WFHB ADDS 1.23.07 & 1.30.07
sorry i did not post add reviews last week. here are last week's and this week's....1.24.07
DATE: 1.23.07
ARTIST:The Shins
TITLE: Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)
GENRE:ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Wincing isnt so much a departure as it is an all-out augmentation,
taking the best things about The Shins and amplifying them: the sunny,
impeccably crafted tra-la-la pop songwriting thats always slightly spooky
and off-kilter; the bands propensity to fill the nooks and crannies of a
song with hooks just as compelling as the chorus; and James Mercers knack
for packing untold emotional resonance into even the slightest vocal key
change. Opener Sleeping Lessons wafts in on a delicate keyboard arpeggio,
then explodes into a squall of lickety-split galloping guitars and Mercers
plaintive, liberating, Youre not obliged to swallow anything you despise.
First single Phantom Limb offers gorgeous, sky-scraping melancholy driven
along with crisp tambourines. But theres serious innovation going on, too
the wonderfully strange Sea Legs combines a hip-hop beat and a
Morrissey-esque melody, and in Red Rabbit tinkling piano and acoustic
guitar tiptoe alongside keening woodwinds. Everything is awash in
shimmering production, harmonic flourishes, and rich, unexpected textures.
The Shins have always had an underdog charm, a certain cerebral nerdiness
that counterbalances even their most lilting, overt pop impulses. With
Wincing The Night Away, theyve met the age-old challenge of how to evolve
without losing any of what made them so lovable to begin with.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11
REVIEWER: APRIL LONG uncut.co.uk
DATE: 1.23.07
ARTIST:Backyard Tire Fire
TITLE: Vagabonds and Hooligans (Ole Records)
GENRE: rock/mainstream w/roots
GRADE: B+
REVIEW: Backyard Tire Fire has probably spun Freebird a few times
themselves, and it wouldn't be surprising to find that Van Zant was singer
Ed Anderson's vocal coach. He certainly walks the razor's edge between
hard-partying good ol' boy and world-weary troubadour, and the songs
themselves often swing between those poles as well. The squeaky, crackling
cello on the eponymous title track and the wistful, echo of full-bodied
piano chords on 'A Long Time' cater to the misty-eyed vagabonds, and the
fist-pumping of 'Undecided' and 'Corrine' could hardly be more appealing
to the hooligans if they tried. The only really weak tracks on the album
are the rockstar anthen 'Tom Petty.' and the politcally charged 'Get
Wise.' 'Tom Petty,' Though no doubt intended to be tongue in cheek, is
really nothing more than yet another recitation of the rockstar cliches
(sunglasses, sex, substances) over a bland, B-level Heartbreakers riff.
'Get Wise' starts off promisingly with some nice jabs at political and
religious sloganeering, but falls into the post-Imagine school of offering
oversimplified nihilistic sloganeering instead of solutions. Besides those
missteps and the possibility of being overbeholden to its obvious
influences, Vagabonds and Hooligans is a mostly solid release. Vagabonds
and Hooligans might not be the most original sounding record you'll hear
this year, but chances are, it'll be better than at least five or six of
Ryan Adam's 2007 releases, and with the songwriting chops these guys have,
I only expect them to burn brighter. So lift the lighter, order another
round, and drop the rest of your quarters in the jukebox.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 3, 5, 9, 11
REVIEWER: Brent Waggoner firesideometer.com
DATE: 1.23.07
ARTIST: Keller Williams
TITLE: Dream (Sci Fidelity)
GENRE: rock/mainstream
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Jamodelic guitar groover Williams has pretty amazing skills but
his one-man-band routine sometimes rings hollow and recycled. So, it's a
smart move that on Dreams he enlists the A-list cast of guests
on board for studio collaborations (Bela Fleck, Charlie Hunter and many
others). The result: the most varied and satisfying release Willliams has
released in quite some time.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 15
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 1.23.07
ARTIST:Gill Landry
TITLE: The Ballad of Lawless Soirez (Nettwerk)
GENRE: COUNTRY/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Gill Landry plays in Old Crow Medicine Show. This is his solo
release...
