Jester Jay: music and other essential thoughts

Concert review, Dengue Fever with Secret Chiefs 3 and Action Friend

2012-01-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

24 January 2012 (Bluebird Theater, Denver CO)

Dengue Fever and Secret Chiefs 3 kicked off their national tour in Denver. As a tour of equals, the two bands plan to switch their play order from night to night. For this show, Dengue Fever took headliner duty and closed the show. Local band Action Friend started the show.

Action Friend

It's been a couple of years since I last saw Action Friend. Musically, they seemed to be on the same path as before, anchoring their songs in thick walls of metal thrash. That chaos created a miasma of sound to offset the more thoughtful islands of clarity. Those moments were sometimes jazzy or reflective indie rock, but they never lasted long before being subsumed in another change in sonic direction.

So, Action Friend's focus was still on experimentally grafting song snippets together into a Frankenstein whole. At the same time, the band's technical skills couldn't be denied. The sections themselves were often technically challenging and well executed.

One area where the band has really progressed is in their stage show. Their costumes fit well with the uneasy mood their music created. In particular, the lead singer's impassive Neanderthal presence during the opening instrumental was very entertaining.

I can't really talk too much about Action Friend, though, because I missed much of their set. I ducked out to interview Senon Williams and Ethan Holtzman from Dengue Fever.

Secret Chiefs 3

If Action Friend mashed up little slices of songs, Secret Chiefs 3 pureed whole genres. I had never heard of the band, but some fans in the crowd set me straight. They told me about frontman Trey Spruance who played guitar with Mr. Bungle (along with drummer Danny Heifetz). They also mentioned that Secret Chiefs 3 is actually several different bands in one. This lined up with the genre deconstruction of Mr. Bungle and proved to be the key to appreciating Secret Chiefs 3.

Once they started playing, I came to understand that. The opening song had an ambient start with a sustained chord on the keys and guitar string scratches creating a creepy mood. The bass kicked in with a solid groove, but song quickly mutated into a progressive/soundtrack kind of sound. The sound veered off into more intense grooves, emphasizing a metallic, post rock feel.

The first song seemed to set a theme for the night, but the next song tossed that out the window. A jangly Arabic groove meandered around, driven by Spruance's bizarre electric saz (a saz neck grafted onto a Danelectro Longhorn). The hypnotic groove broke down into jerky, off beat rhythmic lines. It was a trippy experience.

Without a word spoken the entire set, Secret Chiefs 3 maintained an intense stage presence. The band anonymized themselves with monk robes, except for violinist/guitarist Timb Harris who covered his face with some kind of sheer keffiyeh, which added to the mystique of the performance. Spruance often seemed to channel Rasputin as he cavorted around the stage, dancing ecstatically.

The sound made its own ecstatic dance, bouncing from Gypsy/Arabic to progressive, from dreamy to intensely angular, from soothing melody to prickly experimentation. Secret Chiefs 3 reflected some of the plasticity of Mr. Bungle, but directed into a more mystical space. Like some of Frank Zappa or Robert Fripp's compositions, the music had a very intellectual vibe. Despite being clearly directed, Secret Chiefs 3 regularly triggered a more chaotic mental response.

Dengue Fever

I was excited to finally get the chance to catch Dengue Fever's live show. I've loved their albums for years and enjoyed their performances on Sleepwalking Through the Mekong, but it's always better to be in the same room, where anything can happen. As I mentioned before, I got to sit down with bass player Senon Williams and keyboard player Ethan Holztman before the show for an interview, which just confirmed for me how open and genuine this band is.

I snapped a shot of the setlist, but that was a waste of time. Reading my mind, the band ignored the list and kicked off with an intense version of my favorite song, Seeing Hands. The moody raga groove served as a good transition from Secret Chiefs 3 to Dengue Fever's musical base.

Lead singer Chhom Nimol served as the centerpiece, showing off her flexibility as a performer. Her singing was solid, ranging from strong pop to haunting vulnerability. But the surprise was how adroitly she adapted her persona to match the piece. One song might cast her as a naive ingenue, but later she'd build intense focus with a meditative chant. Another song might show off her saucy, playful side. And yet, between songs, she'd humbly thank us for our attention, exuding the joy she takes in this music.

Gathered around Nimol, the rest of the band brought a zen focus to their playing. From the snaky, bass-heavy spy theme groove of Durian Dowry to the ultra retro-pop of Tiger Phone Card, every song had its place. Where the earlier bands offered some sharper edges, Dengue Fever set a heartbeat groove that made their set a perfect finish for the night. Their emphasis on engaging the audience was also a key element, whether it was Nimol urging us to sing along or Senon Williams sharing a comment with someone in the front row.

Speaking of Williams, during our interview, he talked about his roots as a teenaged punker and that showed in his stage presence. He stalked the stage from side to side, constantly pulling the other members together. One minute he'd high jump off the drum riser, then he'd mirror guitarist Zac Holtzman or maybe just pogo along with the beat. His manic energy made him the electron to Nimol's nucleus.

The rest of the band may not have run around as much, but they held their own on stage, sharing their enthusiasm and focus. The interplay between Zac's guitar grooves and Ethan's organ fills created a great balance. Paul Smith's drumming was tight as he pushed a few of the arrangements a little faster than the studio versions. The only missing element was David Ralicke's horn. He'll be catching up with the band later in the tour.

At the time, I wasn't quite sure about the mix of bands on this billing; they seemed fairly different in character and musical approach, but in retrospect I can see the arc. Action Friends seemed to interleave two or three songs at a time, while Secret Chiefs 3 seemed to hop stylistically from song to song, setting a different granularity. Dengue Fever shifts this idea into genre melding, swirling the musical elements together. Their blend of retro surf, psychedelia, soul, and Cambodian rock had an extra spark in live performance that reflected a band having as much fun as we were.

More photos on my Flickr.

Interview - Senon Williams and Ethan Holtzman (Dengue Fever)

2012-01-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

I got the chance to sit down with Senon Williams and Ethan Holtzman from Dengue Fever before their show at the Bluebird Theater on 24 January 2011. Both the guys were easy to talk to as we discussed their Cambodian experiences, their musical roots, and more.

Jester: As I understand it, both of you traveled to Cambodia before starting the band. I've heard Senon talking about discovering music in the Cambodian market and I know that Ethan’s trip inspired starting the band. Were those independent trips?

Senon Williams: Yeah

Ethan Holtzman: Completely

SW: I traveled there. I wasn’t even planning on going to Cambodia. I was in Thailand, chilling on a beach with my girlfriend and people were offering us massages and manicures and fruit. We were thinking, “We can go to Mexico for this. We didn’t travel halfway around the world to chill on the beach.” We tried changing our visas to go to Viet Nam, but, this was ’95, we couldn’t change our visas. We still had to go home in two weeks. With a little research, we found out that in Cambodia, you can get your visa when you land. So, on a whim, we went to Cambodia and had the best time of our trip.

EH: I just got a one way ticket to Bangkok, Thailand. I was traveling with my ex-girlfriend for six months in Southeast Asia. I was figuring it out as it went along. Cambodia was one of the countries where we thought we should go, but we thought we should read up beforehand, because it was kind of sketchy still. Now, it’s changed a lot. But when Senon was there and when I was there… if there was an election there, it was still very unstable. A couple of French tourists took the train and were killed.

SW: When I was there, we were under strict warnings not to take any public long distance travel.

EH: Now, we go there as a band. We’ve been there three times. The last time was a month and a half ago and we got to play in almost all the different provinces. All the major cities.

SW: But you still don’t go off the path. Not because you’re afraid of people, but because there are a lot of unmarked mine fields that they’re still clearing. There have been minefields laid in different wars and generally, they’d be documented by the army because they don’t want to go back and blow themselves up. But in Cambodia, they would just set up minefields, camp for the night and move on without keeping any records, So, there’s no idea where all the mines are.

EH: They’d lay all the mines around the camp so if anyone tried to attack at night, they’d be safe. Then, they’d leave them. It’s just random.

SW: Probably themselves, they wouldn’t go hiking back in there, the next week.

EH: But there are organizations combing acre by acre. One’s called HALO. It’s supposed to be a really good organization. They’re clearing all the landmines. It takes time. But no one’s been killed doing it and they’re all Cambodians working.

SW: They came out to one of our shows at Siem Reap and met us. We had planned to go out to one of their sites, where they’re working on. But our schedule was so rigorous that we didn’t have time to go check it out.

When you guys were just back there, how did Cambodia compare to your first visit with the band?

SW: From 2005, it’s changed just as much as it changed from 1995 to 2005. The rapid growth is pretty amazing. When me and Ethan were there in the ‘90s, there were no took-tooks (small motorized cabs) and the roads were still coated in a thick layer of dirt. We came back in 2005 and the roads were all cleaned up and it was nice. But it was still really gritty, with trash in the street. This last time going, I didn’t see trash piles everywhere. There were took-tooks, which didn’t used to be there. There was a big mall in the middle of town.

EH: There was major development. We went in 2010 and 2011. We were fortunate enough to go twice. It’s taken on a new purpose. We play music and we also raise money for good charities that we’re collaborating with. Cambodian Living Arts is the main one. They’re developing there. We played a show on Koh Pich...

SW: Koh Pich Island. There was this little, tiny patch of dirt that they called an island. They had a bridge to it. And they’ve since made it ten times as big. They’ve developed something equivalent to a convention center on it as well as a bunch of little shops. And a huge European style park, which is strange for Phnom Penh.

But I think one of the things that’s changed since 2005 is that there was no real scene mixing the Khmer with the Westerners. I really felt that the last time we went there…There’s this place called the Meta House and a bunch of different bars that were bridging these cultures. This place called the Bopanna Center which is a film and audio archive. They have Westerners and Cambodians working together. A friend of mine is over there now, Conrad Keely from ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. He’s half Thai. He fell in love with Cambodia. Talking to him, because he’s been there for months, the scene he’s found in Phnom Penh is so mixed with Cambodians and Westerners playing in bands together, mixing all different types of sounds. There’s something happening there.

That must be cool, after seeing you guys in Sleepwalking Through the Mekong, where there was so much culture shock in both directions.

SW: In this last trip, our friend organized the most amazing tour for us. We were doing really good work, we raised tons of money for a few different organizations. And we were reaching the people we wanted to reach. It was really a good feeling; it was great. We were hanging out with such good people when we were there.

As foreigners playing Cambodian influenced music, it can raise the question of cultural appropriation. But hearing you guys talk about Cambodia makes that a non-issue. You clearly have a strong connection and deep respect for the culture.

SW: I don't try to appropriate anything Cambodian in me. I just play music and we have Nimol as our singer. There's an honesty with all of us. We're just who we are. We're not trying to take on a persona.

EH: What happened is that we kind of discovered how important this music was for that country and the history. These people died because of their music. We thought, "This music is great. It's totally obscure. Let's play a show and put this band together." Then all of the sudden, it started to have real meaning for Cambodians all around. Cambodian all around the world are finding out that this is the music that came from their past.

And it's being taken seriously

EH: And it's cool because on this last trip, we were able to go to Battambang, which is a city we never toured in. This is where all the best musicians and singers were from. We did a workshop with these...they're not kids, they're probably like 18-20...they're musicians...

SW: The one guy was in his 40s...

EH: It's Phare. It's like a circus training, musician, arts kind of campus in Battembang. That's kind of where all this music started from. To go back there and play a show and jam with these kids...they're really, really good

SW: These kids are insanely good. We've collaborated with so many musicians and they're all amazing in their own right. But these kids that we met, it was like a renaissance with them. They'd be able to play along with anything that we played. And anything that they played, we'd be able to play along. We had this connection, musically. We can make do with anybody we jam with, but these guys...

EH: It was way different than playing with other Cambodians we've met. They're all great, but they're classically trained or they're in an orchestra. These were musicians that were on the same level, play by ear. That's kind of the root of what started the movement of Cambodian rock. It was really good for us to come across musicians that we could collaborate with. We got to play a huge show in the streets with them in Battembang. And they played a song with us. They played the traditional instruments, like the roneat ek, which is kind of like a xylophone.

SW: It's kind of like those kids have it. The older guy, I don't think he was the teacher, he was just in the band. It was this generation bridge. Going back to what we were talking about a minute ago, Cambodians have come up to me and said, "It's great what you're doing. I didn't listen to all of this stuff my parents listened to." Then they find on their own that they love Dengue Fever and they tell their parents about it. And their parents love Dengue Fever. None of this stuff was planned, but it's cool that we can bridge the gap between generations.

That is cool. If I can change the subject, can you each tell me what your musical roots are?

SW: When I was a teenager, I was a little punk rocker in L.A., going to the Cathay de Grande and the Anti Club and Scream downtown. I was a punk rocker, but Hendrix was one of my idols growing up. I listened to a lot of jazz. I listened to a lot of Peter Tosh and Bob Marley as well. From an early age, I was into Funkadelic, pretty heavy duty. And Sly and the Family Stone. So, I'm from punk rock and '70s rock.

EH: I didn't realize how important some of the music I listened to as a little kid was, like when I was in 6th grade. Devo's Freedom of Choice, Talking Heads '77, Blondie's Parallel Lines - my mom had that one.

SW: I had that one on a mix tape. A few Blondie songs

EH: Clash, Combat Rock

SW: Clash, of course. That was heavy duty. Floyd, of course...

You know, on Cannibal Courtship, I heard a lot of that '70s, Two Tone era ska. After that I could hear it in the older stuff, too.

SW: Wow. You might be the first, Jester. It's probably the horns

EH: Dave Ralicke, our horn player is not with us tonight. He's in L.A. He definitely has a deep reggae, ska kind of thing. He plays trombone.

SW: I ran sound for Jump With Joey, back in the day.

I hear it with moody songs that have a meandering bass line and the horn punches. It reminds me of Ghost Town by the Specials or some of those other old classics. You guys helped me discover that connection between that second wave ska sound and '60s garage or surf rock. That moody, reverby sound...

SW: I remember during my punk rock days, I was so anti reverb. Now, I embrace it. More reverb!

EH: I used to play guitar in bands and I would just crank the treble. "That's the way I like it."

How much of what you guys do is improvisational?

SW: We improv a ton when we write the songs. We all come in with ideas. Zac comes in with a lot of the main ideas and lyric ideas. But we also bring stories to Nimol. She says, "I don't know what to write about." So, we say, "This is what you write about." So, she'll take her turn. But we do a lot of improvising at rehearsals. We have a timeline of our last album on two track recordings and you can see how songs develop over time from the early stages. We do a lot of improvising in the studio, then we get the songs tight. Then, back live, we open them up again because we like to have fun. So, we keep these open sections. It may be Ethan raising his hand or Paul doing some drum fill that will cue us back into the main part of the song. Live, about half of our songs have these open sections for us to, if we're in the mood, take it someplace else.

EH: We can extend it. It's one of those things. Tonight's the first show of our tour, but by show ten, we all get more comfortable. Even though you have your part, you're embellishing.

SW: Sometimes, I stop playing to let everybody know, "I'm gonna throw a little curve here." I like to change things up, so people won't get upset when I change it up. So, people get used to the idea.

But that's also like a dub thing in reggae. People drop out, so you can appreciate all the other parts in their own space. Then, when you come back in, it opens things up.

SW: I really missed you, man. Where were you (laughs).

EH: I know what you're talking about.

My old reggae band had a motto, "dedication to the groove." It doesn't matter what your part is, your job is to make the song sound right.

SW: Yeah.

Listening to you guys, like on Durian Dowry, the way the song goes through sections and everybody's got their part that fits just so. You can tell you it comes from listening to each other. I love that song.

SW: There's so much going on. The only place that not so busy is the vocals. Nimol sings this beautiful sliding melody over the whole thing.

EH: That's something that we learned. On our first record, we were playing a bit more on top of ourselves. Then, over time, we learned to create space. When I hear that first record...

SW: I know what you mean. When we perform those songs live, it's a lot different than the album. I don't listen to the record, but when I do hear it, I say, "That's how we used to do that song?" Lost in Laos is a perfect example. On the record, I played way trickier than I play it now. It used to be a full bass solo for three and a half minutes, so I toned that song down. But I didn't realize it until I heard it again.

EH: There was a cover that we had never heard before.

SW: That's half of our covers! Which one?

EH: Lost in Laos. I finally heard a recorded version

SW: I've still never heard the original. That's not the only song. There's other ones where Nimol would start singing and we've never heard the original version. But we just followed along.

EH: Hold My Hips.

SW: Yeah, Hold My Hips!

EH: That's a song that we play every show, because it has her a capella and it's got a dance groove.

SW: But Nimol explained the song to us before we ever had a recording. Do this thing (sings).

EH: I've still never heard Hold My Hips.

SW: I've heard the original version and they do (sings) and it's just like she sang us the parts.

EH: Nimol will sing us a song and we'll figure out the head and the parts.

SW: One time, we had to rewrite the head. She kept telling us that we were wrong, but we said, no, you're wrong!

Without having heard it?

SW - Exactly (laughs)

Tell me about your tour mates, Secret Chiefs 3.

EH: Trey and Danny were in Mr. Bungle. Danny's the drummer. His grandfather was Jascha Heifetz, the violinist.

Wow!

SW: And the way that guy was to violin, homey is to drums.

EH: One of the best drummers ever. He's got such a dynamic style. He can play so light

SW: Effortless. So, if you see Paul, our drummer, shaking nervously, it's because Danny's in the crowd.

I'll wrap up with a favorite question: who would your dream tour be with.

SW: The first thing that comes to mind is someone that we actually did play with, because it was so fabulous. Seun Kuti was so inspiring to me playing live.

EH: That's Fela Kuti's kid. He inherited Egypt 80 (his father's band). He got the band. Femi (another son) didn't get the band.

SW: Is there anybody you can think of?

EH: You have to know them before you can tell if they'd be good. We toured with Chicha Libre, they're nice guys, really good music...

SW: They'd have to be fun people. This is kind of a dream situation now, playing with Secret Chiefs 3. Trey, the leader of this band, he's a genius. And he put out our first album. We had a nice couple of weeks together making the record.

I really appreciate your time. Thanks

CD review - Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Rocket Science (2011)

2012-01-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

Jazz reunion looks forward, not back

The opening interplay of Gravity Lane sounds like a homecoming. On Rocket Science, Béla Fleck has reassembled the original Flecktones lineup, including Howard Levy. The floating banjo pattern, the touch of piano, and the ebullient harmonica fall together to recreate the jazzy magic of the first Flecktones album.

But as Gravity Lane develops, it's clear that all of the players have matured and extended their skills since those early days. The rhythms are more interesting and the phrasing is tighter. Throughout Rocket Science, the Flecktones celebrate their history together, but they're more focused on scaling new jazzy heights.

The parts are all well balanced between the players - Fleck's banjo skittles along, mutating simple roll technique into the feel of an arpeggiated keyboard line. Victor Wooten's bass warms up with simple comping, but eventually he makes his move to fly off into a busy melodic run. Roy Futureman Wooten lays down a solid classic jazz drum beat. Improvising fills off the basic rhythm, he finds the right flow to accent the melodic phrases. But the key is having Howard Levy back. Levy is adept at using the piano to support the progression while his harmonica colors the song with fill elements or echoes the bassline.

I particularly enjoyed Storm Warning. The bass sets up a moody start. The harmonica creates a poised tension. As the song opens up, it evolves into a progressive groove that twists upon itself, offer a sense expectations. The Flecktones toss the melody around before locking together again for a while. As one of the longest tracks on Rocket Science, Storm Warning drifts through a number of sections, but the high point is Victor Wooten's unchained bass solo section around three minutes in. It has that same crazy spark that Adrian Belew summons on guitar: twisted tones that seem to physically wrench themselves from the instrument. Fleck's composition takes full advantage of his bandmates.

The Flecktones fill Rocket Science with a rich mix of sounds from the bluesy tumble of Prickly Pear to the sweet jazz meanderings of Falling Forward to the musique concrète exploration of The Secret Drawer. It's a heady, exciting album, full of head and heart.

January Singles

2012-01-19T18:00:00.001-07:00

This month's singles are all video friendly. Each one uses a different approach to illustrate the song: from movie style mini-story to claymation to fly-on-the-wall reporting.

Real Estate - Easy (from Days)

Real Estate - "Easy" from Tom Scharpling

I didn't catch Days when it came out last October, but listening to Easy, I love the Fountains of Wayne relaxed indie pop vibe. The music is cheerfully layered, with utopian lyrics.

Tom Scharpling's video offers a taste of irony that suggests a darker underside to Easy's dreamy peace. We're introduced to Real Estate's street team. They seem nice enough at first, although their love for the band is steeped in intensity. Eventually, a hapless DJ finds himself in the team's crosshairs, setting up the heartwarming end. There's something delightfully perverse about watching a man run for his life to the lines:

Around the fields we grow
With love for everyone
Dreams we saw with eyes of hope
Until that dream was done

Fourteen Twentysix - Little Diamonds (from In Halflight Our Soul Glows, due out next month)

At the start of Little Diamonds, Fourteen Twentysix adeptly channel an understated Replacements sound. The vocals remind me of Paul Westerberg's raw need on Achin' To Be. As the song develops, the sound is more polished than the Mats. But that's okay because they maintain the swaying feel even as they adorn the simple changes and create a richer set of layering.

The animated video, by Ruth Barrett, creates a nice story to complement the song.

Sampling Fourteen Twentysix's earlier music, I can hear the same vulnerability, although some of the tracks are more minimalist than Little Diamonds. I'm looking forward to checking out In Halflight, Our Soul Glows next month.

