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CD Reviews

DAVID CLEMENT: your free gift
SHOW DOG TUNES, 2003

Tired of those whiny folk rockers? David Clement, a Manhattan-based troubadour, belongs in the small but refreshing category of passive-aggressive romantics. He keens and wails about lost love, but within the spare melodies and insightful lyrics is the distinct impression that he's to blame for yet another relationship going south.

Clement, a protégé of Liz Phair, hit first in 1995 with Be More Like Me. The 11-cut CD proudly reflected the breathy baritone's rock and folk roots, and the ruminations on thorny, failed romance were achingly on target. (His cut "Old Men" is a profound meditation on aging, as achingly beautiful as John Prine's classic "Hello in There.") Clement navigates the troubled shoals of gay romance and sex, yet his musical observations resonate with a universality that recalls Rufus Wainwright, ultimately reminding us that we're all fools in affairs of the heart.

Your Free Gift is Clement's long-awaited return, a reworking of his unreleased sophomore CD Hard Candy, which was dropped in the sale of Mercury/Polygram a few years ago. The CD boasts musicians who have worked with Elvis Costello, They Might Be Giants, and Alex Chilton.

Clement exhibits a newfound confidence, and a renewed squirreliness. I wouldn't have him any other way. (Order both CDs from www.davidclement.com.) —Jay Blotcher

BIG TROUT RADIO: songs about fishing
TWINING TREE RECORDS, 2003

Fixin' on goin' fishin', but don't have the ditties to draw you to the water? Just cast the twangy, toe-tapping, trout-tickling tunes of Big Trout Radio into your CD player to be lured to your reel.

Recorded exclusively for the fishing enthusiast at Make Believe Ballroom in West Shokan, this compilation was born from the apocryphal story of a 10-watt radio station in the Adirondacks that exclusively transmits fishing tunes to a four-mile radius. But something smells a little fishy.

Artie Traum, Chris Shaw, and Tom Aksten pulled together 14 banjo-playing, mandolin-picking tunes of country, blues, ragtime, and swing, enlisting the help of John Sebastian, Abby Newton, Happy Traum, Tony Markellis, John Kirk, Debbie Lan, Cindy Cashdollar, and Robbie Dupree on a few tracks.

Even if it's not quite time to hang that "Gone Fishing" sign on your office door, the happy harmonies on this album will have you feeling like you're sailing on the biggest river of your dreams. For more info, log on to www.bigtroutradio.com.

—Ania Laver

ROBERT MICHAEL ESFORMES: mystery of the sabbath
LITTLE TONCHE PRODUCTIONS, 2003

Come my beloved to receive the bride: Receive the radiance of Shabbat! "L'cha dodi," a traditional song heard on Friday nights in synagogues everywhere, is the third offering on Robert Michael Esformes' CD Mystery of the Sabbath, a collection dedicated to one of the most important aspects of Jewish spirituality—the depiction of the Sabbath as a bride arriving to meet her consort after a week of exile.

The rapture unfolds as Esformes—from Ashokan—weds melodies of resplendent Ladino love songs to liturgical texts. Ladino is a Castilian Spanish Hebrew hybrid spoken by Sephardim, the descendants of Jews who lived in Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages.

Esformes' familiarity with Eastern spirituality is evident in "Raza d'Shabbat," in which his haunting voice hovers passionately over Peter Blum's mesmerizing tamboura. Other accompanists on this CD include cellist Abby Newton, violinist Larry Packer, Zoe B. Zak on poignant piano and accordion, and Esformes on gentle guitar.

Esformes' milk-and-honey voice croons, chants, belts, lilts, and makes serenades of these jubilant love songs. This CD will whet the appetite of those whose diet of Jewish music has been limited to Yiddish Klezmer or Ashkenzic hymns. These aren't just recordings of Jewish tunes—these are offerings of love to the Divine.

—Dina Pearlman