Dan Sartain – Legacy of Hospitality

Stream – ‘I don’t wanna go to the party’

A collection of rare tracks, b-sides, cigarette butts, alternate takes and early tracks, is a sort of companion piece to Dan Sartain’s 2010 album, Dan Sartain Lives and also is a retrospective.

In a way of a greatest hits that’s not quite so, there are very old tracks here (some from his first album, the impossibly hard to find Crimson Guard ) and some are very, very rough songs, sounding extremely lo-fi (either demos or recorded in an old tape machine). Although it might not be the most pleasing sounding, there is something extra added to the songs.

After an alternate take to ‘Atheist Funeral’ (also from his most recent album), we are treated to a massively rocking song called ‘Voodoo’. The intro riff is quite palatable and it sounds like a thousand seedy bars from the Texas Panhandle mixed in one (with a Budweiser sign flickering and a couple of rowdy truckers having a fight). Equally bar brawling happy is the extremely addictive ‘I don’t wanna go to the party’, a song that comes in two versions and frankly, the first one you find in the album is the best. Sure, is way less polished (probably demo?) but it feels more raw and energetic.

Amongst the songs that made the cut in this collection (with old school 3D art in the cover – love it!) is a very cool cover of T. Rex’s ‘Telegram Sam’. The reverb in

Between the heavy blues stuff (‘Box cutter in my boot’ – amazing) and the old school rock grooves (‘Love is crimson’ – retro and full of style), there’s a very good cover of Consuelo Velázquez ‘Besame mucho’ (with the usual strange pronunciation that only English-speakers can do of Spanish). The cover is pretty good and the banter between the radio DJ at the beginning (who can’t pronounce Guadalajara to save his life) is chucklesome.

There’s a song in particular that also grabbed my attention from the get go and that is ‘Mister Moonlight’. The church organ (think Neil Young‘s unplugged version of ‘Like a hurricane’) gives it a solemnity and makes it a great moment in Legacy of hospitality, it’s a great way to change pace and give the listener a change of mood.

For first time listeners of Dan Sartain, Legacy of Hospitality could go both ways, either you get hooked or you show it the highway. For fans, it’s probably a collection of gems. Between some very lo-fi moments, there are a lot moments of brilliance and certainly it is a very fun album: not a single time does it drag nor will the varying recording quality affect Mr. Sartain‘s talented riffs (and gruffy voice delivery).

—Sam

Links.

Facebook. Website. Twitter. Spotify. Last.fm. Myspace.

Random fact: Dan Sartain’s current photograph in Facebook resembles Geordi La Forge. That’s cool.