Courtesy of Louie Ludwig

Louie Loudwig

00:30 November 24, 2014
By: 2Fik

Louie Ludwig
These are the Ways of My People
Self-released

These are the Ways of My People cannot be categorized by any one genre, though it’s categorized as Alternative Folk on iTunes. The album title seems like a message straight out of every song you hear on 101.5, but Louie Ludwig’s music is far from Country. At moments it seems as if Ludwig is reciting poetry, as in a Leonard Cohen-esque way (“The Reservation”). In another track, Ludwig seems as if he is rapping (“Drink in one hand, friend in da otha” in “Headin’ Home”). The only songs that show continuity with sound, voice, and subject matter are “New York Apartment,” “Pony Girl,” and “Feelings Got Too Strong.” These three touch on romance and heartbreak in a way, and in a voice, that makes them sound just like Tom Petty songs. With borrowed lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and Billie Holiday’s “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and subject matter ranging from hipsters “relaxin’ till it hurts” in guayabera shirts to “psychedelic sushi,” it’s difficult to decipher whether Ludwig is attempting to joke light-heartedly or show sarcasm and loathing. His lyrics give incomplete commentary on various subjects, ranging from Kennedy and Reagan to mocking social media aficionados (“the same tweet that gave some freak 15 minutes this morning”). It may be simply best to let Ludwig’s songs wash over you.

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