Review: Brazzaville - East L.A. Breeze

Label: Vendlus Records

Released: 2006

Brazzaville is the project of David Brown, saxophonist for and longtime friend of Beck. The band is known for layering lyrics about the world's forgotten souls -- the lost and lonely, the whores and addicts, the killers and the soon-to-be dead -- in sultry musical canvases that conjure images of South American beaches and salty, sun-warmed skin. They are arguably the greatest unknown band of the past decade, and every serious music lover should check them out.

With that said, East L.A. Breeze is Brazzaville's worst album. This is a shame, because they've changed and, in some ways, grown for the better.

East L.A. Breeze starts out incredibly strong. Brady Lynch's string bass and Josep Terrecabras' percussion set up a quiet rhythm on "Peach Tree" that hints at something both sensual and dark; Naomi Webman's violin rolls in like a lazy, late afternoon storm; and Brown's plain but compelling voice slides into gentle observations about mortality, loss, and lifetimes of loneliness.

But it goes down from there. The second song, a reworking of Russian rock band KINO's "Star Called Sun," is dragged down by clichéd soft-rock beats, cheesy keyboard swells, and a syncopated guitar that lacks any emotion whatsoever. It's frustrating, because it's so easy to hear what could have been... the lyrics and the vocal melody are wonderful, the simple chord progression lends itself to the kind of haunting arrangements that Brazzaville does so well, and the band is talented and emotional. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is dominated by generic rock performances, dull drum machines, and lackluster arrangements. There are a few gems scattered throughout, but even some of those -- like the forlorn ode to past mistakes, "Madalena" -- are a bit flat and lifeless compared to the music Brown is capable of creating.

The lyrics on East L.A. Breeze are among the best that Brown has ever written. Brown understands desperation and loneliness, and he has a sense of his own mortality; not that death has ever been far away from Brazzaville's music, but it feels more inevitable this time around. The desolate victims of globalization aren't here this time, but the muted character studies abound. As always, Brown does a wonderful job of not only portraying the untouchable members of society, but respecting them and even loving them.

Brown's intentions to push his musical boundaries are noble, but the road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions. East L.A. Breeze is a good enough album that any Brazzaville fan should own it. If you want to hear Brown's vision at its finest, however, you're better off with Rouge on Pockmarked Cheeks.

(For what it's worth, it hurts me to write a less-than-glowing review about Brazzaville, because I've been a fan for years. David Brown has been an influence on my writing about Baltimore, and I strive to learn from his ability to see the beauty in what most people find hideous.)

Rating: 6/10

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Review: Turbo Fruits

Label: Ecstatic Peace

Released: July 17, 2007

Most of Turbo Fruits' self-titled album's strengths and weaknesses can be summarized by simply reviewing one song, their cover of the MC5's cover of "Ramblin' Rose." Both versions attempt to release enormous energy on the listener in the same way that an atomic bomb releases it's energy on a target. It takes a smaller explosion to create the exponentially larger one. The trick with the music as with the bomb is for the small explosion to keep it together to reach critical mass and detonate the real blast. The MC5, live, on the first track of their first album, are like freakin' Oppenheimer. They walk that very dangerous line, not sure that they can control the process, but they do and the result is brighter than a thousand suns. Turbo Fruits on the other hand have the energy of the small explosion, a pedestrian, conventional energy, an energy that has been harnessed and used for simple purposes by countless bands. But they never reach critical mass before everything breaks down, the real explosion never goes off and, next to the MC5's atomic bomb, theirs doesn't just pale, it's as imperceptible as a firecracker.

Luckily, most of the album doesn't have to live up to the MC5, but that doesn't change what Turbo Fruits do well and do poorly. Often the songs are loose to the point of floundering, because few of them have enough substance to keep the music on even a meandering path. A few do have moments that get into a groove and "Volcano" adds some quirky stops, making me wonder why they didn't focus on being a little odd rather than just being unrestrained. They do try to infuse the music with a lot of energy, but they're not strong enough as either players or writers to split musical atoms.

Rating: 4/10

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Flogging Molly in the Studio and the Return of Matt Hensley

Flogging is currently cutting tracks for their new album expected in early 2008. They spent the pre-production period and are recording in Dave King's native Ireland. The band is really excited about the new material, new album and the return of their brother in arms.

Long time accordion player and gentleman, Matt Hensley has re-joined the band after leaving in January of this year for personal reasons. Matt says of his return, "The truth is that my life makes sense again, and I feel like I'm where I need to be in this world." He also ads, "I missed the feeling of 'knowing where you're at.' Being the accordion player in this band is my zone; where I belong. I got emails all the time from people who care deeply about the band. I missed being able to affect people in a positive way."

Review: D'Edwin - No Prognosis

Label: Action Rezults Records (Available from CD Baby)

Released: 2007

To some extent, D'Edwin can get away with his unabashed mimicking of Morrissey, because he hasn't graduated into the big leagues yet, but there has to be some substance to his music beyond a good Morrissey impression. On No Prognosis, that substance is erratic at best.

The opening track, "Secret Assassin," does have some of that substance with an Eastern influence and wind instruments providing an ambient backdrop. However, even this, the album's best song, falls into the trap that so many find themselves in when artists work alone in these days of inexpensive electronic effects. (It's the same trap that D'Edwin falls into as a graphic artist when he committed his Photoshop sins on the album cover.) If you're bothered by the double-tracked vocals, that's nothing compared to the birds singing in "I Don't Recall." The bottom line is that you can't fill out your sound with effects in lieu of a band. If in doubt, err on the side of simplicity and D'Edwin, albeit far from the worst offender, errs on the side of over-processing. He takes a decent song like the opener or the EP's more organic final track, "I Abhor," and makes it sound more amateur than it is.

However, most of the songs do remain listenable if you have any affinity for 80s alternative music and you're willing to grant D'Edwin a few indulgences for inexperience, lack of funds or any other excuse that seems plausible. There is one track though that cannot be excused. Anyone with any ear at all can recognize that "Lazy Train" should never have seen the light of day. D'Edwin's small foray into techno, the song displays a book knowledge of how techno songs are built and absolutely no ability to actually build one.

All that being said, I actually enjoyed this album on some level, partly because I like the Smiths and partly because it reminds me of some of the underground post-punk experimentation of the 80s. Plus, D'Edwin isn't without talent. The first and last tracks have real potential and assuming that his well isn't dry so much as it isn't fully tapped for a consistent flow, he certainly could grow. Still, none of these things actually make No Prognosis good.


Rating: 4/10

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Review: Prong - Power of the Damager

Label: 13th Planet Records

Released: October 2, 2007

In their prime, Prong established a sound that was so unique and intense, that it's influence can still be felt today. In doing so, they also set their own standard fairly high, making post-prime albums even more difficult for them.

Power of the Damager won't hold up to an album like Cleansing. It doesn't show Prong's ability to mix the technical with the visceral, a feat that few bands have been able to copy. In the past, Tommy Victor and company's prowess has been rightly obscured by their ability to mix heavy crunch and lots of pinch harmonics with an undeniable groove. They simply rocked so hard that it didn't matter that they were fantastic musicians to boot. On their latest album though, the heaviness and the fine playing is obscured by Victor's poor production. The album's weight is muted into a thin shell of itself and fails to bring out the separation that exposes what almost certainly is top-notch playing. On top of that, the songs, while attempting to move in the same direction, generally lack the groove that remains memorable even over a decade later. There are moments where they really hit stride, but they don't maintain that over full songs let alone the whole album.

On Power of the Damager, Prong is actually a victim of their own success. While most of their followers would be thrilled to release an album this good, it just doesn't reach the bar Prong set themselves.

Rating: 6/10

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For a second opinion on this album, check out Metal Mark's review. For a third opinion, check the Metal Minute.

