Gillian Welch, "The harrow & the harvest"

Two things I want to have said before I begin reviewing this record proper.

I went to my favourite local record store, Folk Å Rock in Malmö, yesterday. I picked up some Louvin brothers stuff, as well as some banjo pickers from the 1920's. The geezer in the record store has started to recognise me and shares my taste in music and sometimes comes with small advices when it comes to music. "Do you like the Carter family?", he asked. "I do, I replied." "Have you heard Gillian Welch?". I hadn't, so he put the record The harrow & the harvest on. I liked it enough to buy it. Before I bought it, he said he reckoned they continue the legacy of the Carter family and I can, after having listened to it a zillion times yesterday and today, see where he was coming from.

Anyway, I brought the record to work today and almost everyone at work liked it. A colleague of mine looked at the sleeve, she's a bit older than me, and asked when it was from. "From 2011", I replied. She was gobsmacked, she thought the sleeve art, as well as the tunes oozed of the flower generation and I can see where she was coming from too.

In fact, this album has one foot in both worlds. A bit of it is rooted in old American folk from the 20's and 30's, another bit of it is, but in a good way, something my old hippie mate Charli would like.

In case you haven't noticed yet, I think this is pretty much the best record I've bought for ages. I rank it just beneath Townes Van Zandt, who is impossible to outdo, although miss/mrs Welch comes pretty close.

What I like in it is that it has that melancholic, laidback southern folk feel to it that you get from Swedish folk as well. You won't jump with joy from hearing it, that's true. But on the other hand, I think melancholic music has that quality to it that you start to think how good your life really is and makes you thankful to God for all the blessings He has given you.

This record is recorded in the old way, no drums, no electrics, no sampling, no fancy stuff, just acoustic guitars, banjo, harmonica and hand clappings. And loads of songs sung in harmony. In fact, miss/mrs Welch only has one back up musician, but they do their stuff like a whole orchestra when it comes to quality. The only thing I think this record could be missing is perhaps a fiddle and some mandolins. But, though the inclusion of those two instruments could've highten the feeling to the album, I don't miss them really that much.

As I said, this is the best record I've picked up for years. There is no bad track on it, they all stand out in quality and I'm convinced that it will be remembered in the American folk scene for ages and I wish the artists success and that they play Sweden. Only criticism I have of it is that some tunes, most notably The way the whole thing ends, goes on for too long.

A great, almost perfect, album like this gets 96,1% in rate of satisfaction!