The Ballad Of Lawless Soirez was recorded in Portland, Oregon with
producer Nick Jaina, who brought in musicians from the local folk, indie,
rock and classical music scene to add color and depth to Landrys
hallucinatory travelogues. The overall feel may be downbeat, but shards of
dark sunshine strike the surface to set off exhilarating musical sparks.
Poor Boy is a swampy folk blues, with twanging, feedback drenched electric
guitars dancing arm-in-arm with a baleful whispering organ and primitive,
mountain violin. Landrys vocal has an understated power that makes the
tune sound even more desolate. Dixie is a drinking song named for a famous
New Orleans brew, a mournful dirge driven by minimal guitar, mandolin and
violin. It doesnt romanticize the feeling of the morning after. The Ballad
Of Lawless Soirez bounces along to the blare of Mariachi horns and the
preternatural sound of the musical saw. Its a surreal excursion into the
mind of an exhausted road warrior as tawdry and hopeful as a Saturday
night in a border town. Mexico delivers an impressionistic, disjointed
lyric with an asymmetrical rhythm, wailing clarinet and funereal guitar.
Coal Black Heaven comes from Hells cocktail lounge, a ditty that
celebrates the coming apocalypse with a thrilling jumble of confused
images, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. A ghostly Fender Rhodes
floats over a wash of twangy guitars and a mysterious viola while Landry
prays for a salvation he doubts will come.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 3, 9, 11
REVIEWER: landry's myspace page
DATE: 1.23.07
ARTIST: John Mellencamp
TITLE: Freedom's Road (Universal Republic)
GENRE: LOCAL/MAINSTREAM ROCK
GRADE: A
REVIEW: After declaring in 2005 that he was done making new albums,
Bloomington's restless rockstar turns in a set that is more inspired and
outspoken than most middle-aged rockers. Moreso the social commentator
than ever, JM takes a critical view of the current landscape from the
local level to national/international. Most scathing is the hidden track
Rodeo Clown which targets Bush. The overall sound of the album has a great
60s folk-rock vibe, with the Wanchic/York guitar team checking in with some classic sounds.
While a few of the songs strike me as toss-offs, much of the material will
sound good in our mix. I would recommend skipping Track 6 Our Country,
which has already been played to death on a million Chevy Truck
commercials...
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11
(to access the hidden track 11 Rodeo Clown, cue up Track 10 and fast
forward through 10 and the silence following it until you hit 7:36. This
is where Rodeo Clown begins.
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
DATE: 1.23.07
ARTIST:Austin Lucas
TITLE: The Common Cold (self-released)
GENRE: LOCAL(born here, now in Prague)
GRADE: A+
REVIEW: Austin is Bob Lucas' son and you can hear the musical DNA, for
sure. But Austin has his own creative core as well and has produced an
excellent debut as a singer-songwriter. Bob plays banjo on some tracks. I
love this CD and could write more but I'll hand it off to an English
reviewer for his perspective...
Austin Lucas looks like your typical crusty punk type but if you spin his
record you would never guess he does. This record is full of original
country music with a touch of American singer/songwriter folk tradition.
With touching songs about life the simple way it is and the big feelings
it comes along with this record really found its way into my heart. Even
more stunning is the quality of this record. There is so many punk rockers
who try to play country music nowadays and most of them are average or
worse but this got quality. Every single note makes clear that Mr. Lucas
really knows and loves what he is doing. It is not enough to write pop
songs and play them on country instruments. It takes more and this more is
what makes the difference between this jewel and the heaps of lukewarm
attempts out there.
Jan, Yellow Is The New Pink / (ENG)
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: all, but 2 & 4 really stand out
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
also added:
Julie Doiron Woke Myself Up Jagjaguwar
David Vandervelde The Moonstation House Band Secretly Canadian
The Earlies The Enemy Chorus Secretly Canadian
Deerhoof Friend Opportunity Kill Rock Stars
1.31.07
DATE:1/30/79
ARTIST: Caetano Veloso
TITLE: Ce (Nonesuch)
GENRE: INTL/BRAZIL
GRADE: A
REVIEW: Caetano Veloso's songs tend to assume a presidential height and
distance. His voice remains lithe and relaxed, and his records have become
armored in well-rested civility. Implicitly his music teaches forgiveness.
