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Stream of Consciousness marks the seventh release of Olav Larsen & The Alabama Rodeo Stars, and a curious, yet entirely effective release it is too.
In essence a set of nine melancholic, poignant, country duets, the album taps into Larsen’s love of American 60’s and 70’s country. Touches of Waits, Morrison, Prine and Young linger throughout.

Smartly though, Larsen has gathered some distinctive guests for the album. As part of the recording, he enlisted eight female vocalists: Emilie Eie, Benedicte Brænden, Ingfrid Straumstøyl, Mona Krogh, Camilla Rosenlund, Stina Kjelstad, Marte Aarseth, and Tine Steen. Larsen’s own brooding, heartfelt vocals underpins each track but it’s the female voices that shine. 

It’s a measure of how good the album is in that there are several names new to me on this recording all of whom I’m now keen to explore further.
With such a range of voices, there is a risk of mixed consistency, but so careful has Larsen curated the album that it works superbly. Listen to the beautiful, heart-breaking ache of ‘Nobody Know’ with its painful plea: “Nobody sings my songs, nobody listens anyway”. It’s a song on loss: “I will have to pursue my life, without you”, with some searingly fragile, yearning vocals by Ingfrid Straumstøyl. A song soaked in anguish, but with a tinge of hope which elevates it from the morose. Or perhaps the sweetly breathless voice of Stina Kjelstad on ‘Times Are Changing’, a title with clear nods to a certain Dylan track. “Suddenly it hurt me, right there in the gut, … oh, Lord, I hate waiting” sings Kjelstad over Larsen’s quiet guitar and Jonny Engesvoll’s keys.

Tracks:  
01 Hang Your Head Low
02 Give up on Me
03 Nobody Knows
04 The Moral of the Story
05 Friendship
06 Times Are Changing
07 The Bottom
08 Misdefined
09 It Shaped Me by the Heart

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IUkELavTLE