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Albums of the Week: February 5-11

February 6th, 2010 | No Comments

JamBase Albums of the Week | February 5-February 11, 2010

Dennis’ Pick of the Week
Galactic: Ya-Ka-May (Anti)

These sons of New Orleans have done their city proud by honoring Armstrong, Prof. Longhair, and other innovators and crafting a distinct, resolutely modern collection that successfully incorporates ancestral elements. Less hip-hop oriented than its predecessor, 2007′s From the Corner to the Block, this announces with authority that music continues to evolve in the Big Easy, absorbing the crispness and edge prevalent on today’s charts and folding it into the city’s irresistible tub-thumping, primal swing. Ya-Ka-May (arriving February 9) differentiates itself from most other modern soul/funk by retaining a human feel, often felt in the crackling rawness of guest vocalists like Allen Toussaint, Big Chief Bo Dollis and Irma Thomas and big band largess of drum stud Stanton Moore. In these settings, the old hands school today’s chart toppers and Galactic themselves reveal what a sham the bloodless, Pro-Tools, Auto-Tuned mainstream really is. Bangers like “Liquor Pang,” “Dark Water” and “Double It” are ripe to go toe-to-toe with anything Timbaland or Lil’ Wayne serve up, except these sweat and grunt in a way that sidesteps the factory produced sterility of most mass consumption singles. One longs to see this entire assemblage tour as a massive revue that would showcase the interlocking nature of New Orleans music throughout several generations. Ya-Ka-May is a juggernaut of fat grooves and slinky sensibilities that announces that New Orleans is alive and well, at least when Galactic is the custodian of its traditions. (Dennis Cook)

Ron’s Pick of the Week
Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back (EMI)

If there is anything to be learned about Peter Gabriel in the 40-plus years he has been in the pop eye, it’s the fact that he is definitely one advanced-minded Englishman. Whether it be pushing the boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll theatre as the Fox-headed, flute playing frontman of Genesis, with his music videos in the 1980s as a solo act, or the art of the film score with his stunning soundtracks to such critically acclaimed films as The Last Temptation of Christ and Rabbit Proof Fence over the last 20 years, the man hasn’t seen a glass ceiling he didn’t want to throw a bowling ball through. So, leave it up to PG to reinvent the concept of the covers album as well, which is exactly what he’s done with the haunting Scratch My Back (arriving February 16 in the U.K. and March 2 in the U.S.), his first proper solo album since 2002′s Up. With nothing more than a piano and a string section, Gabriel handpicks a dozen songs – six from like-minded contemporaries David Bowie, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Randy Newman and David Byrne, and six from some of the newer acts he admires like Radiohead, Bon Iver, Elbow, Regina Spektor, The Magnetic Fields and Arcade Fire – and by the power of his unmistakable rasp, makes every one of them entirely his own. Most of his choices fit swimmingly with the stripped down format, most notably Bon Iver’s haunting “Flume,” Young’s “Philadelphia,” Reed’s “The Power of the Heart” and surprisingly, “Listening Wind,” a deep cut from Talking Heads’ Remain In Light. But it’s his take on Simon’s Graceland hit “The Boy in the Bubble,” substituting the song’s quasi-Zydeco buoyancy with a downright somber arrangement that really brings out the paranoia in the song’s Orwellian message that seems more fitting now than it did in 1987. Following Scratch My Back is I’ll Scratch Yours, where the artists featured here have their way with the Peter Gabriel catalog. Thom Yorke is allegedly already on board and planning to record “Wallflower” from Gabriel’s 1982 album Security. And one could only hope Randy Newman comes through with a full-on Basin Street run through “Sledgehammer.” (Ron Hart)

Salvador Santana: Keyboard City (Quannum)

The label that brought us Blackalicious, Lyrics Born and other bright lights in today’s funk/hip-hop scene scores again with Santana’s solo debut, a swirling analog hot tub of muddled Latinismo (a la War), lilting disco, ’70s Herbie Hancock-isms, the brighter side of Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson and video game bloops. Nuggets like “Don’t Even Care” and “This Day (Belongs To You)” are sonic sunshine and ooh, don’t it feel good. Helped out by Money Mark, Gza and Del the Funky Homosapien, Keyboard City (released February 2) is a lovingly stirred concoction that goes down as sweetly as home brewed lemonade on a thermometer poppin’ afternoon. (DC)

King Crimson: Lizard: 40th Anniversary Edition (Panegyric/Discipline Global Mobile)

The 40th anniversary remaster campaign of British progressive rock titans King Crimson, helmed with great detail by group founder and resident guitar genius Robert Fripp and self-anointed uber-fan Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, with the deluxe edition of Crimson’s third and most challenging album, Lizard (released January 12). In his scholarly liner notes, Fripp derides his group’s 1970 work as “unsatisfactory” and “joyless”. But thanks to the skillful care of Wilson’s loving revamp, which features bonus material and a DVD-A containing the album in lossless 5.1 surround sound stereo, he renewed the doubtful author’s faith in its unprecedented fusion of classical, free jazz and experimental rock. And if you never quite took to the most misunderstood monster of the King Crimson canon like you did with, say Red or Discipline, allow this definitive version to school you on the brilliance of this legendary band’s transitional classic. (RH)

The Wishing Tree: Ostara (Eagle)

“It’s time for eyes to open now/ It’s time to raise the dead.” Uttered by the honeyed, effervescent voice of Hannah Stobart and given further lift by Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery (who also produced and engineered), these lines are indicative of the big ideas and striking beauty of this prog-pop outing, which begs comparisons to All About Eve, Jane Siberry and frothier Peter Gabriel. Unabashedly romantic and sweetly melodic, Ostara resonates with Rothery’s Fish-era Marillion work infused with female energies. A fine, lovingly sculpted second outing by this pair (released January 19). (DC)

Pierced Arrows: Descending Shadows (VICE)

