music reviews
by Kent Manthie
Will Thompson (Alarmist Records)
A pretty new face isn’t pretty for very long, but a creative, talented sense of music is a trait that lasts forever and can leave a legacy that lasts long after one passes from the earth. Introducing Will Thompson, a singer/songwriter who, on his eponymous debut wows us with an understatement of 11 mellow, acoustic tracks, no doubt written by a highly sensitive, introverted shy guy who maybe had a bad relationship or some tragedy in his life and through writing songs and recording them gives him a release, a catharsis from the demons that have been festering inside for so long.
Again, while listening to this relatively brand new album, new to me for sure, I suddenly got the sense of déjà vu that I sometimes get from listening to music I’ve never heard before on at least one track, “Leave Me Alone”, song number two. It’s got a catchy hook to it and lush harmonies which may be why it has a familiar ring to it. Another catchy tune is the closing song, “Walk Away”, which is succeeded by an unlisted, untitled 37-second track that sort of wraps it all up neatly. But, anyway, “Walk Away” is a good tune, a mellow but powerful song.
I appreciate the heartfelt lyrics, the personal statements, the introversion and the confessionals; the backbone of the songs on this CD. Track 8, “The Attack” is a piano-driven ditty. Track #9 is a nice little piano & acoustic guitar instrumental that is an extended prelude to another pretty little song, “How This story Ends” (#10) which, with the quiet, dry piano providing melody as well as rhythm and harmony too. (http://www.willthompson.net or http://www.alarmistrecords.com) – KM.
Divided by Zero: “The Black Sea” (Sik World Records)
Frankly, I’m suspicious of any CD when I open up the jewel box to retrieve the disc and on the inside part of the sleeve there’s an advertisement for “provocative clothing for men & women”. I guess it’s for stuff like crotchless panties or edible underwear or some such novelties. Crass commercialism doesn’t go with music. The most obscene image you could put on a record sleeve is an ad!
There’s a cool tune on “The Black Sea”, the latest (debut?) by Divided by Zero, a fairly heavy metal band; it’s called “Drowning, Not Waving” – not to be confused with the Julian Cope song, “Not Waving But Drowning” (from “Peggy Suicide”) – it caught my attention, not just because of the title, but also due to a catchy hook, an infectious groove that kept popping up. That was one of the high points. Actually, the next cut also stands out. “Helicopter” is a little slower, has a bit more soul to it than the mostly high-energy metal record; for instance, the cut after “Helicopter” is called “Double Negative” and this one has the feel of a System of a Down song; for one thing it has that juxtaposition from speed metal riffs for a chorus and slowed-down dirge-like verses, something S.A.D. use a lot in their music.
All in all, I would say that DBZ are nothing overly groundbreaking, but they do make a splash here and there. If you are a headbanger and have been known to frequent events like the Warped Tour, Ozz-Fest you’ll be all over Divided by Zero for sure. (http://www.sikworld.com) – KM.
Big John Bates: “Take Your Medicine” (Devil Sauce Recordings)
Think of the difference of it all if Elvis Presley had been from Texas instead of Tupelo, Mississippi. Anyway, Big John Bates, from Vancouver, Canada, has spawned this record, “Take Your Medicine” – the grooviest thing I’ve heard all year; a party record if there ever was one.
The sound is that infectious “psychobilly” that the Cramps made famous – and you can see the influence by the cover they do of “Goo Goo Muck”. “Salome’s Last Dance” and “Gothsylvania” also stand out.
Bates has a big, brash, ballsy sound, with a tinge of New Orleans thrown in for good measure. There is a party feel to it, a get up and go swagger that infuses you from head to toe and no matter, it swings. (http://www.bigjohnbates.com) –KM.
Miz Mandy: “In the Mix” (Foxworthy Records)
So, you’ve got a decent singing voice, what do you with it? In Miz Mandy’s case you put it to work singing the most banal pop music and hope to make a lot of money quick before your brightly burning flame fizzles out, which it will do in a hurry.
