COUNTRY-ROCK: ***The Jayhawks -- Smile (Columbia Records) released 2000
This country-rock/roots rock band has changed its sound since Mark Olson left the band a few years ago. I know I am in the minority of Jayhawks fans when I say this change is for the better. The band sports a cleaner, more produced sound than their previous albums offered, and the new lead singer, Olson’s co-founder Gary Louris, has a more pleasing voice than his predecessor. The band now leans toward a slick British Invasion style sound, adding a few modern rock touches along the way. The rockers rock harder, the ballads are sweeter, and are reminiscent of the three-part harmonies used by the World’s foremost British Invasion band, The Beatles. Their old fans may consider this a more commercial venture, and that assertion is justified, but a more commercial sound wears well on this group. A few of the earlier influences remain but they take a back seat to Louris’s new sound. The highlight is “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” a song you will surely know if you are a faithful listener to college radio. Other standout tracks include “Somewhere In Ohio,” (In My) Wildest Dreams,” and the title track. This is easily the best album by a standout band.
COUNTRY: ***Jimmie Dale Gilmore -- One Endless Night(Epic Records) released 2000
Let's start out by saying that alternative country music artist Jimmie Dale Gilmore is an acquired taste. To put it mildly, he has an odd voice, which can be off-putting to a lot of people. But he always sings in tune which is more than can be said about many of his contemporaries. One critic wrote that Gilmore's voice is not appealing enough to listen to him do an album of covers. I disagree. (He wrote only two of the thirteen songs on this disc.)
Gilmore, who is devoted to his beloved Texas, performs these songs by well known rock and country composers in a style that compensates for his voice. He performs with a full electric band, playing light rock or country arrangements and brings an appealing originality to the songs. If Gilmore ever wanted to be a rock'n roller rather than a country singer he would have done it well.
Gilmore covers songs by singer-songwriters such as Jesse Winchester, John Hiatt and Walter Hyatt. There is a cover of Jerry Garcia's Grateful Dead tune "Ripple" that for my money outshines the original. Perhaps the weirdest track is a cover of "Mack The Knife" with a sparse arrangement slowed down to the point where it becomes a totally different song from the Bobby Darin hit version of 1959.
Further elaboration will not make you fully appreciate this album or Gilmore's singing. Everyone should listen to this disc at least once. I think it is a great piece of work but I fully understand if his voice will make you want to take a pass on a second listen.
ROCK: ****The Brian Setzer Orchestra -- Vavoom! (Interscope Records) released 2000
On this, Brian Setzer's fourth orchestra release, the former leader of The Stray Cats really takes you back in time, to pre-American involvement in World War Two, performing Glenn Miller's "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and "In The Mood," both with his trademark huge horn band complimenting his furious 1950's rock'n roll guitar. This release is better than his three previous rock big band works because of the way he reinvents these classics. Adding touches of electronics, hip-hop, and lyrics to songs that were originally instrumental hits, Setzer creates almost wholly original works. In particular, "Pennsylvania 6-5000" catches fire immediaately, opening the disc with the best thirty second opening of an album I've heard in years. Setzer keeps the fire burning in a way that would have sent Glenn Miller running for cover. Duke Ellington's "Caravan" is also given a new rock treatment. The only misfire is his version of "Mack The Knife." While there really isn't anything wrong with it the arrangement is way too close to Bobby Darin's famous version for Setzer to have bothered. If you want to hear a more intersting version of the same song see the above review.
Setzer's vocals, as usual, are perfect for his greaser big band style. He really could have been a lounge singer if he wanted to pursue that road.
If you like big horn bands, jazz, jump blues, and early 50s rock'n roll you should sample all of The Brian Setzer Orchestra CDs.
RHYTHM & BLUES: **** Shelby Lynne -- I Am Shelby Lynne (Island Records) released 2000
This is Shelby Lynne's fifth album release, and the first to break away from country music. Anyone who listens to it and is unfamiliar with her earlier work would have no idea she is a country star. This CD has gained her respect with critics and many music fans who do not pay attention to the Nashville scene. The reason for this is simple. I Am Shelby Lynne is a blue-eyed rhythm and blues album with a dash of real blues thrown in for good measure. The music is Dusty Springfield sprinkled with Bonnie Raitt.
