Larkin, Sam - Ransom

Tracks

		Track Name	Length
	1	Mirabeau Bridge
	2	Sally On
	3	Marie
	4	Murmurings
	5	Close
	6	Somehow
	7	Fascination
	8	Children At Play
	9	Highway One
	10	Laughin Tears 3
	11	Play With You
	12	We Will Be Birds
	13	Golden Albatross
	14	Who Would We Be?
	15	Oh

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Information/Write-up

Not too many people can maintain this level of songwriting for a whole recording, let alone two. There are no disappointments on this ten-track recording produced by Don Kerr and featuring backup vocals from Ron Sexsmith, piano playing by Bob Wiseman, intimate Larkin vocals, lyrics to ponder and, mainly, great songs that take a front seat to everything else. You have to give it two first listens: once for the artists, once for the songs. They both deserve your full attention.
Brent Pomeroy, Chart Magazine

At turns tender, humourous, and nostalgic, Sam Larkin trails through a wide range of territory. Particularly affecting are the songs, "Mirabeau Bridge" and "Murmurings". The appeal of both is similar -- acoustic charm. Nothing fancy, nothing overdone. Just a guy, his guitar, a good story, and the occasional harmonica.

It wasn't until around the fourth or fifth listen that I began to take notice of the words. Even before this, though, there was something compelling in the mood and simplicity of the songs; something that was there without words, and at the same time intensified by them.

He is well aware of the tradition he is working in, but a the same time, never seems to repeat it. The musical charm is present in the wail of the harmonica and the constant, but not overbearing effects of background and foreground acoustic guitar.

This is not so much an album with isolated memorable songs as it is a memorable album, period. The songs merge, the moods cross over, and on the whole, listening becomes a very pleasurable, near spiritual experience.
Ron Fromstein, Chaos Magazine

Thanks to Bob Wiseman (Blue Rodeo keys man) for being on the lookout for the likes of Sam Larkin, and thanks to Sam Larkin himself for the wonderfully intellilgent songs on his recording. Should we thank him? They weren't written for us. Intensely personal, dense, dark and deep, these were written, I think for the sole benefit of Sam Larkin. Good thing he remembered to scrawl them out while he was at it. This is darn good writing. Fresh phrases, sharp images and compelling scenes abound in Marie and especially in Mirabeau Bridge, while only slightly less so in the rest. So who's counting the few awkward metaphors

[what fucking awkward metaphors are you talking about, kid?! maybe you need a bit more familiarity with the field? -- sam] There's plenty of good ones to make up for them, loads of interesting characters loaded ingeniously into compact llittle songs, and a refreshing lack of big words. The Indigo Girls could learn a few things here.

Who is Sam Larkin? He's been a part of the Toronto music scene for a few years; however, the teensy "biography" doesn't provide much background. Too cleaned -up to be folk [???!!] and too smart to be plain old acoustic rock and roll, if there is such a thing. With a mellowed-out, hard-knocks kinda voice, a perfectly timed harmonica (it's always there when you need it), and a nifty little band including Bobby Wiseman on numerous instruments and ex-premier David Peterson credited on paper clip, Sam Larkin sings, strums and blows his way into a Richard Thompson-like category of his own. If you ever go to see Sam Larkin, make sure it's in a smoky old bar. And let us know about it.
-Eileen Gallagher, Exclaim Magazine

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