AMG Review of Moscow Hold

Denise Sullivan
All Music Guide

Utah Phillips, hot off his collaborations with Ani Difranco, returns to his primary vocation: that of teller of tall and hysterical tales. At times his one-liners verge on the vaudevillian, but he is always irreverent. Culled from performances between 1977-99 (the bulk of the material here was recorded in the late '80s and mid-'90s) Phillips takes on new agers and political correctness: It's his prerogative as a Northern California lefty. A master of the put-down (he even zings the untouchable Leonard Cohen), Phillips makes the perfect traveling companion -- the kind of guy you want in the seat next to you on a never ending road trip, spinning yarns the whole way home.