The Ragtime Rumours – Abandon Ship
Format: CD
Label: Ruf Records
Release: 2020
Nieuw album uit op 25 september
Een energieke mix van old-skool ragtime, gypsyjazz en roots/blues, gespeeld met een rock-‘n-roll-attitude: “Rag’ n Roll!”
Na een jaar busking, optredens in Nederland en een aantal Europese tours hebben we met trots mogen zeggen dat we de 1e plaats op de European Blues Challenge hebben gewonnen.
Rules are there to be broken. Genres are there to be blurred. Perhaps you thought The Ragtime Rumours could never top the fearless alchemy of 2018’s debut Rag ’N Roll – a rebellious collision of vintage blues, offbeat rock ‘n’ roll, gypsy-jazz and quirky storytelling. But with this year’s Abandon Ship, you’ll be happily proved wrong. “In our opinion,” say the band, “Rag ’N Roll was the appetiser and Abandon Ship is the main course.”
Amongst the five-star reviews for Rag ’N Roll, there was one recurring complaint from the purists (“We often hear that ‘this isn’t real blues’”). But for a band this open-minded – with influences spanning from Robert Johnson and Tom Waits to Pokey LaFarge and Django Reinhardt – that criticism was practically a badge of honour. And while Abandon Ship was tracked at Kink Studio and Dog Licks Recording in the Netherlands, it’s a pleasure to find yourself back in The Ragtime Rumours’ idiosyncratic world.
Lose yourself in a lyrical landscape of dancing girls, moonshine and Cadillac salesmen, and dive into a production where anything goes. “We experimented a lot with sound,” remember the lineup. “After a million changes, this album became exactly how it was meant to be.”
Blues purists be damned. Abandon Ship is music without limits, for listeners without blinkers. “We think rules are meant to be broken,” say the band. “And we love breaking the rules…”
Tracks:
01. Abandon Ship
02. Mister Moon
03. 5h Left
04. Yes, My Darling Daughter
05. Fieldman Song
06. Sky Is Turning Dark
07. A Romantic Story Between Minnie and Dave
08. Sway With Me
09. I Can’t Sing the Blues
10. Pinocchio
11. Undressing Me
12. Valley of the Gods
Website: The Ragtime Rumours