Garage punk fans the world over were rightfully shocked when Fred and Toody Cole unexpectedly put their longtime group Dead Moon out to pasture in 2006, just six months after the release of Sub Pop’s stellar two-disc anthology, Echoes of the Past (JamBase review) chronicling the Oregon mainstays’ two-decade-strong run. But as quick as they were to shoot the Moon, they returned just as quickly in the form of Pierced Arrows, whose only significant change was the replacement of longtime drummer Andrew Loomis with Portland punker Kelly Hallliburton, whose father played with Fred in the ’60s. Descending Shadows (released February 2) is the Coles’ second album under the new moniker, and finds them as visceral in their AARP years as they were when they first started rattling cages in the Pacific Northwest 20-odd years ago. (RH)

Big Smith: Roots, Shoots & Wings (Mayapple)

It’d be very easy for a group with song titles like “Toted A Load” and “My Overalls (Don’t Fit Me Anymore)” to be jokey, just another tongue-in-cheek country act like Nashville pumps out with alarming regularity. Happily, Big Smith is rootsy as hell and slathered in hot jazz technique, pinches of dissonance, an earthy vocal mix that’s part bluegrass & part The Band, and a good sense of bittersweet humor. If anything, they remind one of early killer Jimmy Buffett and the ’70s Outlaw Country gang, right down to Willy’s penchant for swing. Damn fine band, sweet lil’ album (arriving February 9). (DC)

Black Cobra: Chronomega (Southern Lord)

Though only two players deep, San Francisco’s Black Cobra play their unique brand of sludgy punk-metal with the precision and fury of the four-to-five man Bay Area thrash bands that preceded them 25 years ago. Their fourth album and Southern Lord debut shows ex-Cavity guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian and one-time Acid King drummer Rafael Martinez can throw down their trademark Death Angel-cum-Melvins style riff attacks. Chronomega also shows how well these guys can space out a la Sunn 0))) and Earth as well. (RH)

Field Music: (Measure) (Memphis Industries)

Following a short three-year break that saw the Brothers Brewis record a pair of respective solo albums that barely held up to their work as a group, Field Music makes a momentous return to the world stage in 2010 with a magnificent double LP that explores the darker edges of the English duo’s Steely Dan-gone-indie-rock sound. (Measure) (arriving February 16) finds the Brewis boys challenging themselves by adding prog-jazz phrasing, rhythm-defying time signatures and embellishments of guitar fuzz to their effortless harmonies, all married perfectly across this 20 song thread about the human condition. Few newer bands could pull off a double album with such panache, and Field Music stay in line with the age-old tradition of making theirs a masterpiece. (RH)

Lionel Loueke: Mwaliko (Blue Note)

Following up on his 2007 star-making Herbie Hancock-produced debut Karibu, West African guitar lion Lionel Loueke pays homage to his motherland on his second Blue Note offering. Here, Loueke tests his dazzling fusion of playing, rooted in the fretwork rulebooks of Jim Hall and King Sunny Ade, against a series of intimate duets with the likes of vocalist Angelique Kidjo (who hails from the guitarist’s home nation of Benin), singer/bassists Esperanza Spalding and Richard Bona, as well as promising young jazz drummer Marcus Gilmore, the grandson of the immortal Roy Haynes. However, Mwaliko‘s true gems are three new tracks featuring his longtime trio rounded out by Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth, whose seamless interplay is unmatched in 21st century jazz. (RH)

Various Artists: Psych Bites: Australian Acid Freak Rock -1967-1974 (Vol. 1) (Past & Present)

If there is anything we learned from AC/DC, The Birthday Party and Lubricated Goat, it’s that the Australian continent shows no fear in displaying its collective ability to get loud. So it should come to no surprise that Oz’s surprisingly little-known late ’60s/early ’70s psychedelic rock scene was equally as brain melting. Compiled by master freak rock archivist Psychomania for Bevis Frond frontman Nick Salomon’s Past & Present imprint, Psych Bites (released February 2) compiles 20 super heavy, mega-rare artifacts from Australia and New Zealand’s second and third wave freak rock movements, a true collector’s bin of bands you’ve probably never heard of but should like Pirana, Long Grass, Flake, Chook, Freshwater and The Dave Miller Set, to name a few. Dig it! (RH)

12 Most Disappointing Grammy Follow-Ups

February 1st, 2010 | No Comments

It’s a story that plays like a broken record: Band gets started, band makes great album, success comes quickly and leaves just as soon, as it goes with the sophomore slump album.

Albums of the Week: Jan 29-Feb 4

January 30th, 2010 | No Comments

JamBase Albums of the Week | January 29-February 4, 2010

Dennis’ Pick of the Week
Retribution Gospel Choir: 2 (Sub Pop)

There’s something indestructibly right about a trio, a configuration full of dialog and individual distinctness where each element is essential. No one can lay off or phone it in with music so exposed, and that’s just how Retribution Gospel Choir likes it. If you’re only familiar with Alan Sparhawk from his work with Low, then you’re in for a powerful revelation. RGC is a gnarlier, rangier creature evolved from classic power trios like Grand Funk Railroad and James Gang. But like one of the last great rock threesomes, Nirvana, there’s nothing retro about RGC, who engage with modern discontent in ways both anthemic and subtle. This sophomore effort refines the approach of their charged debut (JamBase review), taking Sparhawk (guitar, vocals), Eric Pollard (drums) and new bassist Steve Garrington into both poppier and murkier spaces. Not unlike Butch Vig’s polish of Cobain & Co., Avril Lavigne/Britney Spears vet Matt Beckley‘s mixing focuses their sound, giving it serious presence but with all the wonderful rough edges still intact. Only 33-minutes long, 2 (released January 26) moves in a very idiosyncratic way, where fuzzy roar gives way to ghostly Tin Pan Alley which cedes to sing-along catharsis. Along the way RGC proves adept at Crazy Horse elongation (“Poor Man’s Daughter,” “Electric Guitar”) and tight, breathy power pop (“Hide It Away”). When one arrives at “Bless Us All,” the bruised hymn that closes 2, one feels slightly pulverized, in a good way. The inky black edge on even the brightest moments bestows a reality on the proceedings that sticks, making 2 one of the first standouts of 2010. (Dennis Cook)