Picastro on tour

Picastro is on the road in support of their latest album, Whore Luck:

9/29 Antwerp, DE, EUR @ Arenbergsschouwburg Kleine Zaal
9/30 Amsterdam, NL, EUR @ De Nieuwe Anita
10/03 Utrecht, NL, EUR @ ACU
10/04 Brussels BE, EUR @ KultuurKaffee
10/05 Paris, FR, EUR @ Fleche D'or
10/07 Chioggia, IT, EUR @ Chioggialab
10/08 Oficina di Buenaventura Castelfranco, IT, EUR @ Basmental
10/10 Vienna AT, EUR @ Vorstadt
10/11 Prague, CR, EUR @ 007
10/14 Leipzip, DE, EUR @ UT Conewitz
10/15 Hamburg, DE, EUR @ Haus 73
10/19 New York, NY @ Piano's (CMJ)
10/22 Portsmouth, ME @ The Red Door
10/23 Toronto ON, CAN @ Silver Dollar
10/24 Montreal, QC, CAN @ Le Divan Orange
10/25 Somerville, MA @ Pa's Lounge
10/26 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
10/28 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
10/29 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
10/30 Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
11/19 Gothenburg SE, EUR @ Cafe Publik
11/22 Aberdeen, Scotland, EUR @ Lemon Tree

Free Foreign Born mp3

"Into Your Dream"

Check out the review of On the Wing Now.

Review: Static Radio NJ - One for the Good Guys

Label: CD on Black Numbers Records and 7" on Chunksaah Records

Released: August 2007

Oddly enough, even hardcore can over think itself and often enough it ends up getting away from is visceral core as a result. That makes a band like Static Radio NJ refreshing. They aren't rewriting the genre by any means, but they play straightforward East coast hardcore at a blistering pace with just enough melody to keep you on board for the ride (having All/Descendants guitarist Stephen Egerton produce certainly didn't hurt them on the melody front). In classic fashion, Static Radio NJ fit seven bursts of adrenalin in less than 10 minutes. It may not be long, but you'll need the breather when it's over before you play it again.

Rating: 6/10

Myspace

Review: John Fogerty - Revival

Label: Fantasy/Concord Music Group

Released: October 2, 2007

While John Fogerty is not likely to ever match his output in Creedence Clearwater Revival, he still manages to release some very good solo material spaced out over a period of 30+ years. Revival, his latest offering often aims at Creedence and the protest climate of the 60s.

The album kicks off with the Utopian "Don't You Wish It Was True," a nice pop song that has Fogerty written all over it, but lacks the teeth to get its message across. Much of the album follows the same model with varying success. "Gunslinger" takes a Pollyanna view of the past, but its easy metaphor is palatable instead of overbearing and the aptly named "Creedence Song" as well as "Natural Thing" come closest to hitting the CCR mark. Fogerty runs into his biggest problems as he heads into the middle of the album with a couple dull, slow country-rock numbers, neither of which succeeds as either a pace change or a more serious moment, because both are utterly forgetable. The album does pick up again, but Fogerty's eyes remain firmly on the past ("Summer of Love," which he sings like he read about it rather than witnessed it) even as he tries to be relevant in the present ("Long Dark Night," an anti-Bush song that is more likely to make you want to dance than impeach the president). Fogerty's ultimate delusion of grandeur comes on "I Can't Take It No More," another protest against Bush that he clearly sees as on par with "Fortunate Son" (he even makes reference to it). Clearly, he hasn't listened to his best song in quite some time.

All that being said, Fogerty still has quite a flair for songwriting and even after hearing it all these years, it hasn't gotten old. Revival alternates between rockers and low-key numbers, but it's consistently rootsy with just the edges smoothed out. Fogerty fans won't be completely disappointed. Even if for some inexplicable reason they love Bush, they can get past the politics, because Fogerty's stance isn't really the core of this album (even if he wants it to be). For the rest of us, it's non-essential but pleasant listening. He could do worse.

Rating: 6/10

Review: Brian Buta - False Colors

Label: self-released (available through CD Baby and iTunes)

Released: September 2007

The whole idea of rehashing the 80s never quite sat well with me. Now that it's been redone to death by so many hipsters with more fashion-sense than creativity, I'm even less receptive. That being said, Brian Buta must be doing something right, because he is almost completely stuck in the 80s and I still found time to listen to his CD multiple times.

False Colors is a solo effort in every sense of the term. Buta wrote, recorded and mixed the album himself. He even did the artwork. As such however, the album lacks the humanness of an album where at least the performance is a social effort. Buta's overly processed approach often feels synth-laden even when he's using real instruments. Granted, he intends the album to be cold and dark, but it often comes across as synthetic instead.

Still, the album has some very listenable elements. It is rooted in the late 70s/ early 80s, but Buta hasn't bought entirely into borrowing the most common pieces. Sure, there is plenty of U2 and Depeche Mode on the album, but he also dabbles in the likes of PiL and early Elvis Costello. The result is an album that shows Buta as a musician who hasn't entirely grown out of his influences rather than just a genre surfer who jumps on the best wave he sees at the moment. While he's sometimes mopey, sometimes angry, he's always emotive. You just have to pay more attention to gather it from under the effects.

Brian Buta seems to be an artist with a good bit to offer, but working entirely on his own, nothing is pushing him to explore. He also needs a producer to steer him away from the cheap effects and into a more natural sound that will better display both his songwriting and performance. All in all, this isn't a bad effort for a self-released solo album and there are some tracks that bring me back for repeat listens. However, it also feels somehow incomplete and short of his potential.

Rating: 5/10

Website

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Pink Floyd Contest Winner!

Michael Graska was the first with the correct answer. Pink Floyd's two complete soundtracks aside from The Wall are More (for the movie of the same name) and Obscured by Clouds (for the French film, La Vallee).

Michael, I need your address to send the CD.

Review: Various Artists - Love is the Song We Sing

Label: Rhino

Released: September 18, 2007

There are a few points in rock n roll time and space where everything just comes together and something new is born. Memphis in the mid-50s gave us rock n roll. New York in the mid-70s gave us punk. Seattle in the early 90s gave us grunge. All of these local scenes were the birthplace of both a music and a culture that disseminated to the rest of us in different times and places. Another of these scenes was San Francisco in the late 60s, the source of all things hippie. Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 tries to capture that point on the space-time continuum in four CDs.

To be fair, it's an impossible task to express what happened in San Francisco in the late 60s in any number of CDs, but this set does a fair job of trying, perhaps as good a job as could be done. It's more than just the scene's greatest hits. It collects the big names, the unknowns and everything in between, running the gamut from the Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin through Blue Cheer and the Chocolate Watchband to bands I've never heard before. That makes for enough familiarity to hold it together, but enough unknown ground to keep it interesting. Best of all, it errs on the side of the lesser known bands, making it a far better education that it would have been had Rhino played it safe.

Rating: 7/10

Contest: Name the following band to win a copy of the single CD promo for Love Is the Song We Sing. Don't post the answer in the comments. Email the answer to me. I'll announce the winner on Monday, October 1.

Review: Mountain - Masters of War

Label: Big Rack Records

Released: July 24, 2007

Recording a whole album of Dylan covers is about as bad an idea as getting Ozzy to be a guest vocalist on your album. Leslie West makes both mistakes on Mountain's latest album, Masters of War.

The problem with this album is that West's arrangements are dull, with little hint of Dylan or the Leslie West that played Woodstock. His intent is clearly to show how Dylan's music crosses both time (which it doesn't need West to prove) and genre (which West fails to prove). Capturing Dylan's spirit and therefore successfully covering his music requires taking some chances on innovations. With two exceptions, Mountain never strays from straightforward and safe hard rock, which doesn't have much to do with Dylan. They do try something new on "Like a Rolling Stone," turning it into a percussive affair with only drums and spoken vocals. Unfortunately, other than showcasing some interesting drum work, it fails. The acoustic cover of "Blowin' in the Wind," not to be confused with the numbingly dull electric version, may not innovate, but at least has some nice guitar work and passionate bluesy vocals so it succeeds on some level.

The effort to show Dylan's music as relevant today may show that West's heart is in the right place, but it also shows his own delusions, because he would have to be relevant himself to prove this and he's not. Still, it's better than Bryan Ferry's effort earlier in the year, if only slightly.

Rating: 3/10

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Review: Epsilons - Killed 'Em Deader 'n a Six Card Poker Hand

Label: Retard Disco

Released: June 26, 2007

If precision, refinement and crisp production are part of your idea of a great album, Killed 'Em Deader 'n a Six Card Poker Hand is probably not for you. However, if you like raw rock n roll energy, you've come to the right place.

Epsilons aren't just superficial garage rockers trying to stake their claim in the wake of the White Stripes. These kids (they were just finishing up high school when this was recorded) write songs that dig way down into garage rock history for a sound that is jagged, spastic and dark, yet soulful. It's not clear that come to it via historical knowledge or simply an innate understanding of what puts the rock in even rehashed garage rock. After all, they even cover "Stronger Than Dirt," an old Jay and the Techniques 60s soul tune, via a 90s remake done by the Mummies.

