Tom Schraeder - Once Lace Now Cotton (2010 Township Records)

 Once Lace Now Cotton find Tom adding a more textured sound than his 2008 album Lying Through Dinner, which was really good but more of a straight ahead folk sound. Once Lace Now Cotton invites visions of the ol' wagon trail, like on the whistle in and wandering guitar on the album opener "to you my friend...' that also finds Tom's vocals heartfelt and aching.  This will be the one track you will whistle and hum over and over again.

"Should Have Stuck With Cotton"  features loose percussion and some effective harmonies. I like how this song swells toward the end and incorporates an accordion as well as female vocals.

"Carry On" is a bit of a departure from the rest of the album with it's alt-country sound, a full band and more straight ahead song construction. The song also finds Tom letting his vocals out and I imagine it will be the highlight of this album played live. His vocals have a chameleon quality where he seems every bit at home singing this as well as his lo-fi sounding songs.

Tom's vocals have a bit of a magical quality that can be incredibly emotive without the big bombastic displays. They are restrained and nuanced to give his storytelling lyrics a proper voice. These songs have an old soul feel. There are some songs with lo-fi production like "Don't Take My Woman" here as well as others that are cleanly produced but still feel lo-fi. I think this lo- fi effect goes great with Tom's storytelling and vocal style. The overall tone of this album has an updated vintage feel to it. Please check this album out because it deserves to be heard.

Along those lines, Tom will be playing at Schubas tomorrow night, Tues Dec 28th. I plan on being there and look forward to seeing these songs live. Until then here is a bit of promotion for that show by Tom.


Tom Schraeder & His Ego - 'Egoiste Ball' from BAILOUT Pictures on Vimeo.

Musikanto - Ghost Pain

I had the good fortune of booking Mike (Musikanto) for one of my singer songwriter shows at The Chopin. He played with and upright bass player and had Sarah Holtschlag sing with him on a few songs. The highlight for me was the "To See You One More Time", which comes from his album Ghost Pains. It's a bouncing lover's lament about realizing he will not see this woman any more. 'Starting not to need you anymore. I got to bed and tell myself goodnight, but when the leaves fall from the sky and the water swells up my eyes i'll be right home to see you one more time'. Another album cut to check out is "Atomic Walls" has some really nice finger picking on the guitar and Mike's phrasing is slightly different when he sings slower songs on this album. The slight vibrato of his vocals that gets lost on the more straight ahead alt country boot stompers. "Flowers and Singing Bees" incorporates some horns and departs from some of the other production on the album to a good effect. I guess I got spoiled seeing Mike in the stripped down version where his voice was front and center. Listen to this album a few times and some of the melodies are sure to stick. I am looking forward to what Mike does on the next album.