But in ce, even the first track's hammering, compulsive notes turn over
his own stereotype. You hear snare drums, electric guitar and bass,
playing an abrupt two-beat rhythm with a staccato three-note pattern, and
Veloso softly launches the first passive-aggressive shot. Here Veloso, now
64, takes on the petty end of the emotional spectrum, in front of a
post-punk electric power-trio, produced by his son Moreno. Recently the
elder Veloso has been making more playful records in between his more
official-sounding ones, and at first, ce, with its unvarnished sound,
seems to identify that way. But he's still singing with his usual soft,
focused concentration, and in the rough textures and gaping silences of
the band are strong melodies that point back to his simpler records from
the mid-'70s, like Qualquer Coisa and Joia. Embedded in it, too, are some
of Veloso's best lyrics of the last 20 years.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10
REVIEWER: Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
DATE: 1/30/07
ARTIST: Norah Jones
TITLE: Not Too Late (Blue Note)
GENRE:A-
GRADE: FOLK/S-S
REVIEW:Recoils from fame usually aren't as subdued as Norah Jones' third
album Not Too Late, but such understatement is customary for this gentlest
of singer/songwriters. Not Too Late may not be as barbed or alienating as
either In Utero or Kid A -- it's not an ornery intensification of her
sound nor a chilly exploration of its furthest limits - but make no
mistake, it is indeed a conscious abdication of her position as a
comfortable coffeehouse crooner and a move toward art for art's sake. And,
frankly, who can blame Jones for wanting to shake off the Starbucks
stigmata? Although a large part of her appeal has always been that she
sounds familiar, like a forgotten favorite from the early '70s, Jones is
too young and too much a New York bohemian to settle into a role as a
nostalgia peddler. Although it shares many of the same sonic
characteristics as Jones' first two albums, Not Too Late boasts many
subtle differences that add up to a distinctly different aesthetic. Jones
and Alexander have stripped Norah's music to its core. Gone are any covers
of pop standards, gone are the studio pros, gone is the enveloping
lushness that made Come Away With Me so easy to embrace, something that
Not Too Late is most decidedly not. While this might not have the rough
edges of a 4-track demo, Not Too Late is most certainly music that was
made at home with little or no consideration of an audience much larger
than Jones and Alexander. It's spare, sometimes skeletal, often sleepy and
lackadaisical, wandering from tunes plucked out on acoustic guitars and
pianos to those with richer full band arrangements.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 11
REVIEWER: allmusic.com
DATE:1/30/07
ARTIST: The Bird And The Bee
TITLE: The Bird And The Bee (Metro Blue)
GENRE: ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A
REVIEW:The self-titled offering from the bird and the bee is about as
eclectic as it gets. The bird and the bee are vocalist and songwriter
Inara George (for music historians, she is the daughter of the late Little
Feat singer, guitarist, and songwriter Lowell George) and
multi-instrumentalist/producer Greg Kurstin. The duo's debut album is a
showcase for ten small, elegant, and strangely sophisticated pop songs
that incorporate French pop (and Europop in general), some tropicalia and
samba, and a postmodern form of space age bachelor -- and bachelorette --
music. Yet, the end product is more musical and complex than all of them.
In its own way, this is as strange as anything by Jane Siberry or Brigitte
Fontaine, as quirky as Jill Sobule or Jane Birkin (during her latter Serge
Gainsbourg period), and much drier than (while remaining as confessional
as) Sam Phillips during her Martinis & Bikinis phase. All of that said,
mood music or a backdrop hanging sound isn't the point or the end result.
Inara George is more than simply hip -- she's savvy, poetic, and
quick-witted. Kurstin wraps her irony-filled lyrics in layers of skeletal
keyboards and beats. The music shimmers, shakes, slightly jerks, and
shimmies. This is a record that gives up its secrets slowly, while being
charming and delightful at every turn.
