City Newspaper Archives - 1/2008
Robert Plant/Alison Krauss "Raising Sand"
Rounder
Published by Frank De Blase on Jan 02, 2008
This record is positively brilliant, not just as a left-of-center concept, but in its delicate execution. The seemingly adverse pairing of Krauss and Plant sets the listener up for the fall. Krauss brings the heartache of her sweet, sweet voice. And where you think Plant might bulldoze the affair, he comes on with remarkable restraint and gentle phrasing. This is a dimension rarely heard from what is easily one of the greatest voices in rock. It's still Plant and you can here his bright, trademark tone in the notes as they fade away into the next. Naturally, T-Bone Burnett drove the bus on this ultra-stripped-down disc. It sounds suspiciously like a live recording with everyone piled in the room, as the notes and lyrics of folks like The Everly Brothers, Tom Waits, and Townes Van Zandt bound around like ghosts.
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