Folk songs with guests for a contemplative evening.
Rufus Wainwright will be 50 in mid-July, and he has already recorded the soundtrack for the celebration: FOLKOCRACY is a record with favorite guests, with whom he sings his favorite songs that accompanied him as a child of a folk family. Wainwright’s records had recently become very opulent and complex, the artist, whose pure voice alone can move mountains, hid behind Posen.
The albums weren’t bad, but they lacked immediacy. It’s back again, for example on “Heading For Home”, in the original by Peggy Seeger, on which the host is supported by John Legend, or on the traditional “Down In The Willow Garden”, which he sings with Brandi Carlile. It’s amazing how these dark old songs fit the mood of hearing the news today.
As is customary with birthdays, Wainwright also presents himself: together with Anohni, he re-records his classic “Going To A Town” in a sublime version. He interprets the Van Dyke Parks piece “Black Gold” to a new arrangement by the composer before the celebrant intones “Cotton Eyed Joe” at the high point of the party with Chaka Khan – a very old American piece that was written in the 90s by Rednex was led into the euro trash hell, but here it is based on Nina Simone’s live version from 1959.