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Saturday 10 September 2011

Folk Star


Ex-Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg has had a hit-and-miss solo career with hidden gems surrounded by duff moments, and albums which got rid of large proportions of his fan base followed by albums that hit form but no-one bought. In 2004 he released Folker, then his fifth album in two years. It had it's quota of less than average songs and a few really bright moments. The final song was this one, where Paul rhymes 'folk star' with 'red plastic guitar' and wryly shoots at his public image. Cack-handed guitar playing and rough production complete a minor gem. This song is then followed by several minutes of silence and then, ooh, a secret track, the name of which I don't know. To be honest the hidden track thing always annoyed me, so I don't blame you if you press Next or Fast Forward after the end of Folk Star. I don't know what's going on with that jacket either.

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