Catching up on WFHB ADDS
For some reason my computer, for weeks, would not pull up the blog entry page. Now, somehow, it has decided to cooperate. So, here are a bunch of addpool reviews from the last month or so...DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Medeskie Scofield Martin & Wood
TITLE: Out Louder (Indirecto)
GENRE: JAZZ
GRADE: A
REVIEW: On their new release OUT LOUDER, they make music not of this world, yet rooted in the earth tones of jazz, funk, and blues. Music from the heart, for the mind, and made to shake the earth, not to mention the body. Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood first recorded together on Scofield’s A Go Go (Verve 1998), a disc that has become a must-have classic. OUT LOUDER the inaugural release for MMW’s own Indirecto Records label is Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood’s first four-way collaborative recording. Recorded in under a week at Shacklyn, MMW’s fabled downtown Brooklyn studio, OUT LOUDER reeks of the scruffy, spirited basement in which it was created. The four musician’s yen for jazz, funk, rock, soul and reggae, go a long way towards explaining why OUT LOUDER’s deep grooves and sophisticated harmonies beg for closer inspection while simultaneously making you want to get up and dance. Yes, this music does come from a deep, hip, strange place, and Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood are ready to take it out there and everywhere.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 12
REVIEWER: www.spectremusic.com
DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Brazilian Girls
TITLE: Talk to La Bomb (Verve Forecast)
GENRE: INTL/WORLD FUSION
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Is Talk To La Bomb, the second album from New York quartet Brazilian Girls, the soundtrack to the end of the world, or the record that will ignite the planet’s salvation? A polyglot of rhythms, sounds, and languages, their sophomore set throbs with the energy of a teeming mob. Those crowds might be the bejeweled revelers of carnival in Rio or frightened citizens filling Tokyo streets as Godzilla approaches. No matter. Talk To La Bomb distills that surging energy—of all those cultures, those moods—into a single, dynamic album. In the fat, pulsating keyboards of the first single, “Jique,” ; Sabina spews a stream of consciousness lyric that incorporates English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish...often in the same sentence. “It’s this crazy mix of language, kind of how my brain functions,” admits Sabina. “It’s very me.” So what will the verdict be? Is Talk To La Bomb the beat that will make people dance to the end of the universe, or kick-start the revolution? Will we be crushed by fire-breathing lizards, or swept along by effervescent celebrants? If this first single is any indication, things are looking good.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 FCC:11
REVIEWER: www.spectremusic.com
DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Solomon Burke
TITLE: Nashville (Shout Factory)
GENRE: COUNTRY/SOUL
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Solomon Burke, an important soul pioneer, continues he late-career resurgence with an album of country songs. Country songs? His early work brought in not only soul, but also country, gospel, blues, rock... you name it Solomon can sing it. His two "comeback" albums `Don`t Give Up On Me` and `Make Do With What You Got` began to show diminishing returns by the end of the latter. This time, with the help of producer Buddy Miller, Burke pairs up magnificently with Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin, Patty Loveless, and Emmylou Harris. Choice songs, including tracks by Parton, Welch, Griffin, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy & Julie Miller, and more while effortlessly conquering the solo tracks. Choice songs, including tracks by Parton, Welch, Griffin, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy & Julie Miller, and more. Country rarely sounds this soulful.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13
REVIEWER: guardian.co.uk
DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Ray Lamontagne
TITLE: Till The Sun Turns Black (RCA)
GENRE: FOLK/S-S
GRADE: A+
REVIEW:Throughout Till the Sun Turns Black, LaMontagne further refines the approach that he employed on his breakthrough Trouble, but where the latter outing tended to stay within a fairly limited framework, the former finds him branching out into an array of fully compatible directions. True, songs like Barfly and Gone Away from Me rekindle the Van Morrison-esque atmospherics of his debut, but with the help with veteran producer Ethan Johns, LaMontagne also subtly incorporates many new textures into his work. The sparse, folk-driven Lesson Learned, for example, draws its mesmerizing dynamics from Richie Havens’ canon, while the mournful violin accompaniment that is draped across the country tilt of Empty recalls Ryan Adams’ softer musings. Elsewhere, Can I Stay evokes the fragility of Damien Rice’s O as well as the melodiousness of Paul McCartney’s vast repertoire, and as the title track slips into the concluding Within You, the influence of John Lennon is brought to the fore.Till the Sun Turns Black’s highlights are a pair of tunes that are tucked into the middle of the set. The first is Three More Days, an impassioned, horn-kissed, deep-soul groove that finds common ground between Bill Withers and Legion of Mary. The second is the rolling blues of You Can Bring Me Flowers, which shifts into a spry, jazzy interlude before it fades away. Presented more like an album than a CD, Till the Sun Turns Black begs for the pops and clicks of vinyl, but even without them, it provides positive proof that LaMontagne’s debut wasn’t a fluke.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10
