Linda Draper – No Frills (Planting Seeds Records)
A treat indeed for anyone who likes the fairly recent indie-folk music that has been spearheaded by the Devendra Banhart clan, and a host of other top artists and a few ‘nearly’ people. I say treat because all ten handpicked tracks have been unearthed by Ms Draper herself, golden nuggets dug out from her first three albums, all produced by the legendary Kramer, between 2001 and 2003, and all written by her (sounds to me like she had this indie-folk slant in her work way before it was the ‘done’ thing, if you know what I mean).

Originally “No Frills” was only available on her 2010 tour of the NE of the USA. She obviously got lots of positive feedback from fans that bought it, and now we all have a chance to listen to a gorgeous 30 minutes worth of those early years in her career – as most of us (me included) missed her first time around.

‘Catchy’ is a pretty good word to use here - her songs are terribly catchy, and her voice has a way of catching you off-guard, unprepared even. The ‘catchiest’ of all is “The Priest Who Looked Like Elvis”, a lovely literal tale of runaway love. There are others working similar musical seams, and a debt has to be paid to Joni Mitchell in particular. That said, Draper’s an original talent, and I’m looking forward to discovering more great music.
www.lindadraper.net

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