Reviews44

Declassified Music 2010

Oh, how misleading can records covers be! Thanks to its artwork “Casting Shadows” might easily be mistaken for some metal album, and ones who don’t pay attention to the names on the back will be in for a thrill of falling headlong into a pure fusion. Sure, guitarist Neil Citron served some time with QUIET RIOT – cue the funky sharp riffarama and melodious shredding of “BBA” – but it’s bass acrobatics courtesy of Percy Jones, ex-BRAND X, that gives the band’s vertiginous swirl a real depth.

In “Ballad Of Wealth” the trio waxes lyrical in power rock manner, yet the instrumental carnival sounds effortless, even when the flow is heavy and bluesy like in “Groove Snake” and “Sex Me Up” – note the CREAM influence in the tentative vocals on the latter – or psyched-up hazy as in “Let ‘Em Drown” that pushes forward Walter Garces’ percussive dexterity. So the title of the closing “1%ters”, filled with electronic effects to the rafters, is but a criminal underestimation of the skyscraping edifice the trio erected for all to admire.

****2/3

Metal Mind 2010

There’s a limit to any sophisication, and nearly four decades since their inception, SBB go revisiting their roots in simpler terms: while its predecessor, navigated traditional prog waters, “Blue Trance” finds a lot of room for fun. No, in the anthemic start of “Etiuda Trance” and grand finale of “Coda Trance” Jozef Skrzek gives his Moog and other ivory artillery great run, but the title track just rocks on the boogie riff. Some swagger!

Elsewhere, “Swieto Dioni” sees the master’s piano and wordless vocals steer his partners – guitarist Apostolis Anthimos and drummer Gabor Nemeth, both doing a tremendous job on this one – into the fusion field, even more breezy in “Musniecie Kalimby”. Yet even that piano can’t save the monotonous “Doliny Strumieni”, while “Red Joe” rides the equally crawling bluesy twang of Hendrixian breed quite nicely, and “Pamieci Czas” is a spirited, dramatic ballad. There’s no pretention this time, which is what make the record so alluring.

***4/5

Essendahr 2008

These days it takes good looks and an ability to open up the mouth for a girl to be a star. This young English lady has it all, but she possesses a nice pair of pipes and infectious melodies to become a real contender. She even has a hit , “Better Things To Do”, which marries sharp attack to a softness of touch, and adds the rights beats to the mix, as does the folk-based “Something From You”. But then there’s a soul that rears its silky head right from the harmonious opener, “Putcha Finger On The Record”, so here the disco crowd will find a lot of what to move their bodies to.

Yet Ms Owen keeps some surprises also for those who likes to have their kicks seated – like the brooding “Terrified” or the lyrical “Wrong All Along” with its piano hook and the strongest vocals on offer. Still, some tracks, such as “Don’t Wanna Stop”, groove for their own good, though, and even on the dancefloor they can fall flat on their faces. But the energy levels are in the red throughout, and the songs thar Katie co-wrote with her dad grow on you, which means when “OMG” leads off, you share the sentiment. An adorable start – and the YouTube videos make it even more impressive.

****1/3

MoonJune 2010

Old Rudyard would be ashamed, yet impressed, if he had the chance to listen to Dennis Rea’s music: rare examples of perfect marriage of such Western invention as free jazz, as far removed from its African roots as can be, and traditional Chinese music, an unusual concoction for non-Eastern ear. But with a common point in the tonal exploration, the twain can meet, indeed, and Rea, having spent quite a time in the Celestial Empire, is a perfect mediator. Or his is a perfect mediator, if you think plectrum that works miracle here, on the guitarist’s deepest album to date.

Its five long pieces organically shift from ethereal soundscapes to the fretwork blitz all the while building improvisational edifices on the Chinese and Taiwanese songs, both contemporary, as in the light Crawling King Snake dance of “Days By The Sea”, and ancient, like the transparent, funereal “Tangabata” where the woodwind sew the skies to the silky ways. But it’s a three-part title piece which leads there down the yellow pentatonic road, adorned with harmonies not intrinsic to the region’s musical tradition but getting close in its string flow to the Renaissance-era Gallic folk and Lennon’s “Oh My Love”, before going Far East via the sharp blues riff. Then, “A Hundred Birds Serenade The Phoenix” sees some larking over its medieval drift, and the closer, “Eight Trigrams”, welcomes techno and metal in its thundery, if soft, nucleus.

