Vinyl Review – Rachel Brooke’s 7″ “Late Night Lover”
I get flooded with so many submissions for reviews each month, one rule I must keep is to never review anything shorter than an LP. However when vinyl is involved, and when it’s from the best vintage voice in all of country music, exceptions are made. Jack White once said don’t trust a music critic without a record player. That’s because to the refined ear, there really is no other acceptable media.
Reviewing short-run vinyl adds a whole other component of grading based on the aesthetic experience a record affords. Packaging and presentation is so much more important, not that it should diminish focus from this music itself, that will always be most important. But you must sit back and take everything in with a vinyl record because you have no choice. Like lighting a fireplace in Winter, a record requires the attention of more than just your ears, it takes care and attention.
Rachel Brook‘s 7″ 500 limited-edition vinyl release Late Night Lover scores high marks for it’s presentation. The fold-over cover is adorned with a non-digital photo of Miss Brooke on the front an back. Inside are the lyrics to the four original compositions in an authentic hand-written image, and each cover is hand-numbered in the 500 sequence. A good limited-edition vinyl release will always include some goodies, and mine came with a Rachel Brooke postcard, a digital download card for the 4 tunes, and a vintage cameo necklace-style sticker.
The presentation works to set a haunting, late-night, nostalgic mood before even one note is struck; the perfect mood for appreciating the textures of Rachel’s pure voice. The bare bones approach and Rachel’s pluck and strum style may make Late Night Lover not the best offering for an introduction to her music; I’d go with SCM’s 2011 Most Essential Album Down in the Barnyard for that. Like Rachel has said, this album is more a gift for people who “get it”.
Nonetheless, Late Night Lover’s tracks are quite strong. Rachel has always born the unusual and unfair triple blessing of beauty, talent, and uniqueness, but she’s been shy to imbibe much sensuality into her music heretofore, until this title track. The addition of a sultry dimension in “Late Night Lover” to Rachel’s always-controlled and calculated vocal inflections makes this album worth the price of admission alone. Add the yodels and class of “Ashes to Ashes”, the sadness and moans of “The Oldest Memory”, and now we’re more than even.
And then here comes “Lonesome Turns Boresome”. Rachel thought she could hide this gem as the last track on a limited release and maybe we wouldn’t pay too much attention to it. Ha! Maybe she was worried it would be misunderstood, or even seen as offensive by some, I don’t know, but I love it. The sharp, biting, ethical message veiled in classic language as was done back in the early days of Old-Time music is resurrected in this brilliant song, and then brought to life in a superb performance.
The only thing I don’t like about “Lonesome Turns Boresome” is that Rachel didn’t write it, though it is as close to Rachel’s as can be, penned by her fiance and fellow musician Brooks Robbins. This song was such a shot out of left filed, yet completely within Rachel’s style, it gives this album two songs that can rival in strength any of Rachel’s others.
We have watched as Rachel Brooke has evolved from the conflict of her punk and country roots trying to mix and blend, to a classic, cohesive style that is all her own, and compliments one of the most naturally-blessed voices in country today. Late Night Lover is a gift that I am grateful for.
Two guns up!
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January 3, 2012 @ 11:00 am
that sounds like a kiler package…..i love rachels voice. nice review
January 3, 2012 @ 2:36 pm
I got one and I begged her to sign it. Think she will????????
January 3, 2012 @ 9:26 pm
Great review. Brooke is the real deal.
January 4, 2012 @ 3:02 am
This EP is fantastic, for real. Rachel Brooke sounds amazing on vinyl, go buy one!
January 4, 2012 @ 10:40 am
Great review but I can’t stand when people like Jack White shamelessly insist that vinyl sounds good. It doesn’t and never did, unless you’re against music having clarity. Its the same issue when someone plays an old cheap guitar so they can “emulate” the sound of an old bluesman and then claim that the sound is truly “authentic” because it came from an old cheap instrument. In reality, most of those old blues players simply couldn’t afford new instruments, so they played what they could, and would have been all too happy to accept a shiny new Gibson if they had the chance. The music comes from the person. Of course the medium matters, but some people make it all about the medium, which is ridiculous. That said, Rachel rules, on or off vinyl.
January 4, 2012 @ 9:44 pm
I purchased this album at midnight on the night it was available. I thought I was gonna be number one. turns out I was number 7 & 8. oh well. anyway, i have listened to it several times and they are great. get it….
in defense of vinyl. I have about 250 records and I would rather listen to vinyl over iTunes any day. In my opinion, they sound so much better. They are real and raw. Digital is just that. Edited to be perfect and if thats what you want then go for it.
The aesthetic of vinyl is unmatchable.
January 5, 2012 @ 10:58 pm
I love vinyl and collecting complete discographies of studio albums by my favorite artists. 7″ records are exciting because you get new songs,b-sides & rarities,and all around gems in between all the smashes thrashes and hits. Its a lot of good fun as a music fan! Its pretty neat I said! I really love these songs. I think they are some of my favorites by Rachel so far. Its encouraging that you enjoyed lonesome turns boresome also.now lets all love each other before the big crunch comes and smooshes us all.