REVIEWER: musicbox-online.com
DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Jeffrey Luck Lucas
TITLE: What We Whisper (Antebellum)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Darkly gorgeous, unexpectedly uplifting, these nine slow-moving songs traverse desolate nighttime landscapes where conversations in road-houses and at neon-lit kitchen tables drift suddenly from trivialities to life-altering truth. The coffee turns cold, the cigarettes burn down, and all of the sudden someone you love is looking you in the eye, demanding, "Tell me why / your kindest words are just shy of lies." Jeffrey Luck Lucas, a SF-based songwriter who got his start with garage-Kinks The Morlocks before earning a masters in cello composition and performance, is not one to shy away from the confrontational in this, his second solo album. Still, his voice is so gentle and mournful, his arrangements so supple and glowing that you don't see the knife right away...or perhaps, if you're unlucky, at all. These songs are subtly constructed, autumnal elements like harmonica and accordion surging and receding behind Lucas' weary harmonies. "Just Like Moths," one of the album's most beautiful cuts, spends most of its duration as a sigh turned into verse, as exhausted and unhoping as a song can be. But then, without warning, the song builds into something like triumph, as pedal steel joins with a nearly joyful chorus. "In the Stars' Whirling" is stranger, more enveloping in its gradual billow of string tones, the ice-clear tinkling of keyboards, as Lucas sings of watching a loved one sleep and wondering how another man kisses her. Lucas' voice – in the same soulfully rough family as Will Oldham or Micah Hinson – is a large part of this album's appeal. Still, its lone instrumental offering, "Griftos Muertos," has its own menacing charm, with vibrating, high saw tones dancing a tango with accordion and junkyard drums. Moreover, backing musicians David Phillips (on pedal steel) and Wendy Allen of Court and Spark (harmonies) lend velvety textures to Lucas' otherwise sparse songs. What We Whisper is a world of darkness, poignant regrets and unlooked-for late night solace. Its songs feel simple the way the language in the King James Bible seems simple, as if they had always been there and could not be any other way.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9
REVIEWER: dustedmagazine.com
DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Yo La Tengo
TITLE: I Am Not Afraid of You... (Matador)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Twenty-two years into a career that’s embraced everything from surf instrumentals to free jazz and underwater documentary soundtracks, Hoboken’s veteran indie trio return with another genre-straddling gem. 2003’s hazily homogenous Summer Sun was obviously a blip, as its successor ricochets blithely but brilliantly between ten minute guitar wig-outs (Pass The Hatchet), country-tinged indie nuggets (Sometimes I Don’t Get You), and beautifully arranged chamber pop songcraft (Black Flowers, replete with drummer Georgia Hubley’s sublime harmonies). At 77 minutes it’s no sprint, but YLT’s mellifluous serpentines are never less than involving.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 3, 4, 8, 10
REVIEWER: bbc.co.uk
DATE: 9.11.06
ARTIST: Jerry Lee Lewis
TITLE: Last Man Standing (Shangri-La)
GENRE: ROCK/MAINSTREAM
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Is this the last blast for “The Killer”? Who knows, but it's a good one. Chock full of duets with “superstars”, Jerry Lee does his thing (rocking, rollicking piano, slurred singing, verbal interjections) and never lets the guests dominate. Which is what one would expect, eh? Lots of fun here...pick a guest or song you like and let it roll.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: all tracks worth a spin
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST: E.P. Hall
TITLE: The Edge The Middle (E.P. Hall)
GENRE: LOCAL/SINGER-SONGWRITER
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Relatively new name on the Bloomington scene, E.P. Hall has recorded a quite introspective set of songs. Precision guitar playing and quiet-fire lyrics with odd synthesizer accompaniment
on the side.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS:1, 3, 4, 5
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST: The Duhks
TITLE: Migrations (Sugar Hill)
GENRE: FOLK/FUSION
