Karoline Hausted - Tiffany
Karoline Hausted is a Danish expat currently living in LA who just signed with . This is the first sample of her upcoming album "Jeg tror jeg drømmer", due out May 18.
Label: Songcrafter Music
Viewing posts 1-3 out of 3
Amalie Riis
Safe and sound
Songcrafter Music
Safe and sound is right, this record takes no risks. Amalie Riis has a nice voice and I'm sure she's got a great heart, but her emotional resonance is close to nil. In a world filled with aspiring singer/songwriters, it takes much more to stand out from the pack and simply being "nice" is never enough. No amount of talent can make up for lack of creativity, though sometimes that can be overcome by force of personality or sheer energy. Sorry to say, her skills are not being put to good use. Which is not to say this album is entirely lacking highlights, it's just that they shine so dimly. I enjoy the ethereal Emmylou Harris-esque opener "Nothing you can do about it" and the John Prine homage "My heaven" is also decent (even if it is actually a Laurie McClain song), but the rest passes by without leaving much of a wake. Perfectly pleasant, though also perfectly forgettable. Say no to mediocrity.
- Avi Roig
CS Nielsen
Against the dying of the light
Songcrafter Music
Hands down, "Against the dying of the light" is one of the best albums of 2007. Stig Nielsen, oft referred to as 'Country Stig', does indeed emulate the late Johnny Cash, even using the familiar allusions to trains in numerous songs, but he does it so damned well that it feels like a fitting tribute to the Man in Black, an homage appropriate to the history, catalog, and accomplishments that made Cash who he was. Nielsen's lyrics are cultivated and adept, existing so effortlessly alongside his masterly crafted songs. "Bottle for the road" has numerous displays of his lyrical abilities: "Today I feel a chill of autumn coming 'round, leaves like angels are falling; today your memory cannot hold me in this town...", and the wonderful fragment, "I had too many cups of water that you never turned into wine..." from "Happy" shows the care that Nielsen put into every song. The standard that this record holds itself to is exceptionally high and none of the songs miss this demanding mark. Many artists have claimed Johnny Cash as one of their influences, but few have ever come so close to continuing the legacy he blazed across America in the 1960s and burned into the consciousness of the world. CS Nielsen still retains much of his individuality as a songwriter and an artist even while treading these familiar paths, and this facet of the music only augments his undertakings and illuminates "Against the dying of the light" even further. Absolutely brilliant.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
