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MP3 The Maledictions - Idle Hands
-The Cincinnati Enquirer
13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, FOLK: Angry
Details:
"Last fall [2004], when the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis staged Shakespeare''s Twelfth Night, audiences were in for a surprise. Feste, the fool, was characterized as a contemporary singer/songwriter who accompanied many scenes on his acoustic guitar. He even-gasp!-sang songs written by the actor, Kevin Orton, and not the Bard. Orton''s Feste and his mournful songs (which mix the moods and textures of Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and Nick Cave) were a hit. And now some of the material...is now available on a striking cd"
- St. Louis Magazine, November 2005
"With Their Appalachian echoes & imaginative new lyrics, Orton''s songs reach straight for the audience"
-St. Louis Post Dispatch
"Jars you to the strangeness of this American landscape...Deserted fairgrounds, unlit country roads, sawdust floored barrooms, vandalized cemeteries and overstayed debutante balls...Born of inner necessity"
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"Melodies that cross numerous genres ranging from country to rock to cabaret... lovely Faulkneresque stories set to music".
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Whether opening for the likes of the Violent Femmes at New York''s Irving Plaza or playing to an inebriated audience of two preoccupied regulars, one thing remains constant in the songwriting of Kevin Orton: "I tend to write about people who are uninsured..."
Where his solo debut 2003 album, "Femme Noir" featured a number of guest artists like The Violent Femmes'' Gordon Gano, 2005''s "Idle Hands" showcases the focused efforts of a band Orton has been fronting for nearly two years---The Maledictions: Mark Anderson (drums); Dan Batchelor (bass); Suzanne Kaiser (dulcimer /lap steel) & Andy Prosky (lead/ rhythm guitar). All the while, a penchant for Americana instrumentation pervades these tales of murder, lust, redemption & woe.
Inspired by old Blues & Hillbilly records, not to mention lethal doses of writers like William Faulkner, Edgar Allen Poe & Dashiell Hammett, Orton''s sound has at times been described as "Country Noir", "Gothic Americana"---or as the songwriter himself likes to put it "Aggressive Folk".
In addition to the Maledictions, Orton was joined by many of the artists who contributed to his previous effort: Francine & David Cole Wheeler (of Swanky Hotel & the children''s album "Come Sit Beside Me"), Darryl Gregory ( SaReel project, "Cold Comfort Songs") & songwriter David Francis ( "Fake Valentine"). Produced by dV & recorded at Skyline & Great Waters Studios, engineer Andre Fratto ( "UFO''s Over Washington") also lent his talents on guitar, keyboards & backing vocals. The end result is an album that combines dark, Folk leanings with a Garage Rock approach. In a recent interview on WVOF''s Unsighned Underground, Orton cited that the old vinyl LP format was part of the concept behind the album. The idea was a more hard edged electric A side & then stripping things down for a more acoustic B side.
As if the music world weren''t hard enough, Orton is also an actor who''s credits span Broadway, Regional Theatre, TV & Film.
"Femme Noir" is also currently available on CD baby.
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