Sam Amidon is fascinated with the songbook of old Americana, and his radical yet tasteful reimaginings of traditional folk ballads and hymns breathe new life into a form often seen as quaint and old-fashioned. Aided by a crew of collaborators who include singer Beth Orton and composer Nico Muhly, Amidon gives these songs vitality while paying tribute to their innate beauty and simplicity.
“Here Comes That Blood” is a jarring opener, a stark murder ballad made more imposing by shifting, uneasy percussion and the thudding, synthetic croaks of a Moog bass. The native Vermonter sings in an affected accent halfway between Ralph Stanley’s grizzled twang and Will Oldham’s delicate whisper.
His vocal versatility allows him to play the heavy to Orton on the finger-pointing “You Better Mind” and also to show his soft side on the breezy “Kedron.” The heartrending “Pretty Fair Damsel” is the emotional pinnacle, Amidon and Muhly transforming it into a gorgeous, blushing triumph, with swooning strings and sparkling piano carrying the worrying widow of the title to heights of tragic ecstasy. On I See the Sign, even the quietest moments sound bold.
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- Ghost stories
For all of the excitement that surrounded Wilco on the Maine State Pier or Sufjan Stevens at Port City Music Hall or the various sold-out Ray LaMontagne shows of the past year, there is no question that last Sunday's Phish show at the Cumberland County Civic Center was the biggest thing to hit our fair city in a very long time.
- Wanting more
After its triumphant traversal of the complete Béla Bartók string quartets at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Borromeo Quartet was back for a free 20th- and 21st-century program at Jordan Hall, leading off with an accomplished recent piece by the 24-year-old Egyptian composer Mohammed Fairuz, Lamentation and Satire.
- Photos: Most popular slideshows of 2009
Our most popular slideshows from the last year: including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Dale Bozzio's crazy cat house, and much more.
- 2009: The year in Classical
This was a queasy year for classical music.
- The future is now
Even with all the promise of the new year ahead, it's hard not to feel a little stiffed in the Future of Mankind department. Here it is, 2010, and there's nary a flying car to be seen.
- Swing, etc.
The music may suffer plenty of economic slings and arrows these days, but it's still full of thrills galore. As usual, it's looking outside of its orthodoxy for invigorating ideas. Here are titles you truly need.
- Beyond Dilla and Dipset
With a semi-sober face I'll claim that hip-hop in 2010 might deliver more than just posthumous Dilla discs, Dipset mixtapes, and a new ignoramus coke rapper whom critics pretend rhymes in triple-entendres.
- Local flavor
Local journalist and acclaimed hip-hop scribe Andrew Martin has corralled a flavorful roster of Rhody-based rap talent on the Ocean State Sampler , 10 exclusive tracks available for free download.
- John Harbison plus 10
Classical music in Boston is so rich, having to pick 10 special events for this winter preview is more like one-tenth of the performances I'm actually looking forward to.
- Best in their field
The jazz scene continues to struggle — along with everyone else — through hard times.
- Royal pain
Jesse Lortz is always ready to lay something heavy on you. As the primary architect and male half of Seattle indie-folk troubadours the Dutchess & the Duke (who come to T.T. the Bear's Place this Sunday), he spent their 2008 debut, She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke , contemplating loneliness, disgust, and death.
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