Mortal City
This 1996 album was a breakthrough of sorts for Dar Williams, moving her from the obscure folkie circuit to the obscure alternative singer-songwriter circuit.Mortal Citycomes closest to capturing her live show, and many of the songs here--"Iowa," "The Family," "The Christians and the Pagans"--have become live-set favorites. Like Williams herself, this disc is sentimental, sincere, and emotional; it's an album about growing up. When Williams titles a song "The Pointless, Yet Poignant Crisis of a Co-Ed," you know she's not writing fiction. She also could have called it "Catcher in the Rye," but that title was already taken.--Charles R. Cross