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Check
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around Winnipeg tonight! |
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Check
out this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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The
Holmes Brothers
Simple Truths
(Alligator Records)
A
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If you prefer your
blues dosage spiked with sweet soul sugar and gorgeously gleaming
gospel, look no further than the Holmes Brothers’ latest,
Simple Truths. Brothers Wendell and Sherman Holmes and drummer
Popsy Dixon deliver a marvelously mixed bag of roots music
that will appeal to a broad range of listeners. The group
covers tracks by artists not necessarily known for their blues-wailing
ways: Gillian Welch, Collective Soul, Hank Williams and Bob
Marley, for instance. The HB’s bring out the simple
heart of these songs, mightily transcending typical ‘cover-version’
blandness. Their self-penned offerings, especially the gorgeous
We Meet, We Part, We Remember, have a smouldering appeal that
can be reached by only a scant few. Guitarist Wendell Holmes
plays in the the kind of loose, rough-and-tumble style that
puts most modern-day note producers to shame. The album title
articulates the contents perfectly and make this a must-buy
choice.
Jeff Monk |
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Ryan
Malcolm
Home
(Vik/BMG)
C+
Website: www.ryanmalcolm.com
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Just as I sat down
to write this, a friend looked over my shoulder and sneered:
“I’ve heard better singers at karaoke.”
That may well be so. It’s also true that in certain
circles this guy is never gonna get a break. In fairness,
it should be pointed out that Malcolm did have the balls to
actually enter an open competition; and he did end up winning
the damned thing. And that’s a lot more than most weekend
karaoke singers can say. Still, Home leaves a little bit to
be desired. There are 15 songs here, including his current
hit, Something More. Most are typical, mid-tempo adult/contemporary
fare — the sort of songs that are distinguished either
by a killer hook or an overwhelming vocal delivery. Unfortunately
most have neither. At best, this is a fair representation
of Malcolm’s abilities but it’s mostly a rush
job and a construct — there’s very little personality
here at all.
John Kendle |
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Paul
Westerberg
Come Feel Me Tremble
(Vagrant)
B+
Website: www.vagrant.com
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It’s getting
to the point that I’m almost afraid to listen to albums
from Westerberg and his alter ego, Grandpaboy. The man once
hailed as “the soul of rock ’n’ roll”
by Spin has become a contentedly shambolic recording artist
— still capable of finding the relentless shuffle/groove
that defined his work, but also seemingly incapable of editing
himself. Some songs are happily mournful in the best Westerberg
tradition, others are nothing more than a riff and throwaway
couplet. Some ideas are fully articulated, others are barely
fleshed out. Hit and miss has been the pattern of Westerberg’s
career for more than two decades now and Come Feel Me Tremble
is no different. Despite the initial trepidation, there’s
always a gem to be found on each of his recordings —
and My Daydream is it on this album.
John Kendle |
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Veal
The Embattled Hearts
(Six Shooter Records)
A
Website: www.vealmusic.com
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Every so often you
hear an album that so completely takes you over you catch
yourself doing the duckwalk across your coffee table, playing
air guitar and wondering why the hell these guys aren’t
the kings of the effing universe… At least, that’s
what happened to me when I finally rediscovered this album
after resolving, once and for all, to organize all my crap.
Veal is a psycho-boogie rock ’n’ roll trio featuring
singer/guitarist Luke Doucet, drummer Chang and bassist Nik
Kozub, and this Steven Drake-produced album is a happy cross
of all sorts of things — from garage pop to straight-up
rock to boogie to Cramps-abilly to neo-Dick Dale psychedelic
wipe-outs. As amazing as it is instrumentally, it’s
also got songs to spare, from the shattered jokes of Everybody
Wants Cocaine to the plaintive guitar pop of Judy Garland.
Run, do not walk, to your local cool record store and buy
this album now.