Lynne's vocals are what makes all of these self-penned tunes special. Her voice suits this material perfectly. She can coo like a kitten on "Black Light Blue" or wail like a blues queen on "Life Is Bad." The latter comes complete with a very bluesy slide guitar and vocal style that indicates she may have listened to early Raitt. "Your Lies," which opens the album, sounds just like a good 1960s Top 40 song by the late Springfield. If released as a single back then it most certainly would have been a hit.
"Gotta Get Back," "Thought It Would Be Easier" and "Leavin," are all enjoyable low key R&B songs. The Springfield influence is prevalent on all. The closest Lynne gets to her country roots is on "Where I'm From," her tribute to her home state of Alabama, but even that tune exhibits enough blues touches so as not to be considered a true country song.
If you like your female vocalists to sing with feeling but not sound like one of the many melodramatic divas that have gained notoriety over the last decade, I Am Shelby Lynne is for you.
CELTIC ROCK: ****Black 47 -- Trouble In The Land (Island Records) released 2000
Black 47 (based in New York City and named after the blackest year of the Irish potato famine) began recording in 1992, but I never had the opportunity to hear them until 2000, and then only because I sampled this CD at a listening booth at a local record store. Have they ever been played on radio anywhere? Never to my knowledge, but after searching on the web I discovered they have quite a following, especially in their native New York.
This may be the most original CD by anyone in many years. They combine the usual rock line-up of electric guitar, bass, and drums with saxophones, trombones, and a whole host of Irish folk instruments (including those great uilleann pipes). Singer Larry Kirwan surrounds himself with top-notch musicians who play their hearts out. You are never bored by the band's unique musicianship and arrangements, Kirwan's imaginative lyrics, and their love of what they do. Their sound can be described as raw Celtic rock with a reggae beat. (I am not kidding).
Since Kirwan is also a playwright, you should expect something different lyrically and that is exactly what you find. He composes lyrics that tell stories about the Irish political experience on "Touched By Fire," a song about the band's own stage performances on "Those Saints," and a song about the martyrdom of an Irish-American he obviously idolizes on "Bobby Kennedy." There is an anti-hate group message in the title track, and a story about a girl the narrator was attracted to while making Irish folk instruments in "Bodhrans on the Brain." There are references to James Joyce, Irish political leaders Bobby Sands and James Connolly, and John Lennon and the Beatles.
One can not totally describe the sound of Trouble In The Land or the personality of this band. You must listen to fully understand. Kirwan's left-wing view of everything should not offend those of a more conservative nature. He is not trying to be a revolutionary. All he wants is justice as he sees it.
ROCK: ***Kathleen Edwards -- Failer (Rounder/Zoe Records) released 2003
The press often drops the name of Lucinda Williams as a comparison when discussing Failer, the first release from Canadian Kathleen Edwards who is already a darling of the critics. Edwards possesses a similar songwriting style but has a smoother and softer voice than Williams.
In concert Edwards tries too hard to come across as one tough cookie, but she isn't all that convincing because she is too chatty and friendly onstage, especially when compared to Williams' more permanently dour demeanor. Whether you view Edwards as a Williams clone or not, you must admit she has put together a fine debut CD.
Edwards sings softly and very melodically on one of the album's standout tracks, "Hockey Skates," as well as on the closer, "Sweet Little Duck." She rocks out on the disc's opening track, the radio-friendly "Six O'Clock News," and even harder on "12 Bellevue" and "Maria."
Since Edwards postures herself as a rock 'n' roller rather than a singer-songwriter, her band is an important part of the music. The guitar-oriented supporting ensemble enhances the music, elevating it above the standard "girl with a guitar" fare. Occasionally Edward's voice is buried a little too deep in the mix but this only adds to the rock personality of the CD.
It is Edwards' songwriting that is getting noticed more than her band. Her very literate songs reveal an awareness of the outside world that make her appear much older than her 23 years. "Six O'Clock News" is about a man whose life falls apart "when the farm went down." His pregnant wife laments that he has taken hostages with a gun and has made the evening news. With lines like "They cleared the street and they closed the schools," you get the picture. To show her troubled man she still loves him she sings, "Gonna have your baby this coming June. We could get a little place down by Gilmore Park. You could do a little time and save my broken heart." The very happy-sounding and bouncy melody and arrangement are in stark contrast of the sad storyline.
On the acoustic ballad "Hockey Skates," Edwards sings about the end of a romance that her lover is apparently blaming her for with the line "I am tired of playing defense. I don't even have hockey skates" and "Do you think your boys club will crumble just because of a loud-mouthed girl?"
