[FM] review of "Vote In November: Election 2004 Anti-Theft Device."\\"

[John News Smith]

Below is my review of "Vote In November: Election 2004 Anti-Theft Device."

To see the  review nicely formatted in your web browser, please view it at:

http://www.icogitate.com/~celticfolkmusic/fr-Election2004.htm 
<http://www.icogitate.com/%7Ecelticfolkmusic/fr-Election2004.htm>

You can find this and many other reviews at:

http://www.icogitate.com/~celticfolkmusic/index.html 
<http://www.icogitate.com/%7Ecelticfolkmusic/index.html>

-----------------------------------------------------------------


      "Vote In November: Election 2004 Anti-Theft Device"
      by Various Artists

copyright 2004
Waterbug Records
P.O. Box 12736
Portland, OR 97212
800-466-0234
http://www.waterbug.com/antitheft.html
http://www.waterbug.com
mailto:info at waterbug.com

This review is written by Kevin McCarthy, 9/04
"Kevin's Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews"
http://www.icogitate.com/~celticfolkmusic/index.html
<mailto:celticfolkmusic at icogitate.com?subject=Email%20Sent%20from%20Your%20Web%20Site> 


Hey, the folkies are doing their part. While not able to fill stadium 
after stadium like Springsteen, Mellencamp, Pearl Jam, the Dixie Chicks 
and others on the Vote For Change tour, folk artists are doing what they 
can by musically expressing their respective political beliefs before 
the November 2 election with the release of this highly charged and 
deliberately titled CD.

And for those newly emerged from hibernation, this is not the sound 
track from the recent Republic National Convention.

It did give me pause though when one of the contributors, Sons of the 
Never Wrong, caught my eye. I immediately thought the neo-cons currently 
in power had somehow organized their male children into a Pat Boone 
cover band. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Well, what to say about the offerings here: the most fun is Chris 
Chandler's and Anne Feeney's "Carnival #4" from their CD "Live From The 
Wholly Stolen Empire." The combination of the ingenuity of Chandler's 
spoken words and  Feeney's biting vocals satirically prick the pomposity 
of the usual suspects in D.C. as well as the contradictions being lived, 
or endured, by so many throughout the country. This is a marvelous cut.

Jack Hardy, who lost a brother in the terrorism at the World Trade 
Towers, chimes in with the acidic "In Bed With The Enemy." He slams 
George W. Bush's harlot relationships with the Saudis, big oil, Enron, 
WorldCom and the like, with lines like "any port-folio in a storm." 
Hardy also lampoons the disputed Florida vote count in 2000, the Bush 
family "makeover" from blue blood to common man with the "move" from 
Maine to Texas and also even tosses out a line about the reason for the 
drinking habits of the Bush daughters.

Kate McConnell's "Mercy" contains a searing line commenting on the 
standard M.O. of the current administration: "...my neighborhood gets 
smaller as Bush comes to shove..."

"Dangerous Times" by Chuck Brodsky details a number of pre-and-post 9/11 
peculiarities of American political life that never get fully addressed 
in any prominent or readily accessible media.

Les Barker scores point after point with his poetic contribution "The 
Civilised World" and Andrew Calhoun provides a solemn rendition of the 
Stephen Vincent Benet poem, "Short Ode," a tribute to the fallen in war.

Dan Bern, who has previously provided so many other searing, insightful 
songs gets a bit pedestrian with "Bush Must Be Defeated." Opening and 
closing with multiple repetitions of the song title, he ends each line 
in the middle with rhymes of "defeated" such as "...the Rose Garden 
unseeded..." and "the imposter excreted."

A very nice touch is Joyce Andersen's uplifting "Filled With Love" a 
personal, non-political declaration that closes out the release.

This isn't quite Zell Miller-amped-on-steroids at the Republican 
National Convention, but it's certainly red meat for liberals.

Waterbug Records is offering this CD at a relatively inexpensive price, 
especially with bulk sales. Employing a slightly different admonition 
than Karl Rove's November 2 directions, order early and order often as 
this release will either be a celebratory device or one of solace come 
40 or so more days.


      Track List:

    * The Wumper - Steve Gillette (1:47)
    * Mercy - Kate McDonnell (3:55)
    * Bush Must Be Defeated - Dan Bern (3:58)
    * Lied - Myshkin's Ruby Warblers (2:04)
    * King George III - Hugh Blumenfeld (2:46)
    * You Better Keep An Eye On Him - Jonathan Byrd & Dromedary (3:04)
    * The Civilised World - Les Barker (2:39)
    * Born A Thousand Times - Sons Of The Never Wrong (5:29)
    * Carnivals - Chris Chandler & Anne Feeney (7:19)
    * In Bed With The Enemy - Jack Hardy (4:16)
    * Dangerous Times - Chuck Brodsky (4:45)
    * Two Kids - Anais Mitchell (3:49)
    * Short Ode - Andrew Calhoun (2:41)
    * The Thief - Michael Troy (3:52)
    * Filled With Love - Joyce Andersen (3:53)