MP3s & Cloud Player: The Carpenter

Product Details

The Carpenter
From RRE, LLC / Republic Records

Price:

$7.99

Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from and sold by Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Average customer review:

(14 customer reviews)

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #3 in Digital Music Album
Published on: 2012-09-11
Released on: 2012-09-11
Running time: 2797 seconds

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.

Streamlined, but super consistent / super satisfying
By T. A. Daniel
Sometime after 2000, bluegrass and folk music started to experience a revival - bands were springing up from all parts of the western world playing music that was influenced by folksy do-it-yourself songwriting. It would be hard to say that the Avett Brothers aren't at least partly responsible for this uprising. The band has been around since the early 2000's, releasing 6 full-length records since their inception (among a ton of other releases) - their latest release is not only the 7th for the band, but it's also the second with Rick Rubin helming production duties. Rubin, who's worked with everyone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Jay Z to Johnny Cash, helped the band shave away some of their grittier aspects to make way for the infectious melodies of 2009's I AND LOVE AND YOU. 2012's THE CARPENTER finds the Avett Brothers continuing where they left off.

If I had to describe the Avett Brothers' sound, I'd say it falls somewhere between the blue-grassy stained Old Crow Medicine Show and the indie-sensibilities of Mumford & Sons. The album begins with "The Once and Future Carpenter," a song that relies on the band's trademark Americana lyrics. Following the first track, the album hits it's groove with three fantastic songs in a row ("Live and Die," "Winter in My Heart," and "Pretty Girl from Michigan.") The second track, "Live and Die" serves as the lead single promoting THE CARPENTER. It's an upbeat track, but it's defined by its dominant melody - it's a song that will be hard to get out of your head with lyrics to match: "Can't you tell that I am alive? Let me prove it to you." The next track, "Winter in My Heart" is one of the more somber tracks on the album. It begins with only vocals and guitar, but it slowly develops into a more haunting ballad - it strikes a balance of being both beautiful and heartbreaking. After the last notes play out, "Pretty Girl from Michigan" changes the pace considerably - if the previous track was one of the softest on the record, this track is one of the more rocking.

While I do think that the album peaks early, the remaining 7 tracks are not to be scoffed at. THE CARPENTER could be the Avett Brothers' most consistently satisfying release yet. "Through My Prayers" is a nice ballad that wears its sincerity like a badge of honor. "Down With the Shine" ventures towards blue-grass territory with wonderful results - its swaying melody (and horn section) is hard to resist. The upbeat "Geraldine" only lasts barely over a minute and a half, but it makes a lasting impression on the album. The album concludes with "Life," a final ballad with beautiful harmonies that just hits all the right notes. It's a terrific ending, and I think it's a great complement to the tonal qualities of the album's opener, "The Once and Future Carpenter."

The Avett Brothers made their name by working - their albums are earnest, sincere, and feel lived-in. The same kind of craftsmanship a carpenter would show for a piece of woodworking the band show with each record they release, and THE CARPENTER is no exception. For me, this might be the most consistently satisfying Avett Brothers record to date. I would recommend this album to anyone who enjoys Mumford & Sons, the Lumineers, or Old Crow Medicine Show. Essential tracks to sample/download: "Live And Die," "Pretty Girl From Michigan" and "Winter In My Heart."
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.

Avett Brothers - Craftsmen at work
By Red on Black
The days of the Avett Brothers coming across as some sort of newgrass country punk band are long behind them. Their last album "I and love and you" was a huge hit in the States and was produced Rick Rubin whose impeccable track record with artists like Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Neil Diamond and a host of other bands sees him as one of the most recognisable big beards in American music. The Avett's new album essentially picks up where the brothers from Concord, North Carolina left off in 2010. This is great news for those who love the reflective heart wrenching alt country songwriting side of the band, perhaps less good news for those who hark back to the raucousness of early albums like "Mignonette". Progression however is the name of the game and once again "Carpenter" is an album that screams out for an audience the size of which has been generated for Mumford and Sons in the US not least for a band that can literally blow away all comers with their explosive live act. The recent Grammy backing of both acts to Bob Dylans "Maggie's Fram" was a joy to behold.

