[Thump553]

So I'm listening to folk music (WUMB) over the internet this afternoon when a very nice, subdued duet signing Chris Smithers' "Killing The Blues" comes on.  Intrigued, and not recognized either of the singers I log onto WUMB's website to find out they are -Robert Plant & Alison Krauss??  There must be several amazing stories as to how these two met, sang together, persuaded a record label to release the album, etc.  According to Amazon, they have a album called "Raising Sand" due out Oct 25th.  Here's Amazon's editorial review:
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Perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Yet on Raising Sand, their haunting and brilliant collaboration, the Led Zeppelin screamer and Nashville's most hypnotic song whisperer seem made for each other. This, however, is not the howling Plant of "Whole Lotta Love," but a far more precise and softer singer than even the one who emerged with Dreamland (2002). No matter that Plant seems so subdued as to be on downers, for that's one of the keys to this most improbable meeting of musical galaxies--almost all of it seems slowed down, out of time, otherworldly, and at times downright David Lynch-ian, the product of an altered consciousness. Yet probably the main reason it all works so well is the choice of producer T Bone Burnette, the third star of the album, who culled mostly lesser-known material from some of the great writers of blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B, including Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Milt Campbell, the Everly Brothers, Sam Phillips, and A.D. and Rosa Lee Watson. At times, Burnette's spare and deliberate soundscape--incisively crafted by guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, bassist Dennis Crouch, drummer Jay Bellerose, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, among others--is nearly as dreamy and subterranean as Daniel Lanois's work with Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball). Occasionally, Burnette opts for a fairly straightforward production while still reworking the original song (Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," Mel Tillis's "Stick with Me, Baby"). But much of the new flesh on these old bones is oddly unsettling, if not nightmarish. On the opening track of "Rich Woman," the soft-as-clouds vocals strike an optimistic mood, while the instrumental backing--loose snare, ominous bass line, and insinuating electric guitar lines--create a spooky, sinister undertow. Plant and Krauss trade out the solo and harmony vocals, and while they both venture into new waters here (Krauss as a mainstream blues mama, Plant as a gospel singer and honkytonker), she steals the show in Sam Phillips' new "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," where a dramatic violin and tremulous banjo strike a foreboding gypsy tone. When Krauss begins this strange, seductive song in a voice so ethereal that angels will take note, you may stop breathing. That, among other reasons, makes Raising Sand an album to die for.
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I, for one, am really looking forward to giving the full album a listen.

[R_burke]

My vote for most bizarre musical duet is either Bing Crosby and David Bowie or Frank Sinatra with Bono   

Plant and Krauss although it sounds weird actually work quite well.  Listen to either of the two above and you will see how some things just aren't meant to be.

[Woodsea]

This is a fantastic album, at least to my ears.  I love both performers, and the two together turns out to be an eye opening mellow auditory experience.  I will be buying a copy when it becomes available. 

[acresm22]

Thanks for the heads up on this album! Sounds too interesting to pass up.

[caddisgeek]

How about the duet b/w Willie Nelson and Julio Englaisis?

[dwk]

Got 'Raising Sand' late last week, and had a couple of informal listens during a trip down to our cabin. At first blush, it really sounds like a winner. We'll have to see how well it stands up, but I'm optimistic based on what I hear so far.

UPDATE - had just a couple minutes to try out a couple tracks from Raising Sand on the 'Big Rig', and continue to be impressed. Good production - definately 'studio' and so a bit dry, but far better than most I've run across recently. Certainly merits play on a good system.

'Trampled Rose' may be the best thing I've ever heard Alison do.

[Double Ugly]

My vote for most bizarre musical duet is either Bing Crosby and David Bowie or Frank Sinatra with Bono   

I'll go with the former. 

I remember watching this Christmas special live, and though I was in my late teens and should've have cared much, I remember thinking they've found a way to ruin one of the last remaining enjoyable Christmas shows.  Those in which Bing played a prominent role may have been corny and old-fashioned, but his delivery of the classics always took me back to my preschool years. 

That he could illicit those warm and fuzzy feelings made his shows special, even to a teenager... till that evening.   

I don't recall hearing Sinatra and Bono, but I imagine it was pretty bad.  Even so, I have trouble believing their pairing was worse than Crosby and Bowie.

Plant has done softer, more mainstream stuff before - well, I hasten to add - and joining forces with Alison Krauss doesn't seem nearly the stretch of the above examples IMHO.