Our Review
Slaid Cleaves holiday sampler (appropriately titled Slaid Cleaves Holiday Sampler) is better than one dares hope, primarily because it is more Slaid Cleaves, than holiday sampler. Oh, he throws us holiday aficionados a bone--in the form of You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch--but aside from the Grinch and the Christmassy cover art, this record is mostly a short set of Slaid Cleaves' gentle-spirited, folk anthems.
Monster In Law is a clever tune; one hopes it isn't drawn from real life. Breathlessly wistful, November Skies and You Don't Have to Tell Me are pure Slaid. My favorite by far is One Good Year, both with its lonesome-loser heroism and the unusually full-bodied arrangement, featuring Gurf Morlix signature baritone guitar riffs and Oliver Steck's cathartic trumpet solo.
Produced by Morlix and including several year-around keepers, this stocking stuffer eluded my grasp last season. If you like Slaid Cleaves, you won't be disappointed with his Holiday Sampler. And if you don't like him, I'm guessing it's because you haven't heard him sing.
--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2002)
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From the liner notes:
Knocking around Austin 1991, Slaid Cleaves took the Austin acoustic music scene by storm with his 1997 Rounder release, No Angel Knows, and squelched any flash-in-the-pan talk with his splendid follow-up record Broke Down in 2000.
Also appearing on Slaid Cleaves Holiday Sampler are Ivan Brown, bass, background vocals; Gurf Morlix, acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, background vocals; Rick Richards, drums; Oliver Steck, accordion; Charles Arthur, baritone guitar; and Chris Searles, tambourine.
Slaid Cleaves
Slaid Cleaves Holiday Sampler
Artist link
Label: Rounder
Length: 19 minutes
Genre: Acoustic
Release: 2001
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| Monster In Law |
| November Skies |
| You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch |
| One Good Year (Trumpet Mix) |
| You Don't Have to Tell Me |