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IN THIS ISSUE
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CD Reviews
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ANTHEM EIGHT EIGHT If this CD defines a lifetime, as its title implies, what kind of lifetime is it? Short and nasty, no doubt. "Define a Lifetime" squeezes 21 songs into 21 minutes; the longest song is :04. They are all nearly identical thrash metal, with pounding drums, breakneck tempos and unintelligible lyrics (except for the occasional clear "fuck"). The mess age seems to be charge through life at full emotional intensity, keep banging your head against the same wall, and be done with it. Yet, if one reads the lyrics, Anthem Eight Eight are, in fact, asking their listeners to define their own lifetimes. "No matter what they say/ No matter how many times they say it/ You still know yourself/ Better than they do." Again and again they advocate extreme individualism. It's just too bad they couldn't have found a more musically individual way to say it. G. Murray Thomas
STEPHEN BURTON
A slow starter, the opening song is 7 minutes long, but as the CD progresses it becomes a wonderful passage through decidely American West rock with a 70s feel reminiscent of Steve Winwood at his most mellow or a light Dave Alvin. Full of Native American beats and other nice percussion, Spirit World isn't going to change the world, but it does make it a more pleasant place for an hour.Jane Hinde |
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MARK EITZEL
Music for Courage & Confidence
New West Records
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A very interesting, all cover CD, everything from Snowbird to Do You Really Want to Hurt Me. Eitzel has a haunting, smoke filled voice, kind of a cross between Leonard Cohen and Isabella Rosselini in Blue Velvet. His slow cadence and erie music accompanying what are normally upbeat pop songs also gives the entire CD the feeling that it is the sound track for a David Lynch or Oliver Stone film. Best taken in small bites unless you want to end up talking to yourself in the bathroom mirror, Songs for Courage and Confidence is worth a listen.
Jane Hinde
JON DEE GRAHAM
Horay for the Moon
New West Records
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A good steady string of cacophanous guitar sounds
accompained by Graham's rough whistling voice. His songs are about faith
and longing. "..this is not what I wanted, this is not what I'd
choose, I didn't want to be haunted but who could refuse" (The
Restraining Order Song.) At the rockingest his style is like the best
hipster rock, think Secret Agent Man, only with lyrics like, "
Hold on to Jesus' hand he'll keep you safe when the thunder rolls, he'll
help keep the devil wad down in the hole (Way Down in the Hole.) At
his most meloncholly, he is a comfortable singer/songwriter in a coffe
house passing on the incomprhensibility of faith, "below the surface
I can't see it, but I know it's there...I got eyes just like my father,
they can't see all too clear at all, but something moves" (Something
Moves.) Overall this is a listenable CD though the content might not
be for everyone.
Jane Hinde
DAVID HOPKINS
Here Comes the Bright Light
Modest Records
David Hopkins disguises his intentions well. On first listen, this seems like a collection of harmless little folk songs. Even the minor keys don't clue you in to the total nastiness of the lyrics. But after a couple of listens, lines start to jump out at you.
First just one or two, here and there:You know you always talk about yourself /I'd like to have the switch to turn you off /But just to see you fail would be enough. ("Look at Me Mr. R.")When the bottom comes /It's easy to be a believer ("I Could Be")"Some folk are truly evil..." ("Some Folk Are Truly Evil") And still the sing-along tunes seem to say it's not really that bad. But this record is a true exercise in cynicism, sarcasm and hurt. Still, the melodies serve a purpose beyond disguise. You quickly find yourself singing along, and, once you really latch onto the lyrics, this becomes a perfect catharsis of the nastiness and hurt within you. Making this the most uplifting disc of depressing songs you can imagine.
G. Murray Thomas
HYPNOGAJA
Post-Hypnotic Stress Disorder
Access Denied Records
This is a strange CD. A Beck meets Dave Matthews meets Wu Tang Clan
meets the Yardbirds in a Chinese restaurant strange. Every track seems
to channel a different musical school. While the band is competent in
all of the 20 styles it tries, I liked the 60s garage band sound the
best, it seems to be their most natural habitat, and it will be interesting
to see which area they choose to settle in. Overall the disc in fun
to listen to, although the lyrics were a bit off for me, moving between
preachy and satirical, take Misfits for instance. "Where is your
daughter, getting high with her friends...is that what you taught her,
she's a misfit and she's on her way to Hollywood." I had to laugh
and think, I used to go to Hollywood till I got older, and then I lived
there and I'm not so bad. Worth a listen, but may nto be a keeper for
everyone.
