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Castlemusic

You Can’t Take Anyone

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BY Dave Morris   July 23, 2008 16:07

Editorial Rating:

“I couldn’t catch a train if I tried… I can’t, I’m too scared to try,” Jennifer Castle, a.k.a. Castlemusic, sings on “Clouds in the Sky.” If she was afraid of recording this gem of an album, it hasn’t hurt the final product. Three songs into You Can’t Take Anyone, I had to check the liner notes again to see whether I had misread them. Surely one of these tracks had to be a cover. But no, Castle’s first solo album is fully her own, even though these stark, acoustic songs — the dusty, mournful “I Loved Him Now He’s Gone” or the ominous “Piece of Glass” — feel as old as the hills and built to last, like a sturdy, beloved table. Her voice and guitar are the engraving on its surface, delicate and slightly cracked, beautiful rather than merely cute, conjuring the quiet intensity of Mississippi John Hurt and inspiring her collaborators (Rat-Drifting associates Ryan Driver and Doug Tielli) to do the same. Whatever you do, this train is one not to be missed. 

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