Trailer Park

This 9 March 2009 2CD remaster (HVNLP17CD-LE) of Beth Orton's lovely 1996 debut album is a clever choice for a Legacy Edition. But with the original CD of "Trailer Park" languishing on this very site for under eighty pence and the 5 CD singles that effectively make up Disc 2 costing as little as two pounds, then a person honestly has to be asking - why buy this? The answer for fans is the superlative remaster on Disc 1 - and for newcomers, the musical revelations on Disc 2.

But here's a detailed breakdown first...

Disc 1 (59:41 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 11 are her debut album "Trailer Park" issued October 1996 on Heavenly Recordings on LP, Cassette and CD (HVNLP 17, HMVMC 17 and HVNCD 17).

Disc 2 (57:49 minutes):
1. Safety
2. It's Not The Spotlight
1 and 2 are on the CD single of "She Calls Your Name" issued May 1977 on Heavenly HVN60CD. 1 is an Orton original, while 2 is a cover version of a song written by BARRY GOLDBERG with lyrics by GERRY GOFFIN (of Goffin & King fame). It turned up as a cover on Bobby Bland's 1973 album "Dreamer" and then two years later Rod Stewart more famously covered it on his "Atlantic Crossing" album.
3. Galaxy Of Emptiness [Live at the Sheppard's Bush Empire, 26 Nov 1996]
4. Pedestal
5. Touch Me With Your Love [Instrumental]
3 to 5 are non-album tracks on the CD single of "Touch Me With Your Love" issued January 1997 on Heaven HVN64CD.
6. It's This I Am Find
6 is a non-album track on the CD single of "Someone's Daughter" issued March 1997 on Heaven HVN65CD.
7. Bullet
8. Best Bit (Early Version)
7 and 8 are non-album tracks on the reissued CD single of "She Calls Your Name" issued June 1997 on Heavenly HVN68CD.
9. Best Bit
10. Skimming Stone
11. Dolphins
12. Lean On Me
Tracks 9 to 12 are the "Best Bit EP" issued in December 1997 on Heavenly HVN72CD. All songs were non-album. "Dolphins" is a FRED NEIL cover (lyrics above), while "Lean On Me" first appeared on an album called "Occasional Rain" from 1972 on Cadet Records. 11 and 12 features American soul icon TERRY CALLIER on duet vocals - 12 is Callier doing his own song.
13. I Love How You Love Me
13 is a cover version of a PARIS SISTERS song from 1961 written by BARRY MANN and LARRY KOLBER (produced by Phil Spector).

MILES SHOWELL at METROPOLIS did the remaster in August 2008 and it's a beautiful job. If I was to say what's better - it's the rhythm section - suddenly the bass and drums are there - and with more muscle than before. This isn't a loud remaster for the sake of it because when I play the old version against this, the difference is much more subtle than that - things are amplified, but not overly so. Highlights for me are "Don't Need A Reason" and the wonderful clarity of "Sugar Boy".

But the real shock is the quality of Disc 2. Putting all the non-album sides and EP tracks together on one disc is an obvious approach for a reissue, but man - the results! Played all the way through, the coherence of the tracks makes it sound some long lost beautiful album - it just 'so' works. The "Best Bit EP" with the two TERRY CALLIER duets have long been fan favourites. "Lean On Me" is more soul-bliss than an average soul can stand - and it still floors me as to how beautifully matched their two different voices are. I might risk an assassination attempt on my life here (such is the affection the album is held in), but I'm tempted to say that Disc 2 is arguably far better than Disc 1? Whatever way you look at it, the listener is on a musical winner here.

So there you have it - for fans there's the beautiful new sound quality - and for newcomers there's a superb debut on Disc 1 with a fantastically complimentary album's worth on Disc 2.

A great little reissue then - and at under seven coins from most online retailers - this is stunning value for money.

I bought this album after hearing the mysterious, melodic and fantasticly written 'She cries your name'. I instantly fell in love with it. Beths voice is one of the best female voices I have heard, this combined with the intricate guitar is a recipe for success. I bought the album over a year ago and still love listening to it. Buy, play, play and play over and over again.

Beth Orton's official debut was a milestone in music especially at the time of it's release we saw britpop and dance music dominated the charts,Beth opted for a more Folk/Eletronica feel for he album."Trailer Park" is one of those brilliantly crafted british albums that makes you feel proud of our music scene.