FCC # 3 DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT PLAYING IT.
IT'S CALLED FUCKING BOYFRIEND AND THAT PHRASE IS REPEATED ALL THROUGH THE
SONG!
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 4, 7, 9
REVIEWER:allmusic.com
DATE:1/30/07
ARTIST:Kristin Hersch
TITLE: Learn To Sing Like A Star (Yep Roc )
GENRE:ROCK/ALT
GRADE: A+
REVIEW:Her first solo offering in nearly four years, Learn to Sing Like a
Star is nigh on worthy of rejoicing over. Hersh produced the record
herself, and plays everything on it but drums -- played by bandmate David
Narcizo -- with support from Martin and Kimberlee McCarrick on cello and
violin, respectively. She has a bona fide single in the opening cut, "In
Shock." A fast waltz tempo is ushered in by drums, electric guitar, and
piano and the hook opens itself because in some sense, the rhythm is the
hook. The three-and-a-half-minute "Day Glo," ushered in by both electric
and downtuned acoustic guitar, underscores a single-note lyric line. There
is no lack of pathos on Learn to Sing Like a Star, and the album seems to
be about learning to go on after grief, loss, and perhaps emotional abuse.
Her previous solo records, fine as they are, bring out her dark and darkly
humorous tomes in a steady buildup. Here, surprise is around every corner,
and the potential for it lies behind every word twist or angling guitar
line. The stuttering rocker "Peggy Lee" features some knockout electric
guitar entwined with the strings. Fuzzed explosive six-string and an
expressionistic lyric make this tune addictive. Its middle eight contains
a complete shift that makes the tune an obsessive listening experience.
"Vertigo" is the most poignant cut here; if personal and emotional
disintegration had a theme song, this acoustic ditty would be it. "Wild
Vanilla" could have been done by Lou Reed early in his solo career, and
would have fit well on his self-titled debut, or even on Coney Island
Baby. But it's all Hersh: the guitars swirl, an acoustic keeping rhythm
with Narcizo's kit work along with a psychedelic wobbly, distorted, and
time-warped lead line. "The Thin Man" is one of those tracks, a ballad
that cannot be described. Learn to Sing Like a Star was certainly worth
the wait, and if fans will listen closely enough, they'll understand that
Hersh's sophistication as both a singing poet and composer has grown
almost immeasurably.
FCC #13 SHIT
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 14
REVIEWER: allmusic.com
DATE: 1.30.07
ARTIST:Ruthie Foster
TITLE:The Phenomenal (Blue Corn)
GENRE: FOLK/SS
GRADE: A
REVIEW:This veteran Texas singer has a strong command of the major roots
genres: blues, soul, gospel, R&B. Her producer, Malcom Papa Mali
Welbourne, has kept things warm and organic, enlisting jam-band guests
like George Sluppick (Mofro) and Hammond B3 ace Anthony Farrell
(Greyhounds). Phenomenal may be an exaggeration, but shes strongly
recommended for anyone who likes Bonnie Raitt or Kelley Hunt.
NOTE: Ruthie has played in Bloomington at a few Lotus concerts and always
goes over well.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10
REVIEWER: backtorockville.com
DATE:1.30.07
ARTIST: Storyhill
TITLE: Storyhill
GENRE: FOLK/SS
GRADE: A-
REVIEW:Storyhill is a duo from Montana whose big thing is harmonies,
energetic intense harmonies that recall Everly Brothers, Jayhawks and
Simon & Garfunkel.
Their songwriting doesn't quite match the excellence of their singing, but
most of the songs are still high quality musical moments.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS:1, 2, 3, 5, 6
REVIEWER: Jim Manion/WFHB
also added:
The Greencards Viridian (Dualtone)
Eric Bibb Diamond Days (Telarc)
John Hammond Push Comes To Shove (Back Porch)
Arboretum Rites of Uncovering (Thrill Jockey)
posted by WFHB Music @ 11:49:00 AM
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