Mavis Staples, Wilco, Nick Lowe - The Weight

What a treat! Mavis Staples rehearsing The Weight backstage at the Civic Opera House in Chicago with Wilco and Nick Lowe. Appropriately, Staples leads the group through the song (the Staple Singers performed The Weight with the Band on The Last Waltz). She may be in her 70s, but she brings a ferocious soul to the song. Even in rehearsal, her stage presence shines.

During his verse, Nick Lowe's voice is low in the mix. But he still brings a burnished rasp to the song, recalling the edge he always injected into his pop songs. Tweedy gives a solid folky performance, which also has some give and take with Staples.

This backstage moment is what you'd like to imagine happens all the time - musicians jamming with the joyous spirit of a song and creating magic for the lucky few.

Music news - Keep your hands off my banana

2012-01-18T17:00:00.001-07:00

It's appropriate to talk about intellectual property on a day when much of the internet is protesting SOPA.

In a nutshell, the Velvet Underground is suing the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for trademark infringement to keep the iconic banana logo from being licensed.

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico album wouldn't have existed without Andy Warhol's influence as an artistic director and patron. On the music side, his main contributions were bringing Nico into the band and staying out of the band's other musical decisions. But it was Warhol's art scene and shock aesthetic that nurtured the Velvet Underground.

Andy Warhol's cover art, featuring the banana as a sticker (with an underlying skinned banana in pink), was simultaneously minimalist and subversive. The image itself was not trademarked or copyrighted.

That leaves the Velvet Underground making the argument that the image is indelibly associated with the band, which they claim effectively makes the banana their trademark. They argue that consumers would assume that the band tacitly supported commercial products using the image.

The challenge here is that The Velvet Underground & Nico's stark design doesn't include any other details beyond Andy Warhol's signature. So, any use of the banana alone is effectively a direct reference to the album. On the other hand, the banana isn't the same as the Rolling Stones' lips and tongue (John Pasche, 1970) or the Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" logo (Bob Thomas & Owsley Stanley, 1969).

I have a hard time getting behind the Velvet Underground on this one. Sure, there's a lot of money involved (a licensing deal with Apple triggered the lawsuit) and the image is associated with the band, but they didn't own the banana in the first place. On top of that, the band owes a debt to Warhol for his early support. Money changes everything.

And I guess that I just don't know
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know

The image at the top of this page is by artist Karen Ramsay. I sat for the drawing and licensed its use, but she owns the art. I'll let you know if she makes a deal with Apple...

CD review - Amoral, Beneath (2012)

2012-01-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Mixed bag of melodic and power metal with hard rock flourishes

Beneath opens with orchestral synths asserting a stately sensibility on the title cut. Amoral gives us a full minute to let that sink in before unleashing the guitars to bark out a classic metal riff. The band has a good sense of dynamics, alternating between an appropriate shred and moodier dropouts. While the sections themselves take enough time to make their point, the transitions between them sections come swiftly.

This pace keeps Beneath moving along quickly despite its almost nine minute run time. At the same time, it feels like a pastiche as Amoral bounces from motif to motif. They even throw in some death metal growl to allude to their past.

The patchwork feel persists to the album as a whole. While Beneath maintains continuity, the stylistic variation between the tracks sounds like a band in search of direction. Melodic and power metal blend with modern rock. Then they occasionally toss in a lightweight shadow of death metal. There are plenty of good songs or even pieces of songs, but Amoral needs more lyrical strength to hold the pieces together.

For example, Things Left Unsaid starts with a strong opening riff. A second guitar joins in loosely to lay out a counter melody. When the rhythmic crunch hits, it creates a heavy balance to the lighter melody lines. The vocals are theatrically large, but they lack lyrical depth:

Help me see all that I've got
Make me work on what I'm not
What good is a script if there's no chance of getting it shot?

Fortunately, tracks like Same Difference offer some distraction. Thrash metal riffs drive it forward and the glam metal vocals fit together well with the choppy rhythm and grinding guitars. It's very catchy. The lead section features some nice harmonized guitar lines that slide into a more modern rock feel.

Amoral started reinventing itself with Show Your Colors. Beneath continues the process. It may be a mixed bag, but the playing is solid enough across the genre shifts to give them a fair trial.

CD review - Bushmaster, Revolution Rhapsody (2011)

2012-01-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

Classic rock and blues with tasteful guitar work

Some bands embrace a retro sound as homage or to prove a certain kind of affiliation. Others are trying to capture a time or feeling that resonates with their psyche. Gary Brown's Bushmaster seems so steeped in 1969-1975, it's like they're time travelers. They perfectly evoke a blend of Jimi Hendrix and Paul Rodgers-era Bad Company filtered through a solid electric blues band.

Brown shows off as a dedicated student of Jimi Hendrix. His fluid lead lines, the chord melody embellishments, and tone capture Hendrix's sound, with more focus on the Jimi's blues and ballads than rocked out bombast. Take the opener, Cumberland Blues: the song uses touches of Voodoo Child (Slight Return) to liven up a straightforward blues jam. The bass and drums are tight in the pocket, but Brown's personality steps forward to drive the tune. In a nice shift, the bridge opens up the song beyond the blues with a classic rock jam interlude.

I Will Shine maintains the bluesy feel, but this is where the Bad Company influence steps forward. The tune is reminiscent of Shooting Star without being derivative. Beyond the progression, Bushmaster has sonically captured that early '70s production. Brown's vocals, which are soulful throughout Revolution Rhapsody, aren't quite as husky as Paul Rodgers, but he's in the ballpark. The arrangement's backbeat, bassline, and guitar lines all nail down the signature Bad Company sound.

Bushmaster doesn't limit themselves to those influences. They draw from the same well as Lenny Kravitz and others, melding soul and funky rock. This casserole of rock and blues is fairly tasty. The only off notes are the political tunes, Arizona Shame on You and War on the Poor, whose heavy handed lyrics are shoehorned into middling blues jams. On the other hand, We All Fall Down makes its political point within a much stronger song. This one reminded me a lot of Eric McFadden (The Rise of King George II meets Diamonds to Coal).

Despite the couple of weak tracks, Revolution Rhapsody is a strong offering. It's enough to make me wish I could join in Bushmaster's hosted open mike in Carlisle, PA.

(Check out song samples at Amazon)

Music news - Radio Moscow meltdown

2012-01-11T21:00:00.001-07:00

Hey, hey, my, my
Rock and roll will never die
Hang your hair down in your eye
You'll make a million dollars
-- Todd Snider Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues

It's hard for small bands to get any attention. The lesson of Lady Gaga is that the internet needs spectacle. So, this blurb about Radio Moscow falling apart onstage has been making the rounds. Much like Todd Snider's "band that wasn't even together", Radio Moscow dissolved at the start of their North American tour. According the press, the drummer hurled frontman Parker Griggs' own guitar into Griggs' face.

Ouch. Poor guy! 14 stitches in the emergency room and he's left in the lurch when his drummer and bass player desert the tour. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. At least he's already found replacement players because The Show Must Go On.

Of course, the spectacle was all captured on video:

Far from bolstering sympathy for Griggs, the video shows him provoking the attack when he threw his guitar at the drummer Cory Berry and his drum kit. From the witness reports, Griggs was trash talking the band well before the ugly set closer.

In a cynical world, no press is bad press - but this kind of lame acting out isn't going to win Griggs or his new line up any fans. It's a shame, Radio Moscow has made some good music in the past.

Best of luck to Parker Griggs' new bandmates. Be ready to dodge!

CD review - Lawrence Ball, Method Music (2012)

2012-01-10T17:00:00.001-07:00

Experimental explorations build on Pete Townhend's Method

Pete Townshend's Lifehouse project became the Who's Smile. Like Brian Wilson's unreleased masterpiece, it never quite came together. Some songs, like Baba O'Riley, were salvaged and released as Who's Next, but the full scope of Townshend's vision was never realized. One of his key ideas was the "Method", a way of creating music based on users' personal data.

In 2007, Townshend worked with composer Lawrence Ball to explore a practical application of these ideas. Ball had already developed his own ideas around "Harmonic Maths". The two collaborated with programmer Dave Snowdon to create an experimental web site that would open this work up to the internet at large, creating personalized musical portraits that were based on user input.

Method Music captures proof of concept work that Ball did in preparation for the Method web site. The first disc, Imaginary Sitters, presents a set of the kind of portraits they hoped to produce from the Method web site. The second disc, Imaginary Galaxies, expands on the sounds to develop more depth and complexity. It's very interesting how Method Music seems to distill one of Townshend's musical obsessions, transcending his rock roots.

All of this presents Method Music in a cold, very left brain light. Like most experimental music, the story behind the approach casts a heavy shadow across the work. But the music itself is interesting beyond that. Ball's minimalist approach may start with Phillip Glass style repetition and arpeggiation, but the tunes take on a programmatic feel.

Listen to Sitter 17. It begins with a gamalon sound, percussive and insistent. The sonic layering is regular but slightly chaotic, as it offers a multitude of details to focus on. When the more fluid and delicate sounds come to dominate in the middle, it creates peaceful space. But that space mutates back into a thicker sound. Taken as a whole, Sitter 17 feels like an underwater journey, starting in the rougher shallows, but touring around observing a host of wonder.

The galaxy tracks are much longer explorations, 20+ minutes each compared to the 5 minute portraits. Having that much space work with, Ball seems more content to take a leisurely pace and let the tunes unfold more slowly. Sonic elements swell and ebb over time in ambient waves and the rhythms are less harried. The new age feel of these songs is well suited for meditation and focus.

If you enjoy modern minimalism and experimental music, Method Music has a lot to offer. The Pete Townshend connection is intriguing, too.

Method Music is out January 31 on Navona Records.

CD review - Softspot, NOUS (2011)

2012-01-04T20:00:00.001-07:00

Psych pop reveries hint at deeper possibilities

Brooklyn trio Softspot has its origins as a duo between childhood friends Bryan Keller and Sarah Kinlaw. Bringing drummer Andrew Spaulding into their mix adds a touch of drive and structure to their psychedelic tinted dream pop. NOUS is a mere three songs, but they're enough to demonstrate how Softspot excels at creating textures and mood with a dense sonic mix.

Each song offers its own sensibility. Holy Father uses insistent percussion to build tension while sparse instruments add accents. The vocals provide the real balance; they're strong, but the softened attack and echoes give them a detached feel. Slight Pink Floyd psychedelic vibes creep in, but the overall sound is more like Bjork. I can just make out the words, but they don't seem to matter to the psycho-sonic sense of the song.

Next up, Slack Tide's dreamy indie pop is full of muted jangle and flickering candle-light vocals. The tight drum groove anchors the dream. Once again, the track creates a strong feeling, like the sound of sitting in the dark with someone who might become your love, communicating with light touches and whispers. The sense that things are waiting in store for you. The song's climax hints at illumination, but only reveals more possibilities.

The final track Notorious Debris starts by recalling Pink Floyd's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, but the richly reverbed guitar ignores that to explore a dreamy, late night vibe. The textures of the music create a mix of Callers and pop psychedelia. The vocals add a birdlike quality. Then the song expands into an intense noise pop swirl of sound.

Most importantly, NOUS has an innate quality of more-ness. I want more than this short EP so my dreamy reverie can continue.

Drop by Softspot's Bandcamp page to listen and buy the tracks.

CD review - Bill Hicks, 12/16/61 (2011)

2012-01-03T22:00:00.003-07:00

The rant artist as a young man...

Last month, Ryko released 12/16/61 as a teaser for the new box set, Bill Hicks Essential Collection, which drops on January 18. This is a long overdue recognition for Bill Hicks, who passed away in 1994, well before his time. The box set includes some of Hicks' music, which was going to be my angle to justify writing about comedian in my music blog.

Of course, 12/16/61's brief five tracks focuses on Hicks' early standup bits and doesn't cover his songs, like Chicks Dig Jerks. Despite that, I'm happy to start the year with a detour to get a reminder of Bill Hicks' wicked sense of humor and sharp mind.

The bits here are very early Bill Hicks, from 1982. He hadn't yet settled into his scathing social commentary, although the roots are there in his Reagan references. Listening to his casual delivery and soft southern drawl, it seems almost like a harbinger of Jeff Foxworthy. Except Jeff Foxworthy never started a bit with, "I figured this out on acid; I'm not making it up!"

Hicks talks about Mick Jagger ("a little effeminate billionaire elf"), Keith Richards, and his sarcastic admiration for punks:

I like punk rock. I don't like the music, but I like the people in it. I respect them. Most people are like "I don't like Reagan, but that's life". They got no spine. Punk rockers are like "Yeah, I don't like Reagan, so I think I'll stick a bone up me ass"

Still, Hicks' growth as a comedian did parallel other cultural trends. Middle class pop dreams were overrun by punk's anger and frustration. Then, new wave would polish that anti-establishment edge and trade some anger for biting cleverness. Hicks would grow beyond his observational humor and anecdotes to develop into his anti-corporate/anti-bullshit punk phase.

From Jon Stewart to Doug Stanhope, Hicks' spirit is alive and well in our culture, even though he's gone. Pick up 12/16/61 from iTunes and spring for the box set later this month.

Favorite concerts of 2011

2012-01-02T14:20:00.001-07:00

If picking a favorite set of albums for the year is hard, picking concerts is even harder. The right subjective mood can create a perfect concert experience or keep it from clicking. So, this exercise is more a chance for me to reminisce about my personal peak experiences. Hang with me.

Beats Antique with the Tailor and Inspired Flight

8 April, Boulder Theater, Boulder

From the dancer fangirls to the intoxicating grooves, this show was phenomenal. The opening acts meshed well with Beats Antique, offering tastes of both electronica and exotica. Inspired Flight covered the electronica side with the flexibility to bounce from DJ focused tracks to full on jams. Tarran the Tailor performed a solo banjo set that pushed sonic boundaries with effects and looping.

Beats Antique's performance was incredible. The music was lush and intricate, layered with syncopation and a rich palette of sounds. Of course, the music was only part of their show. Zoe Jakes and her fellow dancers added their choreographed interpretation of the glitchy world beat jams. On top of this, it was also my son's first concert and Beats Antique is one of his favorite bands.
(full show review)

Mogwai with Errors
2 May, Bluebird Theater, Denver

Mogwai dedicated much of their set to new songs from Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. The band imbued these songs with all the noisy catharsis that they are known for. The dynamics from the album were there, but the crescendos delivered tidal waves of sound. This was the kind of show that follows you home afterwards, lulling you to sleep with its echoes.

The opening act, Errors was a reasonable pairing. They built thickly layered sounds against a strong beat. Where Mogwai was more guitar oriented, Error focused on the electronic side, with synths and heavily processed guitars.
(full show review)

Garage a Trois
15 December, Aggie Theatre, Ft. Collins

The four members of Garage a Trois seemingly morphed themselves into a single musical entity. That's the only explanation for how they could be so tightly aligned while darting in so many random directions. At the same time, each player's personality shone through, from Mike Dillon's manic mayhem on the vibes to Skerik's melodramatic exaggeration.

The music they created was fun, challenging, and jaw-droppingly amazing. Bounding from bebop to rock to Zappa-esque experimentalism, it was a night of surprises.
(full show review)

Stockholm Syndrome with Sam Holt Band
5 August, Mishawaka Amphitheatre, Bellvue

The right venue can add its own magic to a show. Set in the Colorado mountains, the open air amphitheatre at the Mish is a great place to see any band. Stockholm Syndrome's jam band groove fit perfectly. Jerry Joseph (the Jackmormons) fronted the band with tightly wound energy that contrasted with Dave Schools' (Widespread Panic) more solid presence. The show was amazing, with Schools' ecstatic bass runs and a fiery encore of Road to Damascus.

The opening act, the Sam Holt Band, featured Sam Holt and Tori Pater. Their Grateful Dead style jams favored the bluegrass side, with a country sound fueled by Adam Stern's pedal steel.
(full show review)

They Might Be Giants
3 November, Boulder Theatre, Boulder

I missed out on Jonathan Coulton opening for They Might Be Giants because he didn't join the tour until the next show in Salt Lake City. The consolation prize was that the band performed their classic album, Flood, in reverse order. They sandwiched the Flood run through with a brief opening set and a longer encore. This gave them plenty of time to share some of the songs from their two releases this year.

The show was a lot of fun, with plenty of humor and surprises, from the send up of Don Kirschner's Rock Concert with sock puppets to a an awesome version of Istanbul (Not Constantinople). Geeky, quirky, and above all, musically interesting.
(full show review)

John Popper and the Duskray Troubadours with Lisa Bouchelle, Funkma$ter, and Judd Louis
11 March, Aggie Theatre, Ft. Collins

The opening acts were okay, with femme folk rocker Lisa Bouchelle standing out based on her strong voice and full bag of vocal tricks. But their sets were just an appetizer for John Popper's phenomenal set. Popper is already recognized as a virtuoso harmonica player; his supreme technical control and ability to take the instrument out to psychedelic extremes has amazed audiences for years. His backing band, the Duskray Troubadours, has a looser sound than Blues Traveler, but they've opened up Popper's playing.

The set included a few Blues Traveler songs, but the set was more laid back and soulful. This gave Popper room to wail. On Bereft, he showed off his singing chops and his wall of harmonica sound.
(full show review)

David Bromberg with Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore
30 December, L2 Arts and Culture Center, Denver

It's been years since I last saw David Bromberg, but his recent Denver show delivered on all my memories. He is the consummate performer, between his amusing banter, amazing playing, and the joy he exudes on stage. Backed by his quartet, he covered his wide range of styles, from bluegrass and traditional music to some wicked blues. The high point, though, was his solo version of Delia, where he talked about the real life roots of the song while he meandered through the fingerstyle blues.

The opening act, Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore, were a good match. Moore played some tight fingerstyle guitar while O'Brien sang, showing off her rich and soulful voice.
(full show review)

Portugal. The Man with Telekinesis and Unknown Mortal Orchestra
12 May, Aggie Theatre, Ft. Collins

Portugal. The Man laid out some heavy retro rock jams. The darkness of the stage (they didn't use overhead spots) matched the deep slinky bass lines. The psychedelic music swirled and twisted, anchored by John Gourley's voice.

The opening acts added their flavor to the show, with Unknown Mortal Orchestra reaching for an experimental indie rock sound and Telekinesis rooted in punk energy. The three bands each had their own styles and strengths.
(full show review)

Cymbals Eat Guitars with Hooray For Earth and A Mouthful of Thunder
15 October, Hi-Dive, Denver

Cymbals Eat Guitars created a sense of barely controlled chaos. Maybe it's how front man Joe D'Agostino twisted and lunged at the mike or it could be the waves of distorted guitar and keys. But the bedlam was under control. The band took that cathartic wall of sound and tempered it with dynamic drops to build the emotional intensity. Their live sound differed a bit from their albums, suggesting the Replacements playing head music. Their set was draining, but worth it.

Of the openers, Hooray For Earth was the better match for Cymbals Eat Guitars. They had a stronger synth focus than CEG, but their dark, bass heavy grind set the mood for CEG's set. Despite being a three piece, their sound was remarkably thick and complex.
(full show review)

Wye Oak with Callers
2 April, Larimer Lounge, Denver

I caught this show primarily to see Callers. I loved their album, Life of Love and I even interviewed the band before the show. Callers did a great job translating the dreamy, subtle sound of their album to the stage. Sara Lucas' rich voice was the centerpiece, but the backing music was nuanced and powerful.

The headliners, Wye Oak, are a duo with a fairly complex sound, augmented by the drummer playing keyboards along with his drumkit. Their affinity for dissonance was quite different than Callers' approach, but Wye Oak's appreciation for dynamics and solid song structure meshed well with the opening act.
(full show review)

Concert review - David Bromberg, with Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore

2011-12-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

30 December 2011 (L2 Arts and Culture Center, Denver CO)
The L2 Arts and Culture Center proved to be the perfect intimate setting for this show. The 500 seat hall was sold out, drawing fans of traditional folk and blues music from across Colorado. After so many rowdier bar and arena shows, it was a nice change to enjoy a sit down concert experience. It was a contrast from the last time I saw David Bromberg at the Boulder Theatre. But while the crowd may not have been dancing, they were engaged.

Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore

Folk duo Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore opened the show. Moore's facile fingerstyle playing was impressive, as he slipped fill lines in with the chords and tossed in some bass as well. I love this style of solo guitar work. When a guitarist is as fluid as Moore, he can create a full, busy sound but still drop back to support the vocals.

While Moore provided the accompaniment, Mollie O'Brien covered the singing. Her voice is strong and soulful. When she drops to her deeper range, her tone has the same dark beauty as Linda Rondstadt. The setlist showcased how versatile her voice is. From jazzy folk to up tempo blues, O'Brien tailored her singing to the style perfectly.

I particularly enjoyed their cover of Richard Thompson's The Ghost of You Walks. The original version has a music-box quality. O'Brien and Moore's arrangement breathed more. Just as Linda Thompson changed the character of Richard Thompson's work, O'Brien's interpretation added a deeper emotional component. Moore's guitar was great as he added subtle fills to the ends of phrases. His backing harmony on the title line was perfect.

While the pair were comfortable on stage and had good patter, their stage presence was fairly static. It would have been nice to see them move around a bit more. The one up tempo blues song (the title might have been Every Night of the Week) kicked up the crowd energy, but otherwise, the vibe was more relaxed.

David Bromberg

It was a joy to see David Bromberg again. His albums, including the recent Use Me (review here), capture his tasteful playing and a sense of who he is. But on stage, Bromberg's personality shines, whether he's making a clever aside, ranting his way through an over-the-top song ending, or just radiating joy because he's in the middle of some great music. His comfortable style is fully in the moment and he can share that engagement with the audience.

