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 Caught in the Carousel - "There will be music despite everything"
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Mark Growden
Saint Judas
Porto Franco Records
Saint Judas is a gumbo of swamp blues, dark stories, and retooled traditionals. It's a bit like Tales of the City, but of a very different city. Growden is a storytelling songwriter, a mix of Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, and Dr. John -- dark and moody but hopeful, like a moth who's just sure that this time the flame won't burn. "Undertaker," "Saint Judas," "I'm Your Man," and "Been in the Storm so Long" share the rich flavor of a Southern graveyard. "Delilah" is the grimmest love song I've ever enjoyed. "If the Stars Could Sing" and "Inside Every Bird" are gorgeous. "Been in the Storm So Long," "The Gates/Take Me to the Water," and "All the Pretty Little Horses" are innovative adaptations of traditional folk songs, and "I'm Your Man" is a passionate Leonard Cohen cover. The grand prize is the haunting, eclectic "Handlebar Instrumental," which is played on -- yes -- handlebars. Seeing is believing: http://vimeo.com/1951450.
—Lyn Dunagan
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