Review: Conny Ochs ‘Troubadour’

In May I attended Exile on Mainstream‘s 25th Anniversary celebrations in Leipzig, Germany where I got to meet at long last the lovely Andreas Kohl, the label’s head. It was also an opportunity for me to view some of the artists I’d covered for The Shaman as well as others I was familiar with, including Treedeon, Crowskin, Ostinato, The Antikaroshi, Gaffa Ghandi and of course Conny Ochs.

Since 2010, Conny has been bringing us some truly spellbinding music, which have also seen collaborations with doom legend Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich, psych outfit Ananda Mida, and as part of experimental trio Trialogos. Troubadour his sixth full-length solo album follows up last year’s Wahn Und Sinn which I had the honour of reviewing.

Holy Motors starts with an exhalation of air before Conny‘s rich baritone vocals are once again there to greet you like an old friend. The track has a country vibe, stripped back and authentic in the Townes Van Zandt tradition rather than whatever hideous pop drivel that is presently coming out of Nashville. A brilliantly understated opener. If Jim Morrison hadn’t died in 1971, I’m convinced that Cool Black Stars would be the result. There’s a bluesy soulfulness present with The Doors that often got lost amongst the headline grabbing rock ‘n’ roll nonsense and this makes for a superb track, up there with Conny‘s finest.

Trouble Me is the best acoustic track Led Zeppelin never wrote (especially the guitar work) and would easily have made it onto III with the addition of the lovely Crosby Still & Nash harmonies injected along the way. Edge Of Love features lush strings and a mournful nature which echoes the title’s sentiment. Despite never liking The Beatles, the track nonetheless has a Paul McCartney ditty like quality which would ordinarily irritate the hell out of me, but which here proves positively irresistible.

utterly engrossing…

Crazy Horse reminds me of the melody in the traditional Hungarian folk song Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt or Spring Wind Brings Water, famously covered by Queen during their 1986 Magic tour. A beautiful, elegant piece. After Conny‘s recent experimental work, Troubadour promised a return to the back-to-basics style approach of Raw Love Songs and Black Happy. That’s certainly evident with The Boxer, a no-frills classic singer-songwriter number with a sentimental, longing sensibility.

Wasp Trap is piano led, but rest assured this is no Billy Joel or Elton John type affair. For a start, it’s a lot darker, jazzier and utterly engrossing, while Inside The Man has a cool desert rock sparseness and is pretty darn catchy truth be told! I can easily see Conny jamming this at any number of Californian generator parties. Crow Honey reminds one of a more rewarding version of The Band’s brand of roots rock and Americana. It’s more concise, lacking as it does the self-indulgent jam band tendencies of that, er, band.

Run With The Devil is reminiscent of bluesmen such as Robert Johnson, especially with the latter’s devil fixation. The track has significant singalong appeal with audience participation potential, one can only hope and pray that Eric Clapton never gets his claws on it as he did Johnson’s work. Way Of The Future, as with opener Holy Motors, commences with an exhalation of air and proves the ideal album closer with invocations for us to ‘Come again, come again’, we certainly will Conny.

As highlighted earlier in the review, Troubadour sees Ochs come full circle towards the more traditional, singer-songwriter fare of his earlier work. That he manages this so effortlessly is testament to his skills as a musician and performer.

Label: Exile On Mainstream Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Reza Mills