LANGFORD JON & SKULL ORCHARD - Old Devils

£ 15

$ 19

£ 15 Sold For

Feb 8, 2016 Sold Date

Feb 27, 2015 Start Date

1 Number Of Bids

Germany Country Of Seller

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Description

General

Article name: Old Devils
Genre: Folk / Folklore Product type: LP (Vinyl) Label: BLOODSHOT Number of tracks: 12

Tracklist LP - 1

1. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - 1234 Ever 2. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Book of Your Life 3. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Getting Used To Uselessness 4. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Self Portrait 5. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Luxury 6. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Pieces of the Past 7. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Haunted 8. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Flag of Triumph 9. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Death Valley Days 10. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Old Devils 11. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - River of Ice 12. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard / Jon Langford - Strange Way To Win Wars

Description

Album Review (en)

Class rage is something Jon Langford can practically do in his sleep by now; he's been serving up smart, bitterly witty (or simply bitter) rants about the growing divide between the privileged and the powerless since the years before Thatcher and Reagan began unweaving our social safety nets. But who knows if he had any idea what the world would be like after eight years of George W. Bush? 2010's Old Devils finds Jonboy sounding a lot more contemplative than usual, as if in the 21st Century he's beginning to think civilization may have finally met its match. Langford doesn't seem resigned on Old Devils, but it's unusually subtle and thoughtful stuff from a man who often likes his music with the Waco Brothers or the Mekons to be full of force, and this album sure sounds like the work of a man less confident in the value of shouting than he was a few years ago. Working with a more diverse collection of musicians than he has in the Waco Brothers, Old Devils opens with what sounds like a trademark Langford rocker about an unsettled culture in which we "Live for next week, live for last year," but the album's rock moves are cleaner and considerably more spare than usual, and the dashed hopes of "Luxury," "Haunted," "Death Valley Days" and "Strange Ways To Win Wars" are matched with a more subtle musical attack. Strings and horns decorate a few of these songs, and the pirate's tale of "Pieces of the Past" includes a recitation from Andre Williams, whose craggy voice gives the song just the right atmospheric tone. Langford isn't rocking as hard on Old Devils, but it gives his vocals more room to move, and he's rarely sung with as much strength and nuance as he does on these sessions. Jon Langford has never been anyone's idea of an optimist, and in many respects the biggest difference on Old Devils is that with less noise, the full impact of his well-founded cynicism is felt; the intelligence of the production and arrangements makes this impact all the more telling, and in a time when the world is looking for missing bits of our socio-political puzzle, the details are all the more important. With this music, Langford wants to be sure we're not missing anything -- clearly, he's not missing a trick here. ~ Mark Deming

Mark Deming