RSSBut you can't trust simple folks--give 'em an inch and they'llstart thinking they're as smart as people who've been to college.And often they are. So Scruggs's brightly traditional productionseparates Dement from her characteristic sobriety without gussyingher up. And the obvious targets ofWasteland of the Free combinewith the plainness of DeMent's attack to make her indignation seemas natural as the childhood recollections ofWalkin' Home or thelove behind the amazingly straightforwardThis Kind of Happy, herabsolutely convincing tribute to the guy you absolutely believeshe's gonna grow old with. Only a woman as nice as Iris DeMentcould make the line "That sounds like crap to me" as damning as itought to. We should just wish there were a hundred million moreAmericans as simple as she is.
Few pop musicians can claim to have invented a style, and whenThomas Mapfumo adapted Zimbabwe's traditional thumb-piano lines tothe electric guitar, he became one of them. Now two terrificcompilations showcase his haunting, reggaeishchimurenga: therelatively upbeatChimurenga Forever: The Best of Thomas Mapfumo(Hemisphere) and the songfulSingles Collection 1977-1986(Zimbob).
Is there sex after 50? OnMatapedia (Rykodisc), the Canadianfolkies Kate and Anna McGarrigle show no signs of sweetening withage, but inTalk About It they make clear that there are stillthings they'd rather do in bed than die. Just keep your mouth shuttill morning, OK?
Playboy, Sept. 1996
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