2008

Rootsville
CD-Rezension, November 2008

Markus Rill - Bag Of Tricks

The most important exponent of Americana music in Germany is undoubtedly Markus Rill. For over a decade now Rill has proven himself to be a master of writing and performing his original songs. With "Bag Of Tricks" he releaeses his first album concentrating on cover material. He has however tackled other people's material before, for example on the sublime "The Hobo Companion", a record that I enjoy immensely.

There's no need to be worried about Markus Rill's interpretation of someone's songs. They are in good hands with this capable artist. To me, it's mostly the choice of songs that determines the success of the record, Rill's handling of the material can be trusted.

This "Bag Of Tricks" concentrates mostly on Rill paying respect to his heroes with numbers that are mostly familiar. The album's opener "Kill Will" - the only Rill original - is an exception. It's not the album's strongest track but serves well as a rocking opener. His version of the Elvis classic "Can't Help Falling In Love", however, is of exceptional quality, an entirely mesmerizing recording.

Even if I have heard "Ghost Riders In The Sky" performed less playful before, I could do with a little less piano here. And although "If I Were A Carpenter" has been transformed into a nice duet, to me the Tim Hardin version suffices (but that's a personal preference). On "Not Dark Yet" you can hear from the first note that Bob Dylan must be one of Rill's favorites. This sparse & introverted number came out beautiful.

"Tender Mercies" by the (to me) heretofore unknown Rich Hopkins strikes me as a real revelation. To summarize: this album has been assembled with much care and contains plenty that is beautiful - personally I would've preferred to hear more songs that were new to me, then again there's also pleasure in hearing songs you know in different versions.
SMP