Ron’s Pick of the Week
Frank Zappa: Philly ’76 (Vaulternative)

Gail Zappa’s ongoing battle to “Beat the Boots” might not make her a beloved entity amongst the legion of obsessives scouring the blogosphere for Rapidshare links to Frank Zappa’s music (studio, live or otherwise), with FZ community sites shut down faster than you can say Waka/Jawaka. But at least she counterbalances her “zero tolerance” policy towards the distribution of her late husband’s music by offering some of Frank’s most sought-after soundboards as official releases via the Zappa Family Trust’s Vaulternative imprint. The widow Zappa’s latest offering is Philly ’76, a two-CD set documenting a classic Halloween Eve’s performance at the recently departed Philadelphia Spectrum during the bicentennial. Touring in support of the soon-to-be-released guitar rock monolith Zoot Allures, this collection serves as a rare jewel in the Zappa universe on account of it being one of the only known full concert recordings to feature keyboardist/singer Bianca Odin‘s brief tenure with the Mothers in the Napoleon Brock Murphy/Ike Willis seat alongside guitarist Ray White, violinist Eddie Jobson, bassist Patrick O’Hearn and longtime FZ drummer Terry Bozzio (there is another boot of this tour’s Boston show featuring the same line-up out there as well, but good luck finding it). Odin (who now goes by Lady Bianca) only lasted for one tour with the band, quitting because of the constant harassment coming from Zappa’s audience, who clamored for her to take her top off onstage. But during her brief tenure, she added a heaping pile of soul to such classic ditties as “Dinah Moe Humm,” “Chrissy Puked Twice” (aka “Titties Â‘N Beer”), and “What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are,” which was performed on this tour by Flo and Eddie of the Turtles, but who couldn’t be there due to the unexpected death of their guitarist. And although Philly ’76 does focus more on the pop end of Zappa’s catalog, prog heads can relish in the extended versions of such Zoot Allures treasures as “The Torture Never Stops” (featuring some pretty sexy pleasure/pain moans from Bianca) and a face-melting version of “Black Napkins,” which Zappa admits to playing with talk show great Mike Douglas’s studio orchestra the day before. Any fan of mid-70s FZ will definitely want to add Philly ’76 to their collection, as it stands as one of the more unique shows to be officially released by the Zappa Family Trust to date. (Ron Hart)

Crazy Heart – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (New West)

T-Bone Burnett and recently departed Texas singer-songwriter-producer Stephen Bruton present a superb Americana cross-section for the much feted Jeff Bridges film, including Bridges’ own fine, burly voice plumbing the soul of several great Burnett/Bruton compositions. Hard to sound bad with a “house band” of Ryan Bingham, Greg Leisz, Jay Bellerose, Dennis Crouch and Buddy Miller though, and it’s heartening to have classics like Waylon Jennings’ “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” and Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Once A Gambler” pushed into greater public consciousness. As fine an encapsulation of the post-70s Texas country aesthetic as ever assembled (released January 19). (DC)

Pat Metheny: Orchestrion (Nonesuch)

With Trent Reznor retiring Nine Inch Nails and all, leave it up to jazz music’s premier guitar hero to reinvent the concept of the one-man band. Building upon the idea of the Orchestrion, a large mechanical device from the Industrial Age devised to play various orchestral instruments on its own, Metheny, with the help of a behind-the-scenes team of scientists and engineers, gives the antiquated concept a 21st century makeover by rigging an arsenal of pianos, drums, marimbas and even a cabinet of bottles to a series of solenoid switches and pneumatics, thus creating his most inventive and inspired solo recording since 1979′s New Chautauqua. (RH)

The Very Best: Warm Heart of Africa (Green Owl)

“You listen/ Get your ear ready for the word/ Think like a human being.” There is something stirringly humanizing about this marvelous collaboration between two European DJ/producers and Esau Mwamwaya, one of the finest singers to emerge from Africa in decades. Warmth is the operative vibe, though the crackling machine hum is thoroughly modern and a killer counterpoint to the heartbeat percussion and Mwamwaya’s gliding voice. Guest shots from Vampire Weekend‘s Ezra Koenig and M.I.A. add further flava, but the core of this trio is a deep vibration full of real soul that stirs up light and loveliness. (DC)

Various Artists: Mavis (Strut-K7!)

British DJ/music impresario Ashley Beedle’s Mavis project is not so much a direct tribute to the celebrated sounds of album namesake and soul legend Mavis Staples and her family band, The Staples Singers, as it is an homage to their iconic, innovative fusion of gospel, funk and R&B. Based upon an instrumental Beedle and music partner Dareen Morris conspired after listening to Burt Bacharach’s cover of Mavis’ hit “A House is Not A Home,” this unique collection offers 11 different variations of the song and employing the likes of Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, Candi Staton, Ed Harcourt, Edwyn Collins of Orange Juice and Catatonia’s Cerys Matthews, among others, to add their vocal spins to their creations, resulting in a thoroughly unique set that does the music of Ms. Staples great justice. (RH)

The Wingdale Community Singers: Spirit Duplicator (Scarlet Shame)

Rich in texture and imagery, Spirit Duplicator has the nearly impossible to capture feel of vintage Fairport Convention, a gorgeous, instantly appealing conglomeration of sounds. Folk-rock doesn’t often live up to its best ancestors but Wingdale nails it on every cut, doing Crosby-era Byrds, Pentangle, etc. proud and even modernizing things a bit. Though captured at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn, it feels gloriously homemade, something brought back to the city from some retreat. Barbs lurk in the thicket of their lyrics – crashing comets and strange hours given shape – but, like the gentler passages, they just make one feel things in an achingly acute way. The Singers include novelist Rick Moody, who proves the ultra-rare writer-turned-musician who’s utterly comfortable in his second skin, especially on such a truly special album. (DC)

