Loving Takes This Course - a Tribute to the Songs of Kath Bloom

Connecticut folksinger Kath Bloom recorded a number of albums in the 1970s and 1980s that have since become collector’s items revered among indie-rock and folk singer-songwriters — sixteen of whom pay tribute to Bloom with their own idiosyncratic takes on her personal visions. It’s a first rate collection of interpreters. Smog’s Bill Callahan and Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek both link their own pastoral quietude to Bloom’s ethereal folk, while freaky folk titan Devendra Banhart lives up to his quirky hype with a vibrant and loopy read of “Forget About Him.” Mia Doi Todd adds her mature and restrained touches to a straightforward acoustic guitar reading of “Ready Or Not,” with Meg Baird of Espers channeling her usual medieval folk ghosts from the piano for “There Was a Boy.” Scout Niblett holds her own craziness back for a respectful read of “I Wanna Love.” Bloom’s original versions are also included as a follow-up for the perfect compare/ contrast exercise and an excellent introduction to a songwriter who had gone mostly overlooked until filmmaker Richard Linklater used Bloom’s “Come Here” in his film Before Sunrise.