''Live City Sounds'' is a live album by the American musician
Mary Lou Lord
Mary Lou Lord (born March 1, 1965) is an indie folk musician who started performing as a busker in Boston.
Life and career
Mary Lou Lord first gained attention playing acoustic guitar and singing in and around Boston's subway stations, partic ...
, released in 2001.
It was a return to Lord's
busking
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...
roots.
The album was originally sold via mail, before being reissued by Rubric Records.
[
]
Production
The album includes covers of songs by Richard Thompson, Big Star
Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guiar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in early 1975, and reorganized with a new l ...
, and the Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel ''Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocali ...
, among others. Lord recorded the album on a newly purchased portable DAT recorder, which she returned within 30 days for a refund.Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
.
A studio recording of "Speeding Motorcycle", a cover of the Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...
song, was included on the reissue.[
]
Critical reception
'' No Depression'' wrote that "Lord proves a particularly strong interpreter of Richard Thompson’s work, jangling through '1952 Vincent Black Lightning' and delicately rendering 'Beeswing'." ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' noted that the highlights include "a pair of motorcycle odes by Richard Thompson and Daniel Johnston, and a languid take on Springsteen's 'Thunder Road' that recasts it as the daydream it probably always was."Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
'' declared that "the performances, unembellished and heartfelt, are perfect."The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' thought that "her imitations feel more like tributes than ripoffs." The ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' determined that the album "finds Lord's warm, waif-ish voice most moving on ballads but stretched on less sedate material."AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote: "As a whole, this disc serves as a startling reemergence of Mary Lou Lord onto the indie folk rock scene. With more than her share of negative press from detractors, Lord lets the music speak for her. The music remains charming, simple, and powerful."The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Know ...
'' concluded that ''Live City Sounds'' "outshone her studio work."[
]
Track listing
References
{{reflist
Mary Lou Lord albums
2001 live albums