{"id":304,"date":"2010-08-13T05:04:49","date_gmt":"2010-08-13T10:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=304"},"modified":"2010-08-13T05:04:49","modified_gmt":"2010-08-13T10:04:49","slug":"album-review-dodd-ferrelle-lonely-parades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2010\/08\/13\/album-review-dodd-ferrelle-lonely-parades\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Dodd Ferrelle – Lonely Parades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note<\/strong>: Dodd Ferrelle is playing tonight (August 13 2010) at the Grey Eagle in Asheville NC. <\/em><\/p>\n

Technically, one supposes that Dodd Ferrelle<\/strong> is a singer\/songwriter; he’s obviously spent some time getting his heartfelt lyrics just-so. Yet the eleven songs on his latest Lonely Parades<\/em> can be enjoyed even if the lyrics are ignored; he’s a rocker in the proud tradition. The album is a consistently fine listen, and it’s littered with real gems. “I Can’t Wait” is a near-perfect synthesis of everything that makes pop music great. Touchstones include the best work of powerpop legends Raspberries <\/strong>(in the song’s don’t-bore-us-get-to-the-chorus structure), Matthew Sweet<\/strong> (especially the lovely use of glockenspiel, backwards guitar and fiddle) and Paul Westerberg<\/strong> (Ferrelle’s vocal mannerisms).<\/p>\n

Speaking of glockenspiel, Lonely Parades<\/em> makes intelligent use of nonstandard (for rock) instrumentation throughout. Banjo, triangle, pedal steel, lap steel, trumpet, Mellotron, e-bow, mandolin, cello, and even saw are clear in the mix. And they’re all present in service of the songs, not as some sort of kitchen-sink gimmick. Production and assorted instrumentation is handled by Athens GA jack-of-many-trades David Barbe<\/strong>, perhaps best known for his work with Bob Mould<\/strong> in Sugar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The spooky saw on “Life’s a Dream” is the effective centerpiece of this plaintive march. “If You Could Live Another Life (Would You?)” features keening pedal steel guitar and an insistent beat that calls to mind a harder-rocking Tom Petty<\/strong>. Along with “I Can’t Wait” it represents the high point of Lonely Parades<\/em>, but that’s not intended as a disparagement of the other tracks; there’s no filler on this disc. The album covers a wide range of styles, yet each fits within Ferrelle’s approach; he’s no dilettante, and sounds every bit as at home on the countrified tracks as on the rockers. In fact he successfully blends the two styles into a mix that — oddly — isn’t really country-rock. Ferrelle treads musical territory in the same region as John Hiatt<\/strong> or Nick Lowe<\/strong>, yet he leans in a pop direction. Barbe’s up-front production is clear and focused, delivering muscle and power as well as nuance. It’s a neat trick to rock out and still have the glockenspiel come through, but Ferrelle’s arrangements and Barbe’s production and mixing accomplish the feat.<\/p>\n

This is an album that deserves a wide listen. Recommended.<\/p>\n

The CD can — and should! — be ordered HERE<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Note: Dodd Ferrelle is playing tonight (August 13 2010) at the Grey Eagle in Asheville NC. Technically, one supposes that Dodd Ferrelle is a singer\/songwriter; he’s obviously spent some time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}