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Produced in Nashville by bluegrass and folk veteran Tim O'Brien and co-produced, as was their last disc, by Grammy award winning engineer and producer Gary Paczosa, the songs on Migrations reflect The Duhks' growing experience, group maturity, and sense of self. That growth is reflected in the upbeat, anthemic first single, "Out of the Rain," and in the surprising gospel song "Moses, Don't Get Lost," which, in its last of several twists, finds the Duhks' working quintet vocal harmonies out of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Georgia sea Island traditions. Fiery instrumentals reflect the same knack for artfully embellished simplicity, and the band's unflinching unity.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11
REVIEWER: milesofmusic.com
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST: Truckstop Honeymoon
TITLE: Delivery Boy (Squirrel)
GENRE: COUNTRY/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Quirky country and Americana from Mike West and Katie Ellis, who formerly resided in New Orleans' 9th Ward before Katrina chased them up to Lawrence, Kansas. Most of the songs display a sense of fun in lyrical wordplay and an upbeat gritty
instrumental attack.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST: Stoll Vaughn
TITLE: Love Like a Mule (Shadowdog)
GENRE: country/alt
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Americana artist out of Lexington, with a Bloomington connection – he is Mike Wanchic's nephew and he records at Echo Park. A little more rockin' this time around, featuring Jake Smith on bass and some of Mellencamp's band as well (Dane Clark, Andy York, Mo Z).
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10
REVIEWER:
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST:Chris Smither
TITLE: Leave the LIght On (Mighty Albert)
GENRE: FOLK/SS
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Old folkies can be a feisty bunch. Chris Smither, a veteran of the seminal '60s Boston blues-folk scene, showcases a verve and passion on his 2006 release Leave The Lights On that most people his age long ago gave up in a sigh of resignation. An exceptional acoustic finger-picker, Smither garners up some good old fashioned rebellion by taking on diplomats that fight proxy wars and intelligent design advocates. He is also aware of his own mortality, but refuses to mourn. This albums, rocks, moans, and wheezes but never sounds old. As the original folkies did in the '60s Smither visits songs from favorite musicians Bob Dylan (Visions of Johanna recast a a waltz), Lightnin' Hopkins and Peter Case.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
REVIEWER: milesofmusic.com
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST:Tony Joe White
TITLE: Uncovered (Swamp)
GENRE: ROCK/MAINSTREAM
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Veteran swamp rocker and session guitarist comes up with a slow burning set of tunes that feature his trademark drawl and tasty guitar licks. A handful of guests spice things up, except for Michael McDonald, whose vocals still grate on me after all these years. Not much variation in tempo throughout the album, all the songs have a slow grove as if bogged down by 120% humidity down in the swamp.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST:Charlie Sexton & Shannon McNally
TITLE: Southside Sessions (Back Porch)
GENRE: folk/ss
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Mutual admirers, frequent collaborators and Mountain Stage veterans, guitarist/producer Charlie Sexton (Dylan, Lucinda Williams) and gritty rock soul singer Shannon McNally have guested on each other's discs and, while touring together, always paired up for a few tunes.Their first joint disc taps the best each has to offer with Sexton producing and fleshing out the songs with a variety of guitar styles and McNally handling most of the lead vocals. Beginning with the Band/Continental Drifter-sounding "Nothing Mysterious," the combination leads to a number of magical moments - think a back porch version of Gram and Emmylou's "Grievous Angel." With acoustic guitar echoing the melody line, "Old Cypress Tree" has the kind of gentle, timeless sound that Daniel Lanois mined on "Acadie" while "I Do The Same For You" has a slow and soothing gospel feel. The sole cover is a pastoral take on Jesse Winchester's gorgeous "Biloxi," which shows off both McNally's control and Sexton's slide work. The interaction between Sexton and McNally is both natural and deep (the antithesis of Nashville-styled collaborations), and, although the seven tracks clock in at just 31 minutes, there's far more meaningful music than you'll find on most releases.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8
REVIEWER: austin chronicle
DATE: 8.28.06
ARTIST:Jacqui Naylor
TITLE: The Color Five (Ruby Star)
GENRE: jazz
GRADE: A
