Trax
By Bliss 04/15/2010
MEKLIT HADERO, On a Day Like This ... (Porto Franco): (3 out of 5 stars)
Born in Ethiopia, raised in the States and now based in San Francisco, singer-songwriter Hadero’s multiculti influences mesh gently on this ear-pleasing debut. Saluting Nina Simone, she tackles the Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley standard “Feeling Good,” but the heart of this acoustic guitar-centered collection beats in lightly jazzy and percussive originals like “Walk Up,” “Float and Fall,” “Leaving Soon,” “Soleil Soleil” and “You and the Rain” (“In some countries there are a hundred words for rain/ One for the kind it falls slow like pearls/… One for the kind that pelts and bruises”). meklithadero.com.
TRAMPLED BY TURTLES, Palomino (Banjodad/Thirty Tigers): (3.5 out of 5 stars)
This respected Minnesota-based septet incorporates bluegrass idioms and instrumentation (banjo, fiddle, mandolin), but they share more in common with the likes of the Avett Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show than traditional bluegrassers. Ample time’s allotted to burning instrumental exchanges (check out “Help You” and “Sounds Like a Movie”), but this cleanly produced disc focuses on thoughtful lyrics and harmonies with songs like “Separate,” “Bloodshot Eyes,” “Gasoline” and the poignant “Again.” At the Mint Thursday, April 22. trampledbyturtles.com.
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