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Dec 3, 2019Odds Against Tomorrow is contemplative and, at times, undeniably beautiful. If earlier albums like A New Way to Pay Old Debts desublimated blues and roots music, Odds Against Tomorrow resublimates it. On this set of tracks, Orcutt mourns the loss of expressivity in music and conjures the fantastical spirit of the blues.
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MojoNov 21, 2019The result might be Orcutt's most beautiful album, a phantasmal union of folk, blues, rock and country visions that crackles with the intense fire of his own country's turbulent history. [Jan 2020, p.89]
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The WireOct 23, 2019This LP kicks off with a run of tunes that are wistful and simply beautiful. [Nov 2019, p.56]
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Oct 11, 2019Odds Against Tomorrow simply sounds a lot like [the album] Bill Orcutt. The new album’s original tunes evoke the same sense of Americana wrung dry of phony sentiment as its predecessor’s covers. ... The stuttering is gone because Orcutt is ready to show us straight up what he thinks matters.
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Oct 11, 2019Whether he's putting his stamp on a standard or plowing through his own material, Bill Orcutt cuts an impressive, lyrical figure, and one that is hard to ignore.
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UncutOct 11, 2019Following on from a 2017 album of standards, this chiefly replaces covers with original compositions and adds a meaningful, Slint-like loitering on chord to his repertoire of shattered blues licks. [Nov 2019, p.30]
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Oct 11, 2019On Odds Against Tomorrow he has found a way to settle down without settling into complacency. The album retains the core elements of his best work, and his restless, postmodern exploration of the American lexicon, while refining what makes those qualities potent. Refusing to repeat himself, he takes tradition as a living thing, blazing new trails to familiar vistas.
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Nov 21, 2019There is also a vibrato-drenched version of "Moon River" that seems more of an afterthought than a statement, but even that hangs in the air quite well. There is some pretty astonishing virtuosity as well as clear thought, and that's what sets this record and Orcutt apart from the excesses of technique. The man makes music as well as notes.