The setlist meandered through bluegrass, traditional folk, and screaming blues. Bromberg alternated between playing acoustic and electric guitar, but his backing quartet also shifted instrumentation to back the songs appropriately. The opening song was an uptempo bluegrass/country tune that moved into an old-time music section that eventually featured a rollicking three way fiddle jam, with Bromberg pulling out his fiddle for the only time of the night.

The crowd was happy to follow along with Bromberg, savoring all the facets he showed. I'm more particular to his blues - hearing Bromberg testify as he wails out a guitar line is a special treat - but it's also great to see him work the band during the folk and bluegrass songs, goading them on to have as much fun as he is.

Introducing a section of songs from Use Me, Bromberg talked about the projec. The first song in the series was Blues Is Falling, which Tim O'Brien wrote and produced. Bromberg's comments about Tim O'Brien were classic:

It's really unfair that there are Tim O'Briens. Tim O'Brien can play beautiful guitar, mandolin, fiddle. Sing gorgeous tunes.Write beautiful songs and it's all as easy as breathing for him. If he wasn't so nice I could really learn to hate him.

Bromberg's backing quartet was exactly what you'd expect from one of the best side men in the business: talented players, able to adapt on the fly and make each song click. Still, the best moment of the show was with Bromberg alone. As he played some solo guitar, the intimate hall pulled even closer. During Delia, a classic folk blues number, the crowd was rapt as Bromberg played the fingerstyle lines and sang the tune. In between verses, he talked about the true life story of the song as he played his fills. A folk history lesson and beautiful tune, this was a special, bittersweet moment. The sweet singing guitar lines, the mournful lyrics ("she's all I've got, she's gone"), and the quiet reverent feel took the room back to its roots as a church.

With the rest of the band coming back on stage, Bromberg finished out a powerful set and two encores. Satisfied but never complacent, David Bromberg remains one of my favorite guitarists to see live.

More photos on my Flickr.

Favorite albums of 2011

2011-12-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's time again to look back at the year's music and try to pick out the best. Even ignoring the odd biases of my personal taste, the whole idea is foolish. There are plenty well known bands that I didn't get to, so I can't include them. On top of that, I've listened to many new and upcoming bands that aren't really on anybody else's radar. Finally, I rarely review music that I don't care for at some level, so selecting a small handful is absurd. So call this my favorite albums of the year, not the best. They're all worth checking out, whether they're from a brand new group or a familiar band. Browse through my list and find something great.

Arbouretum - The Gathering

Arbouretum channels a classic rock sound, evoking bands like Bad Company. It's unselfconsciously retro, without a drop of irony or meta. On tracks like The White Bird, the casual psychedelia of meandering guitars against a throbbing melodic bass is sweetly hypnotic. The band captures the delicate balance between power and intricate intertwining parts, without the excesses that the early '70s could produce. As much as I enjoyed The Gathering on the first listen, it's been a great album to come back to over the year for casual listening.
(original review)

Dengue Fever - Cannibal Courtship

Dengue Fever finally released an album of new original music this year. Cannibal Courtship continues expanding the band's base sound, which is influenced by retro Khmer rock. Their core sound is still there on tracks like Cement Slippers, but Dengue Fever has mixed in ska, funk, and R&B. Lead singer Chhom Nimol is in fine form, whether summoning sultry appeal, dreamy desperation, or emotional aloofness. The rest of the band shines, too. Check out the psychedelic jam on Durian Dowry; Nimol's voice and Senon Williams' bass add oceans of depth to the track.
(original review)

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will

Such a heavy title, but Mogwai is just sharing their dry sense of humor. The album is full of restrained and reflective moments, as well as a strong inspiration of post punk synthesizers. But fans of the classic, post rock Mogwai will still find the cathartic waves of sound the band is known for. Death Rays offers a taste of both extremes. The title seems ironic as a softly building procession unwinds, but when a thick ragged guitar kicks in to represent the death rays, it all makes sense. The following track, San Pedro contrasts perfectly with a driving tension.
(original review)

Govinda - Universal On Switch

Like Beats Antique, Govinda blends world beat influenced grooves with electronic sounds. Or maybe it's electronic grooves with world beat sounds. Govinda meshes the two elements into an inseparable whole. The title cut to Universal On Switch anchors a flitting gypsy violin to a solid electronic beat. Indian shimmers, glitched vocal samples, and a grinding bass all fold together into a hypnotic trance vibe. The band also delivers some more pop oriented sounds, like the electro pop Angel Freezing.
(original review)

Other Lives - Tamer Animals

Orchestral and dreamy, Tamer Animals took a few listens to reveal its depth. My initial thought was that Other Lives had a good cinematic style, but it took time to appreciate the full sweep of the album. The band has a rich dynamic sense with extensive scope. Moving from atmospheric moodiness to lush fullness, Other Lives isn't locked into a single sound. The tracks progress through a series of moods, packed with evocative details that add subtlety and nuance. A sparse arrangement and echoing reverb set up a song like For 12 with its open western sense, but the strings and subdued piano establish the darkness of conflict and ambivalence.
(original review)

Spirits of the Dead - The Great God Pan

With songs that range from Hawkwind influenced wanderings (Mighty Mountain) to psychedelic jazz jams (Leaves of Last Year's Fall), Spirits of the Dead offer a rich spectrum of sounds. And that's just within the first two songs. Even within a song, the band might stir in acid rock, art rock, and loose improvisational playing. Despite any stylistic leaps, Spirits of the Dead effortlessly create a smooth flow throughout the album with well planned transitions. The percussion work in particular is impressive as it maintains the rhythmic thread while adapting fills to match the musical shifts.
(original review)

Callers - Life of Love

Does Life of Love even belong on this year's list? It came out in 2010, but I didn't review it until this January. It made such a strong impression that it seems unfair to disqualify Callers based on the release date. Sara Lucas' voice is strong and vibrant, with strains of Maria Muldauer, Phoebe Snow, and Grace Slick. Callers' music sounds loose and full of possibility. Ryan Seaton and Don Godwin's coordination on their arrangements is a thing of beauty. Subtle and open, but not thin or makeshift, from the gospel blues of their cover of Wire's Heartbeat to the muted psychedelic sparkle of Roll.
(original review)

The Golden Awesome - Autumn

The Golden Awesome are masters of dreamy noise pop. They temper the cathartic throb of distortion with their sweet harmonized vocals. This kind of juxtaposition is often interesting, but Autumn toys with the balance to show the world of variation possible, from the tense mechanism of Astronomy to the heady spiraling of Where to Begin. The noise drives away all distractions while the vocals soothe. Plenty of recent bands work the lo-fi end of this mix, but none of them capture the spark of joy heard on Autumn.
(original review)

Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain, In the Cloud

Portugal. The Man's major label debut hits the best of both worlds. The band has maintained artistic control, but this gave them a much better budget to work with and the production quality shows it. The sound is somewhere between Breakfast in America era Supertramp and David Bowie's Young Americans, but Portugal. The Man takes those retro elements and jams with them to create something new and trippier. Much like Flaming Lips or My Morning Jacket, PTM's studio work offers a hint of what the band can pull off on stage, but it stands well on its own.
(original review)

Paley & Francis - Paley & Francis

Reid Paley and Black Francis spent a couple of days writing music together, split up to write some lyrics, and then spent two brief days in the studio to record Paley & Francis. On that breakneck schedule, they could be forgiven if the album seemed slapdash. Instead, this collection of first takes has a raw power that comes from the stripped down arrangements and immediacy of fresh material. Both men approach the songs with firm confidence and blend their perspectives from song to song. Francis' songs evoke his work with the Pixies as well classic garage rock classics. Paley's voice is warm, but infuses his songs with ragged soul. The combination is excellent.
(original review)

Honorable mentions
Here are few honorable mentions - great albums that didn't quite make my 10 favorites.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien (original review)
And the Giraffe - Something for Someone (original review)
The Jigsaw Seen - Winterland (original review)
The Indelicates - David Koresh Superstar (original review)
Jonathan Coulton - Artificial Heart (original review)

That's still ignoring good albums by Lateef the Truthspeaker, Gomez, Whiskey Blanket, and others.

CD review - Monte Pittman, Pain, Love, and Destiny (2011)

2011-12-27T10:20:00.001-07:00

Sideman takes center stage and rocks out

Monte Pittman has built a reputation in the industry by working at the edges. Like many studio musicians and hired guns, he's popped up in a number of surprising places: as Madonna's touring guitarist, playing bass with industrial rockers, Prong, and adding some heavier touches to Adam Lambert's shows. Pittman released his first album, the acoustic centered The Deepest Dark, in 2009. Pain, Love, and Destiny follows that up with a meatier rock sound. Between the two extremes, Pittman is poised to garner more mainstream audience attention.

Pittman demonstrates his guitar chops throughout the album, but his emphasis is on the songs. Whether it's a hard rock ballad or an arena rock anthem, his song arrangements are centered on nailing the right rhythm and leading with vocals. Pittman's touring experience shines as he sings with showy conviction. His opener, About You, has a soft start, but it quickly builds into hard rock. The dynamic flow is impressive: he sells the power with layers of hard rocking guitar, but the electric guitar sometimes drops out to reveal the underlying acoustic backing. The pacing feels theatrical. Just listening to the sudden stop ending, I can see the stage lights cut to black.

The best track is (I Am) The Black Rabbit. Like a chameleon, the intro phases from acoustic to metal to progressive rock. The synth shimmer at the edges brings out the prog focus on the verses. The chorused vocals bring in a '70s art rock element, but the doom laden vibe is much more modern. Metal guitar touches pile up, building to a shred style metal solo backed by rhythm crunch. The build is great, but then Pittman drops the dynamic down to transition the mood to a more retro feel again. The spare, angular acoustic guitar that signals the return of the chorus reminds me of Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer). While the music is great, the strength of the track is how Pittman builds a story with a mix of threatening tension and revelation.

The weakest song, Burn Down the Garden, also shifts around but the effect is unfocused. It starts out like Chicago minus the horns, then jumps around in style. A touch of Brian May fill, a longer section like Santana's Evil Ways, then the tune drifts from shred to AC/DC grind and Red Rider openness (Lunatic Fringe) before decaying into chaos. There's plenty to enjoy along the way, but it doesn't hold together as well as the rest of the album.

While tracks like Keep Shining and Definitely are more typical of Pain, Love, and Destiny, the final track proves most memorable. Predetermined Destiny acts as an after-dinner mint for the album. Recapping one of the album's themes:

Destiny, just let it be
Destiny
Nothing's certain, predetermined...

The song aims for John Lennon (Across the Universe), but the vocal sound evokes ELO's channeling of the Beatles. Regardless, the simplicity is a refreshing closer.

Listen to Pain, Love, and Destiny at Pittman's site.

CD review - Null Paradox, The Onion and the Ants: Gertrude and Grace (2010)

2011-12-25T17:00:00.002-07:00

Rich vocals and intriguing prog complexity

The first thing that jumps out on The Onion and the Ants: Gertrude and Grace is Crystal Sherry's strong, warm voice. She shifts from sweet honey to steel when the song needs to raise a harder edge. She blends Karen Carpenter's lushness with Annie Haslam's (Renaissance) smooth range and adds a touch of Ann Wilson's punchy delivery.

If Sherry's voice drives most of the songs, the tight, balanced arrangements give her the room to work with. On songs like Black and White, the pieces fall together to create a piquant complexity. Shards of guitar set the initial stage, then the rhythm joins in. The combination of the initial guitar riff (left), a hypnotic fill melody (right), and Sherry's voice (center) fit together in a rich hard rock quilt. Subtle shades of feedback and a stalking bass line color the mix.

Null Paradox is rooted a set of ideas that band leader Tom Libertiny is still exploring. Initially, the band was intended to realize a concept album based on his book idea: The Onion and the Ants. With songs representing chapters, the two projects have become intertwined, with the book expanding into a series. The first book is due out soon.

The album has a coherent sound, but without the hint from the band, it might be hard to extract a story line for the album. In their promotional material, Null Paradox presents the premise as a choice between the love of your life (orange) and your destiny (purple). That provides some context for the songs, like the frustration on Small or the pervasive conflict related in The Ministry. Having the book would offer another facet for enjoying the album, but the songs all stand well on their own merits.

Throughout The Onion and the Ants..., Null Paradox mines a wonderful mix of lush modern rock and rich progressive rock. The Cell was one of my favorite tracks. The opening is spare and orchestral. Sherry's voice is low and breathy. Then, the song slips into a progressive groove that reminds me a bit of Steven Wilson, because of how the arpeggiated guitar part plays against the bass line. As The Cell negotiates a number of musical sections, it maintains an intriguing sense of contrast between open and tight channels and organic flow pushing against mechanical drive.

The final track, Glass Desert, briefly evokes Tori Amos, with a whisper vocal and piano line. But the band defies expectation, carrying the track into a laid back bluesy space. A heavier interlude overwhelms the looser groove, but a closer listen shows the two parts coexisting. The horn solo (about 4 minutes in) adds its jazzy smoke.

Null Paradox may be a "concept band", but Tom Libertiny has added some interesting artistic voices to his ideas. Browse their web site for more info. The video section has some cool info about the progression of developing the songs.

CD review - Levi Kreis, Live @ Joe's Pub (2011)

2011-12-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Powerful, emotionally charged singing

Levi Kreis has built a loyal following for both his acting and singing. From launching his recording career via The Apprentice to his 2010 Tony Award for playing Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet, Kreis has already garnered critical acclaim. Live @ Joe's Pub is a perfect showcase for his sincere and grounded persona. The ten songs (and four bits of stage banter) capture the audience interaction of a live show.

Between his emotional singing and confessional stories, Kreis invites the audience into his life, catching them up on who he is and how he got here. His self deprecating humor keeps the positive messages about personal authenticity (Vignette #2) from turning into a sermon.

Of course, Kreis' powerful gospel influenced voice still creates a churchy environment. He belts out songs like the stage actor he is, but maintains a lot of vibrato soul in his singing. His piano accompaniment is solid, but takes a backseat to the singing. While some songs like Left Over have a Billy Joel vibe, Kreis leans more toward Rufus Wainwright, especially on songs like The Reckoning. Regardless of those comparisons, Kreis' voice is stronger than either of them and his songs seem more heartfelt.

As a live album, Live @ Joe's Pub has decent sound, but the producer made a basic mistake with the mix. Given how powerful Kreis' voice is, it would have been better to drop it back about 10%. Also, the heavy reverb on his singing is gilding the lily. A song like Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me is moving enough on its own. A subtler hand would have preserved some of the emotional nuances.

The album closes out with a new song, Let It Go. Kreis builds up the the verses with staccato chords supporting a breathy lyric. Then, the chorus expands the passion as his voice breaks with feeling:

Let it go, let it all go
It's time to forgive now the one who matters the most

It's a good summary of the message Levi Kreis shares throughout Live @ Joe's Pub. His core fanbase will love the experience of a solid 45 minute live set presented on the album. Kreis should also pick up some new fans who are open to his emotionally charged singing and sincerity.

CD review - The Jigsaw Seen, Winterland (2011)

2011-12-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Psychedelic flavored pop captures a larger sense of the season

I am not a fan of Christmas music - the withered sonic cliches that overstayed their welcome even in my childhood, the schmaltzy sentimentality - it all just rubs me the wrong way. If Winterland isn't a perfect antidote, it's still a breath of fresh air. The Jigsaw Seen keep up their trippy pop sound while visiting a number of holiday inspired themes.

Winterland works because the band captures a more honest sense of the season, for better and worse. The Jigsaw Seen's take on the holidays is ambivalent: hopeful for good things, but shaded with loss and the stark chill of the season. While the songs do share a sense of winter and Christmas, this isn't really a true concept album.

They open with What About Christmas, whose curmudgeonly narrator stews in his resentment over a relationship that's already over by May:

What about Christmas?
What about promises?
What about you and me?
What about the way you look,
When I look at you and no one sees?

The driving psychedelic groove supports some sweet Arabic minor key fills low in the mix. The rich sonic spread is full of complementary parts: the treble chime of acoustic guitars, the grind of electric guitar punches, and the serene vocals. It's a great start to the album.

As soon as Candy Cane started, I had a flashback to XTC. The guitar arrangements, harmonies, and the arch lyrics could be an outtake from Oranges and Lemons. Like XTC's bittersweet pop, Candy Cane lays out overtly bitter lyrics about the holidays against a pretty pop sound. Lines like, "Christmas morning, basic black/The grim reaper of yuletide cheer is back" are dark and clever, but lose some sting against the jangled bounce of the paired acoustic guitars. Or maybe the lines balance some of the sweetness of that sound.

The standout track on Winterland, though, is Snow Angels of Pigtown. The Jigsaw Seen has magically combined a lush R&B groove and trivial subject with wonderfully unexpected lyrical complexity. The sway of the music with its Motown inspired bass and guitar work proves to be the perfect setting for lines like:

Cataclysmic temperatures abound
Slush and powder form a gelid compound
Horizontal sprite stabs in the drift
Perfectly designed or sometimes makeshift
Ice phantoms make no sound
Inclement skies won't keep these spirits down

Every time I hear the track, I smile. "When mercury takes a dive / That is the time these flightless wonders thrive." What a wonderful ode to the snow angel. This is a seasonal spirit I can get behind.

The nicest thing about Winterland is that it will still be listenable in January.

December singles

2011-12-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Harrison Sanborn - Proxy M.O.S. (Other Lives - Black Tables)

Proxy M.O.S. from Harrison Sanborn on Vimeo.

Normally, I pick a few new songs that catch my ear for my monthly singles post. Black Tables is not that new, coming from Other Lives' 2009 self-titled album. But a reader tipped me to this short film, which I think is a nice interpretation of the song.

Other Lives bring a soundtrack quality to their songs, so it's not surprising that the music works so well here. Harrison Sanborn uses the song's moodiness and dynamics to good effect. He captures a dreamy sense without slipping into the visual cliche of soft focus fades. Instead, he builds a story line from a small set of clear elements, repeating them in shifted contexts to imply a deeper complexity.

Spectrals - Confetti (from Bad Penny)

Louis Jones conjures up a retro R&B dance floor, complete with tinsel and mirror ball on Confetti. The lo-fi bouncy pop is soaked in garage soul sound. Jones' voice is young and unjaded. Between the sonic smear of recording haze and his accent, Confetti is reminiscent of the Arctic Monkeys, but the lyrics are much sweeter.

Jones has released several cassettes under the Spectrals name. Despite the band name, his debut album Bad Penny is largely a solo project (his brother Will Jones plays drums). Single artist bands are very common, but, at their worst, these projects can sound overproduced or just sloppy. Confetti avoids those pitfalls and maintains a spark of life, wrapped in nostalgia.

Black Bananas - Rad Times (from Rad Times Xpress IV)

After Royal Trux dissolved, Jennifer Herrera recorded under her old band's abbreviation, RTX. Now she's promoting a new band name, Black Bananas. Rad Times manages to blend new wave funk and synth pop with more modern electronic sounds. It's densely packed with competing elements, like a radio tuned between two close stations.

Despite the muddle of component parts, the groove is compelling. I'll be curious to see how the rest of the album plays out.

Princess Superstar - Xmas Swagger

Princess Superstar breaks a handful of rap stereotypes. Despite being a white, Jewish, female rapper, what stands out is her attitude and sense of humor. She seems happy enough to let the purists worry about stuff like cultural appropriation while she clowns around with Kool Keith, Prince Paul, and others. Xmas Swagger is her holiday offering, but she's also got a new album (The New Evolution) coming out next year.

Xmas Swagger is classic Princess Superstar. The retro R&B groove sets a nice party vibe. The rapped verses don't show off as much of her speedy flow, but contrast nicely with her singing on the chorus. Above all, her humor comes through, especially in the song's punchline, tacked on to the last chorus:

I love Christmas and I love you.
I love Christmas everything
Except I'm mostly Jew

On that note, happy holidays to all.

Concert review - Garage a Trois

2011-12-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

15 December 2011 (Aggie Theatre, Ft. Collins CO)

Garage a Trois brought their mystery funk amalgam of jazz, rock, and semi-controlled noise to Ft. Collins for an audience of clued-in fans. Whether it was saxophonist Skerik grimacing in horror or Mike Dillon's seizure-like flailing on the vibes, the quartet's zany stage presence was visually engaging. But despite the silliness, the group was utterly focused on the music.

Listening to Garage a Trois was like watching a school of fish; functioning as a single unit, they darted in seemingly random directions. A lazy sweet harmony would suddenly veer into Ornette Coleman free jazz territory, with each player nailing the off-rhythm perfectly. Then the song might coalesce back into a Zappa-esque melody.

This coordination was strongest between Dillon and drummer Stanton Moore. With Dillon playing a snare, cymbal, and synth pad, the two could build a tightly controlled, drum corp sound. Unlike the drum corps I've heard, the two often zipped off into odd time signatures and very loosely structured riffs. They mirrored each others fills so tightly, it sounded like a single drummer.

Just like a school of fish, though, the band could also dissolve into their component elements. Garage a Trois used this chaos to create moments of tangled melody, forcing the audience to choose what to focus on. This anarchy gave each listener their own version of the music.

Each player emphasized his own persona: Skerik's melodramatic exaggeration, Moore's boyish enthusiasm, Dillon's manic intensity, and Marco Benevento's laid back joy. These archetypes framed the interactions during the night, from Dillon's savant attack on the vibes to Benevento's glee as he alluded to Rhapsody in Blue during a solo.

Skerik and Dillon both have a lot of electronic gear to run their instruments through, so the band wasn't tethered to a straight jazz combo sound. Benevento also had a small collection of synths to augment his keys. So, between the sax and keys, the band could evoke electric guitars for a more rock band sound. Their cover of Immigrant Song was particularly impressive.

