Two older records, both wonderful. Impossible Dream (2004) in
particular is astonishing - one of those magical, lump-in-throat-inducing
records that just penetrates (sometimes, in moments, actually making me
feel like crying) - and 2002's 1000 Kisses isn't that far behind.
It's striking that those kinds of emotional responses aren't particularly generated by 'glory moments' of the kind that you'd find in a typical mainstream pop (or, for that matter, pop-country) ballad, but rather seem to arise organically from the subtle, almost understated musical and lyrical streams of Griffin's songs. And also striking is how off-the-scale marvellous both her songwriting and singing are; for mine, she's probably the best songwriter in the americana vein going around today, and her voice, unforgettable live (I don't know if I've ever seen a better vocal performance in concert), is something on record too.
A fair few of the songs across these two albums were already familiar to me, one way or another - from Impossible Dream, "Top of the World", iconically done by the Dixie Chicks but here given a barer, rawer and maybe even more heart-wrenching reading by its writer, and from 1000 Kisses, several that made their way on to the live record A Kiss in Time ("Rain", "Be Careful", "Long Road", "Nobody's Crying"). And many others stand out, especially, from Impossible Dream, "Useless Desires", "When It Don't Come Easily" and "Florida". Patty Griffin has been a bit of a slow burn for me, but more and more, I've come to feel that she's really remarkable - something special.
(The impetus for going and listening to both of these being the imminent release of a new one, American Kid, whose first single "Ohio" is brilliant.)
It's striking that those kinds of emotional responses aren't particularly generated by 'glory moments' of the kind that you'd find in a typical mainstream pop (or, for that matter, pop-country) ballad, but rather seem to arise organically from the subtle, almost understated musical and lyrical streams of Griffin's songs. And also striking is how off-the-scale marvellous both her songwriting and singing are; for mine, she's probably the best songwriter in the americana vein going around today, and her voice, unforgettable live (I don't know if I've ever seen a better vocal performance in concert), is something on record too.
A fair few of the songs across these two albums were already familiar to me, one way or another - from Impossible Dream, "Top of the World", iconically done by the Dixie Chicks but here given a barer, rawer and maybe even more heart-wrenching reading by its writer, and from 1000 Kisses, several that made their way on to the live record A Kiss in Time ("Rain", "Be Careful", "Long Road", "Nobody's Crying"). And many others stand out, especially, from Impossible Dream, "Useless Desires", "When It Don't Come Easily" and "Florida". Patty Griffin has been a bit of a slow burn for me, but more and more, I've come to feel that she's really remarkable - something special.
(The impetus for going and listening to both of these being the imminent release of a new one, American Kid, whose first single "Ohio" is brilliant.)
