Song, by Toad

I was listening to the latest episode of The Waiting Room (get well soon Hope) and I was genuinely bowled over with amused delight by the second song in – Pirates of the Heart.  It’s a sort of comedy sea shanty which is mostly, but not entirely, tongue in cheek.  Inspired brilliance, I thought, who on Earth are these loonies?  Well it turned out that these loonies were Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra which, by sheer coincidence, was the very album I was at that precise moment unwrapping from its padded envelope for a bit of a listen.

These coincidences seem rife when I listen to The Waiting Room.  This week it wasn’t just Ethan Lipton, but also Johnny Flynn, Emma Pollock and Amy LaVere.  So all the best to the malingering Ms. Hope Eternal for a speedy recovery and please do tune in this week for more.  Their podcast can be found here, and they’ll be live on Error FM at about 10pm tonight.

Ethan Lipton, on the other hand, can be found here. I can’t really think how to describe his music I’m afraid.  Imagine a chilled out version of the Squirrel Nut Zippers mixed with a little bit of Richard Cheese along with the likes of the quite brilliant Uncle Moon.  I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the album exactly, which sounds rather mean, but isn’t intended to.

There are some truly inspired moments, such as Old People Don’t Whisper and the aforementioned moment of utter genius Pirates of the Heart, but all in it’s a little patchy.  For every Bossy Man there’s one that doesn’t quite grab me.  Lounge country describes a lot of it and perhaps 30s jazz raconteur the rest, and there’s some terrific stuff here, but approach with caution as I can’t honestly say I think the inspiration is maintained consistently.  One to have a poke around though, for sure.

Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra – Pirates of the Heart
Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra – If Devils Can Slow Dance

Buy the album on the new & improved CD Baby