Turnip Greens Carry Me Down The Aisle CD

Turnip Greens are four seasoned musicians from Arhus, Denmark. Their music is a unique blend of several musical styles from the southern states of the US. They are influenced by Tom Waits, Dr. John, Delbert McClinton, Elvis, The Meters, B.B. King, Solomon Burke, Daniel Lanois, Ry Cooder, Doyle Bramhall II, Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Muddy Waters, The Black Keys and many more. Without a doubt the geographical distance between Denmark and the US is the reason for the fresh and original approach to the music. At the same time you hear exactly where they are coming from and in the music you hear a deep respect for 'the masters' and 'the tradition'. On this disc you'll find eleven great original songs and to me it's some of the best new roots music that I heard in a long while.

One would expect that an album with such a folksy title and a down-home artist name would be a knees-up trad folk workout of old Southern favorites. In fact, the Danish quartet Turnip Greens sound like they take the Old South of Flannery O'Connor's gothic creepouts as their starting point. Musically, Tom Waits is all over this album, specifically his more recent blend of acoustic instrumentation and thick sonic atmospheres; Daniel Lanois' deliberately muddy neo-Louisiana vibe is another important touchstone. Traditional instruments like slide guitar, harmonium, and mandolin are treated with layers of effects that would do a Cocteau Twins album proud, leaving everything in the arrangements so artificially twisted and deliberately misshapen that the intended effect of creepy disorientation is lost in the onslaught of distractingly weird noises. Even the vocals are excessively treated with reverb and slapback echo, a distancing technique that keeps the listener from developing any kind of emotional connection to the mytho-poetic lyrics. Had the band simply dialed everything back (including those overwrought lyrics) by about 50 percent or so, Carry Me Down the Aisle would be a far more effective piece of artsy quasi-Americana. As it is, the album is simply trying way too hard. ~ Stewart Mason

Turnip Greens: Mads Mazanti, Henrik B. Bruhn, Peter Skjerning, Sune S.V. Nielsen.