Blockhead: The Music Scene (Ninja Tune)

After a questionable venture into shiny, happy territory with his last solo endeavor, 2007′s Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book, NYC underground hip-hop producer Tony “Blockhead” Simon makes a most welcome return to the dusty, ominous instrumentals he is known and loved for creating, both as Aesop Rock’s go-to beatsmith and as his own act on The Music Scene (released January 12). Easily his best instrumental album since his 2004 solo debut, Music By Cavelight, Blockhead’s fourth is foreboding, psychedelic and layered with samples of jazz piano, classical guitar and strange bits of dialogue from what sounds like old school children’s theater available in the public domain. It also features quite arguably the best album cover art you will see all year. (RH)

Scout Niblett: The Calcination of Scout Niblett (Drag City)

A grungy buzz worthy of Sabbath launches this jagged, holy rolling hot mess – wholly a compliment given the poetic snarl and emotional testifying of Emma Louise “Scout” Niblett. Producer Steve Albini keeps things exposed and spare, and the atmosphere is akin to an intense staring contest with someone likely to devour or destroy you. “Welcome to my self-made sweatbox,” she purr/growls on the title cut, and you just want to lick the perspiration off her, knowing full well that moving in close may mean the end of you. Haunting and heavy, The CalcinationÂ… (released January 26) has the off-putting yet irresistible genius of vintage Patti Smith given an intimate, highly personal reinvention. (DC)

The Album Leaf: A Chorus of Storytellers (Sub Pop)

Critics seem to unfairly slag on Jimmy LaValle and his decade-old electronically-minded post-rock project The Album Leaf for cutting too close to the MOR/Easy Listening cloth, tossing it off as “yacht rock” or whatever. But you know something, every generation needs their Christopher Cross, and few men in the 21st century can juggle the balance between the experimental and the conventional quite like LaValle. And on A Chorus of Storytellers (arriving February 2), he strikes the most leveled parity of this duality of his career, further enhanced by the fact that this the first Album Leaf record to employ the use of a full live band. The haters will surely keep on hating, but the appreciators will see this as LaValle’s most realized work to date. (RH)

Citay: Dream Get Together (Dead Oceans)

Good lord, this is ruthlessly catchy! This enduring S.F. ensemble has finally harnessed their considerable psychedelic-yet-substantive live energy into a studio corker that makes one wiggle with newly unleashed freedom. They capture the moment before the alarm clock hits and scatters our sleepy reveries, and they hitch that vibe to beautiful fucking guitars with the shreddy, tube amp warmth of prime Thin Lizzy, sweet siren harmonies, slippery lyrics, awesomely pretty stretches and a positively indestructible rhythm section. What makes this their best yet is the quality songwriting, general group cohesion and the pitch perfect production of Tim Green, who also plays a mean guitar here. A welcome ray of sunshine in the heart of winter. (released January 26). (DC)

Massive Attack: Heligoland (Virgin-EMI)

Following a seven-year hiatus, UK trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack finally release their long-in-the-works follow-up to 2003′s 100th Window. Originally titled Weather Underground, Heligoland (arriving February 9) is a dark, downtempo masterpiece featuring production from the DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy (alongside Massive bassist Neil Davidge) and teeming with a respectable array of guest vocalists including Tunde from TV On The Radio, Martina Topley-Bird, Blur/Gorillaz chief Damon Albarn, Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Mazzy Star chanteuse Hope Sandoval and longtime Massive Attack collaborator Horace Andy. If this becomes viewed as 3D and Daddy G’s finest hour by music historians in the near future, do not be surprised ’cause it sure sounds that way to me. (RH)

RL Heyer Trio: Turn Me Upside-Down (Death-Rail)

Offering up “songs about life, love, and the effects of extreme drug use on the human psyche,” this is a pleasant reminder of what three dudes with raw talent, a yen to tickle fancies and a pile of well-crafted tunes can do. Heyer (guitar, lead vocals), Scott Goodwin (drums, vocals) and Eric Bryson (bass) all play together in Flowmotion but dig into leaner, rootsier grooves here, generating a healthy density regardless of tempo or style dabbling in what is essentially great meat ‘n’ potatoes rock. Heyer’s voice is full of exposed feelings and he’s got one of the illest guitar tones around. Much to like, nothing not to, and they got the goods live, too. (DC)

Albums of the Week: January 22-28

January 22nd, 2010 | No Comments

JamBase Albums of the Week | January 22-January 28, 2010

Dennis’ Pick of the Week
The Society of Rockets: Future Factory (Underpop)

The future has of late not been so bright we need shades. Enter this under-known S.F. marvel to paint the sky with ROYGBIV colors as rhumba beats tickle our heels. An inscription on their site observes, “We’ve been thinking a lot about how buildings should be less like caves and more like treesÂ…about how the future looked brighter in the pastÂ…Here’s to new beginnings!” Sweet but not syrupy, Future Factory ladles Summer of Love vibes – bright strokes and beatific harmonies – over a thick, cerebral stew – a dish both homey in its immediate satisfaction yet modernly dense. There’s the tomorrow clang of H.G. Wells and the rocket ship ’50s wedded to batucada shimmy and a sonic inquisitiveness that’s positively intoxicating. A 21-track opus (available for download now and in March on double vinyl) is a ballsy move by any band, but Future Factory holds up under repeated spins, and in fact grows by leaps and bounds as one picks up on the connective tissue and observant, restorative lyrics. While it may not jump out as an immediate modern classic like their previous release, Our Paths Related (JamBase review), this song cycle full of breakneck changes, head snap inducing guitars, fabulously swoon-y vocals, and hip shaking rhythms continues the evolution of a truly terrific band hell-bent on making some of the most interesting, satisfying rock today. They have succeeded with flying colors once again. (Dennis Cook)

