Songs from the Gutter

Songs from the Gutter

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This isn't your older sister's folk music. Though Thea Gilmore's flair for poetic imagery and the lilt of her phrasing place her within the troubadour tradition, the rock dynamics of her raw, edgy band, augmented by the occasional rhythm loop, suggest a more contemporary appeal to the young British artist's generation. While paying homage to Bob Dylan with an atmospheric reading of "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" and to Bruce Springsteen with a bonus version of "Cover Me," she sounds more like Alanis Morissette on the album-opening "Down to Nowhere" and rocks with the hard-bitten bravura of Chrissie Hynde on "When Did You Get So Safe?" and "Lip Reading." A hypnotic, meditative pulse provides the perfect complement to the stark lyric of "The Dirt Is Your Lover Now," while the rootsy Americana of "Mud on My Shoes" finds Gilmore in a more playful mood. In addition to the two bonus tracks added to the "official" ten-track release, Gilmore offers an 11-song second disc, a grab-bag of rarities and limited-edition releases. --Don McLeese

Product Description
"One of the most promising and provocative singer/songwriters to emerge from England in years, Gilmore detangles sex, religion, and politics with a literate eloquence and defiance that recall the early poetic eruptions of Bob Dylan." --USA Today

It is not unusual for a songwriter to stray from the beaten path as they mature, to experiment more intrepidly and find a thoroughly distinctive voice. But when this happens at age 25, people take notice.

It is fitting that Thea Gilmore conceived Songs from the Gutter as part of a Bob Dylan tribute album. Like the obstinate American songwriter to whom she is frequently compared, Gilmore seemed unshackled by convention even in her early work, able to escape the confines of both genre and industry and give her creativity space to grow.

Gilmore believes that audiences don't want to be pandered to and that people will respond to honest expression more than accessibility. The young Brit's respect for music listeners paid off and accolades poured in from such respected sources as USA Today, Mojo, and the Guardian. Gilmore was invited to appear on Radio 4 and at Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's largest musical events. In the fall of 2004, she toured the US with Joan Baez.

A steadfastly original lyricist generating recordings at a breakneck pace, Gilmore has kept her growing fan base almost satisfied with a new project nearly every year. While most of her peers spend years in the planning stages, Gilmore takes her ideas to the studio quickly, capturing the muse of the moment and allowing it to be whatever it is, whether that fits in with any larger trajectory or career plan--or not. Following the highly successful 2003 release of Rules for Jokers, Gilmore changed direction with 2004's lush Avalanche.

Songs from the Gutter is a textbook example of Gilmore's method of creation. Invited to contribute to a Bob Dylan tribute CD sponsored by Uncut magazine, the ever-generating artist found herself in a studio in Cheadle Hulme in May of 2002. Five days later she emerged with ten tracks, which she promptly added to several older, unavailable cuts for an internet-only, double album release. Nigel Stonier's production and a mastering job at Abbey Road polished the collection without taking away any of its nerve, and fans clamored for the disc at Gilmore's live shows. Making its American debut on Compass Records, Songs from the Gutter glimmers with the immediacy and unpredictability of Gilmore's performances, delving into her darker, grittier side.

Tracks:

Down To Nowhere
When Did You Get So Safe
Tear It All Down
The Dirt Is Your Lover Now
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Lip Reading
Heart String Blues
Mud On My Shoes
Water To Sky
And Well Done
Cover Me
I'm Not Down

Tracks:

Hydrogen
Beelzebub
Maybe
Red Farm
Brittle Dreams
December in New York
Gun Cotton
Don't Set Foot Over the Railway Track
Lavender Cowgirl
You Tell Me
Straight Lines

Amazon.com

This isn't your older sister's folk music. Though Thea Gilmore's flair for poetic imagery and the lilt of her phrasing place her within the troubadour tradition, the rock dynamics of her raw, edgy band, augmented by the occasional rhythm loop, suggest a more contemporary appeal to the young British artist's generation. While paying homage to Bob Dylan with an atmospheric reading of "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" and to Bruce Springsteen with a bonus version of "Cover Me," she sounds more like Alanis Morissette on the album-opening "Down to Nowhere" and rocks with the hard-bitten bravura of Chrissie Hynde on "When Did You Get So Safe?" and "Lip Reading." A hypnotic, meditative pulse provides the perfect complement to the stark lyric of "The Dirt Is Your Lover Now," while the rootsy Americana of "Mud on My Shoes" finds Gilmore in a more playful mood. In addition to the two bonus tracks added to the "official" ten-track release, Gilmore offers an 11-song second disc, a grab-bag of rarities and limited-edition releases. --Don McLeese

