 Swerve
Reviews
Dirty Linen—"Annie Gallup is a mysterious woman,
or at least the characters in her songs are. They seem to look at
life with a mixture of sardonic hammer and open-eyed wonder. They
muse at length about their highly imperfect men, who are nonetheless
objects of endless fascination and fond recollection. They pick
themselves up when they fall. Part beat poet, part folk-rapper,
part pensive singer/songwriter, Gallup sounds like she could be
recording a soundtrack for the femme fatale heroine of some modern
film noir on Swerve..." | More
Sing Out!—"...Fitting what seems like a complete
novel in a several minute song, Gallup leaves you knowing the people
she has created, what they look like, and their innermost passions.
Her folk-rap delivery presents the story lines in a mix of poetry
and prose. If she were on the library shelf she'd be amid the best
sellers, and I don't think that the folk world fully appreciates
her lyrical strengths. She presents usual scenes unusually, playing
with words and rhythm, in a way that often allows little time for
us to process her cleverness and depth... |
More
Fish Records, UK—"Combining her fantastic lyrics
and poetry with strong melodies and a top band has produced an excellent
album—it works on so many levels. It has immediacy in the strength
of the melodies and the brilliance of the recording, but it's only
on repeated listening that the real charms of the disc become apparent—there
are lots of words to get your teeth into, and the more you listen
the more there is to enjoy; it really is impressive stuff."
 Highlights
from Earlier Reviews
Dirty Linen—"She sounds like the musical daughter
of Joni Mitchell and Lou Reed, simultaneously confident and vulnerable,
a practiced storyteller and poet whose stream-of-consciousness narratives
of strange but vivid characters share space with diamond-cut confessional
vignettes of off-center and sometimes reckless romances. Her lyrics
are complex and often non-linear, but well worth following, her
quiet but careful guitar accompaniment a well-matched frame."—Oct./Nov.
1999
Acoustic Guitar—"Even her most straightforward
lyrics possess a fantastic, almost subliminal quality that brings
to mind the magic-realist fiction of Gabriella Garcia Marquez."
New York Daily News—"...Filled with deft metaphors
and riveting images sifted from love's ashes. It's so smooth you'd
hardly know it's poetry."
Sing Out!—"She's erotic in the noblest sense of
the word and her lyrical genius is spellbinding."
Performing Songwriter—"...Narrative reminiscences—fully
developed, intently marrying scenes and emotions, and brimming with
delicious rhymes..."
Guitar World Acoustic—"...Clever folkie shows
backbone, humor and very listener-friendly guitar chops in her speak-singing
songs, related in a confidential, person-to-person way."
Oasis Recording—"The music (and at least equally
so, the lyrics) are truly extraordinary; it's one of the most artistically
pleasing projects we've worked on."
Sing Out!—"Sometimes an artist comes out of nowhere
and completely knocks you over. Annie Gallup is such an artist...Gallup
writes incredible lyrics..."
Mountain XPress—"Gallup's guitar playing favors
complex runs and picking patterns while her voice glides easily
from the conversational to the ethereal, framing an unabashed gift
for language and an idiosyncratic perspective that yields big truths
in small musical packages. Talent enough to humble the average giant."
Dirty Linen—"It's relatively rare to find an original
voice among singer-songwriters, but Annie Gallup fits the bill.
Gallup's pipes blend the throaty smoothness of early Joni Mitchell
with a distinctive inflective twang that is closer to Lucinda Williams.
An unlikely combination perhaps, but the effect is captivating."
Mountain XPress—"Proof that startlingly original
artists do exist." | Top
|