Carlye Archibeque
THE JW-JONES BLUES BAND
Bogart's Place
Northernblues Music
Good solid blues work great piano tinklings and rough demanding guitar solos. Simple lyrics (I love you baby) followed by the inevitable jame. Put in some hard wood floors and throw down some sawdust before you listen to it and the listening experience should be complete.
Jane Hinde
JUMP, LITTLE CHILDREN
Vertigo
EZ Chief Records
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This CD took it's time opening up for me. On first listen... heck, on tenth listen, all I heard was a bunch of standard alt-rock tunes, which blended one into another, leaving me nothing to grab onto (or write about). The problems are 3M: muddy mix, mumbled lyrics and, most of all, the same mid-tempo pace for all the songs. There's nothing to distinguish one song from another. What the album really needs is some strong hooks to bring the listener in.
Barring that, some level of dynamics, a little change of the speed, even a few clearly sung lines (preferably memorable ones) are really necessary. Something, anything, to justify the repeated listenings necessary to find the subtle joys here. And yet I couldn't just dismiss it. There was always a hint of something interesting going on, buried in the mix, shimmering on the horizon. (Or perhaps I just couldn't think of a clever enough put down for the whole thing.) So I keep listening. And bit by bit I did find moments of pleasure, surprising touches. There's the spoken word cut, "Singer", buried near the end, a complete change of pace for the band, and my vote for best piece on the album.
There are some pleasant instrumental interludes and touches buried in the mix. I even found myself singing one song ("Too High") to myself as I drove; so there are some hooks, just not obvious ones. Still, I can't say I grew to love it. There is still too little demanding that I listen to it again. There is just barely enough for me not to dismiss the CD out of hand. I can easily seem some listeners loving this, and praising it for it's unexpected depths. But for me, it took too much to discover those depths, and even finding them, the album fails to move me in any significant manner. But your result may vary.
G. Murray Thomas
TIM KREKEL
Happy Town
Free Falls Entertainment
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Easy going, unpretentious American country edged rock 'n' roll. And that's OK. Krekel's music is very organic and rhythmic in its progressions add to that his soft twangy voice and lyrics that are seamlessly built for his music and you have a very good CD. There is nothing new here, just pleasantly sad lyrics ("you were the best thing I never had), accompanied by bittersweet yet uplifting music, but sometimes the familiar is comforting.
Jane Hinde
DANIELLE LOPRESTI
Dear Mr. Penis Head
Say It Records
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This CD is a testament to abuse and survival. Against rock edged hip-hop, Lopresti narrates a series of tales about the various forms of abuse women are subjected to in our society, from physical and emotional attacks to cosmetic surgery and artistic negation. But the picture she paints isn't all bleak; she also sings about the way out: standing up for yourself and nurturing others.
As she sings in "Move": "Get up Get up Get up/ don't even think about it/ ... get up and move." In the songs "Sahara" and "Call Me Sister", she then expands that attitude outward, passing on compassion and encouragement to others. "Dear Mr. Penis Head" is as much about empowerment and escape as it is about despair. It is interesting to note that most of the songs are narrated from the point of view of an outside observer. For the most part, she is giving her reactions to someone else's abuse.
The exceptions, the childhood tale "Say It" and the desperate longing of "Drain Me", two pieces told in first person, are, not surprisingly, the most powerful songs on the album. Not that the other pieces aren't strong, but they lose some impact from the distance of the narrator. Lopresti's spoken word vocal style fits the subject matter, calling attention to the importance of her lyrics. Likewise, the various musical styles here, from smooth R&B ("Move", "Freedom") to hard-edged rock ("Say It") to bluesy ("Drain Me"), fit the emotions of their respective pieces, adding appropriate musical power to those lyrics.
All in all, "Dear Mr. Penis Head" is a very powerful and moving statement about the trauma of being female in our current culture, but it is neither hopeless nor helpless, affirming and empowering women in their ability to stand up to and rise above that trauma.