1.She Cries Your Name - One of her most known songs although not making a big splash when it was first released it has a more cult status today much like the album. The song is a very chilled out song but with a sense of sadness and fragilty mostly from the tone and utter gorgeousness of Orton's voice.The subtle strings and the gentle guitar riff backed up by the almost sonar-like bleeps throughout the song just give it that bit more of a 'chilling' feel,very atmospheric. 10/10

2.Tangent - Now this song is one of the most prominent trip-hop songs on the album following suit from the likes of Portishead, I've always had a sof spot for this song and maybe one of the best performances, vocally on the album.A song maybe alot of us cant relate to never getting to the point we wanna make so you procrastinate and go off on a tangent to hide the truth.I just can't get over how beautiful she sounds. 10/10

3.Don't Need A Reason - This is one of my favorite songs by Beth Orton, she captivates the feeling of hurting others so perfectly in her lyrics for this song.It has more of an acoustic feel with beautiful swooping strings maybe one of her most heartbreaking work, lyrically anyway.I usually like songs that are very reflective and sad, this song is no exception because she sings her heart out and towards the end you hear the hope and somewhat healing in her voice, you don't mean to hurt people just being hurt yourself it's like second nature I love this song. 10/10

4.Live As You Dream - Really the only upbeat song full of hope and promise and probably her most pop orientated song shes ever recorded, It's a nice song, short but sweet after picking yourself up from the previous song this is almost like summer in London walking down the street with a smile on your face and headphones blaring without a care in the world. 10/10

5.Sugar Boy - It's obvious this song is about a woman with a younger man that seemed to use her for her money. I love the lyrics "Told you I loved you / You beat my heart black and blue." So beautiful. Now that the woman told him she loved him hes gone maybe the pressure of that word and the reciprocation isn't what she was expecting a very sad song and things like this happen which makes it even more depressing I do like it but it's probably my least favourite song. 7/10

6.Touch Me With Your Love - Now this song to me, its just perfection and so happens to be my favourite song,I love the spoken word intro at the start hearing Beth speak is cute.See for me this song isnt as gloomy as it seems, yeah it has a very mournful and downtempo beat which seems to have inspiration from Massive Attack, she sounds beautiful as always the song itself is basically saying I'm here come and get me, just love me and i'll love you.This was also a single which didn't do very well (like much of the albums singles) but the video is great, shot in black and white you can see how London was 11 years ago.10/10

7.Whenever - A folk inspired piece of glory! It really is I love this song it's again a nice pick you up, doesn't necessarily have to be about a lover maybe a friend, whenever your lonely and need someone to talk to a friend will always be there. I always thought maybe this song goes on longer than it should be it's still a great one.The jangly guitar and the subtle percussion gives it a happy,sweet feel to it, very summery 10/10

8.How Far - I've always thought this song had a slight americana feel to it, very americanised but it's a great song but just standard rock/folk music not much of a stand out.I've had this CD for a long time, in fact it was one of the first albums I owned,but almost 8 years of owning it I still can't get into this one fully, I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a filler because that wouldn't be fair but it's just a bit of a slow growing maybe I'll appreciate it one day 6/10

9.Someone's Daughter - Beth weaves her voice around the song like a tapestry, grooving until the end with the beat to create a sublime piece of art, It's a nice song another uptempo song. A sweet love song possibly being intimate with someone but Beth simply asking for the person in question not to take it too far,'coz after all she is someones daughter and you would want the best for your own,Love the message. 10/10

10.I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine - Now I have heard the original I can honestly say I prefer Beth version, It's quite original.
This song is painful to listen to. It is such a great song, but it actually hurts to listen to it.A song clearly about depression never seeming to be able to be happy, As it can be such an emotionally consuming state of mind it's hard to who you want to be, I think it was very beautiful for Beth to cover this,she truly bring the emotion out of the song 10/10

11.Galaxy Of Emptiness - This song is the longest on the album running just over 10 minutes, going back to the more trip-hop feeling, I could see this being maybe the inspiration for Air's work years later the build up is beautiful and almost perfect in itself, almost 4 minutes of instrumental before she starts to sing, I mean I do really like it, but again its not one that instantly grabs you maybe if it was shorter not that I mind long tracks, but this one just didn't need to be. 8/10

Top 5
1.Touch Me With Your Love
2.I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
3.Don't Need A Reason
4.She Cries Your Name
5.Tangent

One of our best unsung heroes, and a great album to soundtrack London i've always felt this way listen to it while walking around the westend at night and you'll really get the true feel of the album.