Either way though, they have managed to capture something special from the angry, unbridled punk of the opener, "I Hate (Your Face)," to the wild, noisy rock n roll of the closer, "Papa Told Me." The whole album is an almost unwieldy attack of loose rhythm, fuzzy guitar and snotty vocals with a dark, almost insidious, organ undercurrent that turns the whole thing into a psychedelic fun house. True low budget production keeps it just on the good side of the listenability line without losing even a half step in the album's mad dash to the finish.

However they come by it, Epsilons' maniacal interpretation of garage rock captures the details that elude many bands with many more years under their belts. It makes me wonder what to expect from these guys next.

Rating: 8/10

Myspace

Review: Pocus Whiteface - But It's Home b/w This Room Spins

Label: self-released

Released: May 23, 2007

After releasing a free internet only EP earlier in the year (which you will get on the CD that accompanies this 7"), London trio, Pocus Whiteface returns with this two song 7". Both songs draw from loose garage rock and tight, angular post-punk. "But It's Home" is a bit catchier and more instantly likable. It starts thin and builds in density, ultimately coming across much like the Buzzcocks meet the Stooges. "This Room Spins" is similar but abandons much of the pop sense of its predecessor. Instead, it's angular and agitated, with a dragging rhythm that creates tension within the song itself. After a few listens, it clicks and is a much more enduring track than "But It's Home."

This EP has decent variety for only two songs and it shows Pocus Whiteface's ability vary their sound without losing their sense of who they are. If that isn't enough to interest you, the 7" comes in a beautiful heavy cardboard sleeve and is pressed on heavy (180 gram)* vinyl.

Rating: 7/10

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* [This was an error on my part. Apparently 180 gram vinyl applies only to 12 inches and would be unbelievably thick as a 7". Still, the vinyl they used is very high quality, so while the comment was incorrect, you get the point.]

Review: Nathaniel Mayer - Why Don't You Give It to Me?

Label: Alive Naturalsound Records

Released: August 21, 2007

Nathaniel Mayer is a legend in soul music, though lesser known outside of the genre. Once known for his sweet soulful voice, there is little of that remaining on his latest effort, released 45 years after his most famous song, "Village of Love." His now thin, raspy voice may not be what older fans recall, but the raw Detroit soul recorded here should still take them back to the days when the town's soul was so heavy that it influenced the burgeoning garage rock scene as much as it did the slicker Motown sound. In a sense, this record has as much to do with Mayer's influence on the MC5 as it does with his influence on R&B and soul.

Why Don't You Give It to Me? starts off with the title track, a straight blues number, and Mayer's vocals are shocking to the point that it seems like a novelty. His voice is thin and gravely and fails to convey much. However, the ride changes its character as Mayer's voice both improves and grows on you over the remaining eight tracks. Most of these take on a dark garage approach to soul msuic with loose, emotive rhythms and bluesy, psychedelic guitar. Mayer's band is filled out with some exceptional musicians, most notably Dan Auerbach of garage rock purists, the Black Keys. It is Auerbach's playing as much as Mayer's voice that brings the most out of these songs and it's no surprise that seven of the songs are group compositions. The closer is a cover of Delroy Wilson's reggae classic, "Dancing Mood." It may seem an odd choice until you hear Mayer and company nail it as a reggae-tinged garage soul number. If nothing else, it solidifies the idea that the initial misgivings with the opener are misplaced.

The production on Why Don't You Give It to Me? is poor to say the least...and it would be a crucial mistake to have it any other way. The album finds its way in walking that fine line between chaos and lifelessness, avoiding both and coming up with an album of tremendous energy. Mayer's voice may never quite resonate with all listeners, but taking some time to appreciate it as it is and to dig into the music that backs it will prove to be a worthwhile effort.

Rating: 7/10

New video from the Explicits...

Awhile back, I did a myspace review for the Explicits. Here's their video for "Indestructible". Check it out.

Myspace: Mongrels

Mongrels is a Canadian five piece that is in sense a supergroup of lesser-knowns, drawing members from Tricky Woo, Bionic, Blood Sausage and Local Rabbits (I haven't heard of all of them either). They mix a stoner 70s hard rock influence with garage and soul to create heavy, sludgey grooves for singer Amy Turok's wailing voice. Two drummers add heaviness (almost like multi-tracking a guitar, but more natural) rather than the polyrhythmic approach you'd expect.

"Contemplating the..." moves slowly, but steadily with loose rhythms and mindnumbing riffs. Turok's voice is rich and full with the perfect grittiness and gives the song continuity as it gets heavier and lighter. The garagey soul of "City Living" is almost on par with the MC5, but the chorus is just a little too standard, with a common hook only slightly hidden beneath the rawness of the music. "All in My Head" has some searing guitar riffs without getting complicated. It takes advantage of their dual drummer approach and brings it all together with an upbeat, but soulful chorus that's catchy and anything but average.

Mongrels is like a one band embodiment of late 60s Detroit, bringing heavy garage rock and raw soul together into a near perfect mix. Sure, there are other bands doing this, but few are doing it as well as Mongrels.

Myspace

Review: Kosmos

Label: The End Records

Released: September 4, 2007

For anyone truly familiar with Kosmos' drummer Michel "Away" Langevin's longer term project, Voivod, this album should come as no real surprise. For those who think of Voivod as merely a metal band, Kosmos will be a shock though.

The self-titled debut is an organ-heavy tribute to 70s prog rock dipping heavily into ELP and pre-Dark Side Pink Floyd with lesser nods to Yes, King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Needless to say, this one is trippy as all get-out, but it never gets bogged down in its psychedelic trappings. Even the album's least accessible track, the Eastern influenced "Indu Kush" could stand on its own. Fabulous production and good use of ambient electronics as well as the ability to actually rock despite its technical elements help to bring this homage to the past into the same league as its influences.

Kosmos doesn't seem likely to wrest the keys to prog's future away from the Mars Volta, but they nonetheless add a valuable addition to the genre's catalog which has been spotty at best over the last 30 years or so.

Rating: 8/10

Myspace

Review: Foreign Born - On the Wing Now

Label: Dim Mak Records

Released: August 21, 2007

A lot of bands these days have been rehashing the 80s, but very few of them bring anything particularly new to the table. For me, it's really dull to have your own teenage years spit back to you as if it's new, so it's refreshing to hear a band do something interesting with it. Foreign Born are pretty steeped in the 80s, but they are most definitely not regurgitating it back. Instead, they take that era of post-punk, new-wave and pop, dig back to its influences and come up with their own sound.

Foreign Born's guitarist, Lewis Pesacov, has a degree in Composition and considering how carefully their songs are constructed from influences ranging from the Beatles to Mott the Hoople to early INXS, it's really not a surprise. Unlike many trained musicians though, Foreign Born don't find themselves constrained by that training. Instead, they've created an album that ebbs and flows in layers, from thin to thick and back again. They don't rely on overt hooks, but instead on an implied catchiness that makes the songs memorable as a whole rather than just a riff here and there.

After releasing two EPs, On the Wing Now is Foreign Born's first full-length. Not only is it full of material that could share a stage easily with indie, emo, punk or post-rock, but it also makes an open-ended promise for the future.

Rating: 8/10

Website

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Review: Zap Mama - Supermoon

Label: Heads Up International

Released: August 7, 2007

Frankly, I wasn't very familiar with Zap Mama prior to hearing the title track to this album about a month ago on my local independent radio station, WTMD. I liked the song well enough to track down the album, but once I got it, I found it to be a tough one to write about. Supermoon the album is considerably more in the world music realm than "Supermoon" the song. Since world music isn't really my thing, it was harder to write about even though I liked the album.

Supermoon continues Zap Mama's move away from sparse, nearly a capella arrangements to to a fuller sound. The album certainly puts the world into worldbeat, drawing not only on African styles, but also Cuban, reggae, jazz and r&b. At times it even takes on some elements of electronic dance music as well as a disco slickness without dropping its overall organic nature. Supermoon does have a few tracks that stand on their own, the title track in particular, but by and large it works best taken as a whole as the album tracks are not mere filler, but serve to enhance of the overall work.

If you aren't a worldbeat fan, Zap Mama may not convert you, but it will give you a very listenable opportunity to see what's happening outside in the broader world. If you are a worldbeat fan though, I suspect you'll see Supermoon as a light version of the music you love, dummied down a bit for those of us who don't understand.