Garage a Trois' musical intensity carried the show. They created such crazy complexity and made it look natural and effortless. It was a gift to catch them on such a hot night.

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review - Kid Icarus, American Ghosts (2011)

2011-12-14T17:00:00.001-07:00

Noise pop jams on a solid foundation of '80s new wave

American Ghosts' opening track, Hang Gliders quickly takes off in an exuberant wash of guitars and cymbals. Kid Icarus infuse the song with live performance energy. At the same time, the compressed mid-range mix takes me back to the lower budget sound of the DIY '80s, where lo-fi wasn't an aesthetic choice but a necessity. The band channels groups like the Replacements and Hüsker Dü, who built a sound grounded in pure enthusiasm.

While, Kid Icarus has an instinctive feel for new wave flavored indie rock, they also have some more modern influences. The bare bones darkness in the verses of Wasteland Blues snowballs into a strong post-rock/noise pop groove, buoyed by a meandering guitar line. The middle section meltdown of Bicycle Spokes II slides into Trail of Dead territory. While I enjoy the retro feel of the earlier songs, these moments separate Kid Icarus from a cloying haze of nostalgia and offers a different sensibility to appreciate their sound.

Kid Icarus may just be another independent band reaching from the shadows, but American Ghosts proves that they deserve to ripple out of their Pennsylvania scene. You should check them out. With enough support, they might get the chance to tour Colorado so I can see them. I expect their live sound is phenomenal;-).

CD review - Meshell Ndegéocello, Weather (2011)

2011-12-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

Dreamy intimacy with a soulful focus

Meshell Ndegéocello creates albums that fit the particular moment she's in. On Weather, she is floating through a set of restrained jazz/funk/soul grooves with late night night vibe. This isn't aimless drifting, it's just a sign of an artist comfortable in her own skin. Before anyone writes it off they should heed her warning on the final track: "Don't you take my kindness for weakness / Just cause I'm gentle doesn't mean I'm not strong".

The intimate mood starts off with the title track. It follows a lazy, retro Prince soul groove. Ndegéocello whispers the lyrics in your ear as the dreamy backing music wraps the tune in a cottony haze. The feel intensifies on Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear. The music is almost tentative as it lays out a Joan Armatrading style jazzy soul. It's stripped down to showcase Ndegéocello's rich voice.

It's good that the lyrics on these songs are immediate and connected. Otherwise, the music could feel dissociated and signal a kind of surrender. Take the minimalist Oysters. The piano accompaniment is moody and nostalgic. The vocals are breathy and restrained. But the lyrics have a bittersweet Jeff Tweedy depth:

Somebody wishin' on a shooting star
Shooting star streaming 'cross the sky
You know it's just a meteor, right?

People throwing pennies in a wishing well
Wishing well's gonna run dry
But I ain't gonna leave you tonight

Everybody talkin' 'bout changing the world
The world ain't ever gonna change
But you can always change it for me.

Weather is not all dream time and clouds. Dirty World shows a spark of of her bass mastery with a solid bass line reminiscent of Victor Wooten's work. The song takes a twisting turn into synth pop for the chorus. The contrast between the tight bass playing and the softer synth sound creates a piquant tension that Weather needed. The social commentary in the lyrics suits this tension perfectly.

My favorite track is Ndegéocello's cover of Leonard Cohen's Chelsea Hotel. The spare music staggers a bit under the emotional weight and her voice is warm and vibrant. When Ndegéocello drops into a conversational tone for a line, her wry tone adds the sound of truth to her voice.

Weather is emotionally deep and infused with a realness best softened by dreamy music. It's more about connection than technical fireworks. The pace may drag a bit for impatient listeners, but give it the time it deserves. Weather is best appreciated by candlelight where the nuances can weave their web.

CD review - Paley and Francis, Paley and Francis (2011)

2011-12-09T17:00:00.001-07:00

The magic of raw immediacy

In-the-moment or artful construction? Musical trends bounce between the two, like garage rock vs. the Beatles. Punk follows art rock excesses only to coalesce into new wave structure. Each side of the coin has its strengths and flaws, which keeps the pendulum swinging. Paley & Francis emphatically favors raw immediacy over polished production.

Reid Paley and Black Francis (the Pixies) ripped through this project in a whirlwind, writing the music together over three afternoons, splitting the tunes to write lyrics separately, and then recording the ten songs in two days. This wasn't a cold collaboration, the two have worked together before and had a feel for what would click. Each of these tracks is a first take, with stripped down arrangements: bass, guitar, piano, and light percussion. Paley & Francis exhibits the power of simplicity. The songs are well written and true; the playing is tight with little ornamentation.

Paley and Francis each sing lead on their own lyrics, alternating tracks on the album. This creates a see-saw effect, moving from Francis' smoother voice to Paley's ragged soul. The first track, Curse, kicks off with a driving bassline like the Doors, but quickly reveals itself as a raw, garage rocker. There's a lot of the Pixies here, but the chorus owes a lot to Roky Erickson. Black Francis pulls out Lou Reed attitude and Iggy Pop snarl, while Reid Paley's backing adds the perfect hoarseness to sell the underlying anger of the song.

Paley's lead vocals have a warm and friendly sound somewhere between Tom Waits and Country Dick Montana (Beat Farmers). On Ugly Life, Paley's best song on the album, he favors Waits as he doesn't so much sing as declaim the lyrics. Francis' voice adds the sharp point to the tagline of the chorus. Ugly Life clicks because of the contrast between the wistful, nostalgic music and the lyrics, which offer up a resigned celebration of the downside. Tired but defiant, this could have been a Velvet Underground song, but Paley's delivery removes the irony Lou Reed would have given it.

The dark side of raw music is that it can be unlistenable - there's a lot of dreadful punk and sloppy blues out there. Sometimes a lack of technical ability is lauded as authenticity. Paley & Francis never allows for that possibility. Instead, they focus on the magic. This project was quickly, not hastily, assembled by a group of musicians at the top of their game.

CD review - Emil & Friends, Lo & Behold (2011)

2011-12-07T17:00:00.001-07:00

Dance pop sound matures to branch out into indie rock/pop

Emil & Friends have come a long way since last year's Downed Economy EP (review here). Emil Hewitt still shows his love for disco and dance pop on Lo & Behold, but he's expanded his diverse set of influences and improved his production. The new album is more polished to match Hewitt's matured sound. He's abandoned the retro, lo-fi '70s soul, but still manages to evoke the disco pop era on some of the tracks.

Where Downed Economy emphasized a stark electro disco vibe on its first track, Lo & Behold lays down a piano centered pop vibe. Flashback has a sweet Supertramp influence, especially on the keyboard intro, but it also evokes some of My Morning Jacket's flavor of retro pop. The lyrics pick up the story somewhere in the middle with little context, which creates a compelling itch:

On the flat screen television, when the cops come and break down the door
Reruns so analog, cross legged on the living room floor
As they step towards you with the handcuffs, to take you away
You flash back to the baby sitter turning it off, because it's rotting your brain

The song seems designed to keep you off balance. The laid back groove offers comfort even as the story triggers a cascade of questions. The music deconstructs as a heavy bass and beat grow more prominent creating their own flashback effect. A gratuitous, over-the-top guitar solo sets up a loose, floating outro. There's a flow, but it makes no sense. You're left with the sense that another time through might make it clearer. Still, with every listen, I smile and bop along. "Catchy" barely does it justice.

Emil & Friends call back to their earlier sound on tracks like C.U.P.I.D. and Rain Check. The relentless pop bounce of Rain Check sounds like an updated version of Prince's funk pop without the self-indulgence. The retro horn punches and modern electronic bass groove combine in a super-mutant pop. Where Downed Economy would have infused this song with a hazy, old time vibe, the sound here is clean and hip.

C.U.P.I.D. offers a slick electro disco feel, with grinding bass and processed vocals. Loaded with hooks, Emil slips in some great lines that the electro-pop synths might distract you from:

Warm and wet like a car wash cruisin'
Stronger than the stuff since you've be usin'
Sittin' on a car, just flappin' his wings
This little angel named C.U.P.I.D.

Lo & Behold is a great step forward for Emil & Friends. A better budget might account for the nicer production, but the band's writing and musical versatility have improved over the last year. Earlier, I warned off disco haters and and soul pop cynics. Now, even those listeners might find something to like.

For a taste, check out the electro disco of Crystal Ball (My Old Kentucky Blog) or the indie pop of Endless Waves (teaser on Vimeo).

CD review - The Bluffkins, Songs You've Never Heard Of (2011)

2011-12-05T17:00:00.001-07:00

Young band delivers interesting indie rock

Songs You've Never Heard Of is a new EP by the Bluffkins, out of Palm Harbor, FL. They're a young band and that youth is apparent from the scattershot style of the EP's seven songs. But despite a couple of minor missteps, they have a great indie rock sound that's worth checking out.

The opening song, Eastbound and Down, starts slow, using a recording session artifact as an intro. But once the song gets underway, the classic rock vibe quickly takes hold. The layered guitar parts remind me of the Henry Clay People. Sam Francis' confessional vocals convey a strength beneath the basic melancholy of the song. The lyrics feature some nice turns of phrase:

Eastbound and down, going nowhere, I'm a teacher of class clowns
She's back in town, living happily, with no one else around
East bound and down, well I can't be lost if I was never found
First to fail, best of worst, I'm a king without a crown

"First to fail, best of worst," I wish had had written that.

The next track, Letters From Space, continues the retro feel, this time with a glam sound like Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter (one of Henry Clay People's bigger influences). This has a similar guitar structure as Eastbound, creating a thick, layered sound. Like many of the following songs, the lead vocals are doubled to fatten the mix. The drop out outro is beautiful with twinned guitar lines reaching out across an open musical space.

Cloud 9 changes up the sound to pick up some of the Guess Who's funky blues groove (No Sugar Tonight). The bass playing on this song, especially during the opening section, is perfect. There's a sweet moment at 1:56, where the verse starts with just the vocal and the bass. That's a punch they could have used more often.

From here, Songs You've Never Heard Of delivers a solid cover of John Mayer's Good Love Is On The Way, a chank beat flavored rocker, and a couple of good indie rock tracks. Of these, the closer, Jingo, is most interesting. A spoken intro (Winston Churchill) leads to a psychedelic rock drive.

Like any demo, Songs You've Never Heard Of shows off the Bluffkins' range. The writing and recording has matured compared to the music on their Reverbnation page, although Place I've Never Been is very catchy and Runaway (Kanye West) is an decent cover. Drop by iTunes and give the EP a listen; then buy a copy to encourage a young band bound for good things.

Thanks to Joseph G for turning me on to the Bluffkins.

CD review - Steven Wilson, Grace For Drowning (2011)

2011-12-02T17:00:00.001-07:00

Few wasted moments and many wild rides on this progressive gem

Listening to Steven Wilson's production on Opeth's recent Heritage (review here), it is clear that his recent work remixing King Crimson's catalog has had an impact on his aesthetics. On Grace For Drowning, that effect is more pronounced. Wilson assertively turns away from Porcupine Tree's recent sound to revisit the band's early progressive and art rock roots.

With two discs, I'd say that Grace For Drowning sprawls across its 83 minute run-time -- except there's not much fat to trim. The songs are solid and form a coherent whole.

The music on the title cut is a surprise opening for disc 1. Centered on vocal harmony, the backing is a simple set of chords that remind me of a piano exercise. Harmonize vocals are a tool that Wilson uses liberally on Grace, both to create a human warmth and to add a hint of schizophrenia. The jazzy, compositional sound on Grace For Drowning immediately pushes away expectations of Porcupine Tree's normal prog flavor.

Sectarian, the following track, starts out with a guitar conversation, A plaintive acoustic rhythm and a prickly electric melody build a threatening vibe that blows up into a Discipline style darkness. When the vocals and horns kick in, it's revelatory. More twists and turns lie ahead though. While Sectarian isn't quite my favorite track, I love Wilson's artistry with dynamics. He lets the song breathe: controlled inhale and explosive exhale. The mood swings between the different sections show off Wilson's compositional chops.

The first disc closes out with Remainder the Black Dog. The mellow, reflective start sets up an angular piano motif, which builds tension as the other instruments come in. There's some beautiful mellotron work here that riffs against the motif in a freer jam. The theme takes on a Robert Fripp feel as it transitions to the guitar and bass. The pressure increases until the song erupts into wild flailing. Screaming notes whine over the speedy driver, but the track settles back into the jam. It's a wonderful, progressive roller coaster.

Disc two shows more of the King Crimson/early Porcupine Tree influence. Track One starts out with a forlorn opening vocal and a taste of I Talk To The Wind, but the song transitions through a brief manic section before turning darker. Like the amorphous flow of dream-time events, the song drifts in several directions. The darkness fades into a surprising guitar solo that evokes some of Jerry Garcia's moodier ramblings.

This sets up the epic length of Raiders II. The ponderous opening offers little hint of trip to come. Despite elements of Court of the Crimson King and 21st Century Schizoid Man, it's pure Steven Wilson. The dynamic shifts can be razor sharp, but still natural. When it drops from headlong rush to a meandering melody against a sparse backing, it's unpredictable but satisfying. Wilson's balance between openness and contraction, between direction and loose drifting, makes Raiders II the showpiece of Grace.

Aside from the retro prog foundation of the album, Grace For Drowning has more accessible sounds than Porcupine Tree's material, like the early Genesis style of Deform To Form a Star or the string and piano backed Pastcard. Hopefully, this will open Wilson up to some wider public appreciation. In turn, this could introduce progressive music to a greater audience.

November singles

2011-11-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Another small collection of interesting tones from a wide range of sources.

The Big Sleep - Ace (from Nature Experiments, coming in early 2012)

The initial chop of staccato guitars sounds almost synth-like. But then Ace quickly takes on a more standard indie rock feel, with a more metered guitar line laid across the chop rhythm. Strong female vocals maintain control even as the chorus' grinding guitars thrash in.

The Big Sleep may a fairly small band, but they know how to effectively layer contrasting guitar lines and control dynamics. From the measured repressed tension of the interlude after the first chorus to wailing builds that threaten to overwhelm the song, Ace is a melange of textures. Indie rock leans towards post rock.

Ace is available for download from The Big Sleep's Facebook page.

James Leg - Do How You Wanna (from Solitary Pleasure)

It was just another party that turned into a jam session in my friend's basement. We'd been wailing away on blues based jams for hours -- the smoke was thick, ears were ringing, and we were all in awe of the powerful groove we were creating. It was a experience captured only by our memories.

James Leg (AKA John Wesley Myers of Black Diamond Heavies) channels his own version on Do How You Wanna. It's a lo-fi blues deconstruction with a grinding rhythm and flailing lead. Like the best garage rock or old school blues, the visceral playing is anchored in the magic of a moment. Leg's battery acid vocals are part Captain Beefheart and part hard ass living.

Pick up a free download here.

Housse de Racket - Chateau (from Alesia)

At its heart, all synth pop aspires to a kind of French ideal. The aloof vocals that cushion a deep inner emotion, the smooth perfection of the music, and the mix of retro cool and modern fashion all conjure a Gallic sense. French duo Housse de Racket willingly show how it's done.

Chateau updates the classic synth pop sound by emphasizing the pop elements. Its dance beat anchors the song, so the slightly moody vine ultimately succumbs to the insistence of the rhythm. Still, the lush synthesizers dress up the beat in fine fashion.

The art house video for Chateau is a great match for the song: full of symbolic static shots, distant actors, and stylized action. Housse de Racket is touring the US next month.

CD review - Lateef the Truthspeaker, FireWire (2011)

2011-11-28T17:00:00.001-07:00

Versatile rapper showcases his musical range

Lateef the Truthspeaker is most well known for his partnership with Lyrics Born and collaborations with artists like Fatboy Slim. His new solo album, FireWire offers a good sense of Lateef's creative breadth. His backing music comes from widely separated sectors of the musical map, from indie rock to standard soul beats. The focus is on his loose, conversational flow, but he's not afraid to throw down and sing or structure a verse-chorus style song.

That diversity makes FireWire an entertaining listen, but the production adds its own intrigue. Glitched, overlapping samples and electronic processing create a mix of old and new. The sounds are fresh, but the idea of a more studio focused hip hop album feels like a retro touch.

Take Oakland, for instance. The glitched R&B pop radio start sets a mood, but it quickly drifts into another space. The guitars and layering feel like indie rock, but there's a shimmery electro sheen that reveals the hybrid nature. The music, though, takes a back seat to the joyous celebration of Lateef's home town:

I come from the planet of Oakland
We got our own slang, own twang that's spoken
And it don't matter what race you are
Everybody pullin' strings like a bass guitar

The relaxed flow is easy to follow.

Compare that with the jazzy, Latin beat of Heckuvit. Its parts are layered as well, but the laid back vibe contrasts with the snappy lyrical delivery. Check out the flow on the chorus:

I make the melody move with a new alacrity
Doing what few can actually do,
I do with an elegance

I use the words with a nerve, it's almost absurd
And I'm told, if it's not for money
A purchase that it is irrelevant

But get that gallery out in front of an audience
Microphone in their palm
And they're small and out of their element

While I'm rockin' 'em, shockin' 'em with my talkin'
Ask me why I do it
Well, I do it for the heckuvit.

My favorite track, though, is Say What You Want, produced by DJ Shadow. The tight, spooky groove sets a lo-fi garage rock mood. The tension in the music supports the repressed anxiety of the lyrics, which spin out a story of hurt and vengeance. The verses are breathy as Lateef sings them and the hooky chorus is pop perfection.

Other tracks throw down some sonic surprises. Hardship Enterprise features a techno beat and a robotic guest vocal from Lyrics Born. Lateef also delivers some synth pop flavored new wave vibes, like We The People or Left Alone. Lateef's singing on Left Alone is solid, showing another tool in his versatile arsenal.

FireWire is a strong indication of Lateef the Truthspeaker's range. Check it out and find your own favorite sounds.

CD review - The Golden Awesome, Autumn (2011)

2011-11-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yin-yang between noise rock and dream pop

Why do I find such bliss in noisy abandon? There's something about a thick blur of grinding sound that drowns out my daily concerns. It's cathartic, even as fuzzed out guitars seem to echo some of the static I repress in my brain.

Regardless of how I made this association -- was it that first golden moment when I was transfixed by the Velvet Underground's Heroin? -- it hints at the psychoactive nature of music.

On Autumn, The Golden Awesome are just that: awesome. I'm cossetted and comforted in a hazy blanket of noise. Ragged guitars weave a psychedelic tapestry, mediated by distant, close-harmony vocals. The yin-yang between the singing and the music permeates Autumn. Floating above the fray, the dreamy sweetness of the vocals complements the sonic flail with a soothing contrast.

I included A Thousand Nights and One Night in my September singles post. All of that is true for Autumn as a whole. The songs vary in tempo and feel, but the shifting balance pervades the tracks, providing a subtle power that mere noise rock or dream pop would lack.

One of my favorite tracks is Where To Begin. It melds Pink Floyd's Fearless with the Beatles' Blue Jay Way. The repeated Escher-like melody climbs briefly before resolving back where it began. I love the sense of moving forward while staying centered.

Autumn was released on November 15 on M'Lady's Records.

DVD review - The Other F Word (2011)

2011-11-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Punk rock parenthood is not so different than the normal kind

The Other F Word is "fatherhood". Andrea Blaugrund Nevins' documentary took its inspiration from Jim Lindberg's 2007 book, Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life. Where Lindberg showcased his punk perspective on parenting, The Other F Word digs deeper into what fatherhood really means.

While the multitude of on-screen interviews with punk icons form a great hook, the heart of the documentary is more universal. Any parent watching this will recognize themselves. They'll think of their lifestyle before the kids and how they've reconciled their own formative years with the responsibilities of parenthood. They may not be covered with ink or be touring with the band, but they still have to balance their rebellious youth against their parental role and their job demands against time with the family. The difference may be more a matter of degree.

TOFW anchors itself to Jim Lindberg, shifting between his family time and touring with Pennywise. But other big names get plenty of screen time, too. Art Alexakis (Everclear), Fat Mike (NOFX), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion) are among the crowd of men offering their own views and various strategies. Fat Mike talks about how he and his wife weren't going to let parenthood change them. On the other hand, Ron Reyes (Black Flag) dropped out completely from his old lifestyle.

The documentary hits four distinct themes. The first two are about the punk scene, both the early days and today. There's a spark in recapping the early days, with the dark side of losing friends offset by the powerful feeling these guys got from the music. That contrasts with the maturity of the scene today, where the bands are faced with what they need to do to make a living. The other two themes cover the parenting side. There's a common thread of their absent or disconnected fathers and wanting to do a better job. Finally, the guys talk more about their own experiences in being a father.

Along the way, there are a host of soundbites that nail the dichotomy of punk parenthood:

The dominatrixes on my arm? The one tied up with a ball gag? I don't know. How do you explain that to a four year old? - Fat Mike

I went to volunteer at the school one time. I went up to the school for something and had no idea that I was wearing a shirt that said "Fuck the police" on it. Like, I was just that clueless - Jack Grisham (TSOL)

But the emotional moments are the real feast here, like Flea's perspective on parental responsibility and his bond with his daughters - My kids gave me life...they gave me a reason - or Duane Peters (U.S. Bombs) talking about the loss of his son, Chess.

This love and connection bridges the differences between these punk dads and the rest of us parents. I dabbled with punk as a 20-something and I still play music out. I'm faced with same decisions about balancing work and time with my son. While a younger me couldn't have imagined being a dad, today my son is a fundamental part of who I am. I may try to be the "cool dad", but at the same time, I feel a responsibility to help my son become the man he deserves to be.