REVIEW: For The Color Five, her fifth CD, Naylor has incorporated many different calculations of the number “5.” There are five musicians on the record. The song selection is also broken down into groups of five; there are five originals (all co-written by Naylor and Khu), five impeccably-chosen covers, and five of Naylor’s trademark “acoustic smashes,” where she sings a classic rock tune over a jazz standard or vice versa. For example, Naylor sings the U2 favorite “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” over the music of Miles Davis’ “All Blues” – which they’ve done here in 5/4 time. The record continues to flow with its first “acoustic smash,” as Naylor sings Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs” over fellow Buddhist Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island.” Naylor also gives the Cole Porter standard “Love For Sale” a funky makeover by smashing it with Bill Withers’ “Use Me.” The other “acoustic smashes” on The Color Five are just as fun and surprising. The Gershwins’ “Summertime” is served up over The Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post” in a blend that must be heard to be believed. Likewise, Naylor takes the upbeat vibe of Lee Morgan’s “Sidewinder” and gives us an even more gender-bending version of The Kinks’ “Lola” - truly one of The Color Five’s highlights. The album’s originals showcase an impressive range of genre and influence. “Sit And Rest A While” is breezy and easy going while “Angel of Mine” is a beautiful ballad. “Easy Ride From Here” can bring to mind the music of such diverse artists as Joni Mitchell, Natalie Merchant, or Aimee Mann. Naylor rounds out the song selection with two true jazz classics. She makes “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (the Gene DePaul and Don Raye tune performed by the likes of Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Tony Bennett) sultry and modern and closes the record with a heartfelt and reverent telling of “Here’s To Life.” Naylor chose that song in tribute to the late Shirley Horn, one of her major inspirations as a vocalist.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 4, 7, 10, 12, 13
REVIEWER: william morris agency
DATE: 8/21/06
ARTIST:Dirty Dozen Brass Band
TITLE: What's Going On (Shout Factory)
GENRE: LOUISIANA
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: There was no Dirty Dozen record in 2005, Hurricane Katrina took care of that. In 2006, hey addressed the tragedy in the only way they know how, by re-creating the same kind of bewilderment and anger that Marvin Gaye felt and witnessed in 1971 by issuing their own take on Gaye's classic album What's Goin' On. The Dirty Dozen recruit a number of vocalists to help out on the hinge tunes. The samples of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's voice in the aftermath of the hurricane usher in the brass slip-sliding along the dark funky overtones of Gaye's signature tune. Chuck D raps the refrain in the context of modern history, the disaster, and the ineptitude and even hostility of a government who wages war and ignores domestic problemS. "What's Happening Brother," closes the funk from the inside, turning the groove back in on itself not only playing the rage, but echoing it in the grain of Bettye LaVette's vocal, which dares to spit out the truth with questions and observations in the pain of a first person narrative. The deep tribal drums Mardi Gras Indian-style, with the skronky saxophones, tight guitar groove, and screaming narrative in "Save the Children" give way to the smoothness of Gaye's melody. It's a bewildered tune, sad with undercurrents of rage. Ivan Neville's arrangement for "God Is Love" is a stunner, full of deeply imaginative hues and colors and gospel grooves (hidden just under the Motown soul in Gaye's original) where harmonies crisscross without for one moment leaving the tune's prayerful wish in the lurch. "Right On," is both militant and celebratory. It's got the funk, but it's also got gospel, rock, and deep soul blaring from the trombones and the repetitive riff in the rest of the brass section. Never has party music sounded so poignant, so utterly damning and hopeful and unbowed. With killer grooves that take no prisoners, What's Goin' On is the most fitting tribute yet to Gaye, because not only does it prove the timelessness of the music itself, it echoes that what is indeed goin' on (Gaye's dedication to Detroit as its decline became a reality with no onlookers interested in doing anything) is even more true today than it was in 1971.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,2,3,5,7,9
REVIEWER: ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
DATE: 8/21/06
ARTIST:Joseph Arthur
TITLE: Nuclear Daydream Lonely Astronaut
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Joseph Arthur has made one brilliant album after another, and his 5th album is no exception. The first release on his own record label, Nuclear Daydream is more stripped-down and direct than his more recent recordings. But like those albums, it contains an abundance of well-crafted, emotionally searing songs
RECOMMENDED TRACKS:
REVIEWER: Don Yates/KEXP
DATE: 8.21.06
ARTIST:Rory Block
TITLE: The Lady and Mr. Johnson (Rykodisc)
GENRE: BLUES
GRADE: A
REVIEW:With 'The Lady and Mr. Johnson', acoustic guitarist/slide/vocalist extraordinaire Rory Block not only gets back to the real deal, but truly shadows, even channels, Robert Johnson. This is a single artist, single guitar ghosting of the man, and the best album of consummate artist Block's long and devoted career. This disc (her 20th since the mid-60s)should finally win her the popular admiration she truly deserves. She strums and picks and slides and beats and hits that guitar like a woman possessed. Block, producer Rob Davis and Rykodisc have met at the crossroads and discovered gold!