Rating: 6/10

Website

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Led Zeppelin (kinda) new releases announced...

Once Zeppelin announced their one-off reunion gig set for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund benefit concert on November 26, 2007, you knew the re-issues and repackagings wouldn't be far behind. Rhino Records has announced a pair scheduled to come out just before the long awaited reunion.


Mothership is a 24 track double CD drawing songs from each of Zeppelin's studio albums. You should already have these songs, because there's really no excuse not to own all of the Zeppelin catalog, but you will get the bonus of liner notes by David Fricke. It's scheduled for release on November 13.

Track Listing:

Disc One
1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Communication Breakdown
3. Dazed And Confused
4. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
5. Whole Lotta Love
6. Ramble On
7. Heartbreaker
8. Immigrant Song
9. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Rock And Roll
11. Black Dog
12. When The Levee Breaks
13. Stairway To Heaven

Disc Two
1. Song Remains The Same
2. Over The Hills And Far Away
3. D'Yer Maker
4. No Quarter
5. Trampled Under Foot
6. Houses Of The Holy
7. Kashmir
8. Nobody's Fault But Mine
9. Achilles Last Stand
10. In The Evening
11. All My Love

Mothership website


A week later on November 20, Rhino will re-release the soundtrack to the 1976 film The Song Remains the Same. Zeppelin themselves are overseeing remixing and remastering of the original tracks plus the addition of an additional six left off in 1976. Of course it remains to be seen if the song really does remain the same or if this process has salvaged something from this surprisingly poor effort. Even if it hasn't saved it entirely, you get liner notes from no less than Cameron Crowe.

The same day, Warner Home Video will issue the DVD with all 14 songs from the original concert. It features newly remixed and remastered sound, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, and more than 40 minutes of added bonus material, including never-before-released performance footage of "Over The Hills And Far Away" and "Celebration Day"; plus performances of "Misty Mountain Hop" and "The Ocean"; a rare 1976 BBC interview with Robert Plant and Peter Grant; vintage TV footage from the Drake Hotel robbery during the New York concert stand; and a Cameron Crowe radio show.

Track Listing

Disc One
1. Rock And Roll
2. Celebration Day
3. Black Dog*
4. Over The Hills*
5. Misty Mountain Hop*
6. Since I've Been Loving You*
7. No Quarter
8. The Song Remains The Same
9. Rain Song
10. The Ocean*

Disc Two
1. Dazed And Confused
2. Stairway To Heaven
3. Moby Dick
4. Heartbreaker*
5. Whole Lotta Love

* Not on original soundtrack release

Contest: Win a copy of the new two disc version of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Over the years, Pink Floyd has done several entire movie soundtracks. Obviously, The Wall is one, but there were two others earlier in their career. Be the first to name the films as well as the Floyd albums that contain their soundtracks and I'll send you a copy of the CD in the mail!

Don't put your answer in the comments. Email it to me here. I'll announce the winner and the answers on Monday, September 24.

Check out the review.

Review: Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn (40th Anniversary Edition)

Label: Capitol-EMI (2 CD and 3 CD)

Released: September 4, 2007 (originally released August 5, 1967)

Piper at the Gates of Dawn is almost universally accepted as a great album. Certainly, "Astronomy Domine" is amazing in its own right. The three group compositions in the middle of the album are good, though somewhat underdeveloped, indicators of where Pink Floyd would be headed after Syd's departure. Otherwise, the album consists of Barrett compositions that are still firmly rooted in the British Invasion and baroque pop of the 60s. No doubt, they too give some inkling of the future and, dated as they are, still have a good deal of freak out quality to them, but had they not led to Meddle, to Dark Side of the Moon, to Wish You Were Here, they would likely have fallen into the pack of psychedelic experimentation that defined the time in which they were written. Don't get me wrong, Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a very good album and it should get extra points for laying the groundwork for Floyd's greatness to come, but it also has to be judged on its own to some degree, something that likely hasn't happened since Dark Side of the Moon changed the face of rock music less than six years after Piper's release.

As far as the re-issue is concerned, the only thing the new two disc edition gives you is the mono version of the album and new, poorly modified artwork (why would they do such a thing?) all for about $5 more give or take. However, there is also a limited three disc release that also includes all of Pink Floyd’s singles from 1967 (“Arnold Layne,” “See Emily Play,” and “Apples And Oranges”), the B-sides “Candy and a Current Bun” and “Paintbox,” as well as an exclusive edit of “Interstellar Overdrive,” (previously available only on an EP released in France) and the 1967 stereo version of “Apples And Oranges” (which is seeing the official light of day for the first time). If that isn't enough, it also comes with an eight page reproduction of one of Syd's notebooks (which either provides many insights into the mind of a drug-addled lunatic or is entirely incomprehensible, I'll bet on the latter). All in all though, it seems that while the two disc edition offers little other than added expense, the three disc edition provides some nice bonus material for the more serious Floyd fan.

Rating: 7/10

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If you're interested in winning a copy of the two disc set, check out my contest.

Review: Underground Rebels - Insult to Injury

Label: self-released

Released: 2007

The Underground Rebels have a decent hard rock pedigree featuring former Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat and former Cult drummer Lez Warner, but the band is really the creative (or not so creative) child of singer/guitarist Kurt Frohlich. Those expecting the swagger of Faster Pussycat or gritty hard rock of Electric-era Cult, beware, because this album won't measure up to those expectations.

It actually starts off well enough, delivering good energy and at least some catchiness even if it isn't breaking any new ground. Unfortunately for the glam fans who might be drawn to this, the better of the two actually sounds more like pop punk than hair metal. Over the course of the album, there are a few tracks that repeat the semi-success of the first two, but most of the album gets bogged down in being bland and generic, borrowing from the likes of Def Leppard, Billy Squier and even Godsmack (yikes!). Toward the end they try to capture a bit of Stonesy swagger, but end up sounding even weaker than the Stones themselves these days. The Underground Rebels also offer a pair of covers, "Tainted Love" and "War Pigs." The former comes out okay, but largely due to the fun inherent in the song, not due to any compelling elements of their version. Their "War Pigs" cover is the real disaster though. If you're going to cover Black Sabbath, either make it heavy (like most bands) or make it different (like the Cardigans' excellent cover of "Iron Man"). They do neither, offering up instead what might as well be the elevator version. It's sad.

The Underground Rebels try to create their sound be bringing together the most generic elements of popular music and the result is fairly amateur. They (or Frohlich at least) don't seem to be in a good place as artists. They're trying to make a record that sells based on what has sold in the past rather than gambling on what may sell in the future or being true to an artistic vision. The result is an album that would have some appeal and perhaps a little more novelty value for glam fans, but little for the rest of us.

Rating: 4/10

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Review: Zerobridge - Havre de Grace

Label: self-released

Released: September 18, 2007

Zerobridge was formed by two Kashmiri brothers who grew up near the namesake of the their EP, Havre de Grace, Maryland. While this broader cultural experience may seem like a boon for the band, their music has little to do with the former and everything to do with the latter.

Zerobridge relies on the straightforward rhythms and the simple hooks of neo-new wave as the basis for their music. They suffer perhaps, because the new wave revival is getting played out and because it's hipper than thou musicians/fashion models are getting more annoying by the day. Zerobridge reminds me a bit of Modern English which is a bit on the periphery of what most bands of the genre borrow from. As with just about every pop or rock artist in the last 20 years, they also bear the marks of many hours with U2, so they aren't all that much different from the others in the game. What makes Zerobridge most pleasant though is that they don't seem affected by the hipster leanings of their peers. That alone makes them more palatable.

Havre de Grace would benefit from a bit of influence from their roots in Kashmir, but as it is, it really only draws from mainstream America. It's very listenable though and avoids the style over substance trappings that turn so many similar bands into annoyances.

Rating: 6/10

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Review: Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves - The Satisfier b/w It's Easier

Label: Q Division

Released: June 2007

Soul and R&B have in many cases become so wrapped up in the influence of hip-hop that they've forgotten their own identities. When things like this happen, sometimes it's best to hear someone get back to basics to reclaim a genre that's losing itself. Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves may be just such a band.

Don't get me wrong, they won't save soul singlehandedly, but they should at least remind the purveyors of modern soul what they're missing. "Paperboy" doesn't have a technically amazing voice. It's very, very good, but what really makes him a fantastic singer is that he really digs in like he's singing these songs from the tips of his toes. This is on top of a band that is thoroughly solid. The True Loves know themselves and what they want to be and they succeed.

