This woman's got a mochaccino in her voice and lightning in her hands.
author: S. Donovan Mulaney
Letters from the Jalopy is a self-produced studio album from guitar-teacher and folk-singer, Ksenia Mack. Mack's voice has at times the lilt of Joni Mitchell, the warm low tones of kd Lang, and the blues of old Bonnie Raitt, her style blends such disparate influences with old-fashioned songwriting and scorching guitar-work. She's more incredible in her live performances than on this album, but Jalopy's well worth a listen.
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A must listen!
author: The Manly Man
I love this CD. There are certain songs like Man on the Moon and Meryl's Spring that enchant. They make you play them over and over to digest each turn of phrase and word. Spiritual and mystical.
Then there are the songs that rock, or hit you with folksy pathos. It's all here in a veritable greatest hits of Ksenia.
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Great listening and thought-provoking
author: Lang Allen
This is a surprising and delightful album. Ksenia Mack's voice is both soothing and edgy -- provoking one to think about relationships. This will be an album that stands the test of time.
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Equal parts aching, sexy, been-there and comforting....
author: Joe Coughlin, The Noise
[October 15, 2003]
I'll be danged. Another roots-type act which doesn't bite it in the least. It had gotten to where I dreaded even opening the things anymore, thinkin' this town can only support x-amount of decent acts in a given genre. And I saw the song titles, with the trainwrecks and robberies and ghost towns and waltzes. And there was this happy kinda slickness permeating things which put me off. And frankly, I'm even biased toward people with funny names. Fact is, I'll listen to this more than anything else for the next several weeks. Turns out those titles were largely metaphorical, thank Christ. Smooth-glidin' melodies carry non-stupid lyrics atop thoughtful, economical arrangements. And it's never over-wrought, like so many "sensitive" types are. There are even some odd sonic surprises tossed in to throw ya. But it's Mack's voice that nails it. Equal parts aching, sexy, been-there and comforting, she makes it feel like an ice cube to the forehead on a sweltering day. I'd tell you how it honest-to-God affects certain parts of my anatomy, but I've found that total strangers don't wanna hear about that shit for some reason. Oh well.
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