'The Lady and Mr. Johnson' is recorded direct, using Pro Tools, and every wart and mistake and fret buzz are preserved with amazing presence and clarity...just as Mr. J would have it, one would think. Like Block, one needs to be an expert player and then be willing to "let go", to let the spirit fly, to make mistakes (albeit few, I don't want you to think this is "sloppy" in any way), to make this marvelous music. The Delta blues are down'n'dirty, that's a fact - and just as it should be. "Cleaning up" Delta blues is like cleaning up a great comedian who works "blue". Take out the "dirty" and it just ain't the real deal - it doesn't work. A disc like this, one that you not only hear, but feel, comes along rarely It's a treasure!
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,2,4,6,7,10 9ALL GOOD, REALLY...)
REVIEWER: MUSICTAP.COM
DATE: 8.21.06
ARTIST:Old Crow Medicine Show
TITLE: Big Iron World Nettwerk
GENRE: FOLK/PLD TIMEY
GRADE: A
REVIEW:
Old Crow Medicine Show are throwbacks, for sure, but I’d hardly call them revivalists. On “Big Iron World” the string-band crafts a truly contemporary album despite covering Woody Guthrie and singing about displaced riverboat workers. The outlaw mountain wails of Ketch Secor and Willie Watson are mournful and impassioned as they sing songs that would be at home with the work of Pete Seeger or early Bob Dylan. Plucky guitar and banjo lead the way, the only percussion you will find are sparse clickety-clicks from guest drummer Gillian Welch. If it weren’t for the Karl Rove name-check and allegorical parallels to current events this album might feel archival. But the songs are too engaging. “God’s Got It” is hauntingly understated, full of vibrating moans and a revival tent creeping bass. The stand-out, however, is “James River Blues,” the tale of boatmen quickly outdated by prominence of the railways. Sung in first person, the sad tale of once valued men now without purpose is told in against the backdrop of the powerful, ever moving, unchanging river. One song before Guthrie’s “Union Maid,” “James River Blues” is one of several Tom Joad campfire sing-a-longs on the album. But again, don’t let the comparisons to the music of a generation ago fool you. “Big Iron World” is a record for today, busting with passion, that just happens to performed by a string band. Or as OCMS sings on the opening track “You’re so down home, girl.” So are they.
FCC ON #2 (SHIT)
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,3,5,6,8,9
REVIEWER: tfponline.com
DATE: 8.21.06
ARTIST: Mysteries of Life
TITLE: Beginning to Move (Affirmation)
GENRE: LOCAL/ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Jake and Frieda once again come up with endearing and infectious slices of personal pop. Hooks galore, clever lyrics, songs that seem simple yet are deceptively complex. Bittersweet, all in all, because they are leaving town for England soon, Jake has landed an academic job there. Perhaps they'll make in big in the UK?
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,2,3,6,7,10,11 (ALL ARE FINE, ACTUALLY)
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE:8.21.06
ARTIST: Nouvelle Vague
TITLE: Bande A Part (Luaka Bop)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT/COVERS
GRADE: A
REVIEW: On the group's second effort, Bande A Part, Nouvelle Vague finds themselves dabbling with deeper new wave cuts ranging from artists like Echo & The Bunnymen and The Buzzcocks to Bauhaus and U2. The thing that makes Nouvelle Vague so intriguing is that it's not like other cover records out there. Nouvelle Vague recreates each song with love and dedication and the end result is something new and fresh. They aren't just covering the song; they are making it their own. Someone told me that the gals singing had never even heard some of these tunes before and that is why, just going into the songs with no preconceptions. Personally, I find it a little hard to believe that someone hasn't ever heard a note of "The Killing Moon," "Heart of Glass" or "Dancing With Myself" before. I would like to think that it's just sheer talent that makes the group great. One of the best surprises on Bande A Part was the choice of "Bella Lugosi's Dead." Sadly, it's not the nine-minute-plus anthem that the original is, but what it lacks in time it makes up double fold in creativity. The sound of crunching leaves as someone is running away, the breathy vocals and the beating heart drums...quality, not quantity, is what this song is about. The bossa nova sounds are very apparent in "Shack Up," a track that screams the warmth of summer mixed with the cool carefree beach atmosphere styling. Not straying away from the new wave classics, the take of New Order's "Confusion" is equally as entertaining, featuring the soothing sound of a trickling stream nearby making the listener yearn for some sangria.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,2,5,8,9,11
REVIEWER: thetripwire.com
DATE: 8.21.06
ARTIST:Boozoo Bajou
TITLE: Juke Joint II (K7!)