G. Murray Thomas
HARRY MANX
Wise and Otherwise
Northern Blues Music
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Manx is one of those rare singer songwriters whose voice, literally and figuratively, are melded together with his musical instrument and sensibilities. While a lot of musicians on the Northernblues label are mechanically blessed and obviously talented musicians, Manx shows an empathy for the music he creates and it shows empathy for him, never allowing him to become mired in simple folk melodies, just when you think you have him pegged, he launches into an almost Indian tinged opening (ala the Beatles) to a cover of The Thrill is Gone. From the opening strains of Only Then Will Your House Be Blessed to the final notes of Raga Nat Bhariav you know you are in the hands of an inspired professional. Beautiful melodies are accented with Manx's whiskey tinged voice in a way that draws your ear to his words. The insistent strumming of his guitar stops you in your tracks like that old EF Hutton commercial and you find yourself sitting closer to the stereo speaker became you need to hear what he's talking about, and really what more is there to say?
Carlye Archibeque
PETER MULVEY
Ten Thousand Mornings
Black Walnut Records
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Peter Mulvey is one of the most innovative and engaging folk performers to emerge from Boston's considerably talented folk scene, putting forth album after album of blistering and intricate guitar worked buoyed by poetic and often caustic lyrics. Take, for example, his gorgeous song "Rapture," wherein he observes, "and you realize/all at once/you have carried your scars this far/because you love them/the world touches you that way/so much that you just smile and lay down/lay down/without a fight." Or elsewhere, in the song "Black Snow," where he diabolically dares the listener, "there's a can of spray paint/so get it through your head/there's a rock, there's a gun/there's a street, take a stand." The dare preys upon the revolutionary impulse, an open question as to why the listener is, indeed, not doing this. The urge to tear down in order to rebuild is a near-primal one. As any good Marxist will tell you, society's always on the precipice of revolution, the poor always on the edge of engulfing their perceived oppressors. Mulvey's hardly the first musician, and certainly not the first folk musician, to let his songwriting dwell on the edge where class and wealth, and the issues they create, dwell uneasily.
With "Ten Thousand Mornings," to be released later this summer, Mulvey pays andexquisite tribute to the songwriters who's work has informed his own. Loneliness and a Devil-May-Care abandon, alienation and a heartfelt need for change fills the songwriter's strong bass voice as he sings the works of great artists like Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, the Beatles, Dar Williams, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos and others, all recorded in one of the few places where everyone stands on equal ground: the Boston Subway System.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable album. The glee that permeates the first song--Simon's "Stranded in a Limousine"--infects the rest of the CD. Even when he dwells into the melancholy likes of the Beatles's "For No One" or Randy Newman's haunting (and creepy) "Before the War," there's an undeniable love for these songs, a love that's positively contagious whether these are old favorites or new to the listener.
Perhaps the strongest point on the album is Mulvey's cover of Dar Williams's epic song, "the Ocean." Here, Mulvey leaps between the song's three personas without effort, capturing the pain and alienation that exists between people with an almost palpable sense of heartache, and then tossing it out to be engulfed in the uncaring ocean, the void beyond us that cares little one way or another about our petty pain. "I have been good/and I have been evil," sings Mulvey, "I thought 'the ocean'/the ocean thought nothing/you are a welcoming back from the ocean." It's a gorgeous and difficult song, one that Mulvey pulls off with aplomb and style. Indeed, if there's any great blessing to this album, it's not that it just traces Mulvey's folksinger roots, but that it showcases his ability to take a song and make it undeniably his own.
