Tom Bourgeois

VA - Rolling Stone Rare Trax Vol. 63 - Von Burg Waldeck Zum Goldenen Pudel: Liedermacher im Wandel der Zeit
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 148 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: None, Promo | Country/Year: Germany 2009
Genre: Folk, Acoustic | Style: Singer/Songwriter, Liedermacher

RARE TRAX is a continued series of promotional samplers given away with the german edition of Rolling Stone magazine since the 1990's and has reached volume 80 already. Each version covers a special topic and presents lesser known songs and/or artists.

This record does have some limitations. In his accompanying comments, Savall notes the survival and vitality of oral transmission in Irish and Scottish music. Yet he has chosen many of his selections for this album from published collections which themselves filtered, altered, sanitized and 'improved' the oral tradition for a bourgeois audience increasingly interested in the music of 'the people'.

Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck has certainly broken more boundaries than any other picker in recent memory, from his early days performing bluegrass-inspired folk compositions on Rounder in the late '70s to his quirky jazz freak-outs with the Flecktones throughout the '90s. In late 2001, this peculiar innovator released an album of banjo interpretations of classical works by Bach, Chopin, and Scarlatti. Before classical purists roll their eyes, they must remember that the banjo hasn't always been seen as the instrument of choice of backwoods musicians in the Appalachian mountains, but as recently as the 1940s was used as a primary rhythm instrument in all manner of parlor music.

Todd Rundgren may be best known for his eclectic work as a solo artist and as a member of Utopia, but he's also produced some of the most acclaimed, influential, and successful rock releases since the early '70s. As with his own music career, Rundgren has never been afraid to take on a wide variety of musical styles, and he applies the same rule to his role as producer, as evidenced by the 18-track compilation An Elpee's Worth of Productions. A selection from each album he's been involved in as a producer is included here, which makes it quite a varied sampler.