Search - Snakefarm :: Songs From My Funeral

Watch out. This is modern folk music to peel back your ears.

M. Swinford | 07/25/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pete Seeger must be rolling in his grave ... and he isn't even dead yet. After listening to what Anna Domino and Michel Delory have done to these old standards, you immediately realize that this is not your father's folk music. Although uneven, "Songs From My Funeral" is perhaps the most arresting, and successful, attempt to update acoustic ballads to come down the pike in years. Whether you call it "acid-blues" or "troubador trip-hop," most of these tunes rock out in ways that their composers probably never dreamed of when they were written. Domino sings without much emotion, but her cool and measured delivery brings a matter-of-fact quality to the dark lyrics, with their emphasis on the themes of death and sex. Actually, she sounds a bit like Patricia Barber or Marianne Faithfull adopting the style of Leonard Cohen and the Tindersticks. This could have been disastrous. Instead, her restrained voice serves to draw fresh attention to what are otherwise familiar words. The strongest tracks here are the beautifully brutal "Banks of the Ohio," which has a slightly different melody from the version you usually hear, and "John Henry," the enduring protest worksong about the human consequences of automation. "This Train That I Ride" possesses an urgency not usually caught in more conventional approaches to this well-worn anthem of loss, and "St. James" seems almost experimental in its uptempo instrumental arrangement. "Frankie and Johnny" also has a very contemporary feel to it. "Laredo" slowly builds upon increasingly grim imagery until it reaches a cathartic climax, and "Tom Dooley" makes the ancient tale of the doomed murderer as futuristic as tomorrow's headlines. Only "Rising Sun" and "Black Girl" appear to fail on their own terms when compared to the originals. Purists will indeed find these pieces disturbing and outrageous. But by incorporating an electronic dimension into this music, and breathing new rhythms into it, Snakefarm may be just what these tunes need to gain a new audience for the next century. "Songs From My Funeral" isn't for everybody. Yet, for those who keep an open mind about the value of translating the classics of the past into a relevant form for the present, it will reward that curiosity and faith in a most satisfying manner. Who knows, it may even get your kids interested in relics like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Patrick Sky."