Michael Hurley – Ida Con Snock

Hurley writes great songs, and his easy-going vibe sets the tone for a very enjoyable set.

Hurley writes great songs, and his easy-going vibe sets the tone for a very enjoyable set.

 

http://www.midheaven.com http://www.konkurrent.nl

 

A brilliant LP cover, ridiculous songs about gelatine, owls and geese, but a marvellous listen all told.

 

This is an LP that’s been out for a bit, but that’s no excuse not to grab a copy. From the cod-weird story about local gelatine manufacture, (It Must Be Gelatine) via the mournful beauty of Wild Geeses, with it’s rocking-chair vibe rolling melody and beautiful counter-harmonies, right the way through to the quizzical Any Ninny Any, this is a fine roots LP, and a good collaboration with the (normally more serious) Ida: drawing from Hurley’s back catalogue, some classic covers, (Fats Domino gets a good going over, so to speak) as well as some new tracks.

 

Hurley writes great songs, and his easy-going vibe – combined with some sympathetic arrangements – sets the tone for a very enjoyable set. Hoot Owls is a blast, replete with hoots and falsetto vocals. And the straight-faced take on Loch Lomond/Molly Malone shows that Hurley is more interested in telling a simple story rather than getting bogged down in any existentialist nonsense. Still he has fun with Fats Domino’s Valley of Tears, making it sound like a “Play At Home” demo, and his take on Ragg Mopp is daft as a brush and coy like I’ve never heard it…

 

 

A very relaxing, and, well… enjoyable record to play.