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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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33
Artist: Richard Gilpin Label: RGM Recording At the age of and on the album 33, Richard Gilpin is pondering his roots both politically and socially ("Man On the Moon & Me") and very personally ("A Stranger to Me"). He is pondering the bigger questions of faith and recognizing that Jesus was his age when he was killed ("Man of 33"). Musically it is Steve Earle's alternative country rock sound territory but since his relocation from Belfast to County Donegal, he has added the spirit of Irish folk without any fiddle-di-dee. Eddie Lynch’s piano lifts the mix , Remco Rodrigues guitar is sweet and tasty throughout, and Maire Breatnach’s fiddle and vocal adds a velvety luxury. All Gilpin needs to be a major player is the courage to trespass outside the genre. Steve Stockman 2/29/2004
With a vibe not dissimilar to Mike Scott and Bap Kennedy, Richard Gilpin's new studio project 33 is a welcome turn for those of us who can appreciate our folk music with undertones of Celtic despair. Though it doesn't furrow a particularly furrow new track, 33 is a likeable set of songs that deserves to earn Richard Gilpin some wider exposure -- but like the chairman of the board, Jackie Leven, Gilpin would likely be more appreciated after being viewed in a live context. As easy-going as some of the album might be, some of the songs can seem a little restrained and that is disappointing. The album starts out with the deceivingly upbeat "The Man on The Moon And Me," which starts out like an alt-country rocker, and Gilpin cuts straight to some heartfelt recollections of the troubles he had seen growing up in Belfast. While it may be enough excuse for some people to steer clear of it, Richard Gilpin does seem to have acquired Jackson Browne's knack of presenting some harrowing scenarios in a palatable format. For those listeners who believe in the separation of music and politics, there's just as much going on there as well. "You've Been Away Too Long" is an obvious tip of the hat to the influence of Tom Petty. If this isn't enough reason to get him on the bill at the various Fleadh festivals in both the USA and UK, then nothing will be. "Levelland" is a touching elegy to a part of his homeland being urbanized by a "New Town" (that's "subdivision," for the benefit of our North American compadres), while "Share These Chains With Me" evokes the smoothness of Chris Isaak with a little Tupelo Honey-era Van Morrison for good measure. If a hat full of great songs wasn't satisfying enough, 33 rounds out with a video of the song "Sleeping In My Car." Lacking some of the nuance of Paul Simon's "The Boy In The Bubble," I'm sure both David Byrne and Dave Stewart are cursing Gilpin's name because he's got the single camera music video milieu cornered once and for all. Chances of VH1/MTV airplay are slim-to-none, but it's good to see a Northern Irish folk singer with the courage of his convictions to not only make a "pop video" but also have the nerve to put it our right next to his songs (which is to say, it's a good video). All in all, 33 is well worth the entrance fee. Richard Matthew Smith 4/12/2004
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