In the singer/songwriter world, house concerts can be an intriguing alternative to club performances. Typically, the singer/songwriter (who either plays unaccompanied or has only one or two people accompanying him/her) will perform for a small audience in someone's living room -- and even though house concerts can be mildly profitable if enough of a cover is charged and enough people show up, they still tend to have a relaxed friends-getting-together-with-friends vibe. That type of vibe is very much at work on
The Slow Bang
. This 32-minute CD isn't a recording of a house concert, but it was recorded in someone's home in 2005 and 2006: the Athens, GA home of
Mathew Houck
, best known for his contributions to the band
Phosphorescent
. Singer/songwriter
Madeline Adams
is on lead vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano, while
Houck
(her only accompaniment) contributes backing vocals and additional guitar -- and the performing-at-home approach works appealingly well on
"The Demise of Madame Butterfly,"
"1982,"
"Simple Words,"
and other
Adams
originals. These acoustic folk-rock performances have a loose, informal quality, which is not to say that
' singing isn't expressive;
sounds like she is getting a lot of enjoyment out of performing in the home of
, who recorded and produced this album. Unfortunately, there is an awkward moment on
"Fish in the Sea"
when
tries to inject a bit of irony and sings, in hip-hop fashion, that "bitches be frontin'," but because she is so firmly rooted in an introspective
Joni Mitchell
/
Natalie Merchant
Sarah McLachlan
Janis Ian
type of aesthetic, that attempt at irony doesn't work for her. But most of
' writing on
is solid, and the album's intimate acoustic environment is a definite plus. ~ Alex Henderson