Ron’s Pick of the Week
Four Tet: There Is Love In You (Domino)

“I think a lot of Four Tets (sic) awesomeness roots in the contrast of slick/clean and random/dirty,” recently gushed someone in the comments sections of the recent “official leak” of Four Tet’s long-awaited new full-length on the Soundcloud website (the official release date is January 26). Given the complexity by which Kieran Hebden crafts his grooves, I was at first a little put off by reading this statement. How could someone deduce the agenda of this otherwise multifaceted artist to such black and white terms? But after giving some thought to this tidbit of wisdom left in the wake of the near 30,000 plays There Is Love In You has streamed on Soundcloud (posted by Hebden himself) over the course of this past week, especially when thinking in the context of the totality of the Four Tet catalog, it soon becomes clear that this kid’s clean/dirty theory to his music is actually spot-on. And whether or not you will consider There Is Love In You, the former Fridge guitarist’s fifth full-length under his longtime solo guise, to be a misstep or a masterpiece will likely depend on how you take your Tet. For those who like the chaotic cacophony of his recent work, particularly his brain-rattling collaborative LPs with legendary jazz drummer Steve Reid, as well as his last proper full-length, 2005′s Everything Ecstatic, the strong club vibe this new album gives off with its unapologetic use of cooing female voices and dubstep-inspired rhythmic hops might certainly be met with cries of “sell-out” from the experimental end of the Four Tet fanbase. However, for those who give this remarkable work a deeper and more educated listen – preferably with headphones or within the confines of a soundproof automobile at high volume – and take in all of the intricacies interwoven within these songs’ more dance-ready tendencies – the subtle use of Hebden’s beloved ring modulator, atmospheric Slint-like guitar passages, throwback illbient vibes, elements of such exotic instruments as harp and kora – and you will appreciate There Is Love In You as Hebden’s finest and yes, cleanest album since Rounds and most straightforward release since Pause. Amazing, amazing stuff right here. (Ron Hart)

Beach House: Teen Dream (Sub Pop)

Already shaping up to be this year’s Grizzly Bear-esque anointed joint, Beach House’s third long-player (arriving January 26) is decidedly more direct than Veckatimest, though there’s a shared harmonic reach and woozy beauty that’s pretty bloody charming. The duo of Victoria Legrand (niece of legendary composer Michel Legrand) and Alex Scally ooze ’60s melancholy pop vibes, though their candy colored lens is suitably cracked and teeth pocked for modern times. This spins along like a light bedecked carousel filled with the smitten and those smited by amour – a romantic haze that’s thick but not treacle-y and a fine update of what Dusty Springfield, Lesley Gore and Lee Hazelwood once wrought. (DC)

Emancipator: Safe In The Steep Cliffs (self-released)

Fresh out of Portland, Emancipator’s sophomore effort (released January 19) offers a revitalizing glimpse into auditory canvas of one the electronic scene’s budding new gems. Effortlessly meshing subtle melodies with delicious doses of downtempo and seductively silky songwriting, Emancipator builds around a beat to form a heavily layered, well-produced collection of 14 tracks. From opener “Greenland” and its sultry strings to the laid-back, dubby hand-clap “Kamakura” to the worldly melange of textures and samples of the album-closing title cut, he has a way of transforming live instrumentation into a multihued portrait that looks towards the likes of Bonobo, Bluetech and Sigur Ros, performed with its own potion of delicate intricacy. (Chris Clark)

Kevin Barker: You and Me (Gnomonsong)

As one man John Fahey tribute band Currituck County, Kevin Barker was an instrumental staple of the East Coast “freak folk” movement. But on his first album under his own name (released January 19), the go-to guitarist for such acts as Vetiver, Espers, Antony and the Johnsons and Devendra Banhart showcases his talents as a songwriter with this lovely collection of rural country rock gems crafted with the help of such pals as Wilco’s Pat Sansone, Shins sideman Eric Johnson and Drag City chanteuse Joanna Newsom among others. (RH)

Overmountain Men: Glorious Day (Ramseur)

Rebel pluck, flamenco echoes and “Curtis Lowe” Skynyrd-isms – Overmountain has it all. From the “Death To Tyrants” and May 20, 1775 inscriptions and band photos that paint them as musical soldiers, this project – which includes unsung Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford – is actually more wide-angled and swinging than these signposts suggest. Underground mainstay David Childers‘ perfectly Haggard voice provides grit and a classic country feel (with a broader world view), and this debut (arriving January 26) exudes the boisterous bonhomie of its creation. Joe Strummer would’ve loved this. (DC)

The Silent League: Â…But You’ve Always Been The Caretaker (Something in Construction)

Named after the enigmatic line at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the latest title from sometime Mercury Rev keyboardist Justin Russo‘s chamber pop group looks to gap an unlikely bridge separating Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle and Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak on this strange, beautiful album about the future. Make sure you check out the bonus disc, however, which contains a bevy of worthwhile Silent League odds and ends, including great covers of ELO’s “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” and Alicia Keys’ “No One.” (RH)

Collin Herring: Ocho (self-released)

Herring arrives with a strange angled honesty, a dustbowl true voice whispering about doubts and the hard things he’s seen, yet also capable of gently hooky rockin’ and moody drift. Ocho, beautifully produced by Centro-matic‘s Will Johnson, is a dense half hour whose melancholy tendrils grip one long after it’s over. Kindred spirits include Clem Snide’s Eef Barzelay, Vic Chesnutt and Jim James, but Herring, particularly in these well carved settings, has a thoroughly compelling voice of his own that’s perfect for crawling inside and shutting out the day. (DC)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Live at Hollywood High (Hip-O/UMe)