I'm raising my son the way I wish I'd been raised. Someone said to me the other day, "I wish you were my father" and I go "Me, too. I wish I was my father, too." - Art Alexakis

The Other F Word is playing in theaters this November and December.

CD review - Whiskey Blanket, No Object (2010)

2011-11-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

Classical foundation takes Whiskey Blanket beyond classic hip hop

I was suckered by the novelty. That first time I saw Whiskey Blanket live, the gimmick of hip hop crossed with classical instruments pulled me in. Even so, the band had a spark that shined through the schtick. A little time with their album, Credible Forces, revealed Whiskey Blanket's wider range of influences and offered a sense of their potential.

On No Object, their sound is maturing. Their attention to the musical detail shows as the mix of original music, backing samples, and rap is more organic than before. The music side leans heavily towards laid back jazz grooves, blurring the lines between sample and original music. Some of the songs use spoken word elements to set up context or ambiance. DJ Steakhouse's scratching and beat production leave their mark but maintain plenty of open space. Sparse grooves like Joie De Vie's backing track provide an ideal setting for the lyrics.

Whiskey Blanket's complementary chemistry has grown stronger, too. The balance is effortless whether they split the song into larger sections like on Pound Boom or toss the lead like on Another Day Passes. The lyrical flow breezes along as the band moves between autobiographical themes and positive tip conscious rap.

No Object's restraint extends to the guest artist angle. The contributions are artistic and relevant. Elephant Revival's Bonnie Paine provides beautiful vocals and subtle musical elements. Fellow rapper Macklemore brings his unmistakable open style on Rule the Roost.

Whether it's long or we pack it in short sets
Who could be better to eradicate your stress
Than the four best and collaborative quartets
The Kings of Colorado and the Mack of the Northwest

Macklemore riffs on his original visits to Colorado and hooking up with Whiskey Blanket. The Latin horn backing on the track is sweet as they cover their shared experiences building a following here in Colorado.

No Object doesn't neglect the band's shared classical foundation. Ubiquitous Wavescape of the Re-upholstered Mind provides a cool musical interlude. The cello and violin work together through a couple of interesting motifs before the beat boxing pops in. In theory, the strings and rhythm should clash, but they mesh into a balanced hybrid.

My only regret is that I'm coming late to this party. No Object released last December and I missed it until recently. Check out Whiskey Blanket's unique sound and catch them live if you get the chance. The novelty might bring you in, but their show will keep you there.

CD review - Jonathan Coulton, Artificial Heart (2011)

2011-11-16T17:00:00.001-07:00

Bigger production emphasizes Coulton's strengths

I've been waiting for Artificial Heart with mixed feelings. The pre-release drop of Nemeses this summer maintained Jonathan Coulton's voice, but the full band sound was a big change. Until now, Coulton has largely been a solo acoustic performer. The larger arrangements on Artificial Heart bring out Coulton's strong pop underpinnings while keeping his skewed perspectives.

Many of the songs evoke a classic, old school power pop reminiscent of Joe Jackson or Marshall Crenshaw. The opening track, Sticking It To Myself, sets that tone. It's clever and fits for an artist making his break for a larger audience. Coulton acknowledges the changes with a nod and self deprecating wink in this power pop gem: "I'm the man now, and I'm sticking it to myself." It borders on my favorite "snotty boys with guitars" sound -- a tight arrangement featuring sneering vocals, horns, and perfect electric guitar fills.

Artificial Heart is full of these amusing moments. Another favorite is Je Suis Rick Springfield, which portrays a flustered Rick Springfield stuck in France among people who have no idea who he is. It's funny if you understand French, but the JoCo Wiki offers a translation for everyone to enjoy.

Coulton's poignant side also comes through on several songs. Artificial Heart sets up a metaphor (and excuse) for emotional disconnection, while Today With Your Wife sets up an ambiguous story of loss. This is especially effective with Coulton's soulful delivery and a solid piano arrangement. It feels like a Ben Folds track as it layers a casual surface with a deeper subtext. "You should have been there" - it could be about a widow, a neglected woman's affair, or maybe it's just an admonition to the subject of Artificial Heart.

Coulton has teamed up with some great artists on Artificial Heart. John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants) produced the album and brought in some impressive guest singers. Suzanne Vega's vocal on Now I Am An Arsonist is achingly beautiful. Paired with a wistful guitar, it could have come out of Richard and Linda Thompson's back catalog.

Sara Quin (Tegan and Sara) covers Ellen McLain's vocal on Still Alive, Coulton's award winning closer to the game Portal. The theremin intro is an interesting addition, but it stays largely true to the feel of the earlier recording. The album also includes Want You Gone, Coulton's song from Portal 2.

Coulton has shared his fears about pushing his boundaries on Artificial Heart. And it's true that some classic JoCo fans may be disappointed at the fuller band sound, the guest vocals, or some sense that Coulton is selling out. But the album is a natural outgrowth of Jonathan Coulton's work. His songs blend humor and odd perspectives with real feelings and humanity. Artificial Heart's fancier production and extras don't mask or change that.

CD review - Thomas Neptune, Down To Earth (2011)

2011-11-08T17:00:00.002-07:00

Rich production and a great pop voice

Thomas Neptune is riding a wave of hype and excitement based on winning the pop category in the 2011 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for his song, Unbreakable. The multi-instrumentalist is capitalizing on this springboard with four song EP, Down To Earth, that melds a singer/songwriter persona with a strong, pop oriented sound.

Down To Earth features lush, full arrangements that emphasize Neptune's pop aspirations. They're carefully constructed with delicate layers and subtle touches that never sound thick or busy. It's an extremely polished sound that puts Neptune's strong voice squarely in the center.

Like his contemporaries Bruno Mars or Jason Mraz, Neptune's sweet spot is a modern R&B soul sound. But his voice seems richer and warmer than either of those guys. He handles dynamics well, hitting a Bryan Adams rock sound then dropping to an intimate conversational level on The Good Times.

The songs themselves are fairly pop oriented, colored with an Americana vibe. The vocal drive and production are top notch, but it's early yet to see what kind of depth Neptune will bring to his music over time. Right now, songs like We're Beautiful show off his upbeat side:

Some are on their knees, praying to the East
Others wear a rosary
Your skin ain't quite like mine, in fact it's rather light
Why can't we all be colorblind
...
Been all around the world and one thing's sure
We're beautiful

It's a wonderful sentiment, but the lyrics are simplistic. It's no sin -- it's a catchy song and it should spawn some wonderful moments in live performance.

Give Down To Earth a listen and evaluate the hype. I expect we'll be hearing a lot more from Thomas Neptune.

CD review - The Wednesday Club, So Claw/Sour Crow (2011)

2011-11-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Double release supports short attention spans, but offers indie pop gems

When the Wednesday Club simultaneously released So Claw and Sour Crow, they intended the two albums to be appreciated separately. Reading between the lines, though, it's more likely that the three members had each written a folder full of songs and this reduced the number they'd need to cut. Despite their unwillingness to triage the material, the songs are all fairly solid, albeit short.

Stylistically, the twenty songs bounce around between a few distinct approaches. Their 80s new wave pop influenced songs play like brief homages to the Cure and Modern English. The pop psychedelic tracks might merit a tip of the hat to Guided By Voices, but the influence is less overt. Similarly, the edgier indie rock songs might evoke bands like Pavement, but that's more of a point of context than a direct reference.

Regardless of influences or style, the Wednesday Club is adept at creating idealized pop music that goes beyond being merely catchy and memorable. Their songs all have an aura of familiarity. It may just be the vagaries of my taste, but Sour Crow is a bit stronger.

Sour Crow's opening track, She Eats Brains, plays like Robyn Hitchcock and Pavement teamed up. The opening starts out like the Jam's That's Entertainment. Garage rock, new wave slickness, and punk energy are stirred together into a satisfying amalgam. The little guitar jam is all too short, but wonderful nonetheless.

This leads into Duet, whose intro and verses channel Modern English's I Melt With You, with lyrics reminiscent of the Cure's Friday I'm In Love. Bouncier than either of those two songs, the lyrics seem catchy but don't stand up to much scrutiny:

These sheets are canvases
On which I'll paint my thoughts
Inconsequential
Though they are, they're all I've got
Until I put them in the washing machine...

It may be nonsensical, but it's foot tapping perfection.

The best example of the Wednesday Club's pop psychedelia is Rat Facts on the So Claw side. It start with a Velvet Undergrounds-style understated beginning. The mundane lyrics get subsumed by the building layers of sound that push the song into a headier space.

Cleansing the pop palate, The Punchening (So Claw) melds odd vocals to a Pavement oriented song structure. The vocal arrangment pairs half spoken lead lines with conversational "harmonies". Jerky rhythms transform hesitation into something more visceral.

The genre hopping song flow and shorter song lengths seem geared toward an ADHD audience. It might have been better to cut the songlist by a third and explore the remaining songs more fully. Still, despite the differences in writing style, the three members of the Wednesday Club muster plenty of enthusiasm for each others musical visions. That energy makes So Claw/Sour Crow worth checking out. Grab a free download here. I also recommend the lyrics sheet, which puts the songs into some kind of context.

Concert review - They Might Be Giants

2011-11-04T21:30:00.002-06:00

3 November 2011 (Boulder Theatre, Boulder CO)

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants (TMBG) are touring with two fresh albums. Earlier this year, they released Join Us and their new album, Album Raises New And Troubling Questions releases later this month. As they played material from both albums, the band suggested that Join Us is better, but Album makes up for it in quantity. That kind of low key, self deprecating humor set the mood for TMBG, who delivered the full package for the excited crowd: quirkiness, humor, sincerity, and exceptional musical talent.

After the first song wrapped up, TMBG thanked us for coming out, "We know you have your choice of ossified alternative rock bands, and we're happy that you chose to fly with us tonight." This was a special show on the tour. On the downside, opener Jonathan Coulton didn't join the tour for this show. Still, TMBG performed their full album, Flood, albeit in reverse order. The rationale was that the conceptual second side of the album shared their real emotions and feelings as a band.

The show was structured with a short set at the beginning followed by Flood. Finally, they tagged the show with a 20 minute encore split into two parts. This gave them a chance to share a mix of old and new material.

The stage set up was roomy, giving guitarist John Flansburgh plenty of room to move around, hauling his mike stand with him. John Linnel spent the bulk of his time anchored stage center at the keyboards. A projected backdrop adapted to the various songs.

The first section of the set had a number of wonderful moments, from a spirited vocal performance on Alphabet of Nations (Here Come the ABC's) to new track Cloisonné (Join Us) featuring John Linnel on bass clarinet. The audience participation piece, Battle For the Planet of the Apes, was a lot fun and proved to be a recurring theme. The crowd often reverted back to chanting, "APE! APE!" or "PEOPLE!" at random moments, eventually leading Flans to blurt, "Please! It was just part of the show. It was not supposed to be the whole show" with exasperation.

As TMBG wound their way back through the songs on Flood, they stayed true to the band's earlier personality, but changed the songs to take advantage of having a full band. So, Hot Cha had a nice, jazzy interlude and We Want a Rock had a stronger, anthemic feel. The peak of the set, though, was Istanbul (Not Constantinople), which featured a wonderful "Miller Time" intro by guitarist Dan Miller. He riffed off the melody to start, but soon took off into a jazz interlude with elements of George Benson and Allan Holdsworth before settling into a flamenco groove.

In typical eccentric fashion, TMBG threw a break between the two theoretical sides of Flood. It was a tribute to Don Kirshner's Rock Concert with a song by their sock puppet alter-egos, the Avatars of They (and a photo of Meg Ryan!). The band wrapped up this hysterical break with a solid cover of Free Ride before getting back to Flood.

The only negative for the show (aside from the missing Coulton) was the sloppy musical mix in the house. The sound was fairly muddy, with an over-dominant kick drum. Birdhouse In Your Soul suffered the most from the mix problems. Despite this, They Might Be Giants gave the crowd both what they wanted and deserved: a great mix of old and new songs, an full night's show, and quality entertainment. Keep an eye out for their visit near you.

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review - Beats Antique, Elektrafone (2011)

2011-11-02T17:00:00.001-06:00

World-tronica band evolves their sound, but keeps their quirks

Elektrafone is an evolutionary step for Beats Antique. They haven't abandoned their idiosyncratic mix of live instruments and electronic grooves, but their latest emphasizes glitchy electronica more than their world beat vibe.

Does this shift signal a weakening in Beats Antique's character? The opening track, Cat Skillz, shows off the newer sound and emphatically counters any worries. Their unique vibe is evident from the start. The tag groove is anchored by a baritone sax and synths that set up a stalking rhythm: step, step...pause. This gets ornamented with a shimmering layer of electronic sounds. The beat is fairly straightforward, but the syncopation stays interesting. The central theme is reworked through several voicing change ups. Additional horns fill out the sound.

When Cat Skillz fades down and the wonky strings and off kilter beat of The Porch kick in, the last doubts fade away. The violin melody offers a reminder of the band's classic sound.

My favorite track was Uneven, which calls back to a more familiar world-tronica groove. Wisps of sound coalesce to start the track. The exotic strings create an Indian feel that plays against glitch and scratch parts along with traces of dub step bass. The moody mix of analog old world and modern digital sounds hits that perfect balance that Beats Antique mastered in their earlier releases.

Siren Song was another intriguing interlude. The atmospheric track has a pensive tension, starting from the piano that tolls the opening notes. The glitched elements are offset by the discordance of the 20th Century classical tonality. The mood is thick as the violin line devolves into a chaotic wildness, only to pop back into place. Glitchy creaks and other sounds fit together to create an eerie vibe. It's a wonderful programmatic piece that would be a great backdrop for some of Zoe Jakes' choreography.

Elektrafone's celebration of glitch still supports Beats Antique's special character. Even with fewer Mideastern beats, old fans will appreciate how the band continues to expand the genre of electronic music.

Previous coverage

CD review - MUTEMATH, Odd Soul (2011)

2011-10-31T16:30:00.000-06:00

Diverse sounds and stark contrasts, but rooted in soulful, old school rock
MUTEMATH may have some roots in Christian rock, but the band has made efforts to distance themselves from the segregated market niche that implies. On Odd Soul, the occasional lyric may reference spiritual matters, but the message is more about the music than the Good Word.

That musical message on Odd Soul is rooted in a contemporary interpretation of bluesy soul. While MUTEMATH hasn't abandoned all electronic elements here, the bulk of the album has a retro vibe and saturated, lo-fi vocals that beg for comparison to the Black Keys. But they're not so much derivative as mining some of the same influences.

What makes the album click is the diversity of sounds, even within a single song. Stark contrasts, like the grinding beat and updated Bad Company vibe of Odd Soul against the electro pop, artificial sound of All or Nothing, can be jarring. But the tracks generally feature enough sonic shift to provide a larger context.

The arrangements are well crafted to setting a solid mood while showing off the band's technical strengths. A short interlude like Sun Ray conveys a reflective, jazzy vibe, but attentive ears will appreciate Darren King's impressive drum work and how it balances against the slinky guitar line. Similarly, the warbling organ on Cavalries sets up a psychedelic soul groove. The opening bounces before sliding into a breakneck drive that suggests Edgar Winter's Frankenstein. Once again, the drums are phenomenal.

Blood Pressure, a great choice as one of Odd Soul's singles, features a stripped down start. Tightly wound, the verses sound a bit like Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus, but the chorus splits the song wide open. The dynamics create a delicious tension. This is begging for the drawn out jam of a live version.

The last three tracks orchestrate a perfect flow. Equals balances retro funk rock with a floating chorus before melting into the sprawling jam of Quarentine. Here, the funk riffs veer into prog rock territory and back before wrapping up with an electro-mechanical sound. This nerve rattling finish drags out before finally dropping into the reprieve of In No Time. It's gently comforting, but subtly builds into an hopeful anthem:

Where's your heart gone and where's your soul?
When did all of your faith go?
And where's that old spark, a failure stole?
Well, I'll bet we'll find it in no time at all

Spiritual, but not particularly preachy. MUTEMATH alludes to their origins and keeps moving forward.

October singles

2011-10-28T17:00:00.001-06:00

It's time again to collect some music that caught my ear this month. Check out some funk, a couple of very different lo-fi retro songs, and some synth pop flavored rock. Pick your poison.

Greedy Cherry - No Excuse (from EP)

Bass player Michael Conrad recorded his EP under the band name Greedy Cherry. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music, he assembled a talented crew of musicians matched to each track of the project. Conrad took an experimental approach on the EP, jumping from style to style. The flow, especially on the first three tracks, is surprisingly coherent.

Lead off track No excuse was my favorite song from EP. The solid funk groove opens with a Temptations style bass line, but once it gets underway, it incorporates tasty guitar work and beautiful organ lines.

Funk often plays with a tight rhythm by slipping a little behind the beat, then catching up to create a kind of hang moment. Greedy Cherry extends this into a suspended hold. Check out the dub drop at 0:19. Everybody drops out except the keys for a full measure. As the organ holds a chord, the next 4 seconds float long enough to sound like a track glitch before slipping back in. It's all in the timing.

Bare Wires - Back on the Road (from Cheap Perfume)

I can't click through my inbox without tripping over yet another band strutting out their lo-fi, garage tone trying capture some retro cred. All too often, the band is just a muddy mess or, worse, they're somehow pretentiously sloppy. Yes, garage rock is lo-fi, reverbed, and twangy, but the real thing bottles lightning and can raise the hair on the back of your neck.

Oakland's Bare Wires understand this in their DNA. Not only do they hit that sweet fuzzy sonic spot, they get that live, all-at-once energy. Where their competition can sound right if the playback volume is high enough, Bare Wires sounds righteous at any volume.

Back on the Road starts out like the Animals with a dash of Who. The high tension beat and formal rhythm guitar evoke Roky Erickson - not when he's battling his demons, but when he's exultant. The hardest thing about listening is not picking up my guitar to play along.

Bare Wires just dropped their latest album, Cheap Perfume, on October 18 (Southpaw Records).

Mark Sultan - In Future Worlds (from the double release, Whatever/Whenever I Want)

Before you even watch the video, you owe it to yourself to read Mark Sultan's rant declaring war on rock 'n' roll. It's as heartfelt as any classic SubGenius rant, begging us to kill rock'n'roll to save it. This is how Sultan pulled me into his sphere. Reading about him, I figure he's some kind of snake-oil selling genius, but he's wormed his way into my brain.

In Future Worlds bridges garage psychedelia and doo-wop. Unlike Bare Wires, Sultan's version of the garage is anything but effortless. But the quirkiness is still compelling. The lyrics play with abstract imagery, and Sultan's voice shifts between intoned verses and the Del Shannon style chorus. Like the song itself, the video romps in joyful excess.

Continuing the complexity, Sultan has released two vinyl albums, What ever I Want and Whenever I Want, along with a compilation CD, Whatever/Whenever that pulls 7 tracks from each album.

The Gift - RGB (from Explode)

The Gift is a four piece band out of Portugal. They've made their mark back home, but now they're ready to grab some attention here in the States. Their latest album, Explode, released here last month and they had a quick cross country tour before heading down to Brazil.

RGB shows off their lush synth pop infused sound. The synthesizer riff and washes set the hook, but a solid rock beat kicks in to shift the feel from electronica to pop. The interlocking guitar lines and heavy drum work mesh smoothly with the synth underpinnings. Sónia Tavares' voice is strong, deep, and fluid.

Grab the free download and enjoy the Gift's polished sound.

Concert review - Anvil, with several openers

2011-10-26T23:20:00.000-06:00

25 October 2011 (Casselman's Bar, Denver CO)

Most of the hard hitting shows I've seen have been in dives. The Anvil concert at Casselman's Bar proved that an upmarket ambiance doesn't stifle a gritty rock experience. The venue had a comfortable front bar and a concert hall in back. Sure, the candlelit tables at the back of the hall were out of place for a metal show, but the roomy stage, high ceilings, and clean sound were a treat.

Between the incoming snow forecast and a slow Tuesday night, the turnout didn't begin to fill the big open hall. Opeth playing at the Ogden probably didn't help, either. Still, the smaller crowd was enthusiastic for the packed line up. A total of four bands warmed up the crowd for Anvil. The variety among the acts meant that fans could enjoy several flavors of metal in short 25 minute sets.

Side Effect

Side Effect kicked off the show a little before 8pm. It's all a matter of taste, but they were my favorite of the four opening acts. Their sound meshed best with Anvil's, with a good mix of grinding rhythm and throbbing bass. Their stage energy fit well, too, with a mix of fun and metal pose.

The lanky lead singer draped himself around the stage: perching a leg on a monitor to lean into the crowd or stalking back and forth. He worked the crowd, egging us on and sharing his enthusiasm for the music. The bass player tried to grab his share of the spotlight, goofing around and flashing his Gene Simmons-like tongue. That didn't stop him from keeping a constant drive going.

The two guitarists had the standard split of rhythm and lead duties, but they were well coordinated. They covered some good twinned rhythm parts to fill out the sound and also paired up on lead once in while. The main lead player had plenty of flash and great tone, while the rhythm player had a more focused sound, even on his occasional leads. The dual guitar sound was a bit like Judas Priest. Rooted in a classic heavy metal sound, their progressions were interesting.

The drummer was hidden back in his cage, but laid down some great double kick rhythms. Side Effect played hard and focused but their stage vibe was relaxed and fun. That combination was a winner.

Elete

Elete took the stage with a strong visual presence. Paramilitary outfits and masks created a depersonalized stage presence. As the singer swaggered around the stage, the rest of the band focused on posing and projecting a strong, harsh attitude. It was a very theatrical vibe that matched the industrial metal sound of the music.

