Sam Amidon and Ye Olde Folke

I've been fairly obsessed with Sam Amidon's new album this week, I See A Sign (a review is available here).

I discovered Amidon last year when he opened for Anathallo last year. He was arresting. I immediately downloaded and wore out his 2008 album All is Well (you can read a review of that album here).

As music obsessions often do, this current one sent my scurrying off to the You Tubes to find some good live clips. What I found are some unexpected clips that put what Amidon does with his traditional folk songs into further relief.

Here, then, are some examples.

See the absolutely terrific 30s recording of Sugar Baby here, recorded by Dock Boggs and contrast it with Amidon's beautiful understated version recorded here at the Bowery.

But Amidon doesn't simply Mark-Kozelek-to-AC/DC (for example, this) these songs. Perhaps the thing I love most about his albums is the remarkable production.

You can get a sense of that in this you tube clip here which marries his studio version of "Fall on My Knees" to some weird video thing. The basic banjo loop drones as violins, percussion, and other instruments ebb and flow through Amidon's performance. Contrast that with this balls-out clip of Old Crow Medicine Show here, which I admit that I like (despite its gratuitous "hippies dancing!" shots) though the overall vibe really isn't my thing. I want the opening, "Ya'll ready for this!" opening to turn into the techno song.

Check out Amidon's new album. Achingly beautiful.