Thursday, September 13, 2007

Carolina Chocolate Drops

If you are tired of all the crackle you get listening to your favorite tunes on wax cylinders and shellac, try spinning the Carolina Chocolate Drops album Dona Got A Ramblin' Mind. Lively throughout, this piedmont-style banjo-fiddle music is what my friend Matthew Webber might refer to as old-timey squared. This description wouldn't be far off, as I would more likely expect to find them listed among the artists on Harry Smith's American Folk Music than on the soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou? When it comes to the real Americana sound this is it.

Dona Got A Ramblin' Mind covers much ground despite being all traditional music. "Starry Crown" starts the album off with a gospel fervor. Some of the songs are straight up hoedowns, with "Ol' Corn Likker" even including square dance calls. Other songs are terrific murder ballads like "Tom Dula" and "Little Sadie." The group's version of "Dixie" is especially powerful; here, the band sticks to a straight instrumental, cutting the lyrics and thus robbing the slave-owning South of its pride.The album's truest gem for me, however, comes in the form of a breathtaking acapella performance of "Little Margaret." Rhiannon Giddens gorgeous voice leaves the listener as broken as are the song's characters.

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