The band played along with a backing track of synthesizers and other electronic sounds. The dark grind of the music formed a setting for the singer's raspy voice and screamy punctuations.

Live keyboards would have helped, but aside from the masks and makeup, Elete needed more show. The high point was when the singer came out into the audience to hector the people lurking back at the tables and the rhythm guitar player lip synched to his vocals.

The Threatened

The Threatened dragged the audience back to classic heavy metal. The smooth vocal arrangements featured tight harmonies that pushed the sound to a more radio friendly direction. In stark contrast to Elete, the Threatened took the stage in their street clothes.

The opening song, Savior featured a strong, chunky rhythm and a great bass solo. Later, the guitarist switched to a seven string guitar to shred out. Aside from the vocals, several of the songs had an early AC/DC grind.

The best song of the set, though, was Lose Control, which burst out with a great drum riff. While the band's playing was great, the drum work took it over the top. The verses featured some strong tom work, but the kick drum rolls were incredible.

The Threatened had a decent stage presence, moving around a bit. They needed more visual spark and more audience engagement to stand out in this crowd of bands.

Pressure Point

Pressure Point knew all about visual spark. Rather than relying on their own charms, they brought in reinforcements. The show started out with a bit of theatre. A hot, bikini-clad babe walked the bass player onto the stage on a leash. Then another played roadie for the guitar player. The girls stayed on the stage to dance and act as eye candy. This explained Pressure Point's self-description as a rock a GOGO band.

The bass player actually looked like he was having fun, but the rest of the band kept more serious expressions most the time. The guitar player pulled out some strong chops and the drummer kept up an assault beat driving the songs.

In spite of the pretty dancers and solid playing, Pressure Point's focus was the political message of the lyrics. Front man Kirk Young rapped and ranted his way through the set, raging at the government and conspiracies. He was more of a demagogue at a rally than a metal band singer. The vibe was mostly libertarian with a touch of tea party mixed in. I'll admit that I was a little uncomfortable with the swastika in their logo.

The unrelated mix of media and message made the set feel like propaganda.

Anvil

Before Anvil took the stage, the lurking crowd finally filtered forward, filling out the front of the stage for the first time. A stronger turnout would have been nice, but Anvil seemed pleased as punch to play for us. That attitude is a big part of what made Anvil! The Story of Anvil a successful documentary. It's clear that these guys truly love to play and perform. Their set showed off their strong personalities and featured a good balance between the theatrical and the music.

Drummer Robb Reiner spent the show hidden behind his immense kit, but he imposed his personality through his playing. The beats were heavy and in-time, but he never settled for simplistic. Instead he threw in constant fills and syncopation that provided a strong foundation for the guitar and bass. Late in the set, he finally got his chance for a real solo and was amazing. Double kick rolls and driving toms provided power, but his rhythmic change ups and dynamic shifts kept the solo interesting.

Bass player Glenn Five mostly maintained a serious look that wavered between disdain and maniacal, but every now and then he broke character and grinned at the crowd's enthusiasm. Even if his pose seemed aloof, his bass work was fully engaged. His spider fingers ran through the bottom end, then switched to a fist pound on the bass. Amazing chops, wicked stage persona, and charisma -- he had it all.

Guitar player Steve "Lips" Kudlow was the goofy counterpoint to Glen Five's attitude. Above all, his joyful stage presence made him seem boyish. He mugged for the crowd, taking every opportunity to strike a pose. His clowning had the perfect degree of self deprecation to invite the audience into his world. As the only one who really spoke, he provided the face of the band: a regular guy who's amazed to be doing what he loves.

At the same time, Lips' playing was always exactly what the song needed from precise chops to bombastic leads. Like his clown persona, his flashy moves added to the show. Whether he was controlling feedback with precision or talking into his guitar like a microphone, he provided a show to match the music. During the extended solo on Mothra, he pulled out a vibrator and used it to drive the pickups and then play slide guitar.

Anvil's sound was rooted in old school heavy metal. You could hear echoes of Black Sabbath and Motörhead, along with occasional flashes of Metallica. Most of all, it was just fun. They ended their set with a powerful version of Metal On Metal. After a brief encore of Running, the night was over all too soon. After Anvil!, Anvil was sometimes called the real Spinal Tap. Last night's concert proved that they were much more than that - warm hearted, hard playing, and ass kicking.

Many more photos on my Flickr

CD review - Pinkunoizu, Peep (2011)

2011-10-24T17:00:00.000-06:00

More dreamlike than dreamy...how did I get here?

Pinkunoizu's EP, Peep, is not so much dreamy as dreamlike. The band manages to create and capture the sense of a free ranging subconsciousness throughout the course of the EP. Like any night's dreamscapes, Peep doesn't start out that strangely.

The fade-in intro of Time Is Like a Melody suggests a thousand other dreamy pop bands. The drifting vibe blends bubbling synths, washes, and a simple guitar strum. As the song finds its structure, this is where other dream pop bands would settle into the groove. But Pinkunoizu takes it further. Swirling around, they build a rich rhythmic complexity as the tune circles. Jarring shards of guitar are just as welcome as water drop kalimba tones.

These looping layers jumble together. When the song fades down into an a capella finish, the vocal stratas maintain the interwoven rhythms of the main song. A little outside the box for dream pop, Time Is a Melody serves as the first step down into dreamland.

The second track, Everything is Broken or Stolen, takes us further afield. It establishes a poly-rythmic groove as initial passing sounds give way to a meandering synth melody. There's a great moment where the trippy music drops out briefly to accent the beginning of the detached and disconnected vocal.

Soon, though, the song falls back into an instrumental exploration that starts collecting unrelated sounds over the main groove. After a number of twists, a new set of repetitive vocals comes in. It seems unclear how we've arrived here, but, as in a dream, we accept it. The theme mutates and is slowly overtaken by the earlier meandering keyboard line. Eventually, the track settles back into polyrythm before collapsing into a strange clockwork finish.

Now that we're deeply anchored in sleep, Pinkunoizu lays out the strangest track. Dairy Queen's ominous start -- a tone and a tolling beat -- sets up a feeling of powerlessness. Sounding like parts of The Wall, the song moves forward. But it opens up and shifts into a more reflective mood before dissolving into surrealism.

This is where Peep crosses into the seemingly random logic of dreamspace. Like the slow unwinding of the subconscious, the flow is not so clear. One moment slides into the next, but cause and effect seem suspended. This surrealistic meltdown proceeds until, out of the void, an element emerges.

The classic Irish folk song, Red is the Rose, provides a touchstone for this dream to latch onto like a lifeline. The melody becomes an organizing motif as the track becomes more song-like. As the psychedelic jam extends the theme, it's hard to remember just how we got here.

The end of the song is a confused awakening, The tatters of the last 22 and a half minutes slip through the fingers and any summary is elusive.

Essay: Musical feng shui

2011-10-21T17:00:00.001-06:00

Whether you believe in feng shui or not, it's a useful concept to apply a set of rules to bring things into balance. Things like the balance of parts within a song, the flow of songs in a setlist or album, or even the emergent collective arising from the members of a band -- all of these can fit together or fall apart. Like feng shui may be used to improve an environment, I believe there are tools that can be applied to making better music.

Feng shui relies on a few basic ideas such as energy, polarity, and direction. In the musical setting, energy can be anything from an attitude (of a song or player) to tempo or dynamics. Polarity provides context for that energy: loud or soft? structured or chaotic? passive or aggressive? Finally, direction adds an element of relativity -- going from here to there -- that creates flow.

Just as feng shui builds rules upon these foundation concepts, we can invent rules for our musical world. One of the core rules I've internalized is cooperation and contrast. I came to understand this with my reggae band, Cool Runnings. There were seven of us playing and we each needed to create our place in the song.

Cooperation comes first: what can I play that fits together with another part to support it? This could be matching a rhythm or echoing a melodic line. By supporting another musical element, it validates my part. But cooperation is not enough. Without contrast, my duplication is pointless because it can't be heard. I need to add an element of contrast that justifies my part and helps create complexity. So, if I echo a melodic line, I can expand upon it. At a higher level, if everything else in the song is pure harmony or strongly structured, it might be appropriate to contrast that with controlled discord or a little chaos.

Another rule is to work for dynamic balance. A situation that shifts but holds together is more interesting for the players and for the audience. A static balance can be challenging to achieve, but ultimately it's less interesting because it can't offer the novelty that arises from disparate parts coming together without settling into predictable ruts.

This rule pushes me into band and jam situations, because it's harder to create a dynamic balance alone. Playing with other musicians not only forces me outside my comfort zone to become a better player, it also creates another musical context to display my playing in a new light.

The power of dynamic balance can be seen when comparing solo artists with the bands they arose from. A single solo album may be great, but the lone player doesn't often hit the heights they reached in their band. The Beatles' post-breakup work serves as a great example. A richly artistic solo career is often dependent on the musician partnering with the right people to maintain that dynamic balance. So, David Bowie has collaborated with Mick Ronson and Brian Eno. Likewise, Peter Gabriel has worked with a variety of strong producers like Bob Ezrin, Robert Fripp, and Daniel Lanois, as well as iconic musicians like Tony Levin.

Other rules I've used include dedication to the groove, which is about following flow rather than driving it, and swapping figure and ground as a technique for emphasizing elements with low dynamics. But like feng shui, the challenge isn't learning the rules, it's figuring out how to apply them.

CD review - Hugh Laurie, Let Them Talk (2011)

2011-10-19T17:00:00.000-06:00

"House" shares his musical true love

I became a Hugh Laurie fan through British comedy. Even though his occasional musical numbers during A Bit of Fry and Laurie showed off his talent, his wit was always central. Part of the pleasure of watching Laurie in House is the cognitive dissonance of seeing him play a dramatic American, but this probably laid the groundwork to appreciate his work on Let Them Talk.

Rootsy tribute albums like Let Them Talk succeed or fail on the abilities of the artist. John Doe and Sadies' Country Club showed their love of classic country and they had the skill to sell the songs and give them relevance. On the other hand, Elvis Costello's attempt, Almost Blue, largely missed the mark. Hugh Laurie takes his shot at classic blues and jazz and largely succeeds, in part because of the solid musical help he brought along to the project.

As St. James Infirmary started with a solo piano, it seemed like a repositioning of the tune, especially when the cadenza built into a heavy weight, almost classical treatment. Laurie shifted to a straighter bluesy piano style, though and worked his way through the changes. The arrangement turned out impressively. The song runs through as an instrumental, taking it to conclusion. Then, the walking bass rises from fading piano to start the song over again, this time as a moodier jazz arrangement with vocals. The shift to a fuller sound -- horns, slide guitar, etc - supports the vocals nicely.

Laurie's voice is the only weak link. He holds a tune fairly well, but his vocals are strained and a little tight. With Fry and Laurie, he'd often affect a singing style to match the song and that sense of affectation permeates Let Them Talk. When guest singers step in, like Dr. John on After You're Gone, there's a fluidity that Laurie misses. That said, his love of the material shines through the project and his playing is superb.

One of my favorite tracks was the Professor Longhair classic, Tipitina. Laurie's piano intro is has some tasteful fills, but the song hits its stride when the funky groove gets underway. The instrument arrangement is loose, allowing for a mix of interaction between the players in the midst of the bluesy, New Orleans style chaos. Laurie's vocals are more relaxed here than some of the other tracks and the emphasis is more on the music anyway.

Another pleasant surprise was Tom Jones' soulful singing on Baby, Please Make a Change. Powerful and emotional, Jones' testifies over the gaunt arrangement. A mournful fiddle vies with a clarinet and slide guitar for "best solo" bragging rights. The shuffle picks up tempo to drive the song to its righteous conclusion. Amen.

Let Them Talk meshes nicely with Hugh Laurie's recent Great Performances appearance on PBS. In addition to sharing music from the album and some live sets, Laurie had the chance to talk about his discovery of the blues. The show and the album demonstrate the passion he brings to this music.

Concert review - Cymbals Eat Guitars with Hooray For Earth, A Mouthful of Thunder

2011-10-16T23:00:00.002-06:00

15 October 2011 (Hi-Dive, Denver CO)

Cymbals Eat Guitars played the Hi-Dive a year and a half ago. At the time, I was amazed by their stage energy compared their album, Why There Are Mountains. Now they're making the rounds again after their latest release, Lenses Alien. Their touring support act, Hooray For Earth was a good fit with CEG's live sound. Local openers, A Mouthful of Thunder had a more mainstream indie rock sound, but they certainly did their part to warm up the crowd.

A Mouthful of Thunder

A Mouthful of Thunder's indie rock set led off with an earnest, poppy sound. Stephen Till worked hard to show how invested he is in his lyrics, keeping his focus turned inward. The band was tight, sticking together through all song shifts. In particular, their dynamic changes were a treat as they could create a stripped down sound to fit the earnest mood of the vocals; then they could slowly build that up into a thick, more aggressive vibe.

The bass player's harmony vocals filled out the vocal range and balanced well with some of Till's plaintive singing. I wish I knew his name, because he brought a great attitude to the stage. While all of the guys were very competent musicians, the bass player's spontaneous smiles and engagement injected some much needed personality to the act.

Till did a fine job of singing, often bringing a dreamy quality to the songs. I also liked their guitar player. He had a stiff, awkward stage presence, looking a bit like Clark Kent, but his solos and fills were precise and interesting.

The most interesting song of the set was centered on percussion. The guitar player took over the keys and the keyboard player switched to a standing tom. He and the drummer set up a call and response that anchored the song. Trading rhythmic lines and paradiddles, their foundation supported a folky indie rock groove with moody keys and then propelled the song into a more intense space.

Hooray For Earth

Kicking off with a synth driven electro pop sound, Hooray for Earth quickly added enough grind to sabotage any thoughts of dreamy bounce. Instead, the sound thickened with heavy overtones that bordered on mind control.

Just like the synth pop start that seemed like a feint, the group's appearance was deceiving, too. A typical indie rock line up: guitar and drums and one guy pulling double duty on bass and keys. But the sound was anything but typical. First of all, the guitar was much more synth-like, using an octaver, harmonizer, and sampling to build brain burrowing synth textures. The vocals are also heavily processed with the harmonizer. Together, they show a lot of Adrian Belew influence, especially some of the heavier King Crimson work.

This was tempered by Peter Gabriel style world-beat drumming. Emphasizing the kick drum over toms or snare, the beats melded with the ringing musical noise to create a hypnotic trance effect. With synth melting into looped guitar feedback or octaved guitar adding its own bass, Hooray for Earth had a surprisingly huge sound for a mere three piece band.

Despite the volume that treated my ear plugs with contempt, the effect of all this loud noise was not a cacophony. Instead, it channeled a cathartic intensity like an effective rolfing session. At the end of the set, I was drained, but satisfied.

Cymbals Eat Guitars

Cymbals Eat Guitars started off the set with Indiana from Why There Are Mountains. Where the album version builds an anticipatory cloud of sound to launch the dreamy vocal start, the live version developed more slowly. A scattering of opening guitar notes was overcome by a wave of discordant keyboard angst. Swells of sound rose and fell for a good minute and a half before Joe D'Agostino started the vocals, letting the mood fully permeate. The texture of sound and longing in those first words touched me just like Trail of Dead.

They followed this up with an emotionally raw version of Plainclothes. D'Agostino's face locked tight as he forced the vocals out. Where Hooray for Earth built a thick wall of sound, CEG laid out a shimmery curtain of sparkling elements. Subtle tones resonated and echoed, acting as a conduit to transfer the band's intensity to the audience.

It was easy to focus on D'Agostino as he twisted and spastically jerked, then held himself tight to squeeze out more lyrics. But the rest of the band each contribute their necessary elements, whether it's Matt Whipple's melodic bass work, Brian Hamilton's noise manipulation behind the keys, or Matthew Miller's tight dynamic control on drums. D'Agostino and his songs are the centerpiece, but they wouldn't work without the well organized work of the the others.

As noisy and overwhelming that CEG's sound could get, it was always a controlled chaos. Mission critical to the songs and the mood, the band would demonstrate this when they dropped the dynamics to give focus to a particular section or lyric. That intensity is like splicing high tension wires. After a full hour's set, Cymbals Eat Guitars left the stage, drained but triumphant.

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review - And the Giraffe, Something for Someone (2011)

2011-10-14T16:00:00.001-06:00

Exploring a full palette of dreamy folk

College towns like Gainesville, Florida often foster great music scenes. Some hit it big like Tom Petty, Don Felder, Against Me!, and Less Than Jake, which all have roots in Gainesville. On the other side, I remember all the local bands I loved there during my college daze. When I found out that And the Giraffe came out of G'ville, I was psyched to hear what was coming out of today's local scene.

Something For Someone offers a moody mix of dream folk. The EP's six tracks maintain the kind of shimmery reverb haze that defines the genre, but And the Giraffe manage to evoke a wide range of feelings. This is rooted in subtleties of timing: a touch of rhythmic drag can shift the sense from expectation to fatalism.

And the Giraffe's sound is reminiscent of Gomez's more drifty tracks, largely because the vocals capture a piece of Ben Ottewell's tone. The first track, Underground Love hits this best of all. It's simple and floaty, with the guitar taking on a saturated tone against the swaying bass and stripped down drums. The raspy, velvet vocals capture a kind of weariness, but there's an undercurrent of satisfaction. The whispery background vocals give the whole tune the sense of an interior monologue.

This contrasts with the late summer night sound of 1055. Here the echoed guitar works against a steadier keyboard to create a sense of surrender: "And my God, I almost fell in love." Later on Magic 8, the feeling is anticipatory, waiting for some promised treat. The loping rhythm is light, but creates a dreamscape, with the sense of running down a hill to a wonderful future of possibility.

Although Something for Someone is short, I love that And the Giraffe have stretched out the boundaries of expression available within the dream folk sub-genre. The music is beautifully recorded and mixed, perfect for headphones. It would be great to hear what the band could do with a full length album.

Drop by Bandcamp to hear Something for Someone.

CD review - Pink Skull, Psychic Welfare (2011)

2011-10-12T18:00:00.001-06:00

Electro-pop grooves offer dance and dissonance

Julian Grefe and Justin Geller's Pink Skull follows a pattern of expansion with each of their album releases. Their last release, Endless Bummer added a band and they've added a couple more members for their latest album, Psychic Welfare.

The album is full of spacy, electronic grooves that toy with disco, techno, and house, but the foundation is a danceable electro-pop. Grefe adds his detached vocals to several of the songs, which is a shift from Pink Skull's earlier albums. When it clicks, like the distant, grey-eyed soul of Ayatollah, it's great. Overall, though, his voice left me longing for someone more dynamic to contrast with the steady beats.

There are several interesting songs scattered through the thirteen tracks, but several are shorter interludes. The shortest of these prove distracting, such as the free jazz sax of Two Bills. The longest interlude, the trancey Late Night Eggs, has some interesting ideas that deserve some longer attention.

Fitting with some of Psychic Welfare's themes of decay and ruin, the flow between the tracks doesn't aim for smoothness. On the other hand, the strong pop aesthetic on several of the songs adds its own contrast to the album's message. This leads to moments like Hot Bubblegum, which seems to parody disco, giving it a synth pop treatment. Verse lyrics seem to offer an assessment of society, but the chorus reduces it all to "Hot bubblegum, it's all over me."

The most listenable track is the blissful, tripping vibe of Mu. It takes a mild trance groove insto a stronger dance-space by merging in a synth pop bass line. This is the sort of direction that Late Night Eggs could have traveled. The steady beat and easy breaks all contribute to the smooth sound. Billy Dufala's embedded sax solo is a tasteful touch.

The single, Bee Nose (Put Yr Face On), begins with a dirty keyboard chord progression that sounds like King Crimson's early work.

Pink Skull - Bee Nose (Put Yr Face On) from RVNG Intl. on Vimeo.

Then, the electro-beat groove kicks in. This sets up a satisfying contrast between the lo-fi elements and the ringing synth lead line. By the end, the fidelity seems to decay, leading to a trippy ending.

Despite the dance beats, Psychic Welfare is more geared for home listening. On its own merits, it's a fairly decent album. The obvious improvement would have been a more coherent track flow. That might have hurt Pink Skull's artistic theme, but it would have given the album more head space.

CD review - Brian TV/Cold Coffee (2011)

2011-10-10T19:15:00.001-06:00

A brain divided offers interesting musical perspectives

I covered Das Black Milk's Talk to Your Body last year, which featured an odd mix of post punk and lo-fi psychedelic sounds. Now two of the members have released a "split cassette" together with their respective side projects. Brian Emmert's Brian TV and Nathaniel Kane's Cold Coffee fit together like the two separated hemispheres of a brain. To some extent, they showcase their respective contributions to Das Black Milk's sound.

After listening to both of these EP length parts, it motivated me to pull out Talk to Your Body again, first for the context and then just for enjoyment.

The two projects are available on BandCamp (Brian TV/Cold Coffee)

Brian TV

Brian TV represents the right hemisphere of the project's musical brain. As such, it evokes a strong right brain response. On Automatic, the first track, I was instantly happy the moment the laid back beat kicked in. It spoke to some kind of subconscious escapist within me.

Automatic's groovy psychedelia sets up a carefree, lazy feel. The lyrics are simplistic a la Syd Barrett, but Brian TV is more musically structured. A chiming interlude rings in between the verses, emphasizing the heady vibe. This wasn't quite as produced as Tired Eyes from Das Black Milk, but it had a kind of simple purity.

This shows off Brian TV's musical approach, following an early psychedelic model. Emmert uses a pop foundation and then subverts it. Jiggly organ parts are paired with distorted guitars in a noisier version of Das Black Milk's typical sound.

