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(More customer reviews)What do you do to follow up a debut CD that was near-perfect? One that brought critical acclaim and garnered you the New Artist of the Year award from Boston's prestigious folk-radio station WUMB? If you're Claudia Russell (and trusty sidekick Bruce Kaplan), you release an eclectically brilliant second CD, "Ready to Receive." While wonderfully complemented here by a cache of fabulous musicians, Russell and Kaplan are a formidable duo---Russell handles guitar (and the occasional omnichord), while being The Voice. And what a voice---sweet, sultry, able to master virtually any genre. And while Russell is a fabulous interpreter/arranger of traditionals and covers, she is also an outstanding songwriter. On "Ready to Receive, " she wrote or co-wrote seven of the 13 tracks. Kaplan is a terrific mandolinist, and a string guru in general, while also being the musical field general.
The eclecticism of the disc isn't restricted to the musical styles---it's also wonderfully varied thematically and by mood. The title track is a beautiful, lilting ode to being finally able to accept love. "Galesburg" evokes the desolation of a cold midwestern train station at night and the demise of a relationship. "Oh California" is a romp that details Russell's love/hate relationship with her state of California. "He Ain't Coming Back" is a gritty, bluesy, vivid picture of a hard-living woman whose husband has left her and their daughter to escape the dreary, mundane life at home. The centerpiece of the CD is Russell's raw, fearful paean to her late mother: "Just Like You" chronicles Russell's coming to grips with being the same age her mother was when she died from breast cancer, and honestly catalogues the range of emotions Russell manifests---it's a harmonica-driven wailer whose melodic urgency echoes the racing of the narrator's emotions.
Jeff Talmadge's "Lie to Me" is an irresistible tune that all-too-accurately describes the way we long to hear lies from an object of affection, in the face of the unpleasant truth. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" is a compelling Newgrass-y take on Dylan's chestnut. The disc ends with three very different songs: "Bugs" is a moodily charming fantasia of an afternoon in the garden, and even manages to include "ocarina" in its narration. "Miss Fortune," authored by Lori B, is a thumping old-timey piece that could easily be a part of Leon Redbone's repertoire (perhaps in conjuction with the Dresden Dolls), and yet its arrangement can't disguise the darkness at its core. It's a bit of a musical oxymoron---the oompah bass and accordion want you to believe that it's a lark, but the lyrics are another story altogether. Russell's vocals are wonderful here---plaintive, emotive, and spot-on. The CD's coda is "Stars," an absolute gem that Russell co-wrote with Anny Celsi. The melody and tasteful arrangement allow The Voice to demonstrate all its tremble-inducing beauty---vocals that bring a smile to your face while also resonating with our innate sadness---much like the awesome, gelid beauty of a star in a midnight-blue sky. Russell and Kaplan are stars, and if there's any justice anywhere, the rest of a discerning music public will find that out.
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Ready to Receive is the second CD from Claudia Russell on Radio Rhythm Records.Russell's debut, Song Food, gained play on more than 150 radio stations across North America, Europe and Australia and earned her Best New Artist honors from WUMB-FM in Boston. Ready To Receive weaves an eclectic tapestry of folk, pop, blues and country into a sound that is distinctively Russell's.Fans of Song Food will find the familiar Russell themes of love, longing and loss, with Russell's expressive vocals right out front and her signature guitar style and husband/partner Bruce Kaplan's mandolin playing right behind her. Ready To Receive was produced by Russell and Kaplan.It features seven new original songs as well as six inventive interpretations of songs by writers Kyle Johnson, Lori B., Jeff Talmadge, Ted Waterhouse and Bob Dylan.Rich Warren, host of nationally syndicated radio show, The Midnight Special, wrote in the Fall Issue of Sing Out:"Singer-songwriter Claudia Russell is a vocalist in the old-fashioned sense.She can really sing.Not only does she have an impressive set of pipes, she interprets songs rather than merely conveying lyrics.She sounds involved with the songs.Ready to Receive is a professional work of strong musicality delivered by a voice superior to most in the crowded field of singer-songwriters."Daniel Gewertz of the Boston Herald says:"Sweet-voiced Claudia Russell is recognizably herself on her second independent release, "Ready To Receive," yet the antique, acoustic, elegant string-band approach of "Song Food" has been quite transformed.The new album is sleeker, more electric, less retro, and this time around there are a few modern edges to both the lyrics and the vocals.There exists on "Ready To Receive" a sense of a life lived, a character explored, a modern west coast womanhood revealed.The songs of "Ready To Receive" possess an unusually large range of styles and sounds, and even the Russell voice changes course a few times.But the beating heart of the album is constant."Get Ready To Receive and get ready to hear one of the most distinctive voices on the contemporary folk scene.
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