Originally recorded for a promotional 7-inch that was given away with copies of Armed Forces in 1979, this explosive concert that went down on June 4, 1978 at the Hollywood High School auditorium finds a then 23-year-old Elvis and the original Attractions blasting their way through favorites from Costello’s first two albums, 1977′s My Aim Is True and 1978′s This Year’s Model, while previewing cuts from Forces, including a beautiful piano-only version of “Accidents Will Happen.” Produced by Nick Lowe, Universal’s Costello Show series continues to impress with this monumental showcase for the savage young Elvis at the peak of his punk powers. (RH)

The Len Price 3: Pictures (Wicked Cool)

Mods arise! Shamelessly lifting from the usual ’60s sources and more modern templates like Teenage Fanclub and Holly Golightly, the LP3 succeed in making exceedingly well-tread ground seem freshly furrowed. The songs are pure dynamite – from the ’60s Pete Townshend-esque title cut to the Help! era Beatles style of “After You’ve Gone” to the Jam-y growl of “If You Live Round Here” – and the spit ‘em out with apostolic gusto over a tight instrumental snap. No new ground broken but who gives a damn when the music’s this bloody fun? This could bring back the Frug and Hully Gully in a big way! (DC)

The Hotrats: Turn-Ons (Fat Possum)

As The Hotrats, Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey of England’s venerable modern rock underdogs Supergrass unleash a fun, excellently executed collection of quality cover tunes that includes inventive remakes of the Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right (To Party),” the Sex Pistols’ “EMI,” and The Doors’ “Crystal Ships” interspersed with faithful renditions of such AOR snob faves as Pink Floyd’s “Bike,” The Kinks’ “Big Sky,” David Bowie’s “Queen Bitch,” and a great take on Roxy Music’s “Love is the Drug.” Produced by the great Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead), Turn-Ons sounds like the Grass boys secretly dubbed 40 minutes of my old radio show in college and decided to make it an album. Good show, lads! (RH)

Jason Boesel: Hustler’s Son (Team Love)

After more than a decade drumming for the likes of Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes, Boesel drops his first solo album, and it’s every bit as well crafted and appealing as any of his associations. Hustler’s Son (released January 12) has the warmly caressed feel of ’70s FM, slipping between countryish chooglers (“Black Waves”), what could be prime Lindsey Buckingham (“French Kissing”) and Yacht Rock gold (“Miracles”). Aided by pals Jonathon Wilson, Benmont Tench, David Rawlings and Blake Sennett, this is a creeper likely to become a repeat spin favorite, its bittersweet, worldly-wise optimism finding a ready home in one’s breast. (DC)

Harvey Milk: Harvey Milk (Hydrahead)

The first recordings of the recently reunited Athens, GA, stoner/noise heavyweights Harvey Milk, produced by Shellac’s Bob Weston sometime in the early ’90s, have been floating around the Internet via various Mediafire and Megaupload links on more educated Blogger sites for years. But thanks to the band’s new label, Hydrahead, the barely audible, lo-fi hiss and sonic corrosion that made this ultra-rare debut album such a challenge to listen to has been cleaned up thanks to a beautiful remastering job worthy of the Maxell XL II 90 minute tape that graces the cover of this long-overdue reissue (arriving January 26). (RH)

Editors: In This Light And On This Evening (Fader)

This proffers a glass and chrome futurism that’s besmirched with the oils and complications of human fingerprints. Finally seeing a U.S. release on January 19, this set has already garnered serious European love, and if one is a fan of early Depeche Mode and other bastions of New Romanticism it’s easy to see why. Tom Smith‘s keening pipes suggest a (un)happy meeting point of Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and Muse, and the music’s grimy click ‘n’ thump proves fairly stirring, if one’s open to such baroque silicon constructions. (DC)

Fucked Up: Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009 (Matador)

One of the most inventive, original hardcore bands to ever set fire to North America gathers up all of the previously uncollected, one-off 7- and 12-inchers the Canadian sextet recorded for various labels over the course of the ’00s on this jam-packed two-disc set. For anyone who likes screaming vocals and throat-stomping riffs offset by jazz flute and a melodic style as influenced by Unrest as it is the Cro-Mags, this incidental anthology is a great beginner’s guide to the most exciting, innovative band on the hardcore circuit. (RH)

JamBase | California
Go See Live Music!

Seth Avett: Solo Albums

January 18th, 2010 | No Comments

SETH AVETT RE-RELEASES EACH OF HIS SOLO EFFORTS

Seth Avett by Crackerfarm

Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers has re-released all of his recorded solo work, which was originally released under the artist title Timothy Seth Avett as Darling. The collection includes each of Seth’s three solo albums, and is available on iTunes and a separate website here.

A note from Seth, on these solo works, his new website and more:

In the year 2001, at twenty-one years of age, I recorded an album entitled To Make the World Quiet. The inspiration for the piece was urgent and impatient. There was no managerial or label involvement. There was no funding. Without any consideration towards who (if anyone) would hear the result of this outing, I happily executed each aspect of the process, including all writing, performance of each instrument, engineering and modest production. The following year, I again, by the same process was obliged to record an album. Killing the Headlamps was the realization of this second venture as ‘Darling.’ Both albums were made on a 4-track cassette recorder. I initially mixed them both on a low-fidelity home stereo in my kitchen (to yet another cassette). I spent a perhaps unhealthy amount of time with a ruler, an X-acto knife, and a real-time dual-deck CD duplicator, hand-assembling these two albums (along with the first couple thousand units of the first official Avett Brothers recording Country Was).

Until New Years Eve 2010, the only physical copies of these records laid in the hands of maybe a few hundred people that I sold them to personally. I have been honored by the continued interest in these early works as expressed by those who have inquired about them at Avett performances. It is this kind inquiry that has inspired me again; this time to make them readily available through a proper duplication and ordering process.

All three albums can be obtained from the website by download or through a mail-order process for the actual physical copies.

