All the Fame of Lofty Deeds

Performer: Jon Langford
Engineer: Ken Sluiter
Producer: Jon Langford
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Johnathan Rice (guitar, dobro, mandolin); Mark Durante (steel guitar); Pat Brennan (piano, organ); Eddie Carlson, Joe Camarillo, Brian Doherty (drums). Audio Mixer: Ken Sluiter. Recording information: Fitzgerald's, Berwyn, IL; Hubbard Street Studios, Chicago, IL; Kingsize Sound Labs, Chicago, IL; Stimkpole, Chicago, IL; Western Sound Labs; XRT Radio, Chicago, IL. Unknown Contributor Role: David Yow. Though he's best known as the leader of long-lived post-punks the Mekons, workaholic polymath Jon Langford has been involved in countless musical side-projects under a dizzying array of monikers, and maintained a busy career as a visual artist. Startlingly, ALL THE FAME OF LOFTY DEEDS is only the second album he's released under his own name, arriving six years after his solo debut, SKULL ORCHARD. As usual, he's backed by many of the usual cohorts from his intercontinental musical coterie, including members of the Bottle Rockets and the Waco Brothers. With many of the tracks essentially home recordings, there's a distinctly more off-the-cuff feel here than on SKULL ORCHARD, focusing more attention on the songs themselves. Certainly, compositions as memorable as "The Fame of Lofty Deeds" (reportedly about the life of Roy Rogers) and the music-industry-skewering "Nashville Radio" deserve all the attention they can get. Given this excellent set of songs, the through line from LOFTY DEEDS to the best of Langford's work with the Mekons, Waco Brothers, et al, is entirely discernible.

Rolling Stone (p.74) - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - "[W]iseass ditties that sound upbeat and plenty tuneful..." Uncut (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[I]t's not heavy-handed or portentous, the music rollicking like a midnight special braced against the hard wind of his uniquely British delivery." Down Beat (p.88) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[R]ough-hewn rock slathered in country trappings executed with charisma and passion." Mojo (Publisher) (p.115) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[I]t's good: tough-guy honky tonk, broken-man country, infectious Clash-meets-Zydeco..."

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