"Westby" appears to be about an affair with a much older man. "And if you weren't so old I'd probably keep you. If you weren't so old I'd tell my friends. But I don't think your wife would like my friends." Again, this is a story about being in love with the wrong person.
Edwards has been around the block more than most women her age. There are numerous references to drugs and booze, and in "National Steel" she unnecessarily lets loose with the English language's ultimate four-letter obscenity, an unfortunate occurrence that is turning up far too often in lyrics these days. Does she do this just to prove she is a tough broad? If so, it doesn't work. The subject matter of her songs continually contradicts her tough-edged exterior. On Failer, Edwards sounds as if she wants to be grown up and settle down with a nice man, but her basic nature won't allow that to happen. Failer has both the toughness and femininity so many current women rockers seem to possess.
ROCK: ****Robert Lamm -- Subtlety & Passion (released 2003)
For the uninitiated, or for those of you who just plain forgot who he is, Robert Lamm is the original keyboardist and one of the three lead singers of the ancient rock band with horns, Chicago. It was the great combination of the underrated guitar prowess of the late Terry Kath, James Pankow’s horn section, and Lamm’s songs that brought Chicago to the forefront of American rock music in 1969. While Lamm’s influence on the band’s music waned over the decades as it succumbed to Peter Cetera’s ballads and trendy 1980s synthesizers, he and the horn section have remained loyal members of the group to this day.
Lamm has always been the band’s best and most eclectic composer. He is responsible for such Chicago gems as “Beginnings,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “Saturday In The Park,” “Dialogue,” Questions 67 and 68,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and many more.
While the current version of Chicago still has a loyal fan base and they play to sellout audiences in many venues they have not recorded and released an album of original music in more than a decade. The reasons for this long drought generate wild speculation among the devoted but the reasons are truly unknown. Lamm has voiced his frustration with Chicago’s lack of newly recorded music but he has used the band’s creative hiatus to record his own “Chicago” album. While his past solo albums have tried to steer clear of his group’s signature sound Lamm has gone to great lengths to sound as much like Chicago as he possibly can on his recent release Subtlety & Passion.
There are horns on ten of the eleven tracks. If you appreciate the sound of mid 70s Chicago LPs like the jazz oriented Chicago VII this disc will come as a welcome surprise. All but one of Chicago’s present lineup play on S&P. Trumpeter Lee Loughnane is everywhere and turns in some of his best work ever. “Intensity” even includes a sample of an old Terry Kath guitar solo that was never used prior to now. Current Chicago drummer Tris Imboden and bassist Jason Scheff assist Lamm on every track.
While Lamm has almost never been a true avant-garde or alternative composer he has always written very creative pop music with an eclectic edge that elevates his songs into a realm of their own. Most of S&P is in the smooth jazz or light R&B vein but there are a few exceptions. “Intensity” is an appropriately named tune. Lamm’s commentaries on American life are still intact after all these years as “Gimme Gimme” so accurately proves. The song is about the entertainment business and the self-congratulatory awards they bestow upon themselves through an endless stream of prime time television programs shown every year. It may be Lamm’s way of thumbing his nose at the perennial snub given Chicago by Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Shame. “It’s Always Something” co-written with drummer Imboden is the only hornless tune but even that succeeds in a way most hornless Chicago songs never have because of the edge Lamm brings to the table. Imboden’s harmonica adds a nice touch. “For you, Kate” is about Lamm's love for his daughter and it succeeds without being sappy. "Another Sunday" could be "Wake Up Sunshine" Part Two. There is much, much more.
Thank you Mr. Lamm for one of the best CDs of 2003.
ROCK: ***The Thrills -- So Much For The City (released 2003)
Can five Irishmen sound like they were born and raised in sunny Southern California? The Thrills emphatically answer that question with a resounding "yes!" These young natives from the Emerald Isle are so obsessed with California they relocated to the Golden State and are now catching waves and making a big splash all over the USA. Their Beach Boys style harmonies and ultra-pleasant California and British invasion pop sounds can veer off into slight forays with West Coast country-rock complete with steel guitar and harmonica. The band's love of their adopted home shows through in such song titles as "Big Sur," the CD's best melody and arrangement, "Santa Cruz," and "Don't Steal Our Sun." The Thrills love what they play and it shows. Their melodic, light and airy sound is truly a joy to hear.
This is a fantastic album as long as you don't listen below the surface. Lead singer, Conor Deasey, has a weak but pleasant voice, and often sounds like he doesn't have the stamina to perform, but the band's arrangements manage to succesfully hide Deasy's vocal limitations so much that you barely notice.