"The Satisfier" is an upbeat soul song that beams with emotion and fun. The flipside, "It's Easier" is a ballad that shows off the group's real abilities on a song that wouldn't hide any inadequacies. Together, they show the group's ability to convey energy at both ends of the spectrum.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves are perhaps a bit like an evened out James Brown or a rough Marvin Gaye. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it's not, because they're a lot closer to Brown and Gaye than they are to much of what passes for soul today. One listen makes it clear that they mean what they sing; they really are the "satisifer."

Rating: 7/10

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Review: Towers of Hanoi - Paranoia for the New Year

Label: Barracuda Sound

Released: August 11, 2007

It seems odd that a band would mix something as generic as hard rock with something as unconventional as post-hardcore. Still, that's just what Towers of Hanoi do on their latest release, Paranoia for the New Year.

While most bands that dabble in the avant-garde seem embarrassed by any association to the formulas that make up popular music, Towers of Hanoi clue us in right at the start with 45 seconds of hard rock in "Intro." Once they get into the real songs, the hard rock elements remain evident even in the midst of the heady hardcore experimentation that follows. By the third track, "Danger! Danger! (jeune)," things are so off-kilter that there's no question that Paranoia for the New Year is writing its own formula. The album closing title track, starts of as an indie folk piece that moves back and forth between that and the straightforward rock that runs throughout (though by no means dominates) the album, finally finishing up with a mellow, unsettledness that leaves Towers of Hanoi firmly in the camp of the future, not the past.
This band doesn't make the mistake of striving for perfection. Instead, they're comfortable in their own skin. They're not too complicated, but go there as needed, not afraid of complexity, but not compelled to chase it either. It is as if the hard rock element is a dam that holds back a river of post-hardcore. The result is potential energy that can be released and curtailed at will. Anyone can just go all out and anyone can make weird music, but it takes something special to manage the music's energy and to make it standard in one sense and pretty weird in another.

Jon (Towers of Hanoi's drummer) lost his brother, Daniel, last year just before the band went into the studio. The whole band was close to him and they felt his presence during the recording, likely accounting for its passion and energy. They're taking one dollar from the sale of each CD and depositing into the Daniel's kids' bank accounts, so buy two copies now just in case you lose one!

Rating: 8/10

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The Power of Music

Check out this video from the Christian Science Monitor about the Somalian refugee music scene in Nairobi, Kenya. You don't have to like hip-hop to appreciate how important music is for these kids.

Review: Hanoi Rocks - Street Poetry

Label: WolfGang Records

Released: September 3, 2007

There really are far too many bands still lingering around from the hair band heyday of the late 80s. It seems like every time I turn around, there's another one releasing an album that tries to recapture the days when they were more popular than they ever deserved to be or touring to cash in on nostalgia for the days when it was cool to be dumb. When I saw that Hanoi Rocks had a new album, I feared that they would be no different. What I found is that not every band from those days is washed up and cashing in. Over a quarter century since their first album, Hanoi Rocks sounds as fresh as ever.

One thing that really makes them stand out is their underlying pop sense. Their songs are as gritty as the best the genre has to offer, but under that grit, there are hooks. These aren't Mutt Lange or Desmond Child hooks either. These are the kind that come out of a real band that knows itself. Better still, none of them is a great player, but they don't cover it up with slick production. Instead, they wear their lumps for all to see and their genuine nature gives these songs a depth that their contrived peers, with all their formulas for success, can't touch. Even better yet, they don't just stick to the standard hard rock framework. They reach back to the original glam bands of the 70s, throw in great pop and soul and even hints of funk and Western at times and the album has greater texture for it without abandoning the core sound.

Unlike so many bands where the individual players tend to show off at the expense of the songs themselves, Hanoi Rocks makes every note count. They play as a band in the truest sense of the word. You can hear it, amond many places, in the solo in "Hypermobile." It's simple, yet interesting. Most importantly, it's concise, never for a moment being about the player instead of the song.

The liner notes contain the common "no synthesizers" disclaimer, but on Street Poetry, Hanoi Rocks goes beyond just avoiding synthetic instruments, they avoid being synthetic. The title track, when taken along with the story of the street poet in the notes, is touching and the song really brings that to life. Rather than write about parties and chicks, they take on some serious, very human subject matter. They leave their own truth on the table and that lets them get away with song titles like "Teenage Revolution" and "This One's for Rock n Roll." Had the album not gained my trust, I would likely have dismissed both songs on their titles alone. What's with this "teenage" thing? These guys are well into their 40s! However, because they made me take it seriously, I found that "Teenage Revolution" is really talking seriously to kids, not about them or at them. Had they not established that this album has a heart, I might have missed that.

There are a few tracks that border on filler toward the end, but they only stick out because the rest moves forward with purpose and honesty. While they jump out of the gate with the opener, "Hypermobile," they tie the album up neatly with "Fumblefoot and Busy Bee," more of an epilogue than a song in its own right. It's a bit different than the bulk of Street Poetry, but as such provides the perfect closing.

With only two original members and being so far from Hanoi Rocks' heyday, there is every reason to bet against Street Poetry, but don't take that bet, because it, unlike the album, is a loser.

Rating: 8/10

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Myspace: Bong Hits For Jesus

Taking their name from a recent free speech case decided by the Supreme Court in which a high school student sued the school system after being suspended for displaying a banner with this idiotic slogan, Bong Hits for Jesus have a bit of ground to make up before I even played the music. Granted their hearts are in the right place regarding free speech, but it strikes me as both sad and reassuring at the same time that our free speech advocates these days are people like this kid and Howard Stern and Larry Flynt. It's sad, because what they have to say is only worth protecting, because we can't pick and choose which speech is acceptable to protect. It's reassuring, because even in the days of the Patriot Act and the Iraq War, we can express political opposition. Granted there is some ebb and flow regarding these rights, but by and large, the free speech debate is often over things less serious than political speech because we value our political speech enough that it is still intact.

So going in, I expected some half-baked college jam band kinda fare. It didn't take long to figure out that I was way off base. They have five songs on their page, all of which make them difficult to categorize and none of which establish the band's "sound." A dark groove and crazy vocals characterize "Crack Baby." It's very loose and weird, avant-garde even, but not particularly technical. There are some cool psyche guitar leads that stand out. "Within an Inch" has a lighter, echoey sound and a decent guitar hook that gives it some promise. Still, it's a fairly messy song and suffers from poor production. BHFJ adopts a jazzy angle early on in "Your Mother." The song picks up a bit, but then breaks down into formlessness. Poor production is once again a problem. The mellow, raw, understated guitar of "Name of the Song..." along with considerably better vocals and production should make this their best track, but it's more conventional (even hinting at perhaps a Black Crowes influence) than the other tracks and suffers from that more than it benefits. As if they recognize that they've played it too safe, there's an interregnum of electronics and conversation followed by another song altogether. It doesn't really work as a single song, but I kind of respect that they'd rather screw it up than have it fit into a formula. That seems to fit their personality as a band. As if things couldn't be more disparate, "Comes From You" is practically synth pop. What's nice is that the vocals aren't very slick, so it has an odd organic sense about it. Interestingly, I bet this one is pretty cool live.

While BHFJ hasn't really cultivated a consistent sound, they have also avoided sounding like anyone else. I can see why they may be a fairly popular local attraction, because I suspect that their quirkiness is quite charming in person. Unfortunately, the songwriting isn't particularly strong and the production is poor which prevents that charm from translating to my car or my living room. That being said, I don't think they're a bad band, because they clearly have fun with their music and their commitment to being odd at the expense of being good (or what's accepted as good) is very rock n roll of them.

Review: Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits

Label: Epic/Legacy

Released: 1970 (reissued August 28, 2007)

Released in 1970 to fill the gap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits compiles many of the top tracks from the band's early years. While every song on this album is also contained on the later Anthology release along with selections from their later catalog, this is in most ways a superior album.