Let yourself be enveloped, too, and the views that Rea offers become panoramic as if you were there.

*****

Bodhi 2010

If there’s a tree on the cover of the Florida quartet’s debut album, it’s because they’re well-rooted in heavy funk, so those looking for Gautama will encounter quite a juggernaut here – and will have the chance to rock out. The snap comes with Brett Diaz’s bass rumble and soul vocals of the opener, “Minor Inconvenience”, the sublteties such as meaty organ and guitar grit giving it some gusty gusto, and the group keep up the swagger to the very end, the closer tellingly named “Normal Funk”. Ah yes, the bonus, the “La Casita de Burt” jam which captures the foursome flexing their flamenco muscle: they know when to loosen the tight jive and let it roll with a breezy sax courtesy of keyboard player Ross Goldman.

Tremulously proggy “Fridge” is fantastic as is the infectious sway of “Israel”, yet the band don’t pursue sweet flow so much, relying mostly on the catchiness of their spank, and it works to a great effect in the bluesy wah-wah vibe of “Mystery Girl” directed by Guillermo Gonzalez’s guitar. And if “Memphis” echoes the Stax attack in its brass-ringing swirl, “Truth Through Lies” feels like a cool attempt to play serious. Class oozing out of every pore here, BODHI spring to life with an impressive spurt.

****1/2

Metal Mind 2010

That’s the genre thing, to be playing by rules, and when it comes to the modern art rock those rules are strict – and restricting, restricted by the style classics. But now BELIEVE with their pedigree – the band descend from SATELLITE and COLLAGE, important players on the Polish progressive scene – shake off such shackles and let a tune rule the game.

The melody that leads into the album and its title track is mesmerising, and there’s a lot emotions which the group’s previous effort lacked, a violin dancing around Przemas Zawadzki’s bass vein here and there to create a nice folky fabric in “Lay Down Forever” and, together with a piano, dramatic rise in “New Hands”. More so, this time Mirek Gil generously employs acoustic guitars that turn “So Well” into a magic, earthy yet celestial, song, while “Cut Me Paste Me” rages for a change. And then, the epic, the sitar-spiced “Poor King Of Sun”, flowing Eastern way: its refrain of “I’m not afraid” rings loud and true casting the echo across all of the record. They finally made it.

****1/4

Leap Dog Music 2010

John Taglieri thinks big, as suggested by his 2009’s project, "Lives Pt. 1", which came as a disc and a book its music soundtracked. But while those attracted to it wait for a sequel, the artist himself decided to let his creative hair down and have some fun: cue TAG the band. Their hard-egded Americana unfurls in catchy way from the opening harmonic rumble of “After Farewell” and keeps waving until the last cut, the moody “Drive”, gets the matter back on the road.

Taglieri and his constant co-writer, guitarist Brad Whitley, will have BON JOVI fans occupied, all the while digging deeper and funkier, with an adorable swagger to “Make A Mistake With Me”, the blissful chug to “Ghost” and a vaudevillian air about “Breathe”. But “With You I Want To Be” is so generic a ballad, it’s impossbile not to cringe. Some of it comes directly from “Lives” but works good outside of its context, and the swirl of “Ferris Wheel” deserves to be revisited anyway. Good moments aplenty, the all-original recording must be a hit.

****

Angel Air 2010

Some say it’s boogie but what’s boogie if not the blues? FOGHAT know that all too well, yet this album’s not about proving the point – it’s rather ramming it home with adult panache of those who don’t show off but do their tasty best. That’s why here’s reading from the Muddy and Elmore songbooks and nodding to the neighbor band in the “F” entry, FLEETWOOD MAC, in such staples as “Rollin’ & Tumblin'” – stretched to the delicious 8 minutes and spliced to “You Need Love” – or “Shake Your Money Maker”. Still, when it comes to statements from the veterans, “Born For The Road” takes no prisoners in its tight guitar rumble by Bryan Bassett and Charlie Huhn whose voice inscreasingly shifts to the cottonfields in the last years.

