which was its perfect darkness.
I stood in the cold on the porch
And could not think of anything so perfect
As mans hope of light in the face of darkness.
- Richard Eberhart | | |
| The way the dog trots out the front door
every morning
without a hat or an umbrella,
without any money
or the keys to her doghouse
never fails to fill the saucer of my heart
with milky admiration.
Who provides a finer example
of a life without encumbrance—
Thoreau in his curtainless hut
with a single plate, a single spoon?
Gandhi with his staff and his holy diapers?
Off she goes into the material world
with nothing but her brown coat
and her modest blue collar,
following only her wet nose,
the twin portals of her steady breathing,
followed only by the plume of her tail.
If only she did not shove the cat aside
every morning
and eat all his food
what a model of self-containment she
would be,
what a paragon of earthly detachment.
If only she were not so eager
for a rub behind the ears,
so acrobatic in her welcomes,
if only I were not her god. - Billy Collins | | |
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