Robert Plant and Alison Kraus "Raising Sand" (Written in April)

We got this record in March to take with us up to the mountains where we hid out in my aunt's cabin for the better part of a week. I had heard about it and thought it might be a good soundtrack to our Spring trip.

I am not a fan of either artist represented here. I like Alison Krauss fine, and you'll find my opinion of Alison Krauss' solo career embedded below. And, though I understand Led Zeppelin's (a little band Robert Plant used to front) place and importance in rock history, I find them annoying and shallow.

That said, what an incredible album this is! The real artist here is T-Bone Burnett, the album's producer and band leader (you know, the guy that produced O Borther?). He's the orchestrator and mastermind on this album. Robert Plant and Allison Kraus just happen to be singing on the same album. What makes the record is really the textures created by the guitars (played partly by Burnett). They produce sounds here that are truly American and can only be described as such. Deep tremolo. Dark overdriven tube amps. Lush reverb. And multiple times does drummer Jay Bellerose conjure the 16th note ride rhythm reminiscent of Ray Charles' "What'd I say".

Gone is the watered-down, Nashvilled-up commercial version of bluegrass that Krauss has branded (haven't we heard enough of that guy playing the slide dobro?). Rather, her voice is the constant here: not a lot of infection or interpretation, and this provides the blank canvas on which to layer the instruments. See, usually it's the opposite- the band provides the background and the singer provides the personality. On Raising sand, Krauss' and Plant's voices are the vanilla ice cream on which to slather the syrup, heavy cream, and maraschinos that are the smart, cinematic American guitars.

Plant's role here is interesting to me because I sometimes feel that the English sometimes really get it right when they interpret Americana. He plays it cool through these numbers and serves the songs rather than himself. Only once or twice does his signature orgasmic squealing come up, but in moderation and at very smart junctures.

Highlights here are "Killing the Blues", Townes Van Zandt's "Nothin'", the opener "Rich Woman", and the tear-jerking closer "Your Long Journey".

Here's a pretty good short doc on the album.

Alison's makeup is a little overdid in this vid.