JANUARY 15 2009
AMERICANWAY 61
WHEN MARK OLSON LEFT MINNEAPOLIS-BASED
alt-country
avatars the Jayhawks in 1995 after a decadelong run with bandmate
Gary Louris, it seemed a tragic end to a great musical partnership.
While Louris carried onwith the band, taking it inmore of a popdirec-
tion, and Olson went off to California to make homespun roots music
with hiswife, it still felt to fans like their storywasn’t over. “For all our
little differences and growing apart,” Louris says, “therewas toomuch
still holding us together.”
Those personal andmusical bonds are evident onOlson and Louris’s
new album,
Ready for the Flood
(NewWest, $18). After the two first
renewed theirwriting partnership earlier this decade for a soundtrack
project,whichwas followedbya few successful acoustic tours, theyde-
cided to return to the studio.Musically, they pick upwhere they left off
with this collectionof beautifullymelancholic folk, country-flecked, and
gospel-tinged numbers. The 13 songs on the album are highlighted by
the pair’s signature close-harmony singing. “It almost seems too easy,
likewe shouldbeworking on it harder,” Louris says. “Butwheneverwe
do, it seems togetworse. It’s just oneof those things that is sonatural,
you kind of don’twant tomesswith it.”
Thougheachmanhasaflourishing solocareer and songwriting side-
line gig (Louris has penned tunes for theDixieChicks andNickel Creek,
among others), they plan to continue their collaboration. “We came up
together;weplayedourfirst shows in littlebarswhen12peoplecame,”
Olson says. “Wehave lots ofmemories, lots ofmilestones together. And
hopefully, this album is another one of them.”
Former Jayhawks
bandmatesMarkOlson
andGary Louris don’t
miss a beat as they
reunite on a new record
aftermore than a decade
apart. ByBobMehr
AFTER FRONTINGSEVERAL INDIE ROCKBANDS
over the last two decades,
singer-songwriter A.C. “Carl” Newman launched a solo career in2004
with the release of the critically acclaimed
The SlowWonder
. Now
Newman returns with his sophomore outing,
Get Guilty
(Matador Re-
cords, $15), perhaps hismost refined effort to date.
TheVancouver-bred, NewYorkCity–basedNewmanbeganworkon
the album in early 2008, playing most of the instruments himself—
save for the drums, the bulk of which were handled by Superchunk’s
JonWurster. Eventually, he brought in a collection of collaborators, in-
cludingpop chanteuseNicoleAtkins and husband-and-wife duoMates
of State, to decorate the songs. Newman has shifted hismusical focus
as well: Instead of using his typical big hooks and complex arrange-
ments, he concentrates here on a batch of finely etched lyrics.
“I’ve never really thought lyricsweremy thing,” he says. “Even [old]
songs that people love — it’s more of the sound of the words than
the actual lyrics. But on this record, I reallywanted to tighten up the
narratives.”
Newman drew inspiration by immersing himself in the works of
American novelists such as John Hawkes, LeonardMichaels, andWil-
liamH. Gass. “If you read thework of people you love, it has a positive
impact,” he says. “You can’t helpbut absorb the craft of those people.”
AlthoughNewmanwill be touring in support of his solodisc in early
2009, he’s already hard at work on his next band project. “Music has
becomemy job, which is great,” he says. “But there’s always that pres-
sure to stay ahead of the game.”
BreakUp
toMakeUp
PopmaestroA.C. Newman
temporarily sheds his band-
mates and his penchant for
complicated arrangements
for a stripped-down second
solo album. —B.M.
SOMETHING
NEW
BRAIN-DEAD
RomyandMichele’sHigh
SchoolReunion
,
1997
Costarringwith Lisa Kudrow, Sorvino plays one half
of a dim-witted pair of buds who attend their high
school reunionpretending tobe smartbusinesswom-
enwho invented thePost-it.
NormaJeanandMarilyn
,
1996
Sorvino plays a ditzy Marilyn Monroe in this HBO
feature, which followsMonroe’s Hollywood rise and
subsequent fall. The rolewas enough toearnSorvino
anEmmy nod.
MightyAphrodite
,
1995
Sorvino won both a best supporting actress Oscar
andaGoldenGlobe for hergoofyportrayal of anaive
adult-film starwho gives up her baby for adoption.
