Hammer (and Fiddle) of the Gods

Now that I've testdriven it on two different road trips and, crucially, listened to it late at night lost in my various thoughts, I'm pleased to share one of my favorite 2007 albums: Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss is an aching, anguished Americana record from two prominent yet disparate musicians.

T-Bone Burnett , whom I saw perform last year at the 930 Club with Jakob Dylan, is the alchemist producer who merged Krauss and Plant's respective abilities with his own in one superlative musical experience.

I've had a complicated relationship with Led Zeppelin's music over the past couple of decades. I hated classic rock radio's unimaginatively pounding "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll," "Stairway to Heaven," and other LZ songs into my head ad nauseum. Moreover, I never liked the traditional Zep fan archetype when I was growing up - those stoner knuckleheads who seemed to multiply their various stupidities in my high school hallways. Those two situations sucked all the Led fun out of my life for a long time. It was only when I realized that their bassist John Paul Jones arranged some of the more lush songs on R.E.M.'s beautiful and dark Automatic for the People in 1992 that I frankly gave Zep's catalog another try with open ears. I began to warm to them. Ten years after that, in 2003, I was floored by the extraordinary live DVD they released. Wow, were they a fucking incredible band. A galloping, loping, thundering attack...with hushed, perfectionist moments that buttressed their claim of being a folk act.

(Don't let me forget to mention the inimitable "Lez Zeppelin," the all girl tribute I saw at the State Theatre a couple of years back.)

I've enjoyed Alison Krauss and Union Station since the late 90s, when I first became aware of their bluegrass interpretations. I first saw them live at Radio City Music Hall on the O Brother, Where Art Thou tour back in 2002. Alison was unfortunately sick for this performance, so she couldn't sing and just kind of fiddled along. (No, really.) Gwen and I saw AK&US this past summer at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Alison was in good health and full voice for a great night under the stars, when she captivated us all.

It's fascinating to hear Plant and Krauss duet and harmonize on this material. These are two people you'd never think to put in the same sentence, much less the same song. Yet it turns out they're naturals together. I can't think of any other mainstream female country artist who could've pulled this project off with him, and I can't think of any other geriatric rocker interested and talented enough to work well with her. If you're a fan of the slower, more melodic Zeppelin material, especially, like "Going to California," "Tangerine, " and "Thank You," then you'll love this album. And listen to how flat out sexy the usually angelic Alison can suddenly sound when she's got a swirling backbeat behind her, as in the first single "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" an Everly Brothers cover.

Here's a promotional clip from the Raising Sand official site where all involved explain the impetus behind the collaboration:



And here's a recent clip of Alison and Robert on a BBC morning talk show promoting the album: