Linda Sharrock - Confessions

Publisher:          Quinton, Edition Phoenix der Analogue Audio Association (AAA)

Playing time:     43 min

Specifications:  half track ¼", stereo, RTM SM468, CCIR, 510 nWb/m, 38 cm/s

Reel(s):               2 standard metal reels, with stickers

Packaging:        2 standard cardboard boxes, with stickers

Inserts:               1 booklet with 8 pages

Homepage:       https://www.aaanalog.de/shop

Translation of the German review:

Linda Sharrock can look back on a twofold career. From 1964 to 1978 she acted from New York and worked as a jazz singer. With her husband Sonny Sharrock she recorded the first albums. After a creative break, she moved to Vienna and worked with her second husband, Wolfgang Puschnig. For her first solo album "Confessions" she received the Hans Koller Award "Album of the Year" in 2005.

These confessions have it all. How pronounced must the creative break have been in order to "explode" like that with an album like this? The songs and lyrics are very profound. They often sound raw, have something of a primal force. The tape benefits this: from here the sounds come with enormous dynamics. For example, the solo vocals on "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" seem to drift into the dissonant. I'm impressed with how Linda Sharrock is able to consciously use her vocal stylistic devices to enhance the expressiveness and always gets her act together. Piano and double bass trickle in as if casually, then set the foundation for the song. This is an album I can only listen to out loud, setting the volume control at about the singer's original volume. There are nine tracks to enjoy in this vein. None is like the other, fabulous for me is "Sable". How the bass attack kicks, it's a celebration for speakers and listeners! The producer comments in the accompanying booklet as follows: "During the recording we deliberately worked in a reduced way, concentrated entirely on the voice of Linda Sharrock. One tube microphone for the voice, one microphone for the bass, two tube microphones for the piano. The challenge lay in the mixing, to bring out all the nuances of sound, no matter how small, and yet not lose any of the almost brutal directness of the voice. This directness may even disturb you the first time you listen to it, but with each subsequent listen you will be captivated by it: The sound of the production should be as special as the music. Not "natural" but harmless, but "straight" and timeless."

It is certainly one of the most uncompromising albums I know. But also of a lasting beauty that I have not often experienced! High art!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)