As for that genre associated with FOGHAT, guest Colin Earl’s piano gives it a shot throughout, coming forward for “495 Boogie” and addding backstage drama to Otis Rush’s “So Many Roads, So Many Trains” and swagger everywhere else. The railway theme is explored in style here, the title track choogling to the bluesy heaven at full heavy steam, with kudos to the leader Roger Earl‘s fantastic drumming. Two cuts see Eddie Kirkland singing and splitting his licks in the white fifty-sixty-something youngsters’ company, so their train sees no holds barred in its way into the velvet blues night. Get stoked and hop a ride!

****4/5

ItsAboutMusic.com 2010

When this scribe asked Mark Clarke about the possibility of a solo album, the veteran was sure there would be one some day: “if I could get all of the people I’ve worked with over the years to play on one track each, I could have quite an amazing CD”. Four years on, Clarke delivers a record which sums up four decades of his journey – with no heavy guest on it. Perhaps, the singing bassist has realized that the presence of his friends from COLOSSEUM, URIAH HEEP, MOUNTAIN and the like – the list is long – might shift the focus away from him, while the spotlight’s been awaiting for ages. Still, they’re all here, as influences, with only guitarist/keyboardist Ray DeTone and some drummers for a real company. Not the best decision commerce-wise yet bold and integrity-minded.

It’s an album with a fine vibe which takes in all the styles Mark’s experienced in, be it streamline prog rock of “The Falling”, where time signatures shift like a rainbow, or speedy blues of the title track, but there’s an effortlessness of a real master on display. It’s there from the infectious opener “One Of These Days”, that lays out Clarke’s agenda and shows his matured vocals, on to a short acoustic “A Little Something” that underlines this heady mix of life-affirming numbers, and in the country-tinged “Then Tomorrow Comes”. Strangely, the bass is not pushed to the fore for the most part – the emphasis is on the music rather than playing – but hard rock aficionados will have a field day with riff-laden and harmonies-filled “A Cowboy Song”.

Sometimes, like in the two-part “Madeleine” with its orchestral sway, the sound has an ’80s feel to it: but it’s the transparency that’s hard not to like, and ballads such as the tremulous, tension-building “Heaven And Hell” touch a heart in all their simplicity. A labor of love that catches and grows on you, the album was worth the wait.

****2/3

Garone Music 2010

Following his tendency of releasing an album every five years, Tony Garone goes from the space vastness of "Big Star Way" to the oceanic enormity of “Ahab” which, as one may guess, is based on “Moby Dick”. Yet it’s not a musical retelling of the familiar story but a personal interpretation of what lies below the literal surface – with a lighter touch than before: this time prog turns to clever pop, and the listener is gently hooked on the soft, layered vocals of the opener, “Ismael And The Sea”, and is let free only when the journey ends, after the art rock spiritual swell in the title track. Quite like it was with one Captain and a certain whale.

There’s some fusion and some world music in this buzzy mix, and one can do madful limbo to the “Queequeg” jive with its QUEENish chorus before delicately rocking to “The Pequod” that shows what a cracking band Garone leads now, his son Anthony an economic yet on-the-money guitarist. Still, the theatrical slant of “The Mission” falls out of the stylistic context, while the vaudeville that is “Confrontation And Destiny” fares fine, and the hymn “Candles Of The Ocean” nicely follows the Arabic ring of “Fedallah”. Mostly enjoyable and always interesting, the album reveals its strata little by little – the more exciting is the way. Tony Garone engaged it again.

***2/3

Absolute Probability 2010

With every new record, multi-instrumentalist Ethan Matthews’ band sound more and more translucent, but the waves of "The Tide Decides" brought ashore something more celestial this time. The whale hymns of “Out Of The Blue” lift up the recital of “Sh’ma Israel” from the ebbing depth where a harp crystal strum meets shadows of a gigantic guitar riff that add up to an abstract, otherwordly anthem, but “Beyond The Horizon” welcomes both ’80s romanticism and post-prog architecture in its slowly buzzing core.

