5/12/13 – Valerie June – Pushin’ Against A Stone – 2013

Album Of The Day

Valerie_June_-_Pushin_Against_a_Stone

Okay stop! If you think you might like an African, country, gospel, bluegrass, world music and folk soul hybrid, then this might be for you. Otherwise don’t even go here, you won’t get it. As soon as you hear her voice you will either run a mile or put your head on one side and smile in the same way you might at your child’s Christmas concert. It’ s not warm, it’s not rich but there is something that connects an African tradition to a country star via Motown and that is unusual. The title track is something else again, with fuzzy guitar and Booker T. organ and a hint of Amy Winehouse. It grows and grows on you but you have to want it in your flowerbed. Effortless, personal and connecting dots that aren’t so obvious, even though roots music seems to be the intent. By the time you have got to the end of the album her voice doesn’t sounds at all peculiar, just everyone else sounds ordinary.

http://valeriejune.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_June

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