ALBUM REVIEW : Bruce Cockburn, 'Slice O Life - Live Solo'

Bruce Cockburn, 'Slice O Life - Live Solo'
(True North Records, 2009)



Slice O Life is a double album of live solo performances, recorded at various gigs across the USA and Canada in May 2008. This is a recording that fans of Bruce Cockburn have eagerly anticipated, this writer included. The choice of material spans Cockburn's critically acclaimed career from his early recordings in the 1970s, through to 2006's Life Short Call Now, with a brand new track thrown in for good measure. There are even a few snippets recorded from the sound checks that further contribute towards the raw, live ambience.

One advantage of this recording is that it allows you to clearly hear Cockburn's distinctive and intricate guitar playing. Always perfectly matched to his lyrics, Cockburn seems to be able play a weeping, melodic backdrop for the more introspective numbers, though most revealing is the spiky anger and agitation that he seems able to conjure up so intensely to underscore his darker or more forceful pieces.

Furthermore, the recording seems to reveal Cockburn as relaxed and genial; happy to share in the banter with his audience and contribute some amusing yet revealing stories. This aspect is something that doesn't often come across in the earnestness of Cockburn's recordings, or indeed his live performances here, but the presence of these amiable interjections brings a more human face to the material and somehow makes them all the more enjoyable.

Cockburn sounds in great voice throughout, with a world-weary vocal that succumbs to the occasional energetic outburst. Singing with an undeniable commitment and sincerity, Cockburn seizes his lyrics with a commanding authority, yet radiates a genuine warmth that urges the listener to sit back and soak up the vivid poetry of his lyrics.

Stand out moments for me include the bluesy saunter of "Mamma Just Wants To Barrelhouse All Night Long," the enthusiastic audience participation on "Wondering Where The Lions Are," a reflective "Pacing the Cage," the edgy anger of "If I Had A Rocket Launcher," and the sheer understated beauty of "Celestial Horses."

For fans of Cockburn, Slice O Life is an unmissable release... for the uninitiated, this is most certainly something you should hear too!

Visit The Cockburn Project online!

ALBUM REVIEW: Eric Bogle - 'The Dreamer'

Eric Bogle, 'The Dreamer'
(Greentrax Recordings, 2009)



Eric Bogle's impressive body of work comprises a personal and insightful social commentary that always keeps up with the times, and it is heart-warming to hear that Bogle still retains his keen eye and can still find the words to document the twists and turns of the world around him. There is a straight-forwardness about the music that Bogle makes, and this really opens up his stories to the listener and communicates the lyrics with an immediate power. Bogle never agitates with his lyrics, he just tells the story as it is, leaving the listener to draw their own conclusions.

"Bringing Buddy Home" is almost an update of one of Bogle's older songs, "My Youngest Son Came Home Today." Inspired by one of the most powerful images of recent military activities, that of flag-draped coffins bringing home the dead, Bogle turns this television imagery on its head and considers the utter despair felt by the families: "for your son's just a name on a cold marble stone, and he's never... coming home." It's a song that offers little solace, and reminds again of the pointless destruction of war... he must be getting tired of telling us by now.

Bogle champions those with a cause in "Nothing Worth Saving," turning a phrase uttered by a dismissive politician into a celebration of the selfless effort of those who stand up and fight their corner. Turning to the land that Bogle has made his own, we are offered a contrasting insight into the Australian psyche. "Lost Souls" despairs of the injustice suffered by the Ngarrindjeri people, granted Australian citizenship so they could fight in the name of Australia during the first world war, only to have that citizenship revoked upon their return. The anxiety is lightened by the vivid imagery of their native home of the Coorong, conjured up by Bogle's rich tapestry of lyrics that embraces the bounty of nature that populates the Coorong. In a lighter moment, "Australian Prayer For Rain" looks heavenward in the hope that "Big Hughie" will quench the thirst of their drought-ridden lands: "set all the rivers and creeks to flowing, set all the grass and wheat to growing."

One can't possibly complete this review without mention of Bogle's musical compadre, John Munro, who takes the production credits here. Munro also contributes a fine song, "Snowdrop," in which he tackles the somewhat disturbing plight of the homelessness in Russia who freeze to death under the winter's blanket of snow only to be discovered in the spring when the snow thaws -- they're known as snowdrops. It's a somewhat macabre tale that signals the cheapness of life and highlights the desperate plight of the unwanted and forgotten homeless, who live a life of solitary fear.

If you're wondering what it is that sustains Bogle's drive after all these years of music, then you might find an answer in "The Last Note," the album's closing track: "Don't know what music means to you, that's what music means to me, it can capture my heart yet somehow set it free, it can tear me to pieces yet somehow make me whole, it gives me hope and feeds my soul." And this is exactly what you can expect to find on The Dreamer, an album that reaffirms Bogle's position as one of the world's most thoughtful songwriters, with a collection of songs brimming with humanity and respect, that will raise knowing smiles and painful tears in equal amounts.

Click here to visit Eric's website!