“The Mirror In The Window” sets such anxiety into a tranquil floating, and then there’s four parts of “Archaeous Of Water” where bliss and serenity get rippled and disturbed for the lull to become deliciously nuclear, the helium-filled voices the nice, humorous distraction from the choral solemn flow that sometimes breaks into the world music beats – or, in case of “Echoes Of Eras”, the new-agey dance. Which means, in their best work to the date ECHO US have a lot for everyone looking for a peace of mind and mind of peace.

***1/3

Sound Resources 2010

With “progressive” meaning “moving forward”, one of the greatest American art rock bands of last decades resolutely jumps back in time to deliver “If”, an album that rids them of the first part of the “neo-prog” term. From the opening epic, “Beyond, Within”, GLASS HAMMER brew an unashamedly classic mix of intricate instrumentarium, and in Jon Davison the ensemble found their own Jon Anderson. Fully aware of YES comparisons, they paint quite ambitious picture in quite an unambitious manner, the results as retro as it gets.

But melodies steal the focus from complex solos courtesy, first of all, of keyboard maestro Steve Babb, and romantic mood prevails here, making “At Last We Are” anthemic and silky at the same time and leaving “Grace The Skies” a lot of space to breathe. Elsewhere, “If The Stars” combines a punchy groove with a folk sensibility, yet all these layers reveal themselves with repeated spins which are rewarding. So, even though the 24-minute “If The Sun” may outstay its welcome, it’s rather “when” than “if” when it comes to getting back to this record.

****

Troubadour 2009

Mostly known as a skin-hitter in the blues-wailing legends of Brit rock, Jim McCarty is quite underestimated as a composer, even though such his co-creation as “Still I’m Sad” has been recorded by so different artists as RAINBOW and BONEY M. Yet it was post-YARDBIRDS that his writing talent bloomed in full, in RENAISSANCE and then ILLUSION, and it’s this rich vein that McCarty mines to the day, which means it’s more “Madonna Blue” than “The Nazz Are Blue” and all the better for it. The understated beauty brings no less buzz to the heart, with Jim handling not only drums but also vocals and acoustic guitar, and even the flute-entwined riffs of the opener “The Outsider”come so delicate that you’re slide into the album’s soft core in an instant to get out with a blissful “Shangri-La” with a sad, and somehow happy, smile.

It’s all ballads but there’s no feel of guilty pleasure, though, and “For Eloise” eschews the Beethoven hint the lesser artists would go for and opts for a short boogie solo, while the sligtly upbeat “Sitting On The Top Of Time” nods towards the old blues only in its title, swapping “the world” for “time” in a pleasant pop manner. Mostly light, with a folk tincture, sometimes the music tends to be velvety anthemic like in the piano-led “Living From The Inside Out” featuring Steve Hackett‘s guitar waterfall, but then, the most bittersweet tune on offer, the instrumental “Near End Of May”, sees its author leave the room for his colleagues to have a ride. Humble, if impressive… as is all this album.

****4/5

My Records 2010

Having recently reopened their vault, the Swedes who gloriously, though sans much fame, mined the prog rock scene in the ’70s found it too much of Pandora’s box to close without consequences. But it was worth it as this, their first album in 30 years, suggests. It’s like they never left, with the opener “Life Is Just Another Day” and its “when we were young” leitmotif sending a warm, Indian summer nostalgie and a light sadness in the flute and sax swirl. Young singer and guitarist – two original members passed away since the band’s demise – give the arrangements a slighly modern edge, yet essentially it’s a classic on par with, or even better than, the ensemble’s old recordings.

Yet while back then, it was art rock throughout, and the instrumental “Schon fur Schasen” still should see the genre fans in the BREEZE pen, now “Until Finished” brings pop sensibility to the table, “Going Down To Africa” goes bluegrass. Likewise, whereas the guitar work of “Massosen” hits the cosmic heights, “Love My Baby” kick sharp and humorous rock ‘n’ roll riffage into the mix. At the same time, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Madness” comes on thick and threatening in the TULL vein – and that’s not about the fantastic reeds blowing – and “Mombasa” has a real Kenyan ring to it, with a shot of humor again, so you’ll be muttering “please, get on the bus” for long after the album stops on the refrain’s reprise. Time to remember that autumn is a spring mirrored.