Shifting mood, the next track shifts the mood. Chaingang Boogie has a stark arrangement of toms, bass, and a meandering organ line supporting a heavily reverbed vocal. It's not quite a Devo-style deconstruction, but it's close.

Back to psychedelia, Beverly Hills starts out as an uptempo garage psych rocker, but the breakdown bridge aspires to Pink Floyd trippiness -- check out the floaty organ and spacy lead. Then the beat reasserts itself into garage rock. The remaining tracks work the garage sound to perfection.

The beauty of garage psychedelia is that it's less polished than its rarified kin, allowing a deeper emotional response to the flow. Brian TV captures this beautifully.

Cold Coffee

In contrast, Cold Coffee appeals more to the left brain. The sounds are interesting and the tunes work at being artfully quirky. Kane's group emphasizes the other, new wave side of Das Black Milk's sound. It's like a lo-fi version of XTC crossed with Pere Ubu style experimentalism.

Opening track, Consolation Faces has some of XTC's early pop-oriented bounce with a twist, albeit with a mushier sound. The odd, angular melodic line in the chorus is a shout for attention, which is typical of Cold Coffee's songs.

Old Blood pushes the sound the furthest. A jerky beat, quirky singing, and chromatic lead noodling come together in something like Zappa's early Lumpy Gravy experiments or David Thomas' more outside work with Pere Ubu. This is anything but casual listening music, but the musical shifts are challenging and interesting.

Cold Coffee won't be everyone's cup of sushi, but it serves as shot of ginger to counter Brian TV's visceral trippiness. Follow the BandCamp links above and check out the music.

CD review - Gringo Star, Count Yer Lucky Stars (2011)

2011-10-07T22:00:00.001-06:00

Thick layers of saturated sound are best at full volume

Context is key. After a cursory listen to Count Yer Lucky Stars, I mentally filed it away as lo-fi retro pop. It wasn't bad, but I didn't connect. I came back to it largely because I loved the band name, Gringo Star. This time, I kicked up the volume which made all the difference.

Count Yer Lucky Stars is designed for loud listening. At higher volume, the fully saturated tone resonates, drowning out any other voices competing for attention in your head. This exposes Gringo Star's psychedelic undertones. The hard stereo separation and lo-fi, garage band sound mesh perfectly with that intensity. Lo-fi doesn't mean sloppy; the band is tight as a drum head on their changes.

Count Yer Lucky Stars is chock full of retro elements, whether it's the reverb drenched tones of Mexican Coma, the the close harmonies on songs like Come Alive, or the doo-wop vibe of Jessica. But Gringo Star rises above retro obsession with their punchy attitude and complex sonic layers.

Title track, Count Yer Lucky Stars is rooted in a Yardbirds sound, even name checking For Your Love. Up tempo drums set up a rollicking two chord rhythm line, with guitars, keys, and bass. The double time pick up into the chorus sends the song hurtling at a frantic pace. It's a mod, mid-'60s rocker, but the solo kicks it loose into a headier space. The lo-fi mix and thick reverb reduce the backing parts to an ebb and flow between the two chords. Turn up the volume and details emerge from the mud, like the trippy Doors-style keyboards.

Shadow is another strong track. Elements of ska, retro pop harmonies, and garage sneer blend together in a swirling mass. The chorus is ushered in with muted guitar strums providing a rhythmic pick up. The bridge goes for an overtly psychedelic repetition. An archeologist could make a career out of excavating details from the layers of saturated sound. The last chorus fades down to set up the perfect contrast for the sparse power pop sound of the next track, You Want It.

Count Yer Lucky Stars has been ringing in my ears all day as a moderating influence for buzz kills like work, traffic, and chores. How lucky is that? Pick up the album when it releases on October 25. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to Gringo Star's show in Denver (10/20). I have no doubts that the band will deliver the songs with all the rattle and ring they need.

Listen to Count Yer Lucky Stars on AOL Spinner.

CD review - Mekons, Ancient and Modern, 1911-2011 (2011)

2011-10-05T19:30:00.001-06:00

Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold

The Mekons long ago grew past their punker roots to take on English folk, American country, and rock. Garnering a loyal fanbase and critical acclaim, the band has hung around the fringes for decades. Ancient and Modern, 1911-2011 is the band's latest release and it's ambitious in scope of style and time.

The songs wander through the eras, from the old-time, flapper sound of Geeshie, through the stately Kinks sound of I Fall Asleep, and into the Scary Monsters Bowie vibe of Calling All Demons. The century reference in the title also tries to bridge the gap from here to the end of England's Edwardian period.

The common theme seems to echo the lines from Yeats' The Second Coming:

Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

Some of the songs make the assertion and others seem inclined to argue. This theme anchors the album and overlays the shifts in musical direction.

The first two tracks illustrate the two views. Ancient and Modern's opening song, Warm Summer Sun is a masterpiece. The hesitant, lazy rhythm at the start bears slight hints of disquiet from the violin strings in the deep corners as the lyrics offer a pastoral picture of calm:

The warm summer sun
At the end of the day
Before an evening that lasts forever
Gently sleeping on the soft green grass
Or riding out on a frosty morning

The free verse lyrics sound deceptively relaxed, given away by subtle hints of violin tension: secrets and traps are hidden. Then, the mood unravels and the lyrics turn dark:

I look out on corpses
Skeleton trees
An unimaginable Hell in front of my eyes

Warm Summer Sun succeeds because of the stark contrast between darkness and hazy light and because of the raw emotion it shares.

The following song, Space in Your Face, balances out the first track. It's a power pop rocker with a strong Guided By Voices vibe. You can hear the same influences of the Who pump up the energy. A wavering electronic thread adds a modern feel that keeps it from falling into retro pastiche. The feel is life affirming and anthemic even as the lyrics are more personal:

Like an actor plays a part
I'll make the world think light is dark
Or maybe just convince myself
I was tempted to believe

The two songs' combination of hesitance and assertion, despair and bluster, sum up the Ancient and Modern as well as our time.

Interview: Joe D'Agostino (Cymbals Eat Guitars)

2011-10-03T20:30:00.000-06:00

I got a chance to talk to Joe D'Agostino from Cymbals Eat Guitars while they were crossing Texas. I'll be catching them when the tour brings them to the Hi-Dive in Denver later this month. I'm excited because their show in 2010 was incredible, with a looser wildness that contrasted with their album at the time (Why There Are Mountains).

Jester: The new album, Lenses Alien, does a great job of capturing your live sound. How did you nail that loudness of your shows?

Joe: We were playing really loud. I had my guitar amp in an isolation room while we were recording together. Anytime anyone needed to walk through that room, I had to stop playing.

You played some of the songs from Lenses Alien during the 2010 tour as I recall.

Yeah, we had Tunguska, Plainclothes, Wavelengths, and Definite Darkness. Plainclothes and Wavelengths were about the same. The other two changed a lot. Especially Tunguska. There was a whole intro that we ended up cutting…this big acoustic intro. So it’s much more direct and poppy. It works better, I think.

That leads me to one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. How did you develop "Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)"? It’s epic, there are so many sections.

That song took forever to finish. We labored over it for many months. There was always some sticking point, some part, some transitions that just didn’t work well. For me the whole thing coalesced when we decide to extend the noise, to really ride that out and make it very confrontational and exploratory. The rest of the song fell into place after that because we had our pop song section for the first minute and a half, then blown out Flaming Lips stuff right before the noise. The flow came after we were less guarded about the whole thing.

I think the first thing that we had for that song was the end section with the Spiritualized style sound. We sort of built it around that.

It reminded me of Trail of Dead, too

That’s a cool comparison. I love Source Tags and Codes and that first one, The Secret of Elena’s Tomb. They're a really good band. Epic, ambitious guitar music.

It's cool how they take psychedelic into a progressive space or vice versa.

We have the same kind of bombast. On our first first record, I guess I really had ambitions. We had a string section and horns -- a lot of orchestration. We kind of dropped that for this album but I think it's equally grand.

Plainclothes stretches out nicely, too.

Yeah. I love the end of that song -- the distorted loud speaker screaming. It's cool. That's one of my favorites on the album. It's kind of the centerpiece, almost.

There's some like a visceral howl kind of feel.

Yeah, definitely. That song has some of my favorite lyrics on the album, too. I'm really glad how it turned out.

I liked it, but I didn't fully understand it all.

I don't think anybody possibly should. It's about a number of different things. It's about a psychedelic drug experience and being scared of police officers and law. That kind of permeates every song.

It's got a stream of consciousness feel like Jack Kerouac.

That's cool.

Now that Lenses Alien is out, have you started thinking at all about new material?

No. We're not really working on anything while we're on the road. After we finish an album, I go into hibernation for 7 or 8 months. I don't pick up a pen or try to write anything on guitar unless it happens accidentally. We'll probably start writing again when we get an extended break from touring.

I know you guys have opened for the Flaming Lips. Who would your dream artist be to share the stage with?

That would have to be either Wilco or Sonic Youth. Getting on Wilco's tour or I would love to get on a Sonic Youth tour. It would also be cool to tour with Deerhunter.

Who's opening for you on this tour?

On this tour it's Hooray for Earth. They're very loud. Guitar heroics, but also really touchy, sugary melodies. They're a great band.

CD review - Sills & Smith, Uncertain Vista (2011)

2011-09-30T17:00:00.000-06:00

Split personality: we will, we will rock/folk you!

Uncertain Vista sprawls for 60 minutes and 21 songs, allowing enough room for the two or three bands playing to each show off their signature sounds. Of the collection, I prefer the indie rock centered band the most, but the musicianship is strong across the board. Of course, it's not a collection of bands, it's just the split personalities of Sills and Smith, jumping between indie/alt rock and Americana (Canadian style)/folk.

This dichotomy would have worked better if they had split the album accordingly, but the songs jump from sound to sound, sometimes disconcertingly. When the appropriately named Ominous fades down from its dark. chaotic tension into the delicate slide intro of Water, it's hard to shake the dissonance.

Despite the roller coaster sequencing, there is a streak of continuity on Uncertain Vista tied to the lead vocal sound, the balanced song arrangements, tight harmonies, and the exceptional bass work.

The first three songs start out on the indie rock side, with A Writer's Retreat creating some beautiful music. The see saw rhythmic start features some harmonic note textures that contrast nicely with the wide open flow of the chorus. The electric guitar is wonderful, creating a counterpoint of sounds that balance the structured arrangement of the other instruments. Similarly, on Inside/Outside, the electric guitar adds character, largely by being less anchored to the Police-like main guitar figure.

Spiraling Down's shift to a more Americana feel is the first indication that Uncertain Vista was veering for other targets. The repetitive melody lines and swaying rhythm is pleasant and the lead has a nice Roger McGuinn feel. But it's out of step with the earlier songs.

Picking some favorite moments, Crux of the Matter is a strong alt-rocker with a power pop edge. The driving beat lays down a foundation for a John Entwistle bass line that melodically toys with the groove. The psychedelic guitar solo drifts through the break leaving little flecks of golden fuzz. On the folkier side, the aforementioned Water has a gentle folk rock vibe. The arrangement is simple, but allows enough room for the slide guitar accents in the spaces left by the hesitant acoustic guitar. The vocal harmonies are solid, matching the laid back feel. The imagery and lyrical flow is smoother here than some of the other songs.

It's good for a band to have an eclectic range of songs. Sills and Smith's musical talent and skill at arrangement shows off their versatility. With better song sequencing or judicious editing, Uncertain Vista would have been a stronger offering.

Drop by ReverbNation and give Sills and Smith a listen.

September singles

2011-09-28T17:20:00.001-06:00

This month, I offer three different musical paths into your head and gut.

Infected Mushroom - Pink Nightmares (release planned 2012)

Psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom have been on my radar for a while after a tip from a friend and his son. Unfortunately, the band's last album, The Legend of the Black Shawarma, was two years ago. Last month, they dropped a first taste of a planned 2012 release, Pink Nightmares. Over the coming months they plan to release more tunes from the new album, but the densely layered hypnotical weave of Pink Nightmares offers a sense of where they might be headed.

The song starts off with glitchy trance groove with just a touch of break in the beat. Impersonal and mechanical, it builds a dark tension that matches the desperation of the vocals. The song opens into a dreamier, floating section that sets up a nice hyperactive reprise into the original glitch flavored groove. The accompanying video is very disturbing, with a plot line suggesting child abuse and karmic vengeance. It illustrates the song well, but Pink Nightmares stands just as well on its own.

I'm looking forward to the eventual album release.

Pujol - Stuff (from the upcoming EP, Nasty, Brutish, and Short)

The thrashing pound of Stuff hits a 1980 punk sweet spot. Simultaneously simplistic and richly layered, the 1:39 song bridges high energy, garage rock a la the Wipers and the bouncy new wave of XTC. Driving guitar, drums, and bass lock into the center, but an undercurrent of guitar fill sneaks into the right channel to challenge the track's foundation.

Appropriately ironic, the lyrics mock the consumerist underpinnings of any purist scene:

I must be consistent with what I believe in
Or I live a lie

Daniel Pujol has put out numerous projects, including Jack White's Third Man Records. His low-fi, fuzzed out sound fills a perfect visceral niche in my musical life. Simple rock and simple lyrics for complex times.

Nasty, Brutish, and Short is due out October 18 on Saddle Creek Records.

The Golden Awesome - A Thousand Nights and One Night (from the upcoming Autumn, releasing November 15)

The Golden Awesome create a balance somewhere between psychedelia, shoegaze, and dream pop. A Thousand Nights and One Night shows off their sound: thick and and throbbing, evoking strobe lights diffused through dense, smoky rooms. Unlike Pujol's fuzzy guitars, the Golden Awesome's edge is blunted and ragged as they echo through the song. The harmonized female vocals drift through the track, leaving reverb-scattered trails.

The band's sound is consistent through the several songs I heard. Like the ringing drive of a maxed out band playing in a small club, foggy with herbal smoke, the noise batters your ears at 2 am. Too tired to even nod in time to the music, you wearily smile and let the waves wash through you.

Autumn is due out November 15 from M'Lady's Records.

Concert review - Me and Heath

2011-09-26T22:00:00.000-06:00

25 September 2011 (Hodi's Half Note, Ft. Collins CO)

Man, it must be awesome to be a rock star. Cruise into town with your crew, hang out at bars, and lay out some tunes for the adoring fans...earning big bucks along the way. Pretty much everybody who's ever toured is laughing cynically at this point. The guys in Me & Heath know the reality of cancelled gigs, long drives, odd venues, and small audiences. Sunday night at Hodi's Half Note was lightly attended, but that didn't keep the band from making the most of it and playing a couple of great sets.

It helped that they pulled some enthusiastic hometown fans. Front man TJ and guitarist Heath are both from Greeley. They moved out to Los Angeles, where they connected with the rest of the band. This tour through Loveland, Ft. Collins, and Denver is the first time they've made it back to Colorado in a few years. The band seemed happy to reconnect with old fans and meet some new ones. The show had good energy and the band spent most of their breaks out with the crowd.

With no opening act, Me & Heath played two full sets before wrapping up a little after midnight. Their music blended a number genres: laid back funky beats, soulful singing, strong indie rock grooves, and a little bit of rapping. With the exception of a small set of crowd pleaser covers, they focused on their original music, including the songs from their EP, 3X a Charm.

L.A. is a tough music scene and Me & Heath showed the kind of polish a band needs to compete there. TJ had a riveting stage personality as he played acoustic guitar and provided most of the vocals. He was in constant motion as he mugged for the crowd or threw himself fully into each song. His voice was a key part of their sound, with a touch of Michael Jackson soul and G. Love's funk. At the same time, his playing anchored the three guitar line up. He and Heath setup counter rhythm strums while Jaxon laid down lead. Other times, he let Heath and Jaxon both stretch out. Between songs, TJ came across as a class clown, generally keeping the mood light.

The rest of the band didn't surrender the stage to TJ, though. In particular, Jaxon's easy going banter meshed well with TJ and his lead work was solid with a little flash. The bass player, Nick, contrasted with other guys with his hair metal look and high attitude rock posing. But it added to the show and his bass playing was very strong, both up front on Wise Crack or supporting on Call Me Out. Aside from playing guitar, Heath laid down the occasional rap vocal. He had good flow and I'd like to hear them slip more of that into their mix.

Me and Heath had a sound that evoked Maroon 5, Dave Matthews Band, and even a bit of older Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the vocals were more rooted in the kind of tightly controlled, tense Michael Jackson soul. With a touch of rap to update the vibe, it was a good sound with enough room to fill out the two sets without getting stale.

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review - Opeth, Heritage (2011)

2011-09-23T20:30:00.002-06:00

Opeth rejects metal roots for prog rock exploration

Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt has spoken about his mindset leading into Heritage: I don't think I could have written another metal Opeth record right now. I was done. I had saturated that style. With Watershed and Ghost Reveries, (it) was as good as it gets in that style. It was time to move on. And the new album has proven to be challenging to hardcore Opeth fans.

Heritage is much more keyboard focused than their earlier work and the music seems rooted in retro prog rock/art rock. While many of the songs retain the signature harmonic tension of classic Opeth, the death metal growled vocals are gone. These changes force the listener to decide whether to contrast it with "classic" Opeth or to judge the album on its own terms. While it's not a cultural touchstone like Dylan going electric, Heritage has proven to be Opeth's most polarizing release.

The album opens with the title cut, Heritage. It's a moody piano-centered piece that explores a simple melody. Understated and jazzy, it unwinds slowly, creating a thoughtful reverie. The progression features a nice pause that adds a touch of tension. When it comes around at 1:24, the song just hangs in space, defying gravity. It's a beautiful moment that sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Fitting with the dynamics of the album, Opeth follows this soft moment with something edgier. Rather than diving into metal, though, The Devil's Orchard is anchored in an early King Crimson sound. Steven Wilson's production work shows that he's been immersed in King Crimson's back catalog. The winding riffage and rhythmic drive set off a theatrical vocal. The opening section settles into a dynamic shift into a spooky instrumental segment. Where the older Opeth material would have focused on guitar, the keyboard shines instead. There are still plenty of guitar textures, but they're in a supporting role.

The rest of the album has plenty of interesting explorations, some of which click like I Feel the Dark's journey from thoughtful trippiness to harder edged post rock (some strong Camel moments). Others are less successful, like Famine's sound sculpture start that evolves into a series of shifts. This latter is promising, but the sections don't coalesce. The ambient start is overtaken by a rising percussion that sets a groove, but then the groove is abandoned for a tentative piano line. This in turn is overtaken by a frantic guitar riff that sets up a driving progressive rock groove reminiscent of Yes or Styx. The song continues to run through other changes before returning to the opening sound sculpture sound. Many of the parts sound interesting alone or even in contrast to another section, but the collection feels haphazard and unplanned.

Even if Heritage overreaches, Opeth should be commended for taking the risky step away from everyone's expectations. On it's own terms, the album largely succeeds. I'll leave it to the fanboys to argue about how Heritage fits into Opeth's larger body of work. I'll raise a goblet of smoky chipotle mead in their honor, though.

CD review - Various Artists, Reggae's Gone Country (2011)

2011-09-19T17:00:00.001-06:00

Reggae covers classic country but plays it safe

Crazy cross-genre mashups used to be surprising, but now they're common. From Shockabilly covering Thelonious Monk on That's the Way I Feel Now to Pickin' on Led Zeppelin's bluegrass version of classic rock, almost everything's been done before. We're becoming so jaded that it's getting harder to even make an impression.

On the surface, Reggae's Gone Country looks like another novelty attempt to shock the public. Modern Jamaican singers covering classic country hits? Why not, we've had reggae-fied Radiohead. Despite seeming like a gimmick, this album is rooted in an enthusiastic vision. Cristy Barber, Vice President of Marketing and Promotions at VP Records, championed this idea to bridge two of her favorite musical worlds: the country music she grew up with and the reggae vibe she's immersed in with her record label.

The label makes their pitch that it's not as strange a match as it sounds. Both genres are rooted in regular people making a voice for their experience and the songs can range from relationships and loss to spiritual devotion. Additionally, country music is fairly popular in Jamaica, so the songs were already familiar to many of the artists. Barber, along with John Rich (Big & Rich), laid out a strategy: select the set of classic country songs, pair them up with modern reggae singers, lay down a solid backing track with a "dream team reggae band", and then add a veneer of country sound to sweeten the tracks.

For the most part the songs qualify as country classics, although I would have traded out the Statler Brothers' Flowers on the Wall for Hank Williams Sr. or Johnny Cash. Still, it's a solid starting point. I wasn't familiar with the reggae singers that Barber selected, but it seemed like a nice range of vocal styles.

Some of the songs, like George Strait's The Chair or Crazy naturally slipped into a reggae beat. Maybe it's because the cut time country beat is not so far from a chank. While that is part of the vision behind the album, those songs didn't stand out as strong new interpretations.

By contrast, Duane Stephenson's work on Eddie Rabbit's Suspicians emphasized the R&B feel of the song. The lazy groove has a loose jamming feel and Stephenson's phrasing is soulful. He occasionally uses falsetto to push the tune. Luciano's take on Jim Reeve's He'll Have to Go is another of the more interesting songs. Luciano's rich warm voice is smoother and cheerier than Reeve's deep baritone, but the looser delivery suits the song. The reggae arrangement stands out more strongly on this track, too.

It's clear, though, that Barber and the singers she's selected are too respectful of these classics to push any boundaries. This means that the songs are solid, but fairly predictable. Another weakness was the decision to paste in the pedal steel, fiddle, and banjo parts. Adding the country embellishments softened any impact of the reggae reimagining of the songs. For example, the steel and fiddle on He Stopped Loving Her Today pulled the song firmly back into country despite the chank beat. It's still a good song, just less interesting than it could have been.