John Kendle |
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Joe
Bonamassa
Blues Deluxe
(Medalist Entertainment)
B
Website: www.jbonamassa.com
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Everyone’s allowed
to do it; it’s like actors playing Hamlet at some point
in their careers. So we find guitar wizard Joe Bonamassa paying
tribute to his blues idols with a collection of nine covers
and three original tunes. While some say nothing can be added
to these classics, that’s bull; it’s how you play
it that matters, and Bonamassa plays it well. He opened for
B.B. King at age 12, so give the guy a little credit. JB’s
cranked up and rocked out versions of tunes by King, Robert
Johnson, John Lee Hooker and others recall Stevie Ray Vaughan,
and the gain has been nudged a little towards the devil on
some tracks. Add a wailing harmonica, slide guitar, a jug
of gin and you’ve got some hot music. It ain’t
new, but neither are the blues, dig?
Mike Warkentin |
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Avail
Front Porch Stories
(Fat Wreck Chords)
B+
Website: www.availavail.com
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Don’t worry,
that’s not your heart rate spiraling out of control;
it’s just the new Avail record. The veteran Virginia-based
band has been delivering some of the rawest slabs of Southern-fried
punk since 1987 and, on its second effort for Fat Wreck, the
quintet melds brutal hard-punk assaults with the occasional
slice of slide-guitar and violin. While Front Porch Stories
is no groundbreaking work, it is a viciously satisfying one,
with big, angry guitars and gritty vocals. Done Reckoning
is a standout with its solid vocal melody, while Subdued and
Arrested’s more thoughtful, even delicate, guitar lines
provide some much-needed sonic variation from the band’s
normal anthemic rabble-rousers. This need is also served by
fat drums on the brief Monuments. A fine release from an eminently
capable band, even if it doesn’t break the genre wide
open.
Melissa Martin |
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Robert
Randolph and the Family Band
Unclassified
(Warner Brothers)
A
Website: robertrandolph.net
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Who says high-energy
funk fusion ends with Morris Day and The Time? And who says
you can’t put a pedal steel, some wicked bass lines
and a Hammond B3 organ into a mix of blues, rock, soul and
gospel? The hell you say. Robert Randolph and the Family Band
does all this and more, brilliantly putting together 11 tracks
that will MOVE YOU — even if you’ve got the rhythm
of a child banging pots with spoons. Based around Robert’s
searing sacred steel, Unclassified positively overflows with
vitality and exuberance, and each track is a successful blend
of styles. Fat-ass bass lines drill the foundation for the
feverish effect-laden fretwork, and together with keyboards
and gospel/soul vocals, a brand new sound is born. This jam
band cooks as a unit; this disc is an unclassified success.
Mike Warkentin |
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Tomas
Bodin
Sonic Boulevard
(Inside Out)
C+
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This is The Flower
Kings keyboardist Tomas Bodin’s third solo album, and
the Swede continues to experiment with art-rock soundscapes
on Sonic Boulevard. Packed with a sometimes-pleasing sometimes-baffling
blend of textures, sounds, wordless vocals and instrumental
wanderings, Sonic... is mellow and arty guitar-driven prog
rock that recalls some Pink Floyd experiments. The Hero From
Cloud City might fit seamlessly between Brain Damage and Eclipse
on Dark Side of the Moon, and there are also some Shine On
You Crazy Diamond and Great Gig in the Sky moments throughout.
Interesting African themes are explored in Back to the African
Garden, but The Happy Frog is an awful elevator music reject.
It’s a trip, but Bodin isn’t always sure where.
Mike Warkentin |
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Kenny
Neal & Billy Branch
Double Take
(Alligator)
B+
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Contemporary blues
artists typically fall into a few distinct categories. There
are those which create tragically embarrassing, lifeless renditions
of once-classic tunes for an appreciative but tasteless audience.
Others use the once-proud form as a framework for quasi rock/pop
derivations of the style. True bluesmen like ace guitarist
Kenny Neal and harmonica wizard Billy Branch are among the
few masters left who know how to add just the right amount
of their own personality without losing the necessary intensity.
Their new dozen-tracker features the duo in full flight, and
the absence of a backing band is never an issue. Branch plays
blues harmonica like some kind of bastard offspring of both
Little Walter and Rice Miller, while his harp licks will make
even the most hardened blues aficionado smile knowingly. He
deserves very high praise for his estimable skills on this
album. Uniformly excellent.
Jeff Monk |
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