****3/4

Greedy Songbird 2009

To be produced by the guys who worked with Tina Turner and Anastacia means Ms Galante’s no slouch when it comes to go flaming. Blame the temper and the love to music on her Sicilian roots, but it’s the combustible combination that’s hard not to fall for from the bass-heavy swagger of the title cut remindful of the two aforementioned lionesses. Then, bite into the infectious groove of “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination”. The claws are out, the purr is dangerous, yet the risk is so compelling you don’t walk away and just get trapped in the fonk of it all, especially when the vocals-and-guitars harmonies of the stomper “Go On Rain On Me” pull you in.

The blues of “No Fool No More” delivers the best female desperation since Sam Brown’s “Stop”, and the album might sound as relevant in the ’70s as it does now, because the pop and rock strains are mixed here impressively, with not a clanker in sight. There’s even some well-learnt lessons from the metallers, too, so much so David Coverdale would have been proud to delve into the seductive riffage of “High Road Easy”, while “Grown Man Cry” rages on a Hammond roll with the humorous feistiness that catches your ear and doesn’t let go, only let loose. That’s the way to go up in flames!

*****

Angel Air 2010

The heroic title might be too generic to attract new fans but the music on this, the British band’s eleventh, album gives the classic hard rock sound a modern edge. And it’s not Chris Tsangarides with his immaculate producer’s skills that made the dozen songs so captivating but their energy, melodies and subject matter that is dignity. So here’s a concept for you. You can hear a brave heart beat between memorable riffs be it one of a ghostwriter finding his face in the nervous same-titled track; Harry Farr, an ill soldier executed for cowardice, in the stormy wave of a namesake cut; or the nameless warrior of the folk-tinged tension-builder of a ballad that is “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” accusing the White House of many injustices.

It’s hardly a coincidence that “Move A Mountain” sets the pace with electric urgency a la “Who Are You”, Del Bromham guitar making its inner rock ‘n’ roll threatening and Stuart Uren’s bass swinging wild to make the listener take a look in the mirror. Yet there’s enough good-time rockin’: in the panache of “Sing (A Song)”, in the funky strut of “Double Six”, with Karl Randall’s percussion working miracles for its ripped rhythm, and in “Rainy Day Blues” which is a Santana-influenced dance rather than blues. Blues fills “You”, the big closer of STRAY’s arguably best album of their later years. Valhalla, the fallen heroes’ heaven, isn’t for them just yet.

*****

Sky-Rocket 2010

Even the 2009 reissue of THE VIOLET HOUR’s sole album couldn’t prepare listener for what the band’s erstwhile vocalist had in store for her first solo album proper. While its cover may suggest something light-hearted – a post-teenage fairy Katy Perry – Brendel’s a pearl in her own right now, emotions harboring to burst out via the singer’s husky voice with, still, a lot of light and heart.

Well, if you want the charts-bound pop reign o’er you, delve into the perky vaudeville of “What Have I Done” or the swirl of “I’m Not Old I’m Experienced” which can be aimed at those starlets on TV as well as at the focus of the artist’s affection, but the title track sees Doris on a murky slide, piano rolling the soul to rip it in pieces but rather unfuring it on an orchestral breeze. Then the majestic swell in “Work In Progress” builds the drift into a quasi-operatic edifice haunted by the ghosts of Hendrix and May, yet to get there it takes “What Are You Saying”, a flute-woven roller-coaster that righteously rages against the trend-riders between the razor-sharp guitars.

The axes of Dave Beeson, Brendel’s partner-in-crime in the DB project, buzz hard in “Be My Guitar” but it’s a different, though also heavy, drama that fills “You’re Almost Perfect” where the “I wanna be Juliet or Helen of Troy” sentiment rings true for any female listener and the artist herself who can don any mask she wants and still remain the adorable Doris. She’s a girl next door in the acoustic guitar and organ-steamed funk of “My Town”, a romantic urban lass a la Sandy Denny in “Latest Fantasy” and a swaggering queen of song elsewhere, yet she’s an adventurer throughout and it’s great to be in the unknown as to where she’ll take you in an instant. Easily the album of the year!

