Uptown Magazine Online - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

January 28, 2010


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2010-01-28

DOLLY PARTON

Live From London

(Dolly Records)

B-

Website: http://dollypartonmusic.net

Do you love Dolly Parton? Do you get right into her backwoods Barbie shtick and think she is just as cute as a dimple on a piglet's tail? Well, that's one way to view this savvy, singin' business mogul. This two-disc set proves Ms. Parton is a crowd-pleasin' gal who knows how to pace a concert by offering enough old hits to satisfy diehard fans while doling out newer, less, er, flagrant songs for anyone else that wants to come along for that ride. Parton sounds in great vocal form but, when watching the DVD, I had the distinct feeling she was lip-synching. Includes Jolene, Here You Come Again, I Will Always Love You, 9 to 5 and The Grass is Blue.
— Jeff Monk

GEOFFREY GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU

Gurrumul

(Justin Time)

C+

Website: http://www.gurrumul.com

Gurrumul is an Australian, left-handed guitar slinger of Aboriginal decent who was born blind. His debut is performed mostly in Yolngu, an indigenous language, although parts of Gurrumul History (I Was Born Blind) and Baywara are sung in English (the liner notes feature English translations). Yolngu is a gentle, pleasant-sounding language and Gurrumul's soulful tenor vocals are high and clear. His back-up band is stripped-down and simple. Gurrumul writes mostly about Aboriginal mythology, family and nature. But every song - whether the lyrics are sad or not - is slow and mournful. A few upbeat tunes would have really helped balance this album out.
— Robin Dudgeon

JETS OVERHEAD

No Nations

(Microgroove/Warner)

Website: http://www.jetsoverhead.com

Neil Osborne (singer of 54-40) has teamed up with Jets Overhead once again to create a beautiful, almost meditative record chock full of ambient noise. Osborne first worked with Jets Overhead on its 2006 album Bridges. Dual vocals from Adam Kittredge (vocals, guitar) and Antonia Freybe-Smith (vocals, keyboards) soar, often harmonizing over a sparse, airy mesh of sounds. The drums are not too thunderous and the guitar is not too electrifying. The result is a spacious sound that is relaxing and easy to listen to.
— Robin Dudgeon

KATHERINE WHEATLEY

Landed

(The Hoot Music Co.)

Website: http://www.katherinewheatley.com

Katherine Wheatley's passion for music began with a $13 guitar ordered from the Sears catalogue. The native of Parry Sound, Ont., has come a long way since then. Landed is her third album, and her first release in nearly a decade. Insightful lyrics set to catchy melodies rule this recording, and it works. Wheatley's voice expertly handles both haunting haunting piano ballads such as Storm Warning, and jangly, upbeat tunes such as Bound to You. Let's hope we don't have to wait another decade for another album from Wheatley. It's great folk music.
— Robin Dudgeon

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON

Closer To The Bone

(New West Records)

C+

Website: http://www.kriskristofferson.com

Kris Kristofferson's latest is a Don Was-produced 11-tracker that will appeal to his many fans. Back when he was just starting out, Kristofferson gave hope to every sad-sack songwriter with no discernible vocal talent that they, too, could make the scene. With Closer to the Bone, Kristofferson has established himself as an elder statesman that should be regarded as such - no matter what gets laid down on tape. Not to say this is a bad album. Kristofferson and his late sidekick Stephen Bruton are masters of the dusty, heartfelt, man-and-his-emotions musical dialogue. Obviously there's something to be said for keeping it real, but there's a distinct lack of energy here.
— Jeff Monk

OK GO

Of the Blue Colour of the Sky

(Capitol)

B+

Website: http://okgo.net

OK Go has Dave Fridmann to thank for this one. The Chicago-via-Los Angeles art-rock outfit enlisted The Fifth Flaming Lip to man the boards for its third album, and the result is radical (hell, it may even help OK Go transcend being "that band with the treadmill video"). The quartet trades in the straight-ahead pop-rock of its past records for the expansive, surrealist arrangements that have become synonymous with the Lips (Fridmann definitely has a distinctly fuzzy, dreamy sound; it's almost like you're listening underwater or, possibly, in utero), and it works to great effect. Still, Fridmann can't take all the credit. The band injects plenty of its trademark swagger; the funkadelic White Knuckles, for example, could easily pass as a Prince single.
— Jen Zoratti

LYNN MILES

Black Flowers Vol. 1-2

(True North)

Website: http://www.lynnmilesmusic.com

Lynn Miles has a closet full of ghosts. Black Flowers Vol. 1-2 certainly proves this. The two-disc collection of new songs and reworked material from the melancholy songbird's catalogue goes to show that no one is as good as Miles at making loss and heartbreak sound so beautiful. Most tracks are just Miles's simple, haunting voice over fingerpicked guitar. You don't even notice the length of the songs because you are mesmerized by her voice. When she's not fingerpicking, she's making her guitar chuff like a lonely train, or breaking your heart with her piano ballads.
— Robin Dudgeon

WOODHANDS

Remorsecapade

(Paper Bag Records)

Website: http://www.woodhands.com

Disc of the Week
Toronto synth 'n' drum duo Woodhands (aka Dan Werb and Paul Banwatt) is well-known in Canadian indie circles for its primal, organic electronica - and on its latest album, the absolutely excellent Remorsecapade, the twosome takes its forward-thinking dance-music-on-acid to the next level. On headphones, the record's dense, textured soundscapes really pop - see the glittery, jittery opener Pockets or the hiccupy CP24 - but Remorsecapade isn't meant to be a cerebral, esoteric audiophile's album. It's meant to be the frenetic soundtrack to a pulsating, gyrating, sweat-slicked dance party (I Should Have Gone With My Friends is particularly club-worthy). Even the punk-rock purists can get behind this one: Woodhands eschews samplers and laptops for monster live drums and throat-shredding vocals. Essential listening.
— Jen Zoratti

POSTDATA

Postdata

(Independent)

A-

Website: http://www.postdatamusic.com

A few years ago, Wintersleep vocalist/guitarist Paul Murphy and his brother, Michael, made a record, meant to be a present for their mom. Happily, the Murphy brothers decided not to keep the record in the family, and have released it as a full-length album under the moniker Postdata. The record is a striking, stripped-down collection of melancholy songs that explore life, death and what happens next. It's personal, powerful stuff, meant to be digested over a few reflective listens. Indeed, Postdata is moody and mellow, but don't be scared off; Paul's a deft lyricist, and his clever turns-of-phrase and observational wit add some buoyancy.
— Jen Zoratti

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