Good Dog Bad Dog (Over the Rhine)

the nucleus of over the rhine is a husband-wife team. the husband plays the piano, the wife sings and also plays guitar. she has a lilting voice, with a bit of a country drawl on her vowels. (they're from ohio, go figure.) she sings effortlessly, and with a soulfulness that if you pay too much attention will make your eyes well with tears.

otr's good dog bad dog is typical of their general repertoire: very slow and intimate. they sing songs that make you want to melt into your loved one. listening to them now, i feel as if i'm relaxing with emily somewhere. i'm in nashville again. that's the power of otr----to bring those cherished moments back.

"willoughby" is a stand-out track. an instrumental classical-guitar piece with a great rhythm and melody, with enough playful picking to make it very interesting the whole way through without seeming showy. the opener, "latter days," causes the melting i mentioned earlier. "go down easy" is a delightfully suggestive song.

this is another one of those albums that have no business being in the "compilations" tab as far as i can tell, but nonetheless there it is.