''Riveresque'' (styled as river''esque'') is the ninth studio album by Australian folk rockers,

Weddings Parties Anything Weddings Parties Anything. was an Australian folk rock band formed in 1984 in Melbourne and continuing until 1999. Their name came from The Clash song "Revolution Rock". Musicologist Billy Pinnell described their first album as the best Austral ...

. It was released in September 1996 with band members co-producing alongside Cameron Craig and Dylan Hughes. It peaked at No. 34 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. According to the inlay card: "''Riverésque'' after the style of a river winding, flowing towards the sea, meandering." It is the first album on their new record label,

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

, and was initially distributed by

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

. After Mushroom's CEO

Michael Gudinski Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne, Gudinski formed the highly successful Austr ...

dropped Festival as their distributor he took up with

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. Prior to 1995, SMEA published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of So ...

. Re-release pressings of river''esque'' were issued in October 1997 and feature a different sleeve. It includes a bonus nine-track CD, ''Garage Sale'', which was also available separately at their live performances during 1997. Note: User may have to click on a tab, e.g. Credits, to access further information. The bonus CD has three cover versions:

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk music and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his own success, his songs " If I Were a Carpenter", " Reason to Believe", " Misty Roses" and " ...

's "

Reason to Believe "Reason to Believe" is a song written, composed, and first recorded by American Folk music, folk singer Tim Hardin in 1965. It has since been recorded by many artists, most notably by the Carpenters on their album ''Close to You (The Carpenters al ...

", Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh's "From the Heart", and

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a British folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as o ...

's "Sweet Thames Flow Softly".

Reception

Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, felt that river''esque'' was "another top-notch release, mixing storming rockers with pristine ballads. Anderson's gypsy violin also served to flesh out the band's honest and direct songs."

Aaron Badgley Aaron Badgley (born August 29, 1964) is a Canadian music journalist, music critic, radio host, podcaster, author, and biographer. As a music critic and journalist, he has written for All-Music Guide, ''The Fulcrum'', ''The Spill Magazine'', ' ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

opined that "the band has their trademark sound, mostly due to Michael Thomas's impassioned vocals, but there seemed to be a new energy in this release. In particular, Jen Anderson's violin playing seems more in the foreground, producing a very melancholy sound to the typically sad songs of regrets, lost loves, unrequited loves, and the struggles of being musicians. The sound on this CD leans more toward alternative country than folk, but it works incredibly well." While the bonus disc, ''Garage Sale'', "features a much looser sound, and three cover versions... Overall a pleasant CD, but it does not live up to ''River'esque'', and sounds more like outtakes or B-sides. Fun for fans, but not much of an interest to the casual listener."

Track listing

Personnel

Credited to: ;Weddings Parties Anything * Jen Anderson – violin, mandolin, vocals * Michael Barclay – drums, vocals * Stephen O'Prey – bass guitar, vocals *

Mick Thomas Michael James Thomas (born 7 February 1960) is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, guitarist and hotelier. Thomas was the frontman of folk rock group Weddings Parties Anything (1984–1998), and leader of Mick Thomas and the Sure Thing ...

– guitar, mandolin, vocals * Paul Thomas – guitar, pedal steel, vocals * Mark Wallace – accordion, keyboards, vocals ;Additional musicians * Lou Bennett – vocals * Anna Burley – vocals * Sally Dastey – vocals ;Production work * Producer – Cameron Craig, Dylan Hughes, Wedding Parties Anything * Mixer – Cameron Craig, Doug Roberts ;Art work * Photography – Jen Anderson, Mick Thomas

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Weddings Parties Anything albums