My favorite song of all time is Kris Kristofferson's Sunday Morning Coming Down. The vocals on Slaughter Mountain remind me very much of Kris Kristofferson as well as the song-writing. Well-done! I've added this disc to my wish list and expect to purchase it soon.

I find James a very intriguing person. There is something very visual about this for me. Like an artist painting a picture, there is that sonic quality that eludes descibing the essence of, it's just there. I found the sound quality of the recording very satisfying to the production itself. If the true judge of a song is its ability to stick in your head, there are a couple of songs that hit paydirt. I have had the CD for a couple of weeks now so I could wear the new off of it before I commented. This one will be in my regular rotation for a time, I'm sure, which is something I rarely end up doing with the local talent CD's I come across. If you like folk, this is the real deal. Kudos James!

Compared to most of the CDs that find their way to my desk, Slaughter Mountain by James Michael Taylor is different. You definitely need to listen a few times to the song material contained in here in order to grasp the deepness of the lyrics, which Taylor comprises his songs of. Some of the titles tell stories around Slaughter Mountain, an old abandoned mine where Taylor's grandpa ruined his lungs and saw many of his friends die. It's no dancehall music. It rather makes you sit down and listen very closely to the stories he has to tell. I'M STILL HERE is a silent cry for help from a miner who is still awaiting his rescue after an explosion, knowing that he might never be saved: I'M STILL HERE, Still Here But I Won't Be Long. Or listen to LISA MAKES APPOINYMENTS, the story of a woman who has an open ear for all the problems of her friends, even though she has experienced herself many bad things - which she still has not processed completely for herself. Also a song to reflect about is HELP. Dozens of people sit, drink and laugh while another one is almost drowning in the river. I'd like to call Taylor's songs stories from everyday life. In today's hectic times it's more than worthwhile to sit back and listen very carefully to what these songs have to tell you.

This masterpiece involves more than meets the eye; you can actually SEE the truth when you listen to it, like a mountain, like a wounded animal, like light penetrating the surface of the stream. This artist is not ashamed to give us the voices and sounds that he hears in his head, which can be quite an adventure when you consider that most independent recordings are sheared, mastered, and created to be industry safe and sterile. This sound, however, is fertile and amazing, and I find myself as I hear it wanting to cry and laugh all at once, from joy, sorrow, and wonder. If you can't afford a therapist and you want to experience what it feels like to hear a TRUE ARTIST feeling their own feelings, listen to this CD. Listen to it over and over and sing along until your own songs are obliterated in the landscape of this songwriter's chronicles. He should be playing all over the place, in places where people don't smoke all over him. I especially like "Diamonds". I know those people. This CD blows my mind. It's the kind of work that makes you wonder why you ever thought you could produce music in the first place, and after hearing this music, you want to get busy putting your life in the order in which it was intended: to NEVER NEVER be afraid to speak your mind, and to NEVER BE AFRAID!