The Thrills also need a lyricist. The songs are very sparse lyrically, most only have few lines and the words they do write frequently make no sense. On "Santa Cruz" the song is filled up by repeating the song's title twenty-seven times. Don't look for the intelligent musings of other Californians such as Jackson Browne or the self-reflecting lyrics of "Pet Sounds." You just won't find The Thrills with much to say on So Much For The City.
If The Thrills ever learn to write songs like they can play, arrange and harmonize we will be looking at something truly special.
ROCK: ***Chris Hyland -- And Where Have You Been? (ipop Records) released 2004
Chris Hyland of Ocean City, New Jersey has released a six song debut EP, And Where Have You Been? that is both lyrically intelligent and introspective. Hyland, who wrote everything on the disc, sings two songs about his younger days at the shore, times that were obviously a big part of his life. Both songs are personal enough to make listeners feel like they are snooping in his diary. “Burn It Down” and “Mother’s til Midnight” talk about those experiences but each takes a completely different point of view. On “Burn It Down” the dark side of Hyland’s experiences are reflected ominously with lines like “you don’t like him so do him in/notify his next of kin/burn, burn, burn it down” and “a jury of your peers sentenced you/across the street for beers.” On “Mothers” he sings “Tell your Mother where you been boys/same place as last night/ Mother’s til Midnight.”
“Ameline” takes on the story of a mean girl going to New Orleans with her piercing and tattoo and ready to raise hell. “Give Us Your Money” rightly scathes TV evangelists.
His singing voice is slightly raspy with just a hint of John Mayer. Musically, the CD is eclectically arranged and diverse and is well produced. “Money” features a horn section, while some unusual percussion instruments such as gogo bells and timbales are featured elsewhere. The tracks are performed with a full band that adds color to the usually sterile “guy with a guitar” singer-songwriter style songs. Hyland plays lead and rhythm guitars and even some slide on “Burn It Down,” an instrument we don’t hear enough of since the great George Harrison passed away. The melodies lean toward sameness but the eclectic and full arrangements compensate for this adequately.
This is a nice debut from a guy that has potential to be even better. You can listen to sound clips and buy his CD on his website .
ROCK: **** Black 47 -- New York Town (Gadfly Records) released February 10, 2004
What can I say about Black 47 except that they have done it again. The Irish rockers from New York City have released New York Town, another fabulous CD, this one dedicated to bandleader Larry Kirwan's adopted hometown. The twelve songs Kirwan composed form a loosely connected concept album: every one is set in the Big Apple. Kirwan has called New York Town his "love letter" to America's largest city. Whether the song concerns romantic relationships, the immigrant experience, people on the dark side of urban life, or the awful events of September 11th that appear to have inspired him, Kirwan writes some of the greatest story songs in rock music. As always he writes with both humor and sadness and each song makes you feel the emotion he wants to convey.
In a lot of a ways this CD is typical Black 47 but the concept and an unusual abundance of star-studded musical guests help set this one apart. Roseanne Cash, who is wonderful here, sings lead with Kirwan on "Fiona's Song," a story about a lonely young Irish woman who seeks solace in the bars of Queens, and David Johansen duets with him on the upbeat "Staten Island Baby." Suzzy Roche also appears on two tracks. Fiddler Eileeen Ivers & blues lady Christine Ohlman also add to the musical textures offered here. The guest vocalists, especially Cash, color the music in a way their prior CDs have not, so while this disc may have more universal appeal than its predecessors you should not use New York Town as a gauge to determine if you love Black 47. Those already fans of the band will enjoy this album immensely.
Interesting songs are everywhere. The title track finds Kirwan delving into the political side of the attacks on New York. "Livin' in America - 11 Years On" has the identical melody and an almost identical arrangement of the same song from the band's debut CD but a whole new set of lyrics updates the lives of the feuding couple we were originally introduced to in 1993. "Fatima," is another story regarding the problems of immigrants, but this time we hear the tale of a Muslim father not coming to terms with his daughter's Christian boyfriend while adjusting to life in our world.
The highlight is "Orphans Of The Storm," a song written as a sequel to Kirwan's "American Wake," a completely different song that appeared on Black 47's 1994 CD Home Of The Brave. In "Wake," Sean, a young Irishman, leaves his native land for America. The sequel finds Sean living in New York and working at The World Trade Center on September 11th.
New York Town is another Black 47 masterwork.
