Love and Circumstance

Love And Circumstance

Love And Circumstance
Manufacturer: R.E.D. Distribution
Release Date: 2010-04-13
Sales Rank: 6060

Customer Review Summary (Average Rating : 4.5 / 5.0)
- Rodriguez is gorgieuz
- A real nice batch of Americana

List Price:
$12.98
Lowest New Price:
$9.01
Lowest Used Price:
$8.19

Editorial Review
With Love & Circumstance Carrie Rodriguez demonstrates (if you weren't already convinced by her spectacular sophomore album, She Ain't Me) that she has fully matured into a confident and commanding solo artist, in spite of (or perhaps, because of) the fact that the new album consists entirely of covers. Like Emmylou Harris with her 1995 masterpiece, Wrecking Ball, Carrie mines and polishes gems of other songwriters, delivering them in her own unique style. Carrie's voice is sweet and relaxed with a natural twang, perfectly matched to a soundtrack that is both ethereal (similar to, but not to the same extent as Carrie's first two solo albums and Harris' Wrecking Ball) and rootsy. As an interpreter of other people's songs, Carrie doesn't press to match or outdo the originals, but, instead, sounds comfortable in her own skin. The theme of the album is, well, love and circumstance, and Carrie does a fine job of selecting and sequencing the song cycle, choosing a piece from the public domain (well, actually her father, David's, re-write of a traditional folk song), living and deceased legends (Merle Haggard, Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams), some of the best contemporary songwriters (Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Gillian Welch, John Hiatt), the new wave of indie folk (M. Ward) and Latino (Polo Urias popularized a song of Carrie's great aunt). This is an album that you do not want to miss.

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Customer Reviews
Rodriguez is gorgieuz
5 / 5.0
Amazing effort of this great singer songwriter. After several albums together with Chip Taylor she definitely proofed with this album that she is able to stand on her own feet en maintain the great quality of her previous solo albums. If you listen carefully to this album , you will go back to the shop and buy all her music, for sure.

Great music, great singing and for sure she has also the looks.


A real nice batch of Americana
4 / 5.0
In Love & Circumstance, Ms. Rodriguez, her producer and band have made her most endearing - and potentially enduring - album to date. The CD is one that truly grew on me, as I liked it the first time through but have come to admire and appreciate the songs even more with each additional listen. Start with Carrie's singing. She can be just as subtle or as forceful as the tune requires, like a great actor who alters their persona for the demands of the role. She moves from playful flirtations on "Big Love" to wistful romance on "Today I Started Loving You Again" to a sweetly thoughtful stance "Waltzing's For Dreamers" and beyond. There's a lot to like among the songs on L&C. The styles of music across the album are a mix of Americana, including straight-ahead country, singer-songwriter stuff (all cover tunes), and roots rock. There's a lot to like. My current favorite is a fresh new take on "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," done as a riveting duet between Carrie and guitarist Bill Frisell, just the two of them. I dig this CD from start to finish.

(Before anyone asks "why not 5 stars?" - I believe the 5-star rating should be reserved for the very best. L&C is an excellent album, but it's no masterpiece by any means. For those who think anything good should automatically be 5 stars, you've contributed to the watering down of customer ratings on this site.)