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A Friend Of A Friend

Dave Rawlings Machine

A Friend Of A Friend

Hugely enthusiastic reception for the first bluegrass and Americana album by the guitarist, singer and music partner of Gillian Welch

ADM rating[?]

8.0

Label
Acony
UK Release date
16/11/2009
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  1. 10.0 |   The Independent

    Dave Rawlings' first album in his own right is an outright triumph, reflecting not just his instrumental and production expertise, but his considerable songwriting abilities too
    Read Review

  2. 9.0 |   Blurt

    There's something to be said for a guy who can equally channel the vibes of A.P. Carter and Jim James. Hopefully there's more to come
    Read Review

  3. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    Questions of “authenticity” pale when listening to this thoroughly appealing album, a record that, as always, fully demonstrates Welch and Rawlings’s love and respect for the musical traditions they’ve immersed themselves in
    Read Review

  4. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Print edition only

  5. 8.0 |   Observer Music Monthly

    It's an effortless success, from the opener, Ruby, big on melody and plaintive harmonies, to the dream-like Bells of Harlem, moving river-slow to a brushed snare and ending this quite terrific record with a meandering coda of wistful strings
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  6. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Print edition only

  7. 8.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    This is a gorgeous album, almost as thoughtful as GW’s best and a degree less bookish, which is no bad thing
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  8. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The head-turners are the unplugged "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)," written with Ryan Adams, and Conor Oberst's "Method Acting"
    Read Review

  9. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Welch's mountain harmonies and co-writing skills are rarely far away, but Rawlings's reedy, Dylanesque voice dominates
    Read Review

  10. 8.0 |   The Scotsman

    Rawlings sensitively splices Bright Eyes' Method Acting and Neil Young's Cortez The Killer into one brooding epic
    Read Review

  11. 8.0 |   The Sunday Times

    Rawlings Machine can be more raucous than the Welch template, but, in truth, nothing here takes us far from the sound we’ve grown used to on the latter’s records
    Read Review

  12. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Rawlings's solo debut sounds suspiciously like a Welch album with the vocal mix reversed; as his regular partner appears as co-writer on five of the nine tracks
    Read Review

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Dave Rawlings Machine: A Friend Of A Friend

  • Download full album for just £7.99
  • 1. Ruby £0.99
  • 2. To Be Young [Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High] £0.99
  • 3. I Hear Them All £0.99
  • 4. Method Acting / Cortez The Killer N/A
  • 5. Sweet Tooth £0.99
  • 6. How's About You £0.99
  • 7. It's Too Easy £0.99
  • 8. Monkey And The Engineer £0.99
  • 9. Bells Of Harlem £0.99
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