Joe Bonamassa "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" DVD

Got this for my birthday and gave it a view last week while my wife
attended a Goo Goo Dolls concert in town. I am certain I enjoyed my evening at home with my concert selection more than I would have at the Hard Rock. All along I thought this guy was raised in Texas, and that should clue you in to his sound. There is a SRV pattern to his artistic progression, but not necessarily his playing. At times, he reminds me of Eric Johnson and his tonal control, and he's had Billy Gibbons guest on an earlier release, yet the guy is from NY. Fooled me... So here he is at London's Royal Albert Hall, quite the honor for the young man, living one of his dreams. And he smokes it from the start, though it takes the stoic Londoners in the crowd about four songs to get off their butts and stand up in appreciation. How the hell do they do that? These people loved Gary Moore doing the same thing in his blues jacket twenty years ago, and some of the old farts in the audience probably thought JB was Moore's son, though he looked more like Jeff Healy standing up. Seeing him play gives you a better clue to his records because he uses many guitars and plays sans pick quite often. He sings like Warren Haynes without the growl, and a couple of songs could be mistaken for Gov't Mule. Close your eyes on a couple of songs and the instrumental passages sound like Santana compositions. And there you have it, I think his strengths are songwriting and vocals, and the pickin' ain't too shabby either...

Mumford & Sons "Sigh No More"

Now, this is folk. Of course, that makes more sense if you read the previous post. This record is buzzing in the States and it is well-deserved. First thing I thought was "Beard Rock", but the members do not sport beards. Immediate comparisons to Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper, maybe early MMJ for you Americana fans, but for this old guy, I hear Dexy's Midnight Runners, the Proclaimers, Hothouse Flowers, the Pogues, etc., maybe because of the British accent only slightly detectable at times in the vocals. And they really are from London, not like Colin Meloy who wants to be. Damn, gotta like a little rock n' roll banjo in the mix!



So I've heeded the complaints about the pictures I'm using for these posts. This one is much better quality, just ignore the message above it.

Get Well Soon "Vexations" deluxe

"Where do you here of these people?!"

OK, I am a sick pup when it comes to new music. I recently hit a soft spot for new tunes from names I'm familiar with. So what does the Ol' Mad Rocker do? He heads to see what's charting in other countries, and in this case, Germany. Found a couple of great rock albums there, but all in German, though that didn't stop me decades ago with BAP, Falco, etc.. This album, though, was in English and kinda intriguing on a sample listen. So I invest in the deluxe version and whew, it's 95 minutes. And admittedly, after the first couple of tracks, I wondered what the hell I heard on the sample listen that made me get this aural Valium. As it turns out, the album is a little back-heavy, with the latter tracks hitting the mark a lot more, and the extra material even better. So I've edited down my version to about 60 minutes and I love it. Some vocals remind me of Mark Gane from Martha & the Muffins. I hear Eno-era David Bowie and David Sylvian. There are some dissonant horns aka early Hunters & Collectors. One of the extra tracks could be a Dredg song. And most of the categorization I see for this is "folk." Really? Nah...

Sondre Lerche "Heartbeat Radio"

I discovered this young fellow while doing the critically acclaimed morning drive show "PM in the AM" on WPRK a few years back. Besides delving into my vast catalog of crap to play, I had to spin three new releases an hour, never a problem since I love new music. His album "Two Way Monologue" became a weekly staple, full of sophisticated pop music. Next thing you know, he's put out a jazz combo album which actually went to #5 on the Contemporary Jazz charts here in the US. The next time I hear him is on the stinker of a movie "Dan in Real Life." Gave that Carrell fart some redeeming value. And "Heartbeat ..." dropped Sept. '09, though it took me a few months to get, and it's well worth it. The guy's from Norway so he has a bit of an accent, but songwriting and style is his genius. If you like strings and horns on your sunny, pop music, this is for you. I wish I could give you a comparable artist... Closest thing I can think of is Norah Jones, 'cept a guy and his guitar instead of piano.

Editors "In This Light..."

My good friend Jeff alerted me to this band after their 2007 release. The boy has good taste, so I gave it a listen. What I heard was pretty good, and I could understand why they opened for REM on the European circuit. So when I saw a new release, I gave it a quick ear...and wha wha wha whatttt?! Gone were the jangly guitars and in were the synths and keyboards. If these guys say they've never heard the Stranglers early eighties albums, they are liars! They've made the same transition to a parade of programming, and it works tremendously. First thought was the aforementioned Stranglers' releases of "Feline" and "Aural Sculptures", which were easily accessible from my "public" rack, the 500 or so CD's which can be viewed by visitors to the home, sort of a cross-section of my tastes (eclectic selections, for sure). Anyway, I've jotted down all the different influences I heard on this record and this will give you an idea of what to expect:
The The, Eurythmics, Blancmange, early Berlin, OMD, the Killers with a better singer, New Order/Joy Division, Fields of the Nephilim, Nine Inch Nails, Heaven 17... There is a bonafide hit single if it had a different title, track 8 "Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool". Beats me but it's a great song!
Guys, please do a US tour and come to Florida. I won't miss it. This is easily one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Imogen Heap "Ellipse"

I have her first album from 1998, "I, Megaphone", and I really have to go dig it up from the vault, especially now. Then she became part of Frou Frou, which I liked, but not enough to keep a copy. Never knew of another solo until this one. Intrigued enough to tag it for future referral but never quite found the time to do so...until she wins the Grammy for best non-classical engineering. That did it. And it is pure genius. I have always been a fan of "construction production", Trevor Horn one of my favorites, and "Ellipse" at times reminds me of Art of Noise and Propaganda. Toss in some Eurythmics, too. Heap doesn't have the power of Annie Lennox or the histrionics of Bjork, but this is voice as an instrument. Knowing she was trained in classical piano makes the comparisons to Tori reasonable. There, you should have enough reference. And since this blog is for my musical family of friends of the last thirty-plus years, the old stoners among you who loved to retreat under a big ol' pair of headphones, this one's for you.

The Heavy "The House That Dirt Built"

I've had this record for three months now, intending to write a blurb on it in February. But I have a routine about these things, and the final step is the disc makes it upstairs to the office where I catalog it and file it away, editing the file on the computer and then writing the post. But see, I've already given two copies of this away and the last step hasn't happened yet. So before I forget it, here it is...

Don't know where I heard about this one either, but I'm glad I did. Sort of a dirty, funky, grungy record that is sort of stylistically all over the place. I went to the website and watched the video and I'm drawn to comparisons of a harder Fine Young Cannibals. But the band they most resemble is the Zutons. So now, many of you old farts are going "Who?!" Trust me, the Zutons are one of the best bands to come out of Britain since the Commitments, so the comparison is definitely a compliment. And thanks to the power of automobile commercials, you've now heard one of the songs from this album. The Kia Sedona ad with the grownup kid toys in the car...yep, How You Like Me Now?