Articles
Questionnaire IV
Caravan

Albums
36
As Lonely As D. Bowman
John Atkinson
Tom Bell
Big Bend
The Black Dog
Celer
Nicholas Chase
Chronotope Project
Mario Diaz de Leon
Ricardo Donoso
elintseeker
Brian Ellis Group
Ellis & Grainger
Gurun Gurun
Stefano Guzzetti
Heathered Pearls
Helios
Hidden Rivers
Michael Hix
Wayne Horvitz
Indigo Kid
Jerusalem In My Heart
Chad Kettering
The Last Hurrah!!
Legiac
Gary Martin
Josh Mason
Lorenzo Masotto
Andy McLeod
MultiColor
Phaedra
Qwanqwa
Thomas Ragsdale
Reanimator
Steve Roach
Michael Robinson
Steve Roden + Mem1
Santiago Salazar
Dirk Serries
Serries & Zuydervelt
Slow Meadow
Sarah Kirkland Snider
Cara Stacey
Stendeck
Phil Tomsett
Waxwing
Jeppe Zeeberg

Compilations / Mixes / Remixes / Reissues
Deep Love 15
Graveyard Tapes
Photek / H. Agen. / W. Doc.
Positive Flow

EPs / Cassettes / DVDs / Mini-Albums / Singles
DJ Madd
Dragontime
Elika
Henning & Ringler
Ki Oni
Radioson
Danny Scrilla
Selaroda
Rick Wade
Erik Wøllo

Book
Stefan Goldmann

The Last Hurrah!!: Mudflowers
Rune Grammofon

It's not unprecedented for musicians of a particular era and geographical locale to draw heavily upon the work of artists from other time periods and parts of the world. The music of ‘50s American blues artists, for example, exerted a profound influence on British rock groups of the ‘60s (Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, etc.), and in later decades Berlin-based producers associated with Chain Reaction (not to mention expatriate Canadian producer Scott Monteith aka Deadbeat) incorporated into their electronic productions dub techniques pioneered by seminal figures such as King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry. But it's still a little bit jarring to listen to Mudflowers and not imagine one is hearing lost tapes from the ‘70s by an outfit heavily influenced by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris as opposed to the third album by The Last Hurrah!!, the Bergen, Norway-based project led by guitarist-composer HP Gundersen. It's a remarkably convincing act of sleight-of-hand, so much so that it's almost impossible to think the album came into being anywhere other than Southern California. As the album runs through its ten songs, don't be surprised if you find your thoughts drifting to Little Feat, Ry Cooder, Joni Mitchell, Patsy Cline, et al.

Aside from the songs themselves, two things in particular strengthen the illusion: the presence of lead vocalist Maesa Pullman (of LA's Beachwood Canyon) and classic, full-bodied arrangements featuring pedal steel, guitars, organ, harmonica, strings, bass, and drums (Maesa's cousin Rosa Pullman also sings lead on two songs). As if to further emphasize the analog focus, synthesizer whooshes appears but once on the thirty-eight-minute recording, in duration a release naturally groomed for a vinyl presentation. Make no mistake: Mudflowers is an album of songs, not drones or soundscapes, one that plays like an unapologetic homage to the ‘70s American singer-songwriter tradition. Among those joining Gundersen and his Norwegian crew are American players Marty Rifkin on pedal steel, Hammond organist John Thomas, drummer Kiel Feher, and bassist Jason Hiller.

Pullman's winsome croon and Rifkin's pedal steel establish the album's endearing vibe in the opener “Okay,” after which Gundersen spreads subtle licks across the delicious “The Weight of the Moon,” an effortless blend of country, pop, and R&B. As a guitarist, the leader is an understated presence, careful to enhance the songs without calling too much attention to himself, though he does contribute a stinging wah-wah solo to “You Soothe Me.” Like some long-revered Nashville producer of Conway Twitty and Patsy Cline, Gundersen wraps Pullman's voice in strings-heavy arrangements during “Can't Wait No More,” while her cousin, with Rifkin egging her on, emotes memorably during the beer-stained ballad “Those Memories.” Everything's taut and methodically structured except for “You Soothe Me,” an extended slow blues that plays like a loose, relatively unscripted jam.

September 2015