Victor Infante
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LINDSAY SMITH Lindsay Smith is an amazing song-writing talent. I could rant about how this disc has been out for three years without attracting any attention. But I understand enough about the music biz to know that it makes more sense to celebrate the fact that it has crossed my path at all. And to encourage you to look it up. Lindsay Smith writes heartfelt poetry in the guise of catchy folk songs. Her lyrics express an intense honesty, whether she is exploring her relationship with her mother ("My Mother is a Christian"), abuse ("Purple"), or the intricacies of friendship and love. On "Heaven", she sings "She thinks heaven is for the strong.../ I'm too small and weak and dreamy...", but she clearly demonstrates that, at least as far as dealing with the emotions in her life, she is as strong as they come. These songs are also extremely tender; all of them search for love and understanding, between lovers, friends, family and strangers. Songs like "Answer Me Back" and "Friend" call out for communication between us. This tenderness is perhaps most evident on "We're All Marys Here", a song which can bring tears to your eyes long before you understand what you are crying about. But it pervades every note and line of this CD. I called these folk songs, but Smith works competently in a variety of styles, from bluegrass to rock, blues to pop. The emphasis is on her voice and acoustic guitar, but she is backed up nicely by Mac Ritchey (guitar and keyboards) and Andrew Dow (bass) on many of the tracks. Subtle flourishes, like the mandolin picking on "Molly Brown" and the Richard Thompsonesque guitar line in "Answer Me Back", sweeten many of the tunes. Do yourself a favor, and search out this CD. You will not be sorry. G. Murray Thomas
DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN
From the first guitar pluckings on the first track it is obvious that Jacobs - Strain is an Otis Taylor prodigy. But at only 19 years-old there are worse things to be. His lyrics are full of complex, intense rhyme patterns and his guitar playing is equally engaging. Ultimately he has the sound of an old blues man, but not the heart. The best songs on the CD are the ones he covers, most notably R.L Burnside's Poor Black Mattie, but the remaining songs are still well worth listening to and I have no problem recommending the CD to lovers of the blues. Carlye Archibeque
KRISTIE STREMEL
Are happy country songs about a fulfilling love life an oxymoron? Are they even legal? Okay, not every song on this CD is a happy love song. But even the sad ones are much more wistful than heartbroken. They are still addressed from a secure relationship, exploring temporary setbacks rather than total loss. They are more about insecurities than hopelessness; it always seems that love will win out in the end. Which is not the essence of true country. But this CD makes no claims to be "pure" country anyway. At times, it just wants to rock'n'roll. These songs are more raucous celebrations than beer soaked weepers. They remind me of Melissa Etheridge (although their poppier moments veer close to Linda Rondstadt). Kristie Stemel twists country, rock and blues up with a lively spirit that is always fresh. These songs are for dancing together, not for solitary moping. G. Murray Thomas OTIS TAYLOR
Otis Taylor is such a pleasure to listen to. From his distinctive voice to his awe inspiring guitar playing you are helpless not to listen to his tales of woe as they drag you from one unfortunate situation to another. No one is clean in an Otis Taylor song. From the people who allowed slavery to the black mistress who destroys a black man's marriage, everyone is capable of a desire that damages someone else's live. But these aren't flights of imagination, well not all of them. Taylor is a historian, a speaker for the dead. In 32nd Time he speaks for the white Freedom Riders who lost their lives fighting for the right of blacks to vote. In Three Stripes on a Cadillac, he uses a story he was told to commemorate a young Mexican girl killed on a race track and the race car drive who commemorated her by putting a stripe, usually reserved for racers who died, on his car. This is another Otis Taylor CD worth having. It has eyes closed and head-bobbingly good music. (Yes, I said head-bobbingly...you know what I mean.) Carlye Archibeque WHITE COLLAR CRIME They Haven't Worked for Anything. War and terrorism are easy. They're big, ugly, horrific things that everyone thinks they understand. Oh, sure, you may not be up on the socio-economic roots of the phenomenon, and you may know very, very little about the driving force of fundamentalist Islam, and why it and random acts of violence may seem a sane alternative to the disparate wealth and lack of freedom within the countries that export such violence--including our so-called allies like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia--and you CERTAINLY may not understand why the hard one peace in Afghanistan is seemingly already devolving, but, eh, you understand war. You understand the one big thing about it: people die. Lots of 'em. You may even want that, and if you do, God Help you. But not many people can look at something like the Enron scandal or the Global Crossing scandal, or the messes with Vice Prez Dick Cheney's Haliburton Corporation or Dubya's own Harken Co., and understand that things like these are not only criminal, but are a criminal in such a way that effects the lives of thousands of people and undermine our entire economy. Sander Hicks gets it. Hicks, lead singer/songwriter of the punk band "White Collar Crime" and publisher of the radical Soft Skull Press is the sort of angry young man who can scream about