Dan Melchior's music is "real," too, which is to say that he appears to have little interest in overdubbing, sampling, and other forms of sonic sweetening. Like the recordings he has made with
Billy Childish (Devil in the Flesh) and, more significantly, singer/songwriter
Holly Golightly and drummer Bruce Brand -- both of whom appear as members of the Broke Revue -- his sophomore release (after a hard to find debut) has an old-timey feel. The effect is due as much to his rough-hewn vocals as to the lo-fi production and retro-sounding material, a mixture of originals and covers of folk-blues classics by the likes of
Joe Calicott and
Mississippi Fred McDowell. This Love Is Real is a pleasing precursor to
Melchior and
Golightly's similarly easygoing collaboration,
Desperate Little Town (2001). ~ Kathleen C. Fennessy