In the interim between albums, Sly and company's early optimism began to fade alongside the idealism of the 60s and into Sly Stone's increasing drug problems. Because Anthology fails to mark that change, it feels haphazard, like a mere collection of random songs. Greatest Hits on the other hand shares the common themes of joy and optimism that characterize both the albums that these songs are drawn from as well as the times in which they were made. The only inexplicable omission is "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" from Stand!, an album which contributes several other songs. I suspect that this was just a matter of playing it safe and avoiding controversy on an album that by design would appeal to less hardcore Sly Stone fans. It's a shame, because the song, like several others which use that very emotional word, is incendiary, but fighting the good fight, not perpetuating stereotypes. Oh yeah, it's amazingly powerful too. Its absence doesn't hurt this album, so much as knowing the song just makes me wish it had been included.

While it doesn't take into account the second part of Sly and the Family Stone's career, which produced great music in its own right, and it backs down from righteous controversy by omitting a great tune, Greatest Hits is an amazingly cohesive collection of songs from the first few years that the band graced us with their music. The only real argument against owning this is that you should already have the records from which this was culled. There isn't much of a step down from the singles to the album cuts and that's even more amazing still.

Rating: 9/10

Website

Joy Division re-issues and box set

I posted a few days back about the upcoming Joy Division releases from Rhino. It all sounded great until I saw the price of the box set: $200! The individual LPs are only $18 each for the single LPs and $50 for the double LP (Still), so they want an additional $114 for the box? Frankly, even limited to 2000 copies, I don't see that as a good buy and it doesn't seem like they offer anything spectacular for the extra money. I'll pass on this one.

Review: Mars Hill - Fate Chance Luck Dance

Label: Sandbar Music

Released: May 2006

According to Mars Hill's Myspace page, they are "one of the most original and finest bands of the 21st century" and they are "genre-defying." The former is beyond a stretch. No offense, but they aren't even close. The latter, however, is pretty accurate.

The list of genres touched significantly by Mars Hill is longer than most bands' list of even their most remote influences. Over the course of the album, they hit jazz (of the good and bad variety), hip-hop, Spanish, cabaret, reggae, dance, soul and, of course, rock. Among those who try to bring in disparate influences, few bands can take a list that long and maintain their own sound throughout. Careful arrangements manage to make this album homogeneous, but the actual songwriting and performance lack life as if the experiment couldn't quite be brought to full fruition. To be fair though, the lounge angle is a part of their shtick and adding more personality to the songs may have compromised that.

Their talent as players is generally pretty evident, particularly in the rhythm section that really drives the album to the extent that it is driven. The vocals range from laid-back, spoken style, reminiscent of Damon Albarn's work in Gorillaz, to well-cadenced hip-hop to an ethereal female soprano usually appearing in a backup role. Keys, guitar and horns act more as accents. The production doesn't keep the elements separate, but also fails to fill out the sound. They're really not far off target; they just fall a little short of what could have been.

There are thousands of cover bands out there that can morph their sound into any genre on command, but there are not nearly so many that can incorporate all of those genres into a single sound. While Mars Hill doesn't quite nail everything, they do come pretty close, so close in fact that they may be poised for an outstanding follow-up to this good, but not great, album. It's not essential, but it's worth a listen if you're looking for a band that's going in a new direction and doing an admirable if imperfect job rather than making a shambles of it.

Rating: 6/10

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Bedouin Soundclash and the Briggs on tour...

THE BRIGGS
(Supporting Bad Religion)
9/30 El Paso, TX - Club 101
10/1 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
10/2 Oklahoma City, OK - The Conservatory (no BR)
10/3 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway (no BR)
10/4 Detroit, MI - Clutch Cargo's
10/5 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
10/6 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10/7 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
10/8 Grand Rapids, MI - Skelletones (no BR)
10/9 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
10/10 Cincinnati, OH - Madison Theatre
10/11 Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
10/12 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
10/14 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10/15 New York, NY - Nokia Theatre
10/16 Boston, MA - The Roxy
10/17 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
10/19 Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock
10/20 Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
10/21 Lemoyne, PA - Championship Records
10/22 Virginia Beach, VA - Volume CD's (ACOUSTIC)
10/24 Charlotte, NC - The Milestone
10/25 Marietta, GA - Swayze's
10/26 Gainesville, FL - The Fest 6
10/27 Fort Walton Beach, FL - Coasters

BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH
(Supporting Hot Hot Heat)
9/23 Bend, OR - Domino Room
9/24 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
9/26 San Diego, CA - Soma
9/27 Fresno, CA - The Exit
9/28 Ventura, CA - Majestic Ventura Theatre
9/29 Queen Creek, AZ - KEDJ Edgefest @ Schnepf Farms
10/1 Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
10/3 Minneapolis, MN - First Line Music Café
10/4 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
10/5 Detroit, MI - Shelter at St Andrews
10/10 S. Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
10/11 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
10/13 New York, NY - Webster Hall
10/14 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore at TLA
10/15 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
10/17 Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
10/18 Orlando, FL - The Social
10/19 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
10/20 St. Petersburg - State Theatre
10/22 Houston, TX - Meridian
10/23 Austin, TX - Emo's
10/24 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
10/27 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
10/30 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

Review: Frontier Folk Nebraska - The Devil's Tree

Label: Hands on Deck

Released: 2007

Desperation and salvation often have a parallel existence as evidenced by the role of religion in in the worst of times. Perhaps it is the hope of a better life to come, that light at the end of the tunnel, that allows people to hold on in these dire times. More likely it seems, in this band's view, it is the resolve of faith more than any real optimism. Frontier Folk Nebraska mixes Dust Bowl desperation with Bible Belt religion for an album that chronicles the struggle of faith in trying times.

Recorded with traditional, almost exclusively acoustic, instruments, The Devil's Tree is a step back in time, away from the happy sheen of modern comfort and convenience to a time when hope for the rewards of heaven was sometimes all a person could cling to. Like poverty, the music is sparse. The guitar work is simple with some subtly moving slide parts. Low energy bass lines and understated drums are the background of the bleak musical landscape. Accordion and violin are the drone of its even less welcoming middle ground. While the singer lacks the range to have a truly good voice, there is just enough twang and tension to make it the perfect voice to walk through the desolation, on one hand pleading to be saved and on another resolved to continued suffering in this life. Under the covers, there is just the slightest hint of pop, so slight that it is likely that very shred of hope that still remains in the farmer standing on his parched land as a dust storm approaches. As they sing, "It's hard to be like my Savior," it's clear that even this last shred of hope or faith to cling to doesn't come easy.

The most obvious comparison to The Devil's Tree is likely Uncle Tupelo, but that shouldn't obscure the influence of the Violent Femmes, whose bizarre perhaps tongue-in-cheek religious imagery and deep roots in American music manges to conjure up similar visions of the snake-handling periphery of Christianity in this country's poorer parts. While Frontier Folk Nebraska avoids the strange goofiness of the Femmes, they certainly tap into that same history.

For an unsigned band, there is little to complain about. If forced though, it might be worth mentioning that the production is rather poor. Granted, this album shouldn't have pristine sound, but there are times when some of the lower parts clip a bit and that kind of rawness detracts from the effectiveness of the sound. It's a minor complaint though and one that I might even fail to mention on an album with more glaring weaknesses.

Despite having only heard stories of the Great Depression, Frontier Folk Nebraska has managed to create its soundtrack. More importantly, they do it in a way that can relate to the depression (and shred of hope) that exists today under a facade of happiness.

Rating: 9/10

Website

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Review: Patti Scialfa - Play It as It Lays

Label: Columbia Records

Released: September 4, 2007

Patti Scialfa will always find herself in the unenviable position of begging the question, "Would anyone care if she wasn't married to Springsteen?" Certainly, her marriage has proven to be a fine career move and she has an unfair shot at getting her music out compared to singers who aren't married to the Boss. To be fair though, it isn't her fault that she gets a better deal than everyone else, so let's pretend she didn't marry into a record deal and take a look at the album on it's own merits.

Play It as It Lays is a light bluesy rock album with touches of country, folk, soul and even gospel, but the whole thing is really just a vehicle for her voice with it's nice movement, mild rasp and country twang. The band is low-key and understated, entirely competent to convey the songs, yet infusing them with nothing they don't already have. The songs are adequate despite feeble hooks and contrived subjects. Still, her voice is worth hearing and keeps the ship above water so to speak.