“In the Mix” is a CD full of the most nauseating bubble gum crooning. I couldn’t take listening to it for very long. But I had it in long enough to know that this is what happens to you when you sell your soul to a record company and you don’t have anything to offer in the way of creativity or talent, save a pretty voice.
Anoushka Shankar: “Rise” (Angel Records)
A breathtaking album by another of Ravi Shankar’s daughters. This one’s name is Anoushka Shankar and she is an apple that fell pretty near to the tree. What a talent. As Norah Jones has a knack for singing cute pop songs and such, Ms. Shankar is a multi-instrumentalist.
Ms. Shankar has just put out her fourth album for Angel Records. “Rise” is a blissfully mystical CD that gives a little more definition to colors, brings out subtle tones and adds a twinkle to otherwise dull edges. It definitely continues on a linear path that emanated from her father forty years ago this year at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Each song on “Rise” has a beautiful fluidity to it, all instrumental save for a bit of vocalizing on a few tracks. The first song, “Prayer in Passing” sets the pace of the album with mesmerizing sitar and tablas; “Mahadeva” is a re-working by Anoushka of an old un-released song of her father’s, a song she sang at home when she was a girl but my favorite of all the wonders on “Rise” is track #11, “Voice of the Moon”, a wigged-out trippy dervish jam that spirals up and up into a frenzy of ethereal fluidity.
Anoushka Shankar has astutely put together this crafty work of musical wonderment with the help of some friends and an equally talented crew of musicians, including Bikram Ghosh who does some percussion and backing vocals, Kevin Cooper on bass, Pedro Ricardo Mino on piano. Even her mother, Sukanya Shankar plays the tanpura on “Red Sun”; Anoushka herself alternates between playing the sitar and playing keyboards throughout the disc.
This is an exciting time to be alive, due not in the least to the renaissance of great music that is everywhere. Today it seems that there is an endless branching off and synergizing of styles, genres and cultures, as well that pervades the music that gets written and recorded now. I guess you can lay that at the foot of multiculturalism in much of the world and to the breadth of diversity here in the US. With an amalgamation of so many types of music, an intermingling of generations like never before, the music that is coming out today – especially in America (and I don’t say that to be chauvinistic) is a brilliant, eclectic mix of the cream of every style that has come before. Done right, one can combine influences and sounds that blow people’s minds; but, in the wrong hands one can also produce cacophonous caterwauling and so there’s a fine line that the craftiest of musicians must walk. (http://www.anoushkashankar.com) – KM.
Emily Wells: “Beautiful Sleepyhead and the Laughing Yaks”
Well, I know I reviewed this CD about six months ago, but hey – it’s so good that I thought I’d throw in a second mention for it. I have been hypnotizing myself with this blissful tunage over the fall and winter. It’s a CD full of acoustic ditties, all written by Ms. Wells, who is quite the songstress and a golden-voiced angel who has such a plaintive, pleading voice from which one can’t turn away.
Songs like “50-Year Love Affair”, “Supermarket” and “Oh God, I Miss You” have a pull that is irresistible. No matter how you try you can’t tear yourself away from these beautiful lullabies. So, if you haven’t yet bought your copy you should do it right now, by going to http://www.emilywellsmusic.com – this is where you have to go to buy the CD as it is totally DIY and the taint of corporate pimping is nowhere to be found (thank god!) – KM.
T.T. Tucker & Bum Rush Band [eponymous] & “Barely Alive in Baltimore” (DIY)
Could it possibly be that former dichotomies can come together and blend together the best qualities of each and taper off the bad? Or is most of American society stuck with a rigid separation of musical genres.
With the technology that’s available nowadays, anyone can theoretically record their own CDs, anyone with the musical aptitude and the money to buy the gear to be able to record a studio-quality CD in your bedroom or your garage.
T.T. Tucker & Bum Rush Band are 15+ year veterans of small, dark night clubs and little venues all over the US, their milieu being the stage more than the studio. But since the beginning of the new millennium they’ve ventured forth and with the help of Bird House Studios, recorded their first CD, an eponymous album with 12 cuts. This was put out with no label support, sold through the internet, on their website and through word-of-mouth.
