Here is another album on which I'm a little late to the game. I've had this album on my list of "Records to Buy" for a while, but didn't until last week. Coming into this album, I didn't know anything about James Maddock or his music. However, I love me some Immy, so for me that was reason enough to get it. And since then, it's pretty much all I've been listening to. I have fallen into this album heart first, head over heals, and there's no way of getting out of it.
Released July 17, 2012, this album is just as the name implies: James Maddock and David Immergück, at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, doing a super simple, yet brilliantly played, acoustic set with Maddock on guitar and harmonica and Immergück on guitar and, one of my most favorite things, mandolin.
British born James Maddock brings the best that the singer/songwriter package has to offer. Immediately I was drawn into his singing, his songwriting, his guitar. His songs are stories; stories of love, stories of heartache, stories that resonate so deep into your soul that you're never going to be rid of them. He presents to you these stories with a voice that is the perfect level of gravelly-ness, like a more soothing, friendlier Rod Stewart, or a less scary Tom Waits.
The pairing with David Immergück makes this record perfect. Immergück is best known for his work with Counting Crows and is probably one of the most underrated guitar/mandolin/whatever players out there. I've only seen the man preform live five times, but each time I'm completely blown away by/infatuated with his skills with a stringed instrument. The record is flawless start to finish. Within the first 24 seconds of the first track, Straight Lines, you're immediately drawn into the simple, captivating brilliance of these 13 songs. You almost feel as if they are singing these songs directly to you, playing just for you.
One of my favorite songs on the record is Never Ending. This heartbreaking song of separation, of loss, of distance, of memories of a good friend, showcases not only Maddock's imagery evoking songwriting, but also Immergück's abilities to make a guitar sing right to you, to make it sound like it's telling the story too. My other favorite is When The Sun's Out. I really love this song. I love songwriters who can write songs that make you think, songs that you can listen to a dozen times, but then suddenly there's one line that hits you differently, that just knocks you on your butt. This happened to me with When the Sun's Out, I was listening to it for like the 6th time the other day, and this line jumped out at me:
I feel things so deeply that I know one day I'm bound to crack,
but that's a long way off for me, so till then keep me company.
I'm not sure what exactly it was about that moment, why it affected me so much. We've all encountered that one song, the one where it's impossible to explain to someone why you love it, how it makes you feel, and this is one of those songs. One thing that I know to be true about this song though, is that it shows off David Immergück's unequivocal mandolin prowess; the dude's got skills. The mandolin on this song gives you the feeling of a sunny day, even if it's the middle of winter and 20° outside.
Other highly recommended tracks (though, like always, I really recommend them all) - Wake Up and Dream, Fragile, Whole Lot to Think About, Hollow Love (more amazing mandolin madness) and Old Old Woodstock (Van Morrison cover)
There aren't enough good adjectives in my brain to describe how amazing this record is. Like I said, I have fallen head over heels for it. I'm excited for Maddock's new record due out in the next few months (you can go here to pre-order it)
This video isn't from the recording of this album, it is from Maddock and Immergück's Italian tour last year (I just think this one is über adorable)
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