Canadian singer/songwriter Allison Crowe combines the esoteric beauty of Tori Amos with the pop accessibility of Norah Jones to create beautiful folk/pop tracks. Her web site offers a generous heaping of MP3 tracks and videos. Included are four full albums that are free, legal, and well deserving of a listen.

Her latest album is This Little Bird and it is the best of the four. Production values are high as well as the songwriting and vocal performances. All tracks are originals songs except for three covers tunes by Joni Mitchell. John Sebastian, and Ronnie Shannon. “Effortless” is an especially nice track that sports an exquisite vocal and exhibits her more than adequate piano talents. Other favorite tracks include the title song and a jaunty and folksy “Circular Reasoning”. Of the covers, Crowe emotionally nails the Loving Spoonful’s “Darling Be Home Soon”.

Secrets is her first album having been recorded in 2004. It is a true solo affair with home-grown but still very good production. Allison plays almost all instruments and uses voice overdubbing expertly. However it is still her voice that bring the recording to full dimensions. Again most of the tracks are originals but the two covers (Leonard Cohen’s “Joan of Arc” and Counting Crows “Raining in Baltimore”) are so good they deserve a special mention. The entire album is consistently good with no weak songs.

The odd but satisfying Tidings offers some seasonal and not-so-seasonal tracks. Alongside an acappella “It Came upon a Midnight Clear” and a nice piano accompanied “Silent Night” are arguably spiritually minded songs like “Let It Be” and “Angel”. The combination of modern and traditional music actually works, making a pleasant and peaceful album.

Finally the 2 disc Live at Wood Hall gives a good perspective of the artist. This concert performance covers a wide range of influences from Jerome Kern to Ani Defranco. Crowe’s own compositons are of course the focus and they stand up well. Any one of these albums would be a nice introduction to this artist who is deserving of wider recognition.

All albums are available in 128kbps MP3. If you like the music, support the artist by buying the CDs in better quality sound.

Download
This Little Bird
Live at Wood Hall
Tidings
Secrets