„Das neue Album Sweetkorn offeriert uns elf Lieder voller Gefühle und Melancholie. Jill Gross (sang schon in den 80ern u.a. für Hurley und die Holy Modal Rounders) und Dana Kletter (bekannt u.v.a durch ihre eigene Band Dish und ihre Vocals für Courtney Loves Hole) geben den Songs durch ihren Backgroundgesang eine schöne Süße, ohne dass die Musik in den Kitsch abdriftet. Dazu ist die Produktion auch viel zu reduziert und glasklar, ohne allerdings die Kanten und Ecken dieses Mannes weg zu schleifen. Sweetkorn: eine CD für Puristen, die die Authenzität in der Musik suchen. Aber auch wer nur ein kleines Faible für den Folk amerikanischer Prägung hat, sollte hier reinhören. Er findet ein Kleinod voller Melodien, das einem den Glauben an die Musik wieder geben kann.“ (Notes)
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“Making Sweetkorn: Sweetkorn was recorded by the Bellemeade Phonics remote unit, begining in May '01 and ending in August. Most of the recording was done in Brighton, MA, which is one of the burgs of Boston, reachable by that city's rapid transit train system. Snog stayed in that area for 2 months, with the album the project. He dwelled in the burgs of Arlington, Brighton, Cambridge, and Somerville respectively. Respectively. The banjo instrumental, "Edinburgh Lag" was recorded at Snog's flat in Ohio before he came east to work with Scott Shetler and Jill Gross. They are husband ad wife and dwell in Brighton, which is a pretty lively place and also features some pretty nice breakfast spas. Snog tried a lot of the breakfast joints while he was in Brighton, but recurred most at The Mirror, where they had the politest people who ran it. There were also more than a couuple o Irish pubs where Irish is spoken. You can get good Chinese and Thai food there as well.
A recording studio was installed in Scott and Jill's living room and pals and associates were invited in to help. The rock group, "The Celestials" was assembled with a chorus of Jill Gross and Dana Kletter singing, the horn work of Scott, the violin work of Olga Kouznetsova, and a couple of different bass players, Mitch Nelin and One String Robbie Phillips. So Jill sometimes cooked some food for different groups who were there, or they made a run to some "to go" place, or Snog would just go out and roam the restaurants of Brighton's "strip", or he would immerse himself in a pub. Sometimes Scott and Snog and Robbie would all be together at this one pub, The Castle Bar. They would work out their differences but mostly what these guys had was an easy harmonic and they shined everywhere. Finding Olga Kouznetsova, the violinist, was a stroke of luck. Kevin Maul plays Dobro on "The End of the Road" and the Tom T. Hall song, "Negatory Romance." Kevin is also heard on Snog's album "Weatherhole" and has performed live with Snog at Tonic in New York City as well as other venues. Snog picked songs that suited the people he was recording with and sometimes had the musicians hoose the songs they liked to play on, rather than assigning them to the songs.” (Michael Hurley)
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The question of whether Michael Hurley (aka Dock Snock) is a neglected national treasure or a mildly amusing pseudo-folky aberration is one that must be resolved in the ear of the individual listener. The fact that the question meets different answers in just about every quarter probably explains both Hurley's legendary status among American roots musicians (he has played with everyone from the Youngbloods to Son Volt) and the fact that this album was released on a small German label more usually devoted to historical curiosities. On Sweetkorn, the aging Hurley evokes the sound of middle-period Tom Waits, though he comes by his junkyard instrumentation and ugly voice more honestly than Waits does. Same with the aggressively lo-fi production quality, which is a longstanding Waits affectation and, one senses, simply a reflection of the way things are for Hurley. Hurley's "Ohio Blues" is spare and beautiful, as is his eerily lovely rendition of the pop classic "Mona Lisa"; he brings nothing particularly new or noteworthy to "Barbara Allen," but "The End of the Road" sounds like a sly undermining of "Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys," while "Negatory Romance" opens with this deathless couplet: "He's wantin' her more than he's wantin' his wife/Now buddy, that's a good way to screw up your life." Bard, sage, screwup, whatever — Michael Hurley's generally worth hearing, and that's certainly the case on this weird but charming album.
(by Rick Anderson, All Music Guide)
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