Country fans will find plenty of touchstone moments to enjoy. Reggae fans might be disappointed that the reggae vibe wasn't given a freer hand.

CD review - David Bromberg, Use Me (2011)

2011-09-15T17:00:00.001-06:00

Friends help a classic player show his range

David Bromberg is one of America's greatest secret guitarists. While he hasn't achieved public superstardom, Bromberg is well known among blues/bluegrass aficionados and his fellow musicians. Comfortable on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar, he has been a prolific session player for a wide variety of players since the '60s. Musically, he's most rooted in the blues and American folk traditions, but these never box him in.

I've been a huge fan ever since I discovered his first album (David Bromberg) which included a collaboration with George Harrison (The Holdup). His playing and vocal phrasing enthralled me and he became one of my big influences on both guitar and singing. Use Me is Bromberg's latest album and it shows both how far and how short a distance he's come over the last four decades.

It's been a short trip, because his roots as a session side man are in full display and, like those recording sessions, the song always comes first for Bromberg. His playing has always been top notch and that continues on Use Me. At the same time, he's matured like a fine wine over the years, as he's developed the voice to rise above his well-spring genres. This makes him better at bridging the gap between traditional folk, blues, and country.

Beyond naming the album after the Bill Withers tune he covers, the conceit behind Use Me is that Bromberg partnered with a number of his friends, asking them to "use him". Each artist flavored a track within their own aesthetic, inviting Bromberg to step in and add his seasoning. The line up of famous performers is impressive: Levon Helm (the Band), John Hiatt, bluegrass master Tim O'Brien, Dr. John, Keb' Mo', Los Lobos, Widespread Panic, Linda Ronstadt, Vince Gill, and producers the Butcher Brothers (Phil and Joe Nicolo).

The range of styles from blues to funk to traditional folk give the album an eclectic feel, but together they form a mosaic of David Bromberg's work. Whether it's the Mexican folk waltz of The Long Goodbye or the funky groove of Old Neighborhood, each song offers a perspective on his playing. Old Neighborhood was particularly interesting as Bromberg trades licks with Jimmy Herring and Widespread Panic. Hearing him fit into the interplay of a jam band was a joy.

Bromberg's playing is always tasteful above all else. The bluesy country of Ride Out a Ways, with John Hiatt, shows off a perfect touch. Hiatt's playing is solid and hearing the guitar float above the blanket of organ creates a churchy moment. Bromberg's voice is weary but strong. I love his phrasing, as he can loosen up and drag out the lyrics, then slip in a tight package of words a couple of lines later. Elvis Costello has some similar tricks, but he never makes it sound as effortless as Bromberg.

Despite its moody funk, Dr. John's track, You Don't Wanna Make Me Mad has a loose feel. It's a great NOLA-inspired groove. The laid back bass and syncopated percussion drive the song with Bromberg's wicked slide guitar and Dr. John's piano filling out the sound. Bromberg's vocals are casual and he tosses off some great asides: "Everybody needs a little bit of space every now and then. And this is my now and this is my then." It's interesting to compare how Dr. John might have sung this to Bromberg's performance. Bromberg exaggerates the attitude, giving it a touch of humor.

By contrast, the track with Keb' Mo', Digging in the Deep Blue Sea, is dark and heavy. The looming bass and drums build a down and dirty framework, while the keyboards and guitar fill out the structure. Spooky keyboard swells flash from side to side, fine-tuning the tension. The reflective solo is less a centerpiece than an interlude in the song. The lyrics seem inspired by the BP oil spill, but look to the bigger picture of oil dependency. Never getting strident, the conflict is clear:

What are we gonna do about all the mess we made?
You can't run an 18-wheeler, child, on lemonade

David Bromberg is a timeless artist. Use Me's mix of older artists like Helm and Ronstadt with younger players like Keb' Mo' and Widespread Panic demonstrates the reach of Bromberg's career. Whether you're familiar with him or not, Use Me is a worthwhile new step in Bromberg's path.

Concert review - Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Lydia Loveless, Stud Mushroom

2011-09-11T22:20:00.000-06:00

9 September 2011 (Aggie Theatre, Ft. Collins CO)

Another strong show by Roger Clyne. Young openers, Stud Mushroom, made a good splash

It was an interesting line up Friday night. A young local band, Stud Mushroom, zipped through a ska flavored take on classic rock with some modern twists. Then country artist Lydia Loveless and her band came out and played their country rock set. Finally, Roger Clyne and Peacemakers brought their southwestern rock that bridges country, alt rock, and Americana. One of these bands was a less obvious fit for the night.

On the surface, you'd expect the local band to be the odd man out, but Stud Mushroom's enthusiasm fit well with the Peacemaker's life affirming message. Instead, Clyne's tour mate Lydia Loveless was the mismatch. All of the acts featured solid musical talent, but for stage presence and energy, Stud Mushroom and the Peacemakers were aligned.

Stud Mushroom

When I walked in and heard Stud Mushroom, I wasn't sure I was in the right club. The fresh-faced teens kicked off some shimmery indie pop that sounded great, but seemed an odd pairing with Roger Clyne's rootsier songs. It turns out that those first couple of tunes had been misleading. Most of their songs were hard rocking and funky with a heavy penchant for ska beats. That's still a stretch from the Peacemakers, but the band's positive energy outweighed any stylistic differences.

Stud Mushroom was having the time of their lives. They bounced from song to song and their joy reflected into the crowd. Guitarist Adam Petty stole the show, between his phenomenal playing and enthusiastic stage presence. From the sparkly indie pop start through riffing through Hendrix tunes, he had a good range of guitar sounds and a tasteful ear for fills. He sealed the deal during the couple of songs he played trumpet on. Dancing a bit, he was slightly self-conscious and mugged to the audience, but he couldn't contain himself. That provided a great spark for audience connection, which is where the band meshed perfectly with the Peacemakers style.

Petty stood out, but the rest of the band held their own technically. Drummer Jonah Green in particular was impressive. His fills powered the songs, with a lot of subtle syncopation that kept the rhythm section interesting and engaging. Good drumming takes a lot of focus. Drummers who can stay in time can still blow their job by getting too complex. When the fills threaten the sense of the basic beat, the song becomes a lost cause. It was great to hear a drummer that can develop rhythmic complexity without overwhelming the groove.

The other players were all great, too. This showed in the versatile arrangements that nailed their breaks, offered dynamics, and sailed through rhythmic changes. Despite their youthful appearance, Stud Mushroom played like a mature group of musicians with years of experience together.

A couple of the more interesting moments were a ska flavored take on Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and a cover of Project Hero's mashup of Immigrant Song and Bulls on Parade (Rage Against the Machine). Both songs had their surprises as the band poured themselves into interpreting the tunes.

Stud Mushroom's only weakness was needing a more dynamic stage presence to expand on that audience connection. Lead singer Austin Gloss should put some energy into building his stage persona to match his singing skills. That's a minor gripe though for a band that nailed their set.

(additional photos of Stud Mushroom from Brian Miller)

Lydia Loveless

Lydia Loveless started out her set with a classic country sound. With a strong voice sounding of Loretta Lynn, she and her tight backing band had my feet tapping. The guitar player and drummer shared a connection, reading each other's signals, and the standup bass player was dynamic, whipping his head to the beat. Loveless also contributed guitar, providing a good foundation rhythm to hold the songs together.

That first song, like several in the set were well-written and nicely arranged. Within a couple of songs, though, she lost that momentum. The moment might have been the break between the second and third songs. After a fifteen second pause, Loveless started strumming her guitar, but doesn't quite start the song. After another briefer pause, she finally spoke up. She thanked Roger Clyne for having them on the tour, but her voice was detached and disconnected. Combined with the moodier rock of the third song, it started building a wall between Loveless and the audience.

Lydia Loveless' bio talks about her roots in the Columbus, Ohio punk scene and maybe that's where her diffidence came from. Or maybe she was just nervous. Either way, she sounded like she was going through the motions and didn't really want to be there. A singer/songwriter like Loveless needs to make that linkage with the audience, because without it, it robs the songs of their spark.

Songs like Steve Earle (an amusing send up about him stalking her) and Crazy seemed well written. They could have contributed to a great set. The mix of straight country and country rock is great niche. Unfortunately, her performance dissuaded me from getting her album. Hopefully, Loveless will learn a bit from Clyne on this tour and grow as a performer.

Roger Clyne

Roger Clyne is one of the most dependable performers I know. I try to catch him whenever he's in town, to get another taste of the emotional sacrament he offers. Clyne's connection with his audience keeps getting deeper. With the crowd singing along with every number, he presides over his shows as much as performing.

Aside from the good vibrations, I love the yin and yang of the shows: the pace is always comfortable, feeling loose and unstructured, yet the band flows together as coordinated as a school of fish. Similarly, the emotional rawness of some of the songs, like Green and Dumb or Marie add depth to the thrashy joy of songs like I Do.

The setlist flowed in a way that proved the band's genius, whether planned or intuitive. The high energy bounce of Banditos was channeled into the intensity of Marie. After that, a brief check in with the audience created the space for the mood to turn more thoughtful with Your Name on a Grain of Rice.

It goes without saying that the rest of the Peacemakers contributed their share, both musically and psychically: Jim Dalton's constant grin as he effortlessly added the perfect guitar fills, PH Naffah's rock solid presence behind the drums, and Nick Scropos' energetic bass work all created the mood. While Roger Clyne is a wonderful solo entertainer, the Peacemakers give him the space to stretch out and take the songs further.

Throughout the set and eventual encore, Clyne accepted the love of the crowd, shared his gratitude, and reminded us all that we were a community. The encore closed with a solo acoustic version of Mekong, offering the perfect summation of the show: "Thank you for your time and here's to life".

More photos on my Flickr.

CD review, Little Red, Midnight Remember (2010/2011)

2011-09-08T16:30:00.001-06:00

Lush, dreamy and summery, crossing Roxy Music with the Beach Boys

Melbourne's Little Red released Midnight Remember last year in Australia, where it did fairly well on the charts. A streamlined version is releasing late next month in North America on True Panther records. They've remastered the Australian release, stripped out 4 tracks, and added one new one. I can't speak to the missing tracks, but the American release manages to strike a coherent mood while varying the sound of the individual songs.

Picture a hot, lazy summer afternoon. Napping in the shade, you feel a slight breeze. Maybe you even hear the clink of ice slowly melting in your drink. Eyes lightly shut, all is right in the world. Midnight Remember would serve as the perfect soundtrack.

Beach Boys harmonies fill out the vocals on almost every song, contributing to that sunny sound. At the same time, most of the songs have a distant, dream pop vibe that provides the space to appreciate that mood. There are plenty of sonic comparisons: the lush arrangements and rich vocals recall Roxy Music, while the emotional honesty evokes Vampire Weekend or a dozen similar bands.

Individual songs also stand out this way. Follow You There, starts out with a minimalist guitar and a simple solo voice. But the track builds and reaches for an epic, early U2-style arena sound. It's an uplifting moment that really succeeds because of Little Red's ability to manage the dynamics. By contrast, Chelsworth uses a harmonica and piano line to evoke Darkness-era Springsteen. At the same time, both of these songs combine the influences with more modern indie-rock elements to avoid sounding like a pastiche.

The big single is Rock It, a dance happy number locked into a bass line, a beat, and piano comping. Part The Hustle by Van McCoy, the retro disco vibe is catchy. A brief, seven second electronic bridge is the only modern touch. It's not bad, but it's not the most interesting song on Midnight Remember.

For my money, I'd pick All Mine for that honor. It also features a touch of Springsteen (a down tempo Tenth Avenue Freezeout), but the simple intro builds into something lush and rewarding. The longing in the vocal, "I tell myself it takes time but I keep waiting, I keep waiting" is palpable. The subtle swell of electric guitars just before they enter in force during the second chorus is perfect. Retro and timeless all at once, the music projects emotional need while still fitting into the lazy summer of the rest of the album.

CD review - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Mirror Traffic (2011)

2011-09-05T17:00:00.000-06:00

With less to prove, Stephen Malkmus takes a simpler tack

In many ways, Stephen Malkmus has used his backing band, the Jicks, to get the taste of Pavement out of his mouth. Over several releases, the Jicks have honed a complex, carefully constructed sound. Their music is quirky with interesting tempo changes and odd phrasing that contrasts sharply with Pavement's simpler focus.

While Mirror Traffic doesn't fully slide back into Pavement, Malkmus finally seems comfortable enough to let the music be simpler and more relaxed. Perhaps he's grown, but I'm sure that Beck's production influenced this change of heart. With a stronger focus on clear melodic lines and a toned down edginess, Mirror Traffic is the Jick's most accessible album to date. But plenty remains familiar, especially Malkmus' voice: the pauses, the almost autistic phrasing, and occasional falsetto.

Tracks like Spazz remain close to the Jicks' earlier material. It's a busy rocker, with some rhythmic change ups. The driving beat and guitar/vocal coordination cover familiar ground. Then the song breaks into a more outside sounding bridge, building on repetition, before abruptly returning to the main groove.

In contrast, Tune Grief could easily be a Pavement track, although it's got higher energy than Pavement could muster in their final work. Evoking late '70s rock (Cheap Trick, maybe) and a slight punk edge, it's a great indie rock driver: don't think too much, just feel the beat and the attitude. It's nice to hear an upbeat Stephen Malkmus thrashing in the moment.

They're not all hard rocking, though. The Jicks pull in some folky vibe with songs like No One Is (As I Are Be), Share the Red, and the dreamy Fall Away. The stripped down, blues groove on No One Is (As I Are Be) is restrained, but full of classic Malkmus perspective:

Unfortunate that none of us will get away spared
From the never-ending nightlife that we shared
I cannot even do one sit-up, sit-ups are so Bourgeoisie
I'm busy hanging out and spending your money
What does it mean?

Even horn accents and some pretty piano work just polish the tune rather complicate it. I'm not sure how intentional it was, but the horn lines close out the song with a call and response that echo The Hokey Pokey. Maybe that's what it's all about. This track also shows the heaviest influence of Beck's production.

The first single offered from Mirror Traffic is the radio-unfriendly Senator ("I know what the Senator wants, what the Senator wants is a blow job"). It's punchy, start and stop rock. The setup in the verse and chorus are strong and catchy, but the song sacrifices its focus in the middle section. The lyrics switch to a reflection of finding gigs and getting high. I still don't get the connection.

Packed with 15 songs, Mirror Traffic shows plenty of facets of good tunes and different sounds. Overall, the album may be poppier than earlier Jicks releases, but it shows that Stephen Malkmus can relax and not lose his wit or his voice.

CD review - Rusty Pacemaker, Blackness and White Light (2010)

2011-09-02T20:00:00.000-06:00

Outsider metal flavored with doom and gloom

The world is full of interesting people. Take today's artist, Rusty Pacemaker. Despite his American sounding name, he's firmly rooted in Austria. Declaring himself a self-defined musician, his path to releasing Blackness and White Light included teaching himself to play guitar and bass, creating a home studio, and starting his own record label. While he acknowledges his love of bands like Black Sabbath and Viking Metal pioneer, Quorthon (Bathory), Pacemaker makes clear that his musical path has been focused on giving voice to his own songs.

Blackness and White Light's songs show off some of those influences, especially Black Sabbath. But the mix of classic metal, doom metal, and progressive rock elements come together in an original sound. Pacemaker is joined by a phenomenal drummer, Franz Löchinger. Many of the songs shift tempos and rhythms and, most of the time, Löchinger's playing sells it. Revolution's intro is much better for the busy syncopation contrasting against the guitar grind.

The percussion on the title song shows is another great example. The groove is laid back and moody like Sabbath's Planet Caravan. Pacemaker's whispered vocals add a detached tension. The song transitions into a section with acoustic guitar and chiming keys, while the drums provide a simple heartbeat. This open part builds into a bigger jam, with a post-rock electric guitar solo floating over the relaxed beat and simple guitar rhythm. It's almost Floydian.

My favorite track, though, was Amok. The haunting guitar intro resonates into a fuller sound. This evolves into an very early King Crimson style jam slightly reminiscent of I Talk To The Wind. The dreamy female vocals (Lady K) set up a call and response. Thoughtful guitar riffs herald a somewhat strained race into a faster paced section. Disquieting whispers lurk before the female vocals kick in again. After another speed up, the song finally crashes. The tempo changes could be smoother, but the overall effect is still catchy.

The rest of the Blackness and White Light ranges from the doom metal touches of My Last Goodbye and the modern metal of The Human Race to the moody psychedelia of Waiting For Tomorrow. Rusty Pacemaker presents his downbeat vision, which avoids easy classification and challenges the listener to commit to the ride. It's a journey off the beaten path, so there are some rough patches, but the terrain can be interesting.

CD review - Cymbals Eat Guitars, Lenses Alien (2011)

2011-08-31T17:00:00.001-06:00

Sophomore release paints a progressive, post-indie rock sonic landscape

Lenses Alien is an impressive follow up to 2009's Why There Are Mountains (review here). As on their debut, Cymbals Eat Guitars still restlessly shift directions, but the changes are more fluid and seem less capricious. The band continues to experiment with controlled chaos a la Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and to explore Trail of Dead style post rock. But now they've introduced more of the raw energy of their live sound.

That energy drives Lenses Alien forward musically, but the band seems to have a fatalistic air and the lyrics are more oblique. It can be hard to tease out the words, but they often allude to darker subjects. Plainclothes shows off the best and worse of this. The words bounce around in a stream of consciousness flow, from thoughtful:

I feel the ghost of all the parties still happening
Right on this very spot that I am standing
Kids are blissing in the spare room
Light years away

to the threatening:

It is initiation season
So watch out for the cars with no lights on
If you flash them they would swing around
Then follow you home

Along the way Cymbals Eat Guitars tease with phrases like "Dry mushrooms taste a lot like communion wafers". The music has detuned, dreamy moments as well as punk-worthy snarl and unfocused thrash. A lot is crammed into a brief four minutes or so but the music is more coherent than the lyrical flow.

Cymbals Eat Guitars offered a first taste of Lenses Alien last month. The epic leading track is called Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name). It sprawls through a mix of indie rock and psychedelic sections, split by a cathartic swirl of sound. That progressive feel permeates the other songs. The band leans more towards a sectional structure than simpler verse-chorus blocks.

Sometimes, a superficial listen tricks the ear that the band does slip in a chorus in songs like Keep Me Waiting. But, like a shark, the song moves constantly forward and doesn't find words worth repeating. The arrangement feels more standard in large part to the heavy Replacements influence. The track kicks off like it belongs on Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash. The thrashing guitars hit that Replacements sound and Joseph D'Agostino's voice even reaches toward Paul Westerberg. It doesn't matter whether it's a homage or just channeling from deeper currents.

Even if the lyrics often slide too far into beat poetry expressiveness, the musical vision always rescues the songs from self indulgence. Lenses Alien is messy, trippy, and an intriguing sonic landscape.

August singles

2011-08-29T17:00:00.001-06:00

This month's singles cover some bigger named artists that I have a lot of respect for. Three very different musical directions, but all are quite talented entertainers.

Jonathan Coulton - Nemeses (Artificial Heart, due out Fall 2011)

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

Jonathan Coulton has built an impressive following with his quirky takes on mad scientists, zombie office workers, and code monkeys. As a strong proponent of Creative Commons licensing, he has shared his way into his audience's heart. Most of his music is fundamentally simple: a man with a guitar (and perhaps a backing vocal or two). His tours, occasionally with musical comedians Paul and Storm, have emphasized that simple, direct style.

The new album promises some changes: guest vocalists, including Suzanne Vega, and a backing band. The first taste, Nemeses, premiered on Paste Magazine. Coulton is backed by a band and hands the lead vocal to John Roederick (The Long Winters). It's a surprising setp, but Coulton has reassured his fans that we'll get to hear plenty of his voice on the album.

It's also strange hearing his guitar slip into the full sounding pop arrangement. But the writing comes through and Coulton still hits his target zone where wistful melodies blend with odd perspectives. In Nemeses, the main character posits that his existence is based on his role as another man's nemesis. It's funny, touching, and a bit sad...it's Jonathan Coulton.

Pajama Club - These Are Conditions (Pajama Club, due out in September)

Pajama Club is Neil Finn's latest band vehicle. These Are Conditions shows off Finn's pop sensibility, recalling his time with Split Enz more than his work with Crowded House. The tightly restrained funk riff also owes a debt to Split Enz contemporaries, The Fixx. Finn updates the groove with some modern elements and adds a touch of club to the new wave vibe.

Pajama Club also includes Finn's wife, Sharon Finn, as well as songwriter Sean Donnely. Pajama Club's touring line up adds drummer Alana Skyring to fill out the sound. Drop by the band's website to get another Pajama Club track, From a Friend to a Friend. Keep an eye out for a Pajama Club album in September.

Tori Amos - Carry (from Night of the Hunters, due out September 20)

Tori Amos continues to extend her scope with her upcoming album, Night of the Hunters. Harking back to her classical roots, the Deutsche Grammophon project promises to be a modern song cycle, with inspiration from composers like Eric Satie and Frédéric Chopin. With orchestral backing and well known classical players, the albums seems like a challenge that her fans might find daunting.

But the first video, Carry, allays any fears. The organic, breathy flow of the song and Amos' expressive piano work put the song on familiar ground. Amos' lush voice yearns, but also comforts. The orchestral elements naturally complement the song, whether it's the string section lines or the touch of oboe. The mix is richer and more theatrical than pop but retains a song-like sense.

I'm looking forward to hearing more from Night of the Hunters.