Album Description

"One of the most promising and provocative singer/songwriters to emerge from England in years, Gilmore detangles sex, religion, and politics with a literate eloquence and defiance that recall the early poetic eruptions of Bob Dylan." --USA Today

It is fitting that Thea Gilmore conceived Songs from the Gutter as part of a Bob Dylan tribute album. Like the obstinate American songwriter to whom she is frequently compared, Gilmore seemed unshackled by convention even in her early work, able to escape the confines of both genre and industry and give her creativity space to grow.

Gilmore believes that audiences don't want to be pandered to and that people will respond to honest expression more than accessibility. The young Brit's respect for music listeners paid off and accolades poured in from such respected sources as USA Today, Mojo, and the Guardian. Gilmore was invited to appear on Radio 4 and at Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's largest musical events. In the fall of 2004, she toured the US with Joan Baez.

A steadfastly original lyricist generating recordings at a breakneck pace, Gilmore has kept her growing fan base almost satisfied with a new project nearly every year. While most of her peers spend years in the planning stages, Gilmore takes her ideas to the studio quickly, capturing the muse of the moment and allowing it to be whatever it is, whether that fits in with any larger trajectory or career plan--or not. Following the highly successful 2003 release of Rules for Jokers, Gilmore changed direction with 2004's lush Avalanche.

Songs from the Gutter is a textbook example of Gilmore's method of creation. Invited to contribute to a Bob Dylan tribute CD sponsored by Uncut magazine, the ever-generating artist found herself in a studio in Cheadle Hulme in May of 2002. Five days later she emerged with ten tracks, which she promptly added to several older, unavailable cuts for an internet-only, double album release. Nigel Stonier's production and a mastering job at Abbey Road polished the collection without taking away any of its nerve, and fans clamored for the disc at Gilmore's live shows. Making its American debut on Compass Records, Songs from the Gutter glimmers with the immediacy and unpredictability of Gilmore's performances, delving into her darker, grittier side.

Customer Reviews:

A unique, well written cd.......2006-02-07

This album has songs that keep me interested from beginning to end. That in and of itself is a feat. Each song is different and each song is done well. Her voice is great, her writing is even better. My favorite cuts are Earth to Sky, I dreamed I saw St. Augustine and track #1 ( I can't remember the title) This is a wonderful cd, and I recommend it to anyone reading these reviews.

Best kept secret in music, but not for much longer.......2006-01-17

Thea Gilmore is arguably the most literate and provocative singer/songwriter of her generation and with six full-length CD's to her credit, she is also one of the most prolific.

On Songs from the Gutter Thea takes you on an aural roller coaster ride that leaves you breathless and begging for more. There are no two songs alike and each selection creates a musical landscape that can be favorably compared to the best work of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and all of the great wordsmiths that have come before her. The songs range from a captivating rendition of Dylan's I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine to the introspection of Tear It All Down. The imagery found in Heart String Blues ("It is rising like the evening tide around an old shipwreck, It is tightening that pretty little noose around your neck") is as brilliant as it is timeless.

Her wit, humor and phrasing combined with her God-given talent as a musician place Thea in the company of the masters. Listen to Songs From the Gutter or any of her other releases and you'll understand why Thea Gilmore is a force to be reckoned with.

Phenomenal CD by an artist with talent to burn.......2005-11-17

If I could rate this with 6 stars I would. Simply the best CD I've bought in at least a decade the songs are so good. From catchy hard rock (When Did You Get So Safe) to country blues (Mud on My Shoes) Alanis style techno (Down to Nowhere), heady solo acoustic (Water to Sky), to otherworldly dreamscapes (And Well Dance). This would easily be a greatest hits album for most artists.

And this is before you get to the bonus CD. Almost too good to be true. The first track ("Hydrogen") is probably the best flat out rock song I've heard in about a year, and the chord change in the acoustic "Lavender Cowgirl" is of the most unexpectedly clever ones I've ever heard. Most of the bonus CD is acoustic. The song "December in New York" is brilliant with its acoustic guitar and piano--it sounds like something straight off Joni Mitchell's Blue album. There's even a spoken word song "Don't set foot over the railway track".

