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Feb 28, 2011Invariable Heartache sounds like an artifact itself: one of those periodic dispatches from the past that reminds us how the also-rans of the music industry are often better and weirder than we remember.
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Mar 10, 2011For their part, the band is spotless. The majority of the record adheres to the lilting and forlorn brand of country that one might expect from an album called Invariable Heartache.
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MojoMar 9, 2011A low-key, highly engaging covers album. [Nov 2010, p.99]
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UncutMar 1, 2011Marked by lovely, unobtrusive backing by various Lambchop alumni, the overriding impression is of Wagner and Tidwell serving the songs rather than playing out lingering Conway & Loretta Fetish. [Nov 2010, p.92]
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Feb 28, 2011The duo has followed through admirably with Invariable Heartache, a record that seeps with clear-eyed hope, regret and wisdom.
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Feb 28, 2011Crucially, the band brings just the right touch to these performances, their obvious fondness and reverence for the material never getting in the way of a loose, expressive feel, with some very fine bits of soloing and lots of enjoyably breezy ensemble playing.
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Feb 28, 2011Invariable Heartache sounds more like one of Lambchop's more countrified records, which is to say the music is both lush and minimal, the sound of so many musicians giving themselves over completely to the song. It's a gateway album to Chart's back catalog, as well as to an adventurous era in Nashville history.
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Feb 28, 2011While Wagner's voice is not always up to it, Tidwell's authentic country pipes are the real revelation here.
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Feb 28, 2011Generally there's not too much straying away from the Nashville sound and Wagner's production keeps things sounding impressively full and remarkably fresh considering the age of the source material.
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Feb 28, 2011The juxtaposition of the melancholic with the mellifluous melds majestically atop delicate lap steel, brushed drums and double bass on this country tearjerker.
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Feb 28, 2011Surely, Invariable Heartache will mean a lot to Nashville's country-music lifers, but even if you don't know Chart Records, or have never even been to Nashville, this album can still hit home for you. As long as you like good songs with tight melodies, quietly clever lyrics, and resonant emotion, you too can be taken with the album's charms.
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Feb 28, 2011The result is charming enough to warrant their plucking from country ditty heaven.
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Feb 28, 2011Wagner's hesitant delivery is poignantly underscored by Tidwell's more emotive phrasing, while the arrangements of neat picking and weeping fiddle are applied with customary understatement.