In addition, a set of 5 videos have been created by the fine people at Crackerfarm to coincide not only with the new found availability of these recordings, but with the New Year as well. Each video is a one-camera/one-angle performance of a song from one of the 3 ‘Darling’ records. These visual pieces are defined by their simplicity, as there has been no editing or audio overdubbing of any kind. We have posted two of these videos Â— and for the next three weeks, a new video will be posted on Monday morning at ten o’clock (EST) on the Darling website. We hope you enjoy them.

My sincere thanks go out to all who have made these current developments possible, not least of all to the Avett Brothers fans, who have graciously provided the fire to keep the interest in these solo works alive.

-Seth

Albums of the Week: January 15-21

January 16th, 2010 | No Comments

JamBase Albums of the Week | January 15-January 21, 2010

Spoon: Transference (Merge)

Three years following the so-so Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon return triumphantly with what could very well go down as the best album of their careers. With Transference (arriving January 19), the Austin, TX-based band chose to produce themselves, resulting in a piano-driven classic that perfectly pitches frontman Britt Daniel‘s presumed desire to transplant Joe Jackson’s debonair new waver into Ray Davies’ Waterloo sunset. From the odd time signatures of opener “Is Love Forever?” to the Rundgren-esque balladry of “Goodnight Laura” to the Amy Heckerling teen dream rave-up “Got Nuffin,” this is a brilliant zigzag through one of the most genius minds in modern pop songwriting executed by some of indie rock’s most reputable elder statesmen. (Ron Hart)

Dave Rawlings Machine: A Friend of a Friend (Acony)

Gently massaged modern folk comes no better than this solo debut from longtime Gillian Welch foil. Rawlings has a pure, incisive voice similar to Johnny Irion, a lil’ on the sweet side, perfect for the material, which includes a heartrending “Cortez The Killer” melded to Conor Oberst’s “Method Acting” and a pile of rib-sticking originals. This taps into the bounce and innate gentility of folk music, pouring out music that’s cooling, refreshing, and quite satisfying, if somewhat orthodox. (Dennis Cook)

Vampire Weekend: Contra (XL)

Who would have thought that it would take the music of four well-to-do, boat-shoed preps from NYC to make the sounds of Paul Simon’s 1987 yuppie, world pop classic Graceland cool in the eyes of today’s indie rock youth brigade? For the follow-up to their heavily hyped 2007 debut, VW doesn’t stray from its successful formula so much as improve upon it. Songs like “Horchata” and “White Sky” smack of a band bristling with growth and experience without losing their distinct flavor. However, when these guys do take a few left-turns, particularly within the context of the surfed-out post punk of “Cousins” and the warm utilization of Auto-Tune on frontman Ezra Koenig‘s vocals on the dancehall-inflected “California English,” it goes to show these dudes aren’t one trick ponies, either. (RH)

Jim Campilongo: Orange (Blue Hen)

Simply stunning – an album instrumental music fans will likely quickly salute as a classic. Touching on the streams unleashed by Roy Buchanan, Les Paul, Jeff Beck, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Bryant, Campilongo shows why he’s one of the most revered six-stringers alive here. The flexible, wholly engaging core trio of Campilongo, Stephan Crump (acoustic bass), and Tony Mason (drums) is cleanly captured by producer Anton Fier, and Leah Siegel offers fab vocal turns on inspired covers of The Stooges’ “No Fun” and the Stones’ “No Expectations.” Orange (arriving February 16) bursts with succulent playing and juicy compositions, an ear-snagging winner in every regard. (DC)

Gilded Palace of Sin: You Break Our Hearts, We’ll Tear Yours Out (Central Control)

England’s Gilded Palace of Sin might harbor a name that recalls the hazy California country rock of the classic album it was christened after, but once you dig into the gothic dustbowl dirge of this promising trio, you will hear far more Death Valley than Laurel Canyon. You Break Our Hearts, We’ll Tear Yours Out (released January 12), Gilded’s debut album on former Magazine/Bad Seeds bassist Barry Adamson’s Central Control imprint, harbors a flavor born of Nick Cave’s fixation with the American West and old Sergio Leone films, coupled with an arsenal of instruments including banjo, Theremin, glockenspiel, jaw harp, ukulele, music harp and computers underscoring a din of anthemic electric guitars. The results are akin to a UK version of Black Heart Procession, and offer promising signs of things to come from this exciting new band. (RH)

Goose Creek Symphony: Head For The Hills (Bo Records)

Long before there was slamgrass, nu-grass, etc. there was Goose Creek Symphony. Celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2010, these free spirited, under-sung folk-rock/Americana pioneers continue to introduce their sweet catalog to a new generation with this reissue of a 1975 ace. Goose Creek’s ability to weave together bardic threads with something slippery, earthy and lysergic is on full display on Hills, which offers up some of their best originals alongside clever takes on “Goin’ Down The Road” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.” The word “timeless” is used too liberally but this music feels as vibrant today as when it was cut. (DC)

Kanye West: VH-1 Storytellers (GOOD-Def Jam)

If it had aired in its entirety, Kanye West’s memorable performance on VH1′s Storytellers would have clocked in at three hours, which saw the Chicago rap wunderkind ramble on like a swaggered out Lou Reed circa Take No Prisoners and riffing on everything from God to Chris Brown to Radiohead. The CD version (released January 5) of this event whittles down the already truncated 90 minute broadcast (made available on the DVD portion of this two-disc set) to a solid hour. But luckily, the final track list concentrates heavily on material from Kanye’s vastly misunderstood 2008 existential Auto-tune masterpiece 808s and Heartbreak, which was still in the process of being recorded around the time of this show’s taping. Say what you will about this guy, but few entertainers in pop music today can spin this kind of gold out of their own emotional complexities quite like Kanye. (RH)

Corey Harris: blu.black (Telarc)

