Various

Older critics continue to try to make connections between the music of Tim Buckley and his son Jeff, but the truth is that each inhabited his own separate world. Only on this double-disc tribute do the possible similarities emerge, as the elder Buckley's songs are tackled by a host of trance-rock and experimental folk artists, where Jeff would have fit in nicely. Sing A Song For You is successful as a tribute, since Tim's originals were often so open-ended that, apart from his incomparable vocals, they could conceivably be adapted to any style. The English always seemed more in tune with his impressionistic approach, so it's not surprising that a majority of the Brits here sink their teeth in the deepest. Buckley's later sense of orchestrated tension is captured well by Mojave 3's Neil Halstead, both on his own and with the band, and Tram's "Once I Was," featuring PJ Harvey guitarist John Parish, has a great English mellowness to it. In fact, the entire album has a consistent ambient feel about it that suggests where Buckley might have headed had he lived. That's not to suggest that the originals sound anything like these interpretations. Tim Buckley's music is definitely an acquired taste, but Sing A Song For You is at the very least a worthy introduction to his erratic catalogue.