In a lot of ways, Scialfa sounds like Bonnie Raitt, except Scialfa's substitutes a better voice for Raitt's sense of soul. Perhaps a better comparison would be to the light-weight work of Sheryl Crow, where the songs aren't entirely bad, just hollow. Part of Scialfa's problem may stem from spending the bulk of her career as a backup singer. It's usually someone else's music that she's singing and she has to sing it in such a way as not to overshadow the star of the show. Here she is making only her third solo effort since 1993 and it seems she can't quite find herself. She sings well, but most often she fails to really dig her heels in and put the little extra into her voice that is the difference between alright and amazing. The song titles alone betray the songs as contrived and forced: "Looking for Elvis," Town Called Heartbreak," "Rainy Day Man." She hits a lot of rock lyric cliches before even delving into the lyrics. For the most part, the album feels like she churned it out as a job rather than an expression of herself.

To her credit, the album does finish with three strong tracks where she digs a little deeper and writes a little stronger. "Run Run" doesn't ask her to go too deep and the result is much more comfortable. The title track even finds her tapping subtly (and very slightly) into Dylan. She closes the album with the breathy vocals of "Black Ladder," the album's only songwriting chance. It's really the saving grace, because it leaves Play It as It Lays with an open-ended expansiveness that defies the faults that precede it.

Rating: 6/10

Website

Review: Supagroup - Fire for Hire

Label: Foodchain Records

Released: September 25, 2007

Not every copy is a bad thing. There are times when a band can ingest a variety of influences and spit them back as something fresh even if it isn't entirely new. Supagroup is not such a band.

On Fire for Hire, Supagroup manages to steal from a whole host of 70s and 80s hard rock groups to the point that much of it is almost indistinguishable. The vocals are just a tempered Bon Scott (and we all know that temperance and Bon Scott don't mix). Much of the music comes across as cheap Van Halen, probably as they would have sounded if they had a thoroughly mediocre guitarist rather than Eddie. In a genre that has experienced more than its share of mediocrity, Supagroup fails to even rise to the middle of the pack.

As if the music itself weren't bad enough, the lyrics may just be an all-time low. Rock lyrics don't tend to be poetry, but just about anyone can beat this:

I was changing gears, with a whiskey and a beer,
When I felt her hand on my thigh,
You know you can't tell that they're underage,
When you're looking at 'em from behind.

As you might expect, the story continues with the protagonist being chased down by the law. Faced with a roadblock, he breaks through, killing an officer in the process. Wow, that makes Ice-T's "Cop Killer" look intelligent. At least Ice-T wasn't making a case for statutory rape. In the chorus, he sings, "I'm only a man, looking at fifteen years to life." Wrong, you're a stupid man and you should get fifteen years for making this record alone.

If I had to give Supagroup credit for something, it'd be that they play with some energy. The problem is that what they're doing isn't worthy of energy, so in a sense, even that is a fault. If you're a misogynist, a moron or both, you might really dig this album. As for me, I found that I could fast-forward through much of the second half of the album and not miss anything.

Here's their e-card. Send it to people you hate (unless they're dumb enough to actually want to buy the album).

Rating: 1/10 (They probably would have gotten 3/10, but they lost two points for the statutory rape lyrics.)

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Rhino to re-issue Joy Division's catalog and then some...

To mark the 30th anniversary of the formation of Joy Division, Rhino will be re-issuing Joy Division's two studio albums as two CD sets, the first disc being the remastered album and the second being unreleased live recordings. These will be available beginning October 30th. As if that wasn't enough, they will also be issuing a vinyl box set exclusively at rhino.com on September 11th. These will be released to regular retail outlets as individual sets on September 25th. If for some reason you don't already own these post-punk classics, it seems there's no time like the present.

While we're waiting, here's the trailer for the Ian Curtis biopic, Control:

The Casualties set to release new DVD/CD - "Made In NYC"

For all you fans of these children of Discharge and the Exploited, check out the trailer:

Review: Dan Wilson - Free Life

Label: American Recordings

Released: October 16, 2007

If you enjoyed Dan Wilson's band, Semisonic, than you'll enjoy his solo work as well. You'll also have to explain to all your friends why you like music that sucks, but that's beside the point. If you had the good sense to hate Semisonic than you'll likely hate this also...mostly.

Dan Wilson takes more of a folk rock approach on this album with only some alt rock leanings. Of course, I should be hesitant to use the word rock at all in this case, because it's something Wilson really fails to do. There's nothing wrong with the playing on this album and Wilson clearly has a good voice. The production is a bit thin in places, but stays crisp. The album is entirely listenable, but also entirely unenriching. Really, there are a few songs on this album that actually approach being good in places where the music sounds more organic and Wilson keeps his voice out of the upper registers. While a good soul singer can hit the high notes and energize the song, Wilson's voice has the opposite effect, deflating any energy the song may have built.

In a sense, Dan Wilson is like an alt rock James Taylor. There are hints that he's got some talent, yet his complete inability to fulfill his own promise makes the album fall even flatter than if it had no promise at all. If you like Semisonic, you might give this album 8/10, but I'd give you 1/10, so your opinion doesn't matter.

Rating: 3/10

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By the way, I have an extra promo copy of this CD. It's free to the first person who can make a compelling argument for why Rick Rubin touched this with a ten foot pole (he's executive producer). You can leave your answer in the comments, but be sure to contact me here as well so I know how to get in touch with you if you win.

The Beatles Help! DVD to be released on October 30th

It may not be able to stand on its own like A Hard Day's Night, but hey, it's the Beatles. Sure it's just a silly little film, but Help! is pretty fun and the tunes are (duh) great.

Check out the trailer.

Review: Thrushes - Sun Come Undone

Label: Birdnote Records (distributed by Morphius Records (US) / Cargo Records (Europe)

Released: March 13, 2007

Thrushes claim to venerate Phil Spector and to some extent that's clear, but their wall of sound is quite a bit different than his. While Spector focused on straightforward pop perfection, Thrushes takes an alternate route to the same destination.

From the opening track of Sun Come Undone, Thrushes unleash a sonic power that alternates from quiet and subtle to loud and abrasive, though always oddly beautiful. While they do have a certain Spector pop quality hidden deep, almost imperceptibly, under the covers, rearing it's head at times in girl-group drum beats or guitar melodies, their real influence is the noise pop of the early 90s from My Bloody Valentine to Lush. Many bands have tried their hand at this game, but what makes Thrushes special is the way they build their wall of sound. They don't just keep adding layers. Instead, they build three or four layers and then the first layer moves back on top and the cycle continues from soft sweetness to manic cacophony. This wall is at times easy to miss and at others impossible to ignore. Even their pace at which they work varies. They build up slow and patiently at times with unmistakable care in their writing. Other times, they just let loose, unleashing a wild beauty that won't be held back. What's particularly interesting is that no part, not guitar, bass, drums or vocals, seems to lead another. They operate independently as if they are pieces in a complex machine where it isn't clear how they operate in tandem, yet clearly they do. They wrap up the crazy beauty that is Sun Come Undone by pulling an influence that runs beneath the surface throughout a little more to the front. "The Hardest Part" would find as happy a home on the Velvet Underground and Nico as it does here.

It's a dissonant and vaguely unsettling beauty that Thrushes creates. Their formula seems simple: everybody does their own thing and somehow it works out. They have the almost unheard of perfect sense of themselves as a band and it has led to a record that will wash over you with waves of their own sonic ocean.

Rating: 8/10

They're playing their last show with drummer Matt Davis on Friday, September 7 at the Lo-Fi Social Club in Baltimore. Check 'em out if you can.

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Myspace: We Are Oceans

We are Oceans is a four piece from Florida consisting of Marko Kurtovic (vocals/guitar), Erik Totten (bass), Neil Parsons (drums) and Paul Gonter (guitar). Marko wrote the songs a few months ago and formed the band to perform them and move forward, so this is a band in its infancy, not its prime.

Two things will strike you about the three songs they have posted. First, they like Against Me...a lot. Second, they're very, very angry. The first point is pretty understandable as they have to start somewhere and Against Me is as good a place as any. "The Day My Father Told Me to Be a Man" sounds like it came right off of As the Eternal Cowboy and "Bathtub Dock" doesn't stray far from the same sound. On "Germs of Men," they branch out a little bit with a more arty, angular sound which leads me to believe that there's already growth in their songwriting. The overall sound is raw, gritty and angry. It doesn't sound like it's been professionally recorded, but at this point, that isn't hurting, because their energy is their strength and it's very clear on all three recordings. None of the three suffer from underproduction.

