Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues

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Artist: Justin Townes Earle

Album: Harlem River Blues

Label: Bloodshot Records

Year: 2010

Genre: Country & Folk

RIAA Radar Status: SAFE

Encoder: LAME 3.98

Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz

Codec: LAME

Avg Bit Rate: 224 kbps

Posted by: cowpuncher

Description / Review:

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Been listening to this for a week straight. Not everyone’s cup of tea, to be sure, but it’s got a few country blues gems on it. Also, JTE was arrested last week:

“Justin became belligerent after being heckled by audience members during his gig at Radio Radio. A fan in attendance yelled for the singer to play ‘Freebird,’ to which Justin reportedly replied, “F— ‘Freebird’ … I hate Lynyrd Skynyrd. Later on during his set, when another crowd member asked Justin to take off his shirt, he declined the request. Soon after, another attendee tossed a shirt at the singer which landed on his guitar, causing another explicit reply from Justin as he exited the stage. Following his set, Justin reportedly trashed his dressing room at the venue, destroyed equipment backstage, and punched the club owner’s daughter. Radio Radio pressed charges for assault and battery, and fined the singer $200.”

Each of Justin Townes Earle’s three albums falls under the broad “Americana” label, but he’s yet to settle on a distinct style. While The Good Life found inspiration in old-timey stringband music and Midnight at the Movies was a moody collection of country-folk, Earle’s latest, Harlem River Blues, looks to acoustic blues as its main aesthetic. Given Earle’s often morose and sardonic bent as a lyricist, the shift toward blues suits him well, making for his strongest album to date.

The title track, which adds a gospel choir and enthusiastic handclaps to its uptempo romp, opens the set with Earle’s point of view perfectly articulated. The music suggests praise and celebration, and Earle sounds downright giddy as he sings, “I’m gonna go down/To the Harlem River to drown.” With details about how his fortunes have turned, Earle keeps the song grounded in traditional blues tropes, even though the arrangement that he and co-producer Skylar Wilson devised pushes the song in an unexpected, ironic direction.

Earle sustains that tone over the remainder of the album thanks to some razor-sharp songwriting. “Move Over Mama” uses some effective double entendres to take the piss out of the No Good Woman who turns up in so many blues songs. Even better is “Workin’ for the MTA,” a song performed from the perspective of a miner who followed in his father’s career path. It works as a respectful testament to the hardships of mining, but it also works as an insightful bit of auto-critique, knowing that Earle has not always had the most straightforward of relationships with his famous father, fellow singer-songwriter Steve Earle.

Because he isn’t afraid to incorporate those kinds of first-person details into his songs in subtle ways, Earle is able to build a complex persona as an artist. Even songs that seem like conventional blues confessions, like “One More Night in Brooklyn” and “Christchurch Woman,” are actually opportunities for Earle to toy with narrative voice or establish a more pervasive sense of place. Earle has never been one to do what he’s told, and the formalism of traditional blues gives him a set of confines to fight against.

Blues also gives Earle an opportunity to show off some solid acoustic guitar chops. With Jason Isbell backing him on electric guitar, Earle’s take on blues is in line with the vintage inspired sounds that John Mellencamp and Ray Wylie Hubbard have put to fantastic use of late. It’s a sound that matches Earle’s calloused, somewhat flat tenor well. Even when he’s singing about drowning himself, Earle sounds more comfortable on Harlem River Blues than he ever has on record. He’s never sounded better either.

Track Listing

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[01/11] Harlem River Blues (2:48) 246 kbps 4.98 MB

[02/11] One More Night in Brooklyn (3:04) 212 kbps 4.68 MB

[03/11] Move Over Mama (2:00) 243 kbps 3.52 MB

[04/11] Workin’ for the MTA (3:48) 212 kbps 5.81 MB

[05/11] Wanderin’ (2:38) 217 kbps 4.12 MB

[06/11] Slippin’ and Slidin’ (2:58) 224 kbps 4.78 MB

[07/11] Christchurch Woman (4:11) 234 kbps 7.03 MB

[08/11] Learning to Cry (2:41) 219 kbps 4.25 MB

[09/11] Ain’t Waitin’ (2:16) 234 kbps 3.83 MB

[10/11] Rogers Park (4:27) 219 kbps 7.05 MB

[11/11] Harlem River Blues Reprise (0:31) 201 kbps 0.78 MB

Total number of files: 11

Total size of files: 50.90 MB

Total playing time: 31:22

Generated: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 10:29:48 AM

Created with: #indie.torrents NFO Generator (Mac) v2.3b1