GENRE: FUNK
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Instead of taking a fragment of a song and putting into a new context, compilations can be a form of crate-digging that features songs in their original forms, making them an important piece in a larger body. This is the case with German electronic duo Boozoo Bajou's Juke Joint II, a sequel to its 2003 release. The album has similarities to its predecessor; it has a loose, casual feeling between its tracks, and it would go really well with vodka coolers at the beach on a warm summer evening (yes, that's a hint). The first Juke Joint LP had tracks from such acts as Groove Armada, John Lee Hooker, and Primal Scream. This time around, though, the duo ventured deeper into the crates, moving further into dustier, more obscure territory. Selections such as the Konono No.1-esque Mulatu Astatque's "Emnete" or dub style of Dennis Bovell's "Rowing" add a flavor of diversity to the overall mix. The best moments on the disc come courtesy of Boozoo Bajou members Peter Heider and Florian Seyberth themselves; in particular, their collaboration with the Stones Throw's excellent Oh No on "Back Up," one of the best hip-hop track's of the past few months. Heider and Seyberth also contribute one more exclusive track, "Pflug," as well as remixes of Tony Joe White and Gecko Turner. Juke Joint II could be the best compilation of the summer, with its range of sounds and styles; the duo has masterfully selected the songs and arranged them with a vision in mind. Boozoo Bajou does all the crate-digging for you, freeing up time for you to sit at the beach with your friends, enjoying a truly memorable collection of sounds.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,2,5,7,8,10,12,14,17
REVIEWER: prefixmag.com
DATE: 8.21.06
ARTIST: Lambchop
TITLE: Damned (merge)
GENRE: rock/alt
GRADE: A
REVIEW:Lambchop main man Kurt Wagner went into the band's eighth studio album confronting his own fragile mortality full on. With his jaw eaten away by a virulent cyst, Wagner underwent surgery to transplant bone from his hip into his rotting mouth; he then survived a major cancer scare. Lyrical asides on this troubled album also hint at collapsing personal relationships. Wagner is keen to stress that his fear has now lifted ("The album title is in the past tense because I'm trying to put these things behind me") yet a profound melancholy suffuses the elegant and often sublime Damaged. It's there from the opening track, Paperback Bible, a featherlight lament that lists the pitifully mundane items ("An old birdbath, a kitchen sink, a rocking chair") that people try to barter daily on US public radio. Wagner sighs, but he is empathising, not mocking.Like their kindred spirits, Flaming Lips and Grandaddy, Lambchop long ago transcended the alt-country genre that spawned them. Bar the odd plangent swoop of steel guitar, country is a virtual stranger on an album whose musical signature is, rather, a flexible ultra-sensitivity to mood and nuance. Adrift among acoustic alchemy, Wagner murmurs as if merely thinking aloud. The precision and poignancy is there on the moving Prepared [2], a typically fragmented yet transparent account of a home life collapsing in on itself as love dies. Wagner's gravelly tones can recall Cat Stevens, yet the gravitas of his timbre - often speaking rather than singing - augments the existential sorrow of The Rise and Fall of the Letter P ("How long is the right to suffer?/ And nothing impresses me"). Damaged's standout track is I Would Have Waited Here All Day, an ode to ennui and futility that he originally wrote, bizarrely, for Candi Staton. Then, just as the night seems darkest, a chink of light appears. The Decline of Country and Western Civilisation sees Wagner essay a joke at his recent tragicomic surgery: "I still hold my hip each time I sneeze." It's a fitting moment of personal redemption to close what is patently one of the records of the year.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1,2,3,4,6,10
REVIEWER: guardian.co.uk
posted by WFHB Music @ 3:37:00 PM
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