“On the Path of Right”
~ Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club)
![]()
Release Date: 31-July-2012
Genre: Rock/ Pop / Folk
Publisher: [p][c] 2012 Left On Red
Label: Unsigned
Total Time: 52m 18s
Review Date: 06-February-2013
Review Format: MP3
Bit Rate: 256 kbps
For Fans Of: Ani DiFranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Michelle Shocked, Teagan & Sara
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Folsom Prison Blues, Gone Long Gone, The Way Of The Zebra
Best Songs:Gone Long Gone, Folsom Prison Blues, Erase, The Only Thing That's Real
Team Photo:Set Me Free, The Way Of The Zebra, Subletter's Lament
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Digital One Sheet:Not currently a Jivewired Subscriber
![]()
Get it at:
Artist Website
Track Listing:
01. Bombay To Baylon 2:04
02. Folsom Prison Blues 2:35
03. Set Me Free 4:07
04. Gone, Long Gone 4:49
05. Th Way Of The Zebra 4:21
06. The Difference Between Brooklyn & Manhattan Girls 0:48
07. Subletter's Lament 2:57
08. Santa Monica 4:56
09. Pieces Of The Past 0:37
10. Erase 4:43
11. The Extra Mile 3:19
12. The Only Thing That's Real 4:35
13. The Homeless Preacher On The L Train 0:36
14. Breath 5:47
15. Another Track 0:35
16. Left On Red 3:57
17. ... 0:43
18. Folsom Prison Reprise 0:49
Review:
It was by chance encounter two days ago that I came across this amazing album and upon first listen I was immediately impressed. TRACKS by Left On Red offers amazing nuances and abstract narratives designed to suit it's intended purpose: that being to recreate both the mechanical and written storyline that comes with busking in New York City's Subway System. The ebb and flow of the entire novel within is spot on and Left On Red even uses those very sounds and fleeting subway moments to encapsulate the spirit of this record. This is a concept recording. And that's what makes TRACKS so amazing - it offers a very real portrayal of that experience.
The album makes it's statement at it's very onset. This is a privileged tour of inner city mass transportation with Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran as our guides. Bombay To Babylon, an instrumental driven by haunting violin from Kelly, segues into a chilling cover of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues featuring Liah on vocals to kick off TRACKS. The arrangement on Folsom is breathtaking -- part folk, part post-apocalyptic punk slow-burner -- moody and dark in ambiance. It aptly details the dreariness of seemingly endless transfers and the unknown, drone-like passerby. The opening two-song sequence is fierce and the juxtaposition of an original song and a similarly arranged cover is jaw-dropping. It's especially bad-ass. Johnny Cash would be proud.
Gone, Long Gone is the best representation of true busking on this album in my opinion. This is a song that would likely stop the Friday, after-work subway riders dead in their tracks. Kelly's violin is mesmerizing. Liah's vocals are enchanting. Together their harmonies are pitch perfect. The pauses and layers serve a purpose - everything leads up to an amazing crescendo that plays like a train that starts slowly before reaching it's peak, pure power and expanse but without force. Gone, Long Gone really captures Kelly's strong presence instrumentally.
TRACKS offers lighter fare as well. Set Me Free is more upbeat instrumentally and in arrangement. If there is a hit single on this recording this song is it. Set Me Free shows remarkable professionalism and a keen sense of the entire recording process. The great breaks in mood allow Liah to explore the higher boundaries of her vocal range, which she accomplishes in effortless fashion. The entire song is crisp, clean and dynamic. The harmonies are sublime.
Santa Monica is a great song that offers a wide-eyed glimpse of a woman starting the return journey to a lost love. Santa Monica has a Sheryl Crow and jam band vibe, and there is an absolutely fetching minutiae of an electric guitar riff in it's verses that expands on the bridge and get's wonderfully funky. The song closes on an array of instrumentals, audio bytes and vocal harmonies that is just infectious before completing it's journey. A brief interlude follows as the song winds down and then Liah moans in a soliloquy of torch and desperation on Escape.
One of my favorite songs is Subletter's Lament. Kelly takes the lead vocally and presents something fans of Liz Phair would enjoy. Erase and The Way Of The Zebra are a bit more darker and allow Liah to expand her vocal range further from low end to high end. Interspersed between all of these wonderful songs are real sounds from the bowels of New York's Subway System. It's all marvelous.
Credit producer Ethan Allen with capturing the essence of this project. Allen has worked previously with Ani DiFranco, Melissa Ferrick, The 88, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Gram Rabbit. Left On Red was equal to the task as Allen brings out the best in Liah and Kelly. Most admirable is his ability to weave various soundscapes into an album that flows perfectly and seamlessly. There is no unnerving repetition in sound from one track to the next. It's purposefully moody, on both ends of the spectrum, mind you, but the end result is a record whose arrangements breathe life into fresh track after fresh track.
