Every Single Day
With three albums and the successfulCry Cry Crycollaboration  withDar WilliamsandRichard Shindellunder  her belt (not to mention a cult following in the New England folk scene), Lucy  Kaplansky could have consciously attempted to break out with wider acclaim and  sales. Instead, she has turned in her most quiet, atmospheric, and even  mysterious recording to date. In the wash of drummer Ben Wittman's Lanois-esque  production--lots of reverbed guitar and moody percussion layers--Kaplansky sings  of sins of flesh and soul, all the existential doubts suggested by sex, cities,  and (as on the heartbreaking "Song for Molly") senility.Kaplansky will never be the songwriter that peers likeJohn GorkaorEllis Paulare, but she's  a fine interpreter with good taste in material, as demonstrated by her engaging  takes onJulie Miller's  "Broken Things,"Steve Earle's "You're  Still Standing There," and theLouvin Brothers' gospel  gem "The Angels Rejoiced Last Night."--Roy Kasten