*****+

Banksville 2010

The titular American organization had a good agenda and a good-spirited means to achieve their goals, with no harm to anyone, which today can seem strange – or be a nice subject matter for a sonic collage by one Italian collective. It’s a bit like music theater, and if you go for the tunefulness of the words, there’s a disc in Italian, but to be close to the American context stick to the second one, voiced in English and mixed slightly different but equally impressive.

A cinematic feel of the outcome is bolstered by faux radio transmissions, phone calls and narrations giving a background to the bopping musical picture – aural newspaper if you like, with Sandro Marinoni floating sax and ethereal voices led by the many-faced Boris Savoldelli who runs from the idiosyncratic screamadelica to the soothing bluesy wail in “Food a la Blue” that’s elevated by Enrico Bricco’s guitar in “Cuban’s Capitalist Blues”. That’s as far as the overdubs go, for all other sounds have been recorded over the course of a single studio foray. It’s a beautiful collage which is as likable as it is sophisticated on every level, be it the Eastern creepy crawl of “Pellicole Rombojdali”, the elegiac “Mary Quant Regina di Stoffa” or the breezy-to-intense fusion of “Goodbye Megabyte”.

Not for the faint-hearted, yet if you’ve worn out your copy of “The Wall”, here’s where to make your tracks to.

***4/5

Angel Air 2010

Just don’t look at the cover because what may seem like a cheap copy of THE ANTS could have been up there with MOTLEY CRUE and RATT if they threw their lot in sunny California rather than rainy England. TARAZARA scooped media attention and some radio play, had IRON MAIDEN’s Dennis Stratton produce their early sessions and Ritchie Blackmore attend their show but a record deal slipped through the ensemble’s hands, so in 1985 after a year of trying the group broke up. Now, their legacy is released for the first time – still hot: try the kick of “Master Of The Deadly Kiss”.

The glitter of the title track and “Fantasy” may betray the music’s era, yet the delivery feels rough enough – especially in bonus live versions – to create a nice balance topped with a contagious chorus harmonies, and while “Wake Up!” charges full-steam the cheesy way, “Shout It Out” has everything that was great about the ’80s hard rock. Jeff Williams’ guitar reigns supreme both in riffs and solos, and Danielz’s voice shoots into the heart of a teenage melodrama making “All Too Late” one of those big ballads shaped minimalistic and hung on piano that sound adorably familiar, and rendering “Send Me Your Love Tonight” a bubbly wine of sounds. A handful of demos, first of all finely sleazy “17”, show what TARAZARA were capable of and how big they could have grown.

And why Danielz sings with T.REXTASY instead of doing his own thing now is a mystery or even a crime.

***2/3

Hyperspace 2010

After 20 years in the limbo, the NYC quintet are back and finally ready to introduce themselves to the world not only from the stage but on plastic, too. Having digged his influences on the the last LIZARDS album, bassist Randy Pratt delved into his joint past with singing actor Wild Bill Olland, and, together with their pals, sound most invigorated from the statement of intent in “Days Of The Knights” to the marketing advices of “Money Talks”. At 53 minutes their debut album feels a bit long, but with such long gestation the desire to spalsh the belches and squelches out is understandable.

There are several powerful blues cuts like slow “Passing Parade”, deceptively serious to the core, and the velvet ballad “Don’t Ask Why”, yet most of the songs – chants, calls-and-responses, raps et al – sound pretty blackly humorous, including the countrified “Movin’ On Blues”. The guitars of Paul Latimer and Reid Trevaskis weave around the tight-but-loose groove which sometimes looks familiar, what with the mangled “Superstition” riff as an axis for the “Hound Dog” sludge. Live, it should be incendiary; here, if the tracks were less sprawling, the album would have been atomic. But it being so tasty, the complaining must be switched off.

****