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Check
out what’s going on
around Winnipeg tonight! |
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Check
out this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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Brian Setzer Orchestra
The Ultimate Collection
(Surfdog Records)
B
Website: www.briansetzer.com
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Yeah, I know swing isn’t
cool anymore. Since Vince Vaughan stopped telling people they
were money, this genre has been getting a solid string of wingtips
to the crotch. Be that as it may, putting a tight band of 25 musicians
onstage and recreating the atmosphere of another era is no small
feat. And Brian Setzer himself can play a pretty mean six-string.
This live, two-disc set features one concert from Montreal and
one from Tokyo — a total of 31 tracks, 30 of which were
not on GAP commercials. Of course you get Jump, Jive an’
Wail, but you also get James Bond Theme, Hawaii Five-O, Stray
Cat Strut and a host of other retro tunes that prove both the
musicianship of the players and their love for this music. Maybe
it isn’t cool, but it kinda still is.
Mike Warkentin |
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Hot Water Music
The New What Next
(Epitaph)
B
Website: www.hotwatermusic.com
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Veteran post-hardcore
outfit Hot Water Music is back with its sixth full-length, serving
up 12 melodic tracks that still have their roots in punk. Characterized
by the harmonies of Chris Wollard and Chuck Ragan, The New What
Next is a disc that has a thick, layered sound only grasped through
repeated listens. Beneath the melody one can often find another
guitar meandering off in the sonic distance, adding an almost
imperceptible colour to tracks such as Under Everything. Despite
that accentuated undertow, this effort is certainly isn’t
exactly uplifting. In fact, after hearing lines such as “And
this town with its burning air and downpours every day is weighing
hard on me” (from The Ebb and Flow), you might wonder if
this band spent summer in Manitoba.
Mike Warkentin |
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Various
Artists
The Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family
(Dualtone)
B+
Website: www.dualtone.com |
Have you ever wondered
why a group that began recording in 1927 would be the focus of
a multi-artist tribute compilation in 2004? The Carter Family
(Alvin Pleasant, his wife Sara and sister-in-law Maybelle Addington
Carter) sold over a million copies of Wildwood Flower in 1928,
recorded over 300 songs, and their family tree bears quality musical
fruit to this day. The 15 tracks here feature a varied array of
superstar performers including George Jones, Marty Stuart, John
Prine, Emmylou Harris, and The Del McCoury Band. John Carter Cash
lovingly produced the set, and there’s even a couple of
haunting tracks sent from beyond the grave by Johnny Cash (Engine
143) and June Carter Cash (Gold Watch and Chain). Everyone sticks
to the rural program here — except for John Prine, who pulls
out a cooking version of Bear Creek Blues. A history lesson worth
hearing.
Jeff Monk
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Dolly Parton
Live and Well
(Sugar Hill)
B+
Website:
www.sugarhillrecords.com
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When it comes to country
music legend Dolly Parton, two things make her stand out above
the teeming masses of country artists: Her voice and the fact
that she writes many of her own songs. By withdrawing from the
Nashville grinder Parton has rejuvenated her career many times
over. This two-disc set was recorded live at Parton’s own
Dollywood Celebrity Theatre, and the audience is totally enraptured
throughout. Pacing is everything, and along with Parton’s
aw-shucks style and stage banter, the mix of weepers and wailers
works. To her credit, Parton and her stellar band have a complete
lock on this show — her voice and the subtle tricks she
can do with it are breathtaking. There’s a good mixture
of classic Parton hits, such 9 to 5 and the like, but it’s
the newer tracks that make you realize that Parton is truly alive
and doing very well.
Jeff Monk
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Brian
Wilson
presents Smile
(Nonesuch)
A
Website: www.nonesuch.com
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Some critics are mistakenly
treating Brian Wilson’s presentation of his finally completed,
decades-old masterwork Smile as if it was just another new release.
