Turin Brakes - LateNightTales: Turin Brakes (2004)

A "here's-some-music-that's-influenced-us" mix, the 11th entry in the LATE NIGHT TALES series is an eclectic album compiled by the English folk-pop duo Turin Brakes. There's a mellow, downtempo vibe here, and a good bit of variety, with the likes of Chris Whitley and Gillian Welch sequenced alongside Talk Talk, Grant Green, J.J. Cale, and Silver Jews. Turin Brakes make a musical appearance with a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Moonlight Mile," which fits nicely into this blissfully low-key 17-song set.

Turin Brakes' compilation is no exception, and its piece de resistance is the final track: a cover from the Turin Brakes lads of the Rolling Stones' "Moonlight Mile".

Whilst the trend of previous Late-Night Talescompilations appeared to be distinctly funky, Turin Brakes take us in another direction: Blues.

The CD opens with Nicolai Dunger's "Last Night I Dreamt of Mississippi", and immediately the influence on the Turin Brakes sound becomes apparent. This is followed by John Barry's "Midnight Cowboy". As outlined in the sleeve notes, "It has an immediate and reflective effect that always made me...stare into the distance, as if pining the Wild West... and that's even if you don't know the film".Quite. The sloping harmonica sounding out the clip clopping of a tired old mare sets the scene for the following tracks - calm, which often spills over into sadness.

Dave Palmer's "Speed Trials" is a piece for solo piano, simple and naïve, written by the pianist that worked with the Brakes on the optimist LP.

To break up the Blues flavour, they throw in Les Barons featuring Henri Gaobi, with "Lagos Soundsystem". Armed with trumpets and congas,they keep things up-tempo, but this is an exception to the rule, and melancholy prevails.

All in all, this is a more than a simple compilation to listen to after hours. It allows the listener to absorb the influences of the band, and it's an education in the story of blues. But, please listen to it with friends, rather than alone: there's a risk that you could go down the blues trail, never to return.