Welcome to the first in an ongoing series of explorations of Americana UK’s digital library. We’re going to explore our digital music collection to try to unearth some hidden gems and to remind everyone of artists that may have fallen off the radar. We’re only looking at digital because that means that there’s already been some filtering and I really can’t be arsed to go up into the loft and sort everything into alphabetical order, listen to everything and then write about it.
Today we start with A.A Bondy (or Scott as he’s known). We have to start there as every time I start my iPod without selecting something I hear A.A so I’m as familiar with him as any other artist in the library. He was originally in Verbena then released a trio of solid albums; ‘American Hearts’ in 2007, ‘When the Devil’s Loose’ in 2009 and ‘Believers’ in 2011, leading us to expect a release in 2013 but all has been quiet since then.
Number of tracks in library: 5. None of these tracks are from any of the albums – the best of them is a cover of Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’ from a tour CD, the other four tracks are from a Daytrotter session and cover the ‘When the Devil’s Loose’ period. A.A Bondy is one of those artists that are decent, that I occasionally wonder why I don’t have more tracks by them but if I listen to a few in a row I remember why I’ve never quite managed to steer myself towards any of the albums. If you want a comparison for A.A then its got to be Ryan Adams and boy if you love Adams you really will take A.A into your heart.
Key Release: ‘Believers’ The first two records are fine spare folk based records that seem happy with what they are. ‘Believers’ is a little more of a stretch, a little more adventurous, pulling in different directions and trying to find new ways to express himself. We’ve never reviewed A.A even though he’s squarely in our bailiwick, and there’s little information as to what he’s up to now. He’s definitely worth some investigation but I doubt I’ll be giving him more space in my library. He’s one of those performers who seem to be more at home on the stage than in the studio as the video below shows.