There is no doubt that We Are Oceans, or at least Marko, is angry, but before you dismiss this as young, middle class angst, you should know a little bit about the history that was poured into these songs. As Marko says, "This whole band is about my life to this day." He was born in Yugoslavia and in 1992, at the age of four, his father had to leave due to the civil war that was raging as the country broke up into the smaller national states that had spent much of the 20th Century under one Communist government. From there, his family spent seven years in Germany where Marko faced ignorance that left its mark on him. Now he lives here in the US with its own set of problems. Needless to say, this isn't the common experience, nor is this common anger. These songs walk the line of anger between love and hate, finding Marko at times furious with God and at others hopeful in his anger. While "Germs of Men" gives me hope for We Are Oceans musically, it is "The Day My Father Told Me to Be a Man" that gives me hope for them lyrically. As Marko sings, "We're not meant to have borders. / We're not meant to have limits. / We are the ocean," I feel both his pain and his love and that has so much more depth than just anger.

For a band that's just formed in the last few months, We Are Oceans shows a lot of promise. They have a lot of experience to draw on in just Marko and as the others contribute more over time, that can only broaden and strengthen their songwriting and performance. They seem to already be finding their voice and should continue to stretch themselves out to make their own sound. They've definitely made a promising start.

Two punk rockers need your help...

...if you can.

Karl Alvarez (Descendants, All) - Karl had a minor heart attack on August 11. He's doing well physically, but not financially due to significant medical bills.

John Stabb (Government Issue, Factory Incident) - John got the crap kicked out of him by hoodlums near his home. He's had to have reconstructive surgery and his medical bills are mounting as well.

Both of these guys have spent their lives making music and don't have much in the way of a benefits package to help out. Check out the sites and help if you can.

Review: Tia Carrera - Heaven/Hell EP

Label: Arclight Records

Released: June 12, 2007

Most stoner rock bands love Black Sabbath and Tia Carrera is no different in that respect. What sets them apart, aside from sheer technical prowess and experimental intuition, is that Black Sabbath isn't the primary trick in their bag. They meld Sabbath's heaviness with Hendrix's psychedelic grooves and Greg Ginn's free jazz punk. The result is staggering, showing that all these things, some started 40 years ago, still have plenty of fresh ground to be traveled by a band with a spirit of exploration and map in their head.

Tia Carrera rein in some (though by no means all) of their experimentation on this album, but they don't lack creativity, they simply reap the rewards of past trips to the edge of the stoner universe and boil it down into a more manageable package. For its entire 33 minute ride (which once upon a time would make this an LP, not an EP), the heaviness of Heaven/Hell is never in question. But its not the crushing and dull heaviness of their peers that merely take Sabbath's slow, heavy dirges to an extreme. Tia Carrera moves. They groove. They rock. They bring technical skill that allows them to channel Hendrix in the way it was intended, not the distilled, clean, easy version we hear so often today. They rip it up, to the point that it seems the experiment may go awry and then they bring it back down into the groove again. Like Black Flag at their most musically genre-shattering, they never lose control and the music never feels boxed in. At any moment it could take off on some rambling passage, losing itself in darkness or in light. It's downright exciting.

Tia Carrera are the stoner heirs of Hendrix. They bring more than just a clear appreciation for his catalog to the table though. They bring his spirit, the heaviness of Sabbath, the wild abandon of Ginn and themselves, a force in their own right, to a scene that likely has no idea what hit it.

Oh yeah, there's no vocals, but don't worry, you won't miss 'em.

Rating: 9/10

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Johnny Cash, Eugene V. Debs and Jesus

Everyone here knows who Johnny Cash is. While everyone should know Eugene Debs as well, I'm sure there's a few who don't. Debs was an American labor activist in the late 19th and early 20th Century. He ran for president five times on the Socialist ticket, once from prison while serving time for a "violation" of the Espionage and Sedition Act when he suggested that going to war was not a patriotic duty during WWI. At his trial, he said this:

...while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Fifty-two years later, Johnny Cash said this:

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there oughta be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black

I don't know if the Man in Black ever read Debs' statement, but it doesn't matter, because the two share something important in common. Not socialism, not protest, not even a way with words. They empathize with the downtrodden, the unfortunate, the poor of all kinds, the poor in all of us even if we don't recognize it. They draw no distinction between the deserving and undeserving. This isn't the charity-on-parade to which so many artists pay lip service while living their oblivious lives of opulence. This is love. It reminds me of something else many of us are familiar with:

...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

You don't have be a Christian to be moved by those words and you don't have to be God to feel the world's pain. Eugene Debs and Johnny Cash are proof and their message is unifying if we only listen.

Review: Johnny Cash - The Great Lost Performance

Label: Island Records

Released: July 24, 2007

Frankly, I'm not sure why this is the great lost performance. Surely, in a career as long as Johnny Cash's, there were many performances that didn't get recorded or where the tapes were lost. Obviously, this is the one that managed to get itself found, but that only makes it the found performance, not the great one.

This album, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ in the summer of 1990, finds Johnny Cash on his way back up. He was working with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings on the Highwaymen's second album during this time and had just finished working on Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 2 with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a host of country music legends (including June) the year before. He was just a few years away from what may have been the best work of his career in the American Recordings series. This was not the shell of Johnny Cash that did variety shows in the 70s, but a very vital artist. All of this points in one direction: a fine performance. And that's just what was uncovered here.

Cash sounds good, the band sounds good, the audience even sounds good. He hits the standards like "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line" with loose vigor. He includes some of the less common greats like "Hey Porter" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky." He even throws in a few newer ones. June sounds tremendous in her duet of "Jackson" with Johnny. Best of all, he treats us to a few of his stories, the ones that reveal his honesty, his integrity, his humanity. However, at times the whole thing feels a bit too safe. Like they're all going through the motions just a little bit. Granted, Johnny Cash going through the motions has more heart than most artists would if they were singing with a gun to their head. Still, to be great, it should feel 100% on and it doesn't.

Don't get me wrong, The Great Lost Performance is worth hearing even if it's slightly mistitled. Somehow, I just doubt that this would be picked for the live release if there wasn't the hype of it being "lost."

Rating: 7/10

Review: Verona Grove - The Story Thought Over

Label: PRC/Universal

Released: August 21, 2007

In 1999, A New Found Glory released Nothing Gold Can Stay, a sappy pop punk album that made me feel the pain of being 17 again. Sure, some of the lyrics were over-dramatic and the vocals were whiny, but the album connected with me even though it was written for kids ten or so years my junior. The point is, A New Found Glory could get away with writing overly sensitive, immature love songs, because they were really good at it, the emo market wasn't completely flooded and they tapped into something universal. By the time they released their major label debut three years later, they were as stale as the genre.

What does this have to with Verona Grove you might ask? Everything. If pop punk drama queens were done in 2002, what makes Verona Grove think the genre is going anywhere in 2007? The Story Thought Over might as well be the latest A New Found Glory album. They don't just have similar musical DNA, they're a clone, made up of the same Crybaby Sally vocals, the same catchy hooks and crunchy (but not too crunchy) sound. True, there are couple places where they try other things, none of them original. They do a few piano ballads and "I Haven't Got Much (But I'm Getting Somewhere)" actually steals a bit from the generic hard rock of the late 80s as if that needed to be revisited. I had enough of new wave the first time and the revival certainly gives me more than my fill. I definitely didn't need Verona Grove to give it a shot on "Goodbye Surrender." They try their hand at a power ballad with "Revolution" and have the audacity to sing, "holding out for a revolution." Maybe they should count the number of revolutions started by power ballads. Yeah, that would be zero. So, the few times they stray from aping their principle influence, they choose to play at things long played out.

Verona Grove apparently wrote much of the album while they were transplanted from Oshkosh, WI to LA, given an apartment and expected to churn out a big seller. On "Smalltown Celebrity," they sing, "Teenage rockstar, / Only 30 years old. / Where the hell did high school go? / Welcome to the rock show." From another band, I might actually like those lyrics, but not from this band and not under these circumstances. Their mentors made me 17 again when I was 28, because they tapped into something universal. Verona Grove has had an extraordinary year that found them going from the small town to the big city. Instead of tapping into some universal discomfort, they've told a story to which no one can relate but them and they've told it in a medium that is long past its prime. If you like pop punk and emo, skip The Story Thought Over and pull Nothing Gold Can Stay back off the shelf.

Rating: 3/10

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New look...

Rock and Roll and Meandering Nonsense has a new look (duh). I'm not sure what I think, but I was tired of the plain black and white, so here it is for better or worse. If you have an opinion or suggestion, I'm open to ideas.