financial scandals and have it be moving. Leading off with the highly thrilling "White Collar Crime Fight Song," Hicks raises the masses of America to rise up against their corrupt corporate overlords. "We are not saints/we are not angels" screams Hicks, "a humble hard-working people's army/Taking the Idea/into the street." Well, "screams" might be overstating it. One of the more endearing features of this album is that, while the music and sentiment is undeniably punk, the sound itself is kind of...wimpy. Reminiscent of early Violent Femmes, with the same deceptive edge. Hicks isn't a strong, confident voice against the system, he's a small, kind of cocky voice against the system. And it works. Hicks is one hacked off honkey. This is a wonderfully antiestablishmentarian album, the kind of album we don't see much of these days: a splendid mix of intellectualism and seething, dangerous rage, ala the Clash and Bad Religion before they started sucking. Which is important, because with the guys running the country now? Their dimwit laws ARE greed, and they HAVEN'T worked for anything, and we need to let them know that we're upset about it. Upset enough to bust some heads. Victor Infante
DAVID WILCOX
This is a kick ass CD that comes as close to the feeling of a live down home country concert as you can get. Wilcox's music and lyrics are fabulous, sad when they should be and funny when you least expect it. I especially liked his opener, Rusty Old American Dream, sung in the persona of an old muscle car sitting on the side of the road who begs a passerby, "I will give you the rest of my lifetime, just don't let me die here alone."Such musical talent coupled with his easy banter between songs, which is worthy of a stand alone stand up show (he describes one out of the way place as a "skull tavern" where he was "straining good music through chicken wire) all make for a very enjoyable listening experience. Highly recommended. Carlye Archibeque
WIDESPREAD PANIC
LIVE IN THE CLASSIC CITY, Widespread Panic's third live release, is a tribute to the sound that has inspired a legion of fans to road-trip across the country to see this band jam. Recorded at the Classic Center in Athens, GA, CITY features 3 CDs of live music - some feat for a band whose fans religiously record their shows. In fact, the band specifically asked their fans to leave their gear at home, intending to release this extraordinary set as previously unavailable. While no recording can completely capture the true intensity of a live performance, CITY does an admirable job of capturing the incredible energy WSP brings to every one of their shows. The band was definitely in the "zone" for this set - John Bell's whisky soaked voice weaves a perfect lyrical portrait while guitarist Mike Houser's unique, almost conversational guitar tells a story all its own. Throw in one of the most amazing rhythm sections around (Dave Schools - Bass, Todd Nance - Drums, and Domingo Ortiz - Percussion, etc.) and you can understand why this is one of the premier jam bands on the scene today; think southern blues rock meets the Grateful Dead. The first two CDs are comprised of the entire April 1, 2000 show and feature a terrific array of special guests ranging from jam veterans Col. Bruce Hampton and Derek Trucks to Rolling Stones' keyboardist Chuck Leavell and R.E.M.'s Bill Berry. In addition to the first appearance of "Action Man," a blues-funk inspired song that is sure to make your ass shake, "I'm Not Alone" is one of the gems on the first CD. This melancholy tune is about as close as they come to a ballad, and the soaring guitar countered by the light piano is entrancing. The cover of NRBQ's "Flat Foot Flewzy" would make even the subdued crowd member get up and dance; Schools provides a quick funky bass line that forces you to move, while Ortiz's percussion provides a relentless rhythm. Bell's vocals are on as he flies through this fantastic cover. The highlight of the show is on the second CD where "Ride Me High" leading into "Drums" and into "Time Is Free", featuring up to eight guests per song. The three-song monster jam fest starts with Schools' groovy base licks and the crooning sax of Randall Bramblett, and builds into a musical frenzy as the bevy of guests adds their musical personalities to the mix. Then, just when it seems they've gone too far to make their way back, the rest of the players begin to drop out one by one, leaving the percussionists to take their time on the extended jam, "Drums." Schools lyrical base playing is the perfect foundation for this song. The rhythmic beating of the primal drums wakes the inner Neanderthal. "Drums," which is normally limited to just a few people, features a seven(!) guest artists. As all good things must come to an end, so does this amazing version of drums, as the players slowly fade out, and Schools' bass leads the band into "Time is Free," a full speed ahead jam. Houser's masterful guitar stands out as he leads the way through the rest of the musical journey. Disc 3 is a compilation of moments from the shows on April 2 & 3, 2000. For the most part, it is simply an interesting taste of what the band sounded like on these other nights. Standout moments on this CD are provided by a 10 minute version of "Stop and Go" and a cover of the Parliament classic "Red Hot Mama." LIVE IN THE CLASSIC CITY pays tribute to the sound that has captivated live audiences since 1985. With the untimely passing of guitarist, Michael Houser in early August, CITY is more important than ever, closing a bittersweet chapter in WSP's legacy of music, and paving the way for the next decade of jamming from one of the most prolific bands on the music scene today. Jason Kuykendall |
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