10 Songs for the New Depression | 
| Artist: Loudon Wainwright III
Label: Proper Records
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £8.95
as of 6/9/2010 13:48 PDT details
You Save: £5.04 (36%)
Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating:  2 reviews
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 4.8 x 4.7 x 0.2
UPC: 805520030694
EAN: 0805520030694
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| Tracks:
| • | Times Is Hard | | • | House | | • | On To Victory, Mr Roosevelt | | • | Fear Itself | | • | The Panic Is On | | • | The Krugman Blues | | • | Halloween 2009 | | • | Middle Of The Night | | • | Cash For Clunkers | | • | Got A Ukulele |
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| Customer Reviews:
Making the New Depression enjoyable August 11, 2010
Kid Ad (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Loudon Wainwright is not a performer I was overly familiar with before this album, but I'm now keen to dig into his extensive back catalogue. This record is a concept album about the world's current financial woes and, even though the opening track boldly proclaims "You folks need some cheering up/ Well it ain't me, babe, you got that wrong", it's difficult not to grin widely through many of the tracks.
The opening track, Times Is Hard, is not only one of the best, but one that shows why Wainwright is often compared to Dylan. It sets a high tempo, instantly whetting the appetite and grabbing your attention, something that should be difficult without the bells and whistles of modern gimic-filled production. Here, a solid performance and song writing do the job. The majority of the album is just Wainwright and his guitar: a perfect example of how less is so often more.
As the bittersweet album continues its quirky path, the inventiveness in the lyrics will constantly surprise and delight. Cash For Clunkers should have you swinging from the lamp shades and stamping your feet, just in time for Got A Ukulele to bring you back to Earth for a satisfying finish.
In short, it's not big, it's not fancy, but you'll be listening to it again and again just to enjoy the inspired lyrics and driving melodies.
Short, but oh so sweet....... July 24, 2010
Mr. P. S. Rapaport (Manchester, England)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
"Songwriting's not hard, it's well understood... Anyone can do it and everyone should" sang Loudon Wainwright in 2003 ('Something for Nothing').
That may well be easy for him to say!!... Now 63 years young and with over 40 years' worth of golden material behind him, Loudon just cannot stop writing wonderful songs which will by turns enchant, amuse, inform, amaze and occasionally depress you. The man is quite simply the greatest post-war American songwriter - and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's, Townes van Zandt's AND Steve Earle's coffee tables in my football boots and say that. In terms of consistent songwriting quality, insight and introspective honesty, nobody comes close to Loudon.
This new short collection, barely 30 minutes in total (hence the 4-star rating instead of 5), has been available via download for a while but now gets a long-overdue CD launch. It is Loudon's second successive concept album following 2009's Grammy-winning tribute to Charlie Poole. The two projects are of course related 'cos Poole was a victim of the original Great Depression and here is Loudon with his ten odes to the latest one. All Loudon's trademarks are here - the razor-sharp wit (tracks 1, 4, 7), the astute social commentary (3, 5), the intensely personal track (2) and the tribute to a hero (6 - superb). The stand-out track for me is the brilliant 'Fear Itself' (curious title notwithstanding) which is vintage Loudon and, style-wise, is reminiscent of his season of Carrot Confidential spots in the 80s. Only at the end of the CD does the level tail off, with the final couple of tracks being slightly below-par. But overall, as per usual, the craft, attention to detail, vocal timing and beautiful guitar picking (for which he is hugely underrated) are all present and correct.
Let's hope there's still some gas left in the LWIII tank and at least a couple more great albums come along before he hangs up the guitar case. Try to catch this songwriting genius when he next tours in the UK (hopefully in winter 2010/11). If you haven't seen him before, it could be a night that changes your musical life....
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