It’s alright for Harris to use the phrase, “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice,” but most of us should probably refrain. This highly Afrocentric release continues Harris’ Motherland thrust but in a less academic way than recently. These might be the most sugary tunes about slavery and social disconnection ever penned or produced. Harris has embraced his inner Soul Man (who dances with African, Jamaican and Americana partners here), and the results are surprisingly effective, though you may find yourself pulled out of the groove periodically if you’re a honky like myself. White guilt is a bitch. (DC)

Spacemen 3: The Perfect Prescription (Fire)

One of the great albums of the late 1980s gets the definitive edition it so richly deserves courtesy of UK imprint Fire Records as part of its critically acclaimed reissue series of the Spacemen 3 catalog. 1987′s The Perfect Prescription, long considered to be the influential English band’s finest hour, is presented here in a gorgeous LP-style package that tacks on a pair of instrumental b-sides to the original nine-song tracklist, along with a rich remastering job that really brings out the hallucinogenic pulchritude of the album, whose sound is said to have been constructed to parrot the cerebral highs and lows of an ecstasy trip. Any Spiritualized fans out there looking to get into Spacemen 3 for the first time, your best bet would be to start off with this marvel, which rings closest to the style Jason Pierce took with him to construct the massive beauty of his celebrated space rock outfit. (RH)

Major Stars: Return to Form (Drag City)

Boston’s premier psychedelic rockists turn a textbook music critic cliche into a monolith of electrifying riffery with their seventh album. The group’s second release (arriving January 26) since signing to Drag City and employing former LA Drugs frontwoman Sandra Barrett finds them streamlining their sound to craft their most accessible effort to date. Barrett’s blues mama howl provides the perfect foil for the group’s massive triple-guitar assault, which really comes into the fray on cuts like the near-eight-minute “Black Point” and the ferocious, UFO-esque “Run From Me Devil.” This is hard rock the way it was meant to be heard – hot, heavy and flanked by an uncompromising, foxy lady who can sing. (RH)

Oh No: Dr. No’s Ethiopium (Stones Throw)

Madlib‘s little brother might not be the hottest MC to rock the mic, but as a producer Oh No is closely gaining on the elder Jackson in his family as a talented beatsmith in his own right. As the follow-up to his 2007 instrumental effort, Dr. No’s Oxperiment, which saw the young Stones Throw lion pilfering grooves from old ’60s and ’70s psych albums from the Middle East, Dr. No’s Ethiopium finds the producer mining rare soul, jazz, funk, folk and acid rock from Ethiopia. He wound up with 36 tracks that find Oh No challenging both himself and the listener with intriguing blends and segues that blur the lines between urban and indigenous. Anyone looking for some new instrumental hip hop to bump on their desktop or in their car would be wise to invest in this eclectic mix, which puts a different spin on the indie world’s current fascination with the Dark Continent. (RH)

Beatles Albums Removed from Download Site BlueBeat

November 7th, 2009 | No Comments

Get back to where you once belonged: A judge approves a temporary restraining order for digital music site BlueBeat.com over the sale of Beatles songs.
– Internet music site BlueBeat.com, which bills itself as trying to quot;stop
the insanity of overpriced online music, quot; is no longer carrying the entire
catalog of songs from legendary rock band The Beatles.
EMI Group, a British music company that owns the rights to the songs, filed
a copyr…

Springsteen to Perform Two Entire Albums at MSG

November 5th, 2009 | No Comments

SPECIAL PROGRAMS ANNOUNCED FOR THIS WEEKEND’S

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND SHOWS AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Bruce Springsteen

On Saturday, November 7, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will
perform The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle in its entirety for
the first time.

On Sunday, November 8, The Boss and his Band will then perform
The River in its entirety, also for the first time.

The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle was originally released in
1973 and The River was originally released in 1980. They now join Born to
Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and Born in the USA as albums that Bruce and the Band have performed in their entirety during their Fall tour.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Tour Dates

11/07/09 Sat Madison Square Garden New York, NY

11/08/09 Sun Madison Square Garden New York, NY

11/10/09 Tue Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH

11/13/09 Fri The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI

11/15/09 Sun Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI

11/18/09 Wed Sommet Center Nashville, TN

11/20/09 Fri 1st Mariner Arena Baltimore, MD

11/22/09 Sun HSBC Arena Buffalo, NY

Springsteen To Perform Full Albums at Giants Stadium

September 30th, 2009 | No Comments

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND TO PERFORM

FULL ALBUM SEQUENCES DURING GIANTS STADIUM RUN

BORN TO RUN, DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, BORN IN THE USA TO BE PERFORMED IN THEIR ENTIRETY

E Street Band :: 09.20.09 :: Chicago by Chad Smith

In response to the overwhelming fan enthusiasm at Chicago’s Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live performance of the album Born to Run (read the JamBase review here), Springsteen has decided to perform one classic album each night at East Rutherford, NJ’s Giants Stadium:

09.30 Giants Stadium Born To Run

10.02 Giants Stadium
Darkness on the Edge of Town

10.03 Giants Stadium Born In The USA

10.08 Giants Stadium Born To Run

10.09 Giants Stadium Born In The USA

In Chicago, Bruce began with a varied set list, performed the album portion of the show in the middle of the concert, and continued the show through its grand finale. Said long time manager Jon Landau, “Chicago convinced us that this was really worth doing. The audience was so supportive of the concept that it convinced us to go ahead with this at Giants Stadium.”

Chicago Tribune‘s Greg Kot called that city’s performance “epic,” continuing, “they delivered and then some.”

Beatlesâ€™ re-launch of albums â€˜helps clear MJâ€™s debtsâ€™

September 21st, 2009 | No Comments

Beatlesâ€™ launch of their remastered albums and the video game The Beatles: Rock Band has apparently helped clear late singer Michael Jacksonâ€™s debts.
The King of Pop had bought the 250-song Beatles catalogue in 1985 for 47.5million dollars and now with the high selling of his own music and the relaunch of the Fab Fourâ€™s sound, [...]