Sam Amidon

'I See the Sign'

Acoustic alchemist works it like a real freak folkie

Spin Rating8 of 10

It's been more than a decade since Moby reinvented vintage field recordings as space-age nightclub blues. Sam Amidon works similarly quirky alchemy here, reinventing public-domain songs (plus one modern-day ringer) as rustic mood music for watching distant super-novas explode. But the results have none of the musty aftertaste such a description implies, contrasting pretty sounds with violent lyrical undercurrents. The one contemporary song, R. Kelly's "Relief," fits perfectly alongside oldies from the Georgia Sea Island Singers, even sounding a prayerful note.

LISTEN: Sam Amidon, "How Come That Blood"

By David Menconi

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