It's nice to know that independent artists are willing to go to such great lengths to produce quality music. When an album like TRACKS comes along, you feel instantly gratified that the investment to purchase it, and further, the investment to listen, to get to know the music and to familiarize yourself with the performers is well worth the time and effort.
Real music, the stuff that makes you take notice and smile, something that contains a wicked riff, a perfect harmony or a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks violin solo, is the stuff that makes the indies so much better than the fluff and major label manufactured garbage that passes for today's hits. Real music comes with a soul and emanates from the heart, and in this case, the bowels of the subway as well. This is better than anything you'll hear on your local Top 40 radio outlet. Stellar effort across the board by Left On Red and a great "get" for my music collection.
About Left On Red:
![]()
BUSKERS | VOLUNTEERS | ACTIVISTS
Meet Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran, collectively known as Left on Red. The two young women’s talents run the musical gamut but they are primarily an acoustic rock group featuring Liah on guitar, Kelly on violin, and both on vocals with lots of harmonies. Left on Red means simply to take your own direction. Despite meeting on a traditional gig Kelly and Liah’s true maturation as a duo actually began in the subway stations of New York City. Over the last 2 years LOR has wowed public audiences with their brand of fun socially relevant lyrics and improvisational instrumentation.
In addition to busking, Left on Red routinely play in hospitals and nursing homes as well as performing for Veterans on a shared bill with Tom Morello and his organization Axis of Justice, Musicians on Call, YWCA and many more.
Left on Red’s captivating shows consist of originals and cover songs, diverse in era, genre and language. The duo officially came together in early 2008 and in early 2009 they took their unique brand of music from the New York streets to the masses in the form of their debut album, which is available on iTunes.
Their self-titled disc features an entertaining range of genres and topics that appeal to both men and women of all ages. “Shop” finds LOR singing about America’s addiction to retail, “Crash and Burn” deals with the poisoning of our food, while the self explanatory “High Heel Blues” and the duo’s first single “Jack and Jill” will hit home with anyone whose dealt with societal expectations. The beauty of LOR is they find a way to present heavy hitting topics in a fun manner, leaving audiences enlightened, empowered and happy.
![]()
~ Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club)
Release Date: 31-July-2012
Genre: Rock/ Pop / Folk
Publisher: [p][c] 2012 Left On Red
Label: Unsigned
Total Time: 52m 18s
Review Date: 06-February-2013
Review Format: MP3
Bit Rate: 256 kbps
For Fans Of: Ani DiFranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Michelle Shocked, Teagan & Sara
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Folsom Prison Blues, Gone Long Gone, The Way Of The Zebra
Best Songs:Gone Long Gone, Folsom Prison Blues, Erase, The Only Thing That's Real
Team Photo:Set Me Free, The Way Of The Zebra, Subletter's Lament
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Digital One Sheet:Not currently a Jivewired Subscriber
Get it at:
Artist Website
Track Listing:
01. Bombay To Baylon 2:04
02. Folsom Prison Blues 2:35
03. Set Me Free 4:07
04. Gone, Long Gone 4:49
05. Th Way Of The Zebra 4:21
06. The Difference Between Brooklyn & Manhattan Girls 0:48
07. Subletter's Lament 2:57
08. Santa Monica 4:56
09. Pieces Of The Past 0:37
10. Erase 4:43
11. The Extra Mile 3:19
12. The Only Thing That's Real 4:35
13. The Homeless Preacher On The L Train 0:36
14. Breath 5:47
15. Another Track 0:35
16. Left On Red 3:57
17. ... 0:43
18. Folsom Prison Reprise 0:49
Review:
It was by chance encounter two days ago that I came across this amazing album and upon first listen I was immediately impressed. TRACKS by Left On Red offers amazing nuances and abstract narratives designed to suit it's intended purpose: that being to recreate both the mechanical and written storyline that comes with busking in New York City's Subway System. The ebb and flow of the entire novel within is spot on and Left On Red even uses those very sounds and fleeting subway moments to encapsulate the spirit of this record. This is a concept recording. And that's what makes TRACKS so amazing - it offers a very real portrayal of that experience.
The album makes it's statement at it's very onset. This is a privileged tour of inner city mass transportation with Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran as our guides. Bombay To Babylon, an instrumental driven by haunting violin from Kelly, segues into a chilling cover of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues featuring Liah on vocals to kick off TRACKS. The arrangement on Folsom is breathtaking -- part folk, part post-apocalyptic punk slow-burner -- moody and dark in ambiance. It aptly details the dreariness of seemingly endless transfers and the unknown, drone-like passerby. The opening two-song sequence is fierce and the juxtaposition of an original song and a similarly arranged cover is jaw-dropping. It's especially bad-ass. Johnny Cash would be proud.