Standout tracks here include the opening track "The once and future carpenter" which is a gorgeous travelling road ballad full of lifting melodies, soaring vocals from the brothers and building crescendos which make for a sterling start to a very fine set of songs. The plaintive lament "Winter in my heart" does suffer slightly on the lyric front but its good song that builds to a fine climax. Much better however is another in the series of "Pretty Girl" songs which started back in 2002 with "Pretty Girl From Matthews". Here it is "Pretty girl from Michigan" and clearly whoever said female was, she struck an inspirational chord with the brothers who have produced one of their best ever old style rock 'n' roll ballads in this great tune. Another Avett's mainstay is a passing nod to the early Beatles and it comes in the form of "I never knew" with superb harmonies providing the underpinning driving force. Best of all is "February Seven" and effortless country heartbreak love song which speaks of "A wound across my memory/That no amount of stitches would repair". It will no doubt generate huge accompanying audience participation when played live. Irritatingly the penultimate song "Paul Newman versus the demons" seems like the albums token rocker and largely serves to disrupt the end of the album. It may improve on repeated listens but for now it jars rather than flows. Far more preferable is "Down with the shine" with a nicely picked banjo in the background and the final song "Life" a big reflective ballad to round off proceeding with considerable style.

Check some of the reviews on this site and some of the bands supporters are berating the fact that Rubin has again shaved off some of the rough edges of the Avett's and underplayed their former banjo fulled high energy. There is is something in this but clearly the brothers have been keen to emphasise their songwriting credentials in recent albums and it would be a pretty poor show if they constantly rehashed "Country Was" over and over again. That said they do need to think about what next after "Rubin" who has certainly brought a more cohesive and polished sound to the band. For now "Carpenter" is an album made for the fall, brimming full of introspective meditative ballads that seem to grow in character and stature on every listen. This reviewer will resist the urge to utilise some form of carpentry metaphor to finish suffice it to say that the Avetts new album is a solid construction fashioned from ancient materials and shows real craftsmen at work. Sorry couldn't resist.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.

DEAR MUSIC APPRECIATORS
By Andrew H. Lee
Dear Music Appreciators,

I got to know The Avett Brothers through their album EMOTIONALISM, but I haven't been able to get excited about anything they've put out since that record. What's going on with them? I would imagine their live shows are still great but on record they seem to have lost some of their magnetic pull. EMOTIONALISM felt full of, well, emotion, and infectious energy - scrappy and soulful, kind of a lovable hillbilly crazy quilt of an album.

There was something about I AND LOVE AND YOU and now there's something about THE CARPENTER as well that just doesn't draw me in. The first song is great, and when I heard that acoustic guitar work I thought oh boy this is gonna be good. But things seemed to fizzle out from there...I feel guilty writing this for some reason...maybe it's not them, maybe it's me...maybe I need to spend more time with the music...

You know, it's funny, because I turned the record on again a few minutes ago, but this time I'm listening on my headphones...suddenly it's better.

Suddenly I like this album.

Songs that seemed kind of overdone before are now sounding just right. "Live and Die" doesn't seem kind of whiny and desperate anymore. With a pair of $45 Sennheiser headphones, a high quality stream, and my full attention, whiny and desperate now sounds heartfelt and imploring, with the banjo work and other instrumental details now resonating instead of falling flat.

"Winter in My Heart" doesn't seem boring and corny or like one of those weird slow numbers from The Muppet Show anymore - it seems like it's honest and delicate and kind of sad, and hey, maybe this actually would have been great on The Muppet Show - Kermit would certainly approve of the sentiment...

And then comes "Pretty Girl from Michigan" and this time I notice the lyric "You go back to the high life and I'll go back to the low - I should have known..." And this time the vocals, piano, strings, and plodding fuzzed out guitar work combine for a very Beatles a la Abbey Road flavor.

At the beginning of the next track a bit of Avett Brothers banter gets caught on tape - someone says "Roll it just like we been running. Feeling good" Then the band kicks into a high-energy kiss-off number called "I Never Knew You," loaded with Beatlesque backup vocals and harmonies.

Again with the Beatles references, I know, but once I actually paid attention to this album I started to hear and feel the heart behind it - and whether they were happy or sad or high The Beatles had loads of heart - well The Avett Brothers have it too, and I guess I'll have to work my way back through their catalog now - this time I'll bring my headphones and I'll try to pay closer attention.

Sincerely,

Constant Listener
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