Thea's voice on these discs echoes those of a number of other female artists (Natalie Merchant, Alanis Morrisette, Joni Mitchell, Chrissy Hynde, and even Margo Timmins from the Cowboy Junkies). To me, these songs sound like they're sung by several different women rather than one artist.

After just one play I was a fan. Simply a must have.

Average customer rating:

Dis Is De Right Em Boyo

Songs from the Gutter
Thea Gilmore
Manufacturer: Hungry Dog
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Avalanche
Rules for Jokers

ASIN: B0002CA3GC
Release Date: 2004-07-05

Tracks:

Down to Nowhere
When Did You Get So Safe?
Tear It All Down
Dirt Is Your Lover Now
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Lip Reading
Heart String Blues
Mud on My Shoes
Water to Sky
And We'll Dance
Cover Me [*]
I'm Not Down [*]

Tracks:

Hydrogen [*]
Beelzebub [*]
Maybe [*]
Red Farmv [*]
Brittle Dreams [*]
December in New York [*]
Gun Cotton [*]
Don't Set Foot Over the Railway Track [*]
Lavender Cowgirl [*]
You Tell Me [*]
Straight Lines [*]

Customer Reviews:

Dis Is De Right Em Boyo.......2004-10-13

Vituperative, elegant and sharp as a tack, Thea Gilmore: The most prolific and intelligent wordsmith of her generation...This album is a marvellous thing... Truth and beauty hurt; She's a sharp social observer with a Dylanesque turn of phrase and Inventively original, Some Kind of genius, whilst Quietly brilliant, Engaging and intimate... Gilmore writes like someone raised on a diet of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. She's
a one-woman war against shallow pop and political complacency... reasserts her claim to Brit Songwriting supremacy; simply
Marvellous, a mature and haunting collective of songs, a
"British mega-talent Thea Gilmore is the real deal.

Average customer rating:

The Real Deal
Thea Gilmore - British Folk Invasion!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Songs from the Gutter
Thea Gilmore
Manufacturer: Flying Sparks
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00008NUW2
Release Date: 2003-02-11

Tracks:

Down To Nowhere
When Did You Get So Safe
Tear It All Down
Dirt Is Your Lover Now
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Lip Reading
Heart String Blues
Mud On My Shoe
Water To Sky
And Well Dance
(Bonus Track) Hydrogen
(Bonus Track) Beelzedub
(Bonus Track) Maybe
(Bonus Track) Red Farm
(Bonus Track) Brittle Dreams
(Bonus Track) December In New York
(Bonus Track) Gun Cotton
(Bonus Track) Don't Set Foot Over The Railway Track
(Bonus Track) Lavender Cowgirl
(Bonus Track) You Tell Me
(Bonus Track) Straight Lines

Customer Reviews:

The Real Deal.......2004-10-02

Just a few words before we start. When it comes to music review, I'm always ceptical. I mean, if the stuff is good, you don't have to explain much. Just listen to the tune. Music speaks for itself and, quotin Bob Marley, "one good thing about music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain", or something like that. Whatever. My first and only contact with Thea Gilmore, so far, was through a promo cd on the current issue of MOJO magazine. The song in question was a cover version of Clash's "I'm Not Down", not included on this US release. It took just one listen to the song to make me realize that, whoever Thea Gilmore was, she was gifted. A natural artist. One of a kind. That's all it took. One single tune. Enough. As I'm writing this, I'm still unaware of any other song on the album. It's not really necessary, though. Get the album, as I will do myself, and you'll see what I meant. Sorry folks, for my poor English. PS: By the way, I love Bob Dylan, I love The Clash and I'll love Thea Gilmore.

Thea Gilmore - British Folk Invasion!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-02-15

Some times along comes a voice, a character, a writer, a performer with an edge and difference to make a difference. Now I like Sarah Mclachlan but she is smooth and highly crafted. Thea is a Dylan, harsh at times, crude perhaps, punchy definitely. A unique perspective and a fresh one. I predict that she will conquer all before her and this album, in its double form shows all of that edge and vitality. I'm not going to pick out individual tracks but I will say that, you may start off listening to this album while you are doing the washing or playing with the computer....you will not finish this album that way. Prepare to be disturbed.

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