Acuarela Songs : Acuarela Songs

The All Music Guide rating for this album on a 1-9 scale (9=best) is: 5

The All Music Guide rating for this album among this artist's works on a 1-9 scale (9=best) is: 5

  Aroah - Performer
  B.J. Cole - Pedal Steel
  Chris Brokaw - Guitar
  Dakota Suite - Performer
  David Michael Curry - Piano, Viola
  Doug Hoekstra - Performer
  Fluffy Erskine - Cymbals
  Frank Rudow - Drums
  Mark Eitzel - Performer
  Paula Frazer - Vocals, Multi Instruments, Performer
  Tara Jane O'Neil - Performer
  Thalia Zedek - Clarinet
  The Clientele - Performer
  Thierry Amar - Bass (Upright)

The Spanish label Acuarela issued a double compilation of previously unreleased songs, having asked international bands to write tracks that included the word or the idea of watercolor (which indeed is what Acuarela means) either in the lyrics or in the spirit of the compositions. Thus, the label ended up with a collection of 32 songs, ranging from excellent to average. In an overall listening, Acuerala Songs is a pretty successful LP. If the disc mainly features folk music (with artists such as Giant Sand 's Howe Gelb , M. Ward , Tara Jane O'Neil , and the Mountain Goats ), the journey does not remain in folk lands: Bands such as England's Dakota Suite invite listeners to the world of cool jazz-rock while others, such as Emak Bakia , trip on muffled electronic music and recall outfits like the Third Eye Foundation . This compilation is both a quiet and soothing thing, meant to be played for the background atmosphere it provides, while also serving to acquaint the listener with good bands that deserve to be discovered. ~ Romain Guillou, All Music Guide

The idea for this peculiar compilation is that the word acuarela (or its French or English counterparts) should be included by the different artists somewhere in the title the lyric or the spirit of the song. It's sort of like a homage implicit or explicit to the label after its over seven years of existence. Contributions in the form of previously unreleased or exclusive tracks are signed by the following artists: Mojave 3 Empty House Cooperative Mark Eitzel Nacho Vegas Tara Jane O'Nei