Wilson has parlayed his recent popular live resurgence into the
confidence he needed to flip back the hands of time and revisit
what was a troublesome period for the gifted genius. Smile needs
to be set aside and viewed as the singularly amazing piece of
work that it is — a modern song cycle (“teenage symphonies
to God” as Wilson has put it). The album was conceived to
be heard as a complete composition — and as such Smile is
undeniably a full-blown classic. Heroes and Villains majestically
informs the first part of the suite and, as the album progresses,
it’s apparent that Wilson — for all his foibles and
madness — has delivered the jewel that has dogged him all
these years.
Jeff Monk |
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Marilyn Manson
Lest We Forget — The Best of
(Interscope)
A
Website: www.marilynmanson.com
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Could it be... Satan?
Nope, it’s Marilyn Manson, back with another disc bound
to get a whole host of middle-Amercian panties in self-righteous
knots. This best-of collection spans the last 10 years and contains
hits such as The Dope Show, The Beautiful People and Tourniquet.
Also included are covers of Tainted Love, Personal Jesus and Sweet
Dreams, as well as Long Hard Road out of Hell. Manson may be a
carefully orchestrated caricature out to shock everybody into
working for his marketing department, but this collection proves
that Marilyn and co. can truly make a song their own and did indeed
write some pretty cool industrial metal. Replete with creepy artwork
and an evil DVD, this set is worth picking up, even for fans.
Of course, you’re going to Hell if you do.
Mike Warkentin |
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John
Fogerty
Deja Vu All Over Again
(Geffen)
B+
Website: www.johnfogerty.com
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John Fogerty recently
performed songs from this album on the highly respected U.S. roots-rock
television program Austin City Limits. He put on an amazing performance
full of energy and smart pacing — just like this album.
The title track opens the disc as Fogerty pulls from his own back
catalogue and updates convincingly the anti-war sentiments originally
expressed in Have You Ever Seen The Rain. Similarly, Nobody’s
Here Anymore comments on cell phone/SUV disconnect and Fogerty’s
dismay at the loss of humanity in the face of technology and speed-of-light
lifestyles. She’s Got Baggage and In The Garden are full-tilt
burners proving that even after seven years out of the game, Fogerty
has lost none of his ever-youthful rocking ability. You may wish
Fogerty had thrown a few more tracks on this 34-minute disc —
especially since the 10 here are so uniformly wonderful.
Jeff Monk |
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Rhapsody
Symphony of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret
(SPV)
B
Website: www.mightyrhapsody.com
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Yorick, plug in ye olde
electric guitar and summon the Italian bards of Rhapsody —
we have much neo-classical metal to play before the forces of
darkness sweep across the land. No, Yorick, there’s no time
for a flagon of ale or the whittling of multi-sided dice. The
evil hell-god Necron reawakens, and he is greatly pissed. Only
with overblown operatics and grandiose classical riffs can we
hope to vanquish Necron. Perhaps we might despatch a messenger
to entreat the mighty Christopher Lee to provide narration for
our holy metal symphony. Bring forth thunderous drum beats, tremolo
guitars, soaring vocals and a special edition DVD of Return of
the King — for after the battle. Many will not understand
our obsession with harpsichord, recorder and the sound of trickling
brooks, but many also do not understand the divine power of prog
metal.
Mike Warkentin |
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Stompin’ Tom
And The Hockey Mom Tribute
(EMI)
C+
Website: www.StompinTom.com
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Someday Stompin’
Tom Connors will leave us for the great barroom in the sky, and
all Canadians will shed a tear in their beer for the legendary
master of the musical maple leaf. For his latest offering, Connors
veers not from the formula that has set his name in popular music
stone north of the 49th parallel. The title track is a boyhood
reminiscence that taps into the unified national memory bank perfectly.
There are the classic boat-wreck odes, train analogies, wacky
but heartfelt love songs and even a remake of a Stompin’
classic from 1971. It’s dopey and divine, goofy and godlike
all at once. Connors sounds just a bit tired on this album —
he is getting a tad long in the tooth after all — but for
fans of his homespun, Canuck-centric ditties, Hockey Mom will
be a joy to own.
Jeff Monk |
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