Album Name: Chinatown
Artist: The Be Good Tanyas
Year/Label: 2004 / Independent
Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds
Warning: This is not bright, feel good music. This is semi-depressing, lazy porch swing music.
The vocals are mumbly and muddy but I think that is what they were going for.
It is very difficult to tell one song from the other, except for the spaces in between. They are all very similar but if you like one, you’ll like them all. Though I do have to say upon the third listen, “Waiting Around To Die” does stand out as one song I like a lot. “In My Time of Dying” has a little more kick to it than some of the others as well.
The vocals are soft, sleepy and harmonious as is the music. The instrumentation consists of guitar, banjo, harmonica and not much else. Well, OK there are several other instruments listed on the CD, but they are not prominent and they are things like saw, mandolin, and fiddle. The music is very subtle.
This is not the one to choose if you’re looking for a pick-me-up…it will send you right over the cliff. But if a sleepy, swampy, lazy summer afternoon with a book CD is what you crave, this is perfect.
Posted on January 7, 2004
Track Listing
1. It’s Not Happening
2. Waiting Around To Die
3. Junkie Song
4. Ship out on the Sea
5. Dogsong2
6. Rowdy Blues
7. Reuben
8. House of the Rising Sun
9. In Spite of All the Damage
10. Lonesome Blues
11. In My Time of Dying
12. I Wish My Baby Was Born
13. Horses
14. Midnight Moonlight
[The Be Good Tanyas Official Site]
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