Gone, Long Gone is the best representation of true busking on this album in my opinion. This is a song that would likely stop the Friday, after-work subway riders dead in their tracks. Kelly's violin is mesmerizing. Liah's vocals are enchanting. Together their harmonies are pitch perfect. The pauses and layers serve a purpose - everything leads up to an amazing crescendo that plays like a train that starts slowly before reaching it's peak, pure power and expanse but without force. Gone, Long Gone really captures Kelly's strong presence instrumentally.
TRACKS offers lighter fare as well. Set Me Free is more upbeat instrumentally and in arrangement. If there is a hit single on this recording this song is it. Set Me Free shows remarkable professionalism and a keen sense of the entire recording process. The great breaks in mood allow Liah to explore the higher boundaries of her vocal range, which she accomplishes in effortless fashion. The entire song is crisp, clean and dynamic. The harmonies are sublime.
Santa Monica is a great song that offers a wide-eyed glimpse of a woman starting the return journey to a lost love. Santa Monica has a Sheryl Crow and jam band vibe, and there is an absolutely fetching minutiae of an electric guitar riff in it's verses that expands on the bridge and get's wonderfully funky. The song closes on an array of instrumentals, audio bytes and vocal harmonies that is just infectious before completing it's journey. A brief interlude follows as the song winds down and then Liah moans in a soliloquy of torch and desperation on Escape.
One of my favorite songs is Subletter's Lament. Kelly takes the lead vocally and presents something fans of Liz Phair would enjoy. Erase and The Way Of The Zebra are a bit more darker and allow Liah to expand her vocal range further from low end to high end. Interspersed between all of these wonderful songs are real sounds from the bowels of New York's Subway System. It's all marvelous.
Credit producer Ethan Allen with capturing the essence of this project. Allen has worked previously with Ani DiFranco, Melissa Ferrick, The 88, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Gram Rabbit. Left On Red was equal to the task as Allen brings out the best in Liah and Kelly. Most admirable is his ability to weave various soundscapes into an album that flows perfectly and seamlessly. There is no unnerving repetition in sound from one track to the next. It's purposefully moody, on both ends of the spectrum, mind you, but the end result is a record whose arrangements breathe life into fresh track after fresh track.
It's nice to know that independent artists are willing to go to such great lengths to produce quality music. When an album like TRACKS comes along, you feel instantly gratified that the investment to purchase it, and further, the investment to listen, to get to know the music and to familiarize yourself with the performers is well worth the time and effort.
Real music, the stuff that makes you take notice and smile, something that contains a wicked riff, a perfect harmony or a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks violin solo, is the stuff that makes the indies so much better than the fluff and major label manufactured garbage that passes for today's hits. Real music comes with a soul and emanates from the heart, and in this case, the bowels of the subway as well. This is better than anything you'll hear on your local Top 40 radio outlet. Stellar effort across the board by Left On Red and a great "get" for my music collection.
About Left On Red:
BUSKERS | VOLUNTEERS | ACTIVISTS
Meet Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran, collectively known as Left on Red. The two young women’s talents run the musical gamut but they are primarily an acoustic rock group featuring Liah on guitar, Kelly on violin, and both on vocals with lots of harmonies. Left on Red means simply to take your own direction. Despite meeting on a traditional gig Kelly and Liah’s true maturation as a duo actually began in the subway stations of New York City. Over the last 2 years LOR has wowed public audiences with their brand of fun socially relevant lyrics and improvisational instrumentation.
In addition to busking, Left on Red routinely play in hospitals and nursing homes as well as performing for Veterans on a shared bill with Tom Morello and his organization Axis of Justice, Musicians on Call, YWCA and many more.
Left on Red’s captivating shows consist of originals and cover songs, diverse in era, genre and language. The duo officially came together in early 2008 and in early 2009 they took their unique brand of music from the New York streets to the masses in the form of their debut album, which is available on iTunes.
Their self-titled disc features an entertaining range of genres and topics that appeal to both men and women of all ages. “Shop” finds LOR singing about America’s addiction to retail, “Crash and Burn” deals with the poisoning of our food, while the self explanatory “High Heel Blues” and the duo’s first single “Jack and Jill” will hit home with anyone whose dealt with societal expectations. The beauty of LOR is they find a way to present heavy hitting topics in a fun manner, leaving audiences enlightened, empowered and happy.