Then, last year they came back with “Barely Alive in Baltimore”, a similarly good CD that shows improvement from the last one and with twice as much music on this one it gives a good sampling of what TT Tucker & Bum Rush Band are all about.
On the song “House of Mirrors” TT Tucker really impress with a bit of a change in direction, a song that is kind of introspective and analytical in some ways. From what I could gather by listening to the lyrics I sensed that it was a paean to Thom Hickling, a Bum Rush Bandmate who passed away in 2005 and to whom “Barely Alive in Baltimore” is dedicated. It has a totally different feel than the rest of it. It has a deep sense of melancholia and regret, but also gratitude for the good times and for the memories with which one is left. (http://www.tttucker.com) – KM.
Danny Sandock: “One for All Seasons” (self-released)
Back in mid-1980s people who loved good music had to fall back on the 60s and 70s for stuff to enjoy, for the most part anyway because of the “depression” that music was going through – it seemed like the new decade of the 1980s brought with it an end to musical creativity and heralded a new age of corporate stranglehold of micromanagement of the music industry, turning it into just another business, like they’d done to Hollywood decade earlier. So, it’s no surprise that we have this legacy of the hippie scene, musically.
Danny Sandock brings the same vein to his musical stylings, as evidenced on this DIY project, “One for All Seasons”. I don’t know if it’s irony, poetic justice or what, but it seems like the best stuff that’s out there, on CDs are all on independent labels or else released on their own, sold over the web. This is no exception; a mellow, acoustic CD that is inspired and inspiring – Sandock is a wiz on the guitar, the harmonica and the pen- he’s written some interesting songs here.
This is definitely the beginning years of a Golden Age for music, with the democratization of the recording and distribution processes. Of course, that makes it harder to filter out the bad and the unwarranted stuff, but if you’re a believer in “free markets”, like evolution you’ll see the quality stuff rise to the top and survive and the crap will not sell and therefore won’t stick around too long. I don’t mean to equate music with commodities, but in an abstract way that is it in a nutshell. Anyway, for now just take my word for it and check out Danny Sandock – I don’t think he’s got a website just now, but you can contact him through his email: dannysandock@hotmail.com – KM.
Maria Kizirian: “On the Rocks” (Savee Music)
So, what does one do with a good voice but no creativity or vision? I guess in American you get famous and all the lemmings will pay money to you and make you filthy, undeservedly rich; but hey, that’s the American Dream, right?
And so it goes with Maria Kizirian and her pretty little debut CD, “On the Rocks”. Ms. Kizirian has a good voice, it’s got range and there’s some substance to it. But, when you’re singing cheesy, vacuous pop fluff it doesn’t really matter how much talent you may have because you don’t have any credibility for one thing and also you won’t be around long enough for that to matter anyhow.
My advice would be to ditch your manager and take some poetry classes or something and come back when you have a slew of songs you wrote with care. Otherwise just forget it. (http://www.mariakizirian.com) – KM.
Rude Awakening: “Scaring the Paper People” (Nidus Music)
I’m not sure what to think about this CD. I mean, it’s got a fiery set of riffs and hip swinging, toe-tapping metal-studded jammin’ from here to Toledo. But at the same time I can’t help but think that this whole rock & roll thing is getting a bit too crowded – I mean how many bands can you have that all sound the same and look the same and act the same and vary very little between them? Not only that, but everything is so categorized and classified therefore everyone gets segregated along style lines and that makes them more and more dogmatic and so on and so on until you’re stuck in a vicious cycle.
Oh well, on their own, Rude Awakening are not so bad, I guess. They are in a metal box, to be sure, but at least one won’t get them mixed up with some other band. Actually, they do sort of remind me of the Bullet Boys, back from the 80s, remember those guys? They were in heavy rotation on MTV for a time in like ‘86 or ’87; well, RA have a similar swagger. It’s a party record you can’t resist dancing to and pumping your fist up and down to the hard downbeats. (http://www.nidusprod.com) – KM.