Consumed Nostalgia

Various Artists - Jüdische Lebenswelten: Pattens Of Jewish Life
Highlights from the concerts "Traditional and Popular Jewish Music" Berlin 1992
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 698 MB | Full Artwork: 260 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Wergo # SM 1604-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1993
Genre: World, Folk | Style: Klezmer, Jewish Folk

“What is to be heard and experienced is not only of value for its high standard of documentation, but also for the rare music which it contains” (Die Zeit)

Between Daylight and Dark is Mary Gauthier's (pronounced Go-Shay) sixth full-length offering, and a compelling step forward from 2005's Mercy Now. Produced by Joe Henry with most of the musicians who played on his Civilians album and Loudon Wainwright III's Strange Weirdos – Patrick Warren, Jay Bellerose, Greg Leisz, and David Piltch, with Wainwright and Van Dyke Parks making guest appearances – it possesses a deeply centered, almost organic sound; one that reverberates the intentions of the songwriter without trying to meet the sound head on. Henry is able to present songwriters as strong presences, as the still centers of a chaotic, frenetic world that whirls all around them, leaving them unaware of the presence of his voice ordering it without being swallowed in the process.

The Manhattan Transfer first came to the general public's attention as a retro act, a nostalgic throwback in a era consumed with nostalgia – the early/mid-'70s – and their debut Atlantic album, as well as their 1975 summer replacement TV series, catered unashamedly to that market. As a result, this record seemed old when it came out, and it still sounds more than a little sappy, especially when one considers the astonishing growth of the Transfer since…