Wye Oak "Shriek"

 

I believe it was a sampler disc from a couple of years ago that had a track by this band good enough to etch the name on my "future prospects" board.  I bought it the week after it dropped and started hearing some of it played on WPRK.  Female-fronted synth-pop but not quite in the 80's mode.  It made me consider Cocteau Twins and Tracey Thorn (EBTG) but then it wasn't the same by any stretch. 



I can safely say I don't recall the actual song I heard by them originally but I've learned it wasn't this style.  The previous album was very guitar driven, discovered in a bit of retro research.  That's right, Mad Rocker disciples, this was good enough for investigation of previous works.  And now that I have, I like the current approach better.  Had to take some cajones to risk pissing off the fans built by the Baltimore duo over the previous three records. 



And therein lies my Cocteau Twins reference.  I like her voice and the way the two write.  The more I listen to this album the closer I get to buying the previous one!  A two-person band, no less...

I realize as I close that the two linked songs above didn't include my favorite track.  Oh well, the first seven are all worthy tunes.  The album's final three are ok but don't have the cachet of the previous. 

No matter, I'll purchase the next Wye Oak immediately...

War "Evolutionary"

I had to wonder what this actually was when BKP sent it over.  There was a compilation in the early 90's called "Rap Declares War" that reintroduced the group to the generation of kids raised on rap artists who sampled some of the band's catalog to make their mark.  The surviving members tried to capitalize on their new notoriety with an album and tour (they played a free show in the old Cheyenne Saloon when rain forced the reduced crowd inside......and they kicked ass!) but it didn't sell.  Jerry Goldstein had discovered War in the late 60's and essentially owned the band and its name, so when the album tanked, all but Lonnie Jordan walked away.  Those guys have been the Lowrider Band since, but I had hoped that time had healed the wounds and a reformation was afoot.  Nope.  "Evolutionary" is Lonnie Jordan and a cast of others all helmed by Goldstein, who you might remember seeing in the news a couple of years ago as he squatted in his foreclosed mansion after it had been sold at auction.  Sooooooooo, how the hell did he get money to fire this record off?  Beats me, but this is a much better project than I ever expected.  There are some of the old War blueprint sounds scattered about and though I can't say this flows in the currents of today's music, it still has singles potential throughout.  Obvious first choice was this one...



They are currently touring with Cheech & Chong, too!  Judging from this record, if the studio band is on the road for this tour then I may just have to go.  There are only one or two soft spots on the record yet several highlights.  Three tracks are based on unrecorded War material from who knows when, but I doubt Harold Scott and the others will see any residuals.  There are critics who must hold a grudge against Goldstein and his treatment of the band brand because reviews have been mixed, at best.  I'll admit to expecting the worst but will end up keeping the entire disc.  It's still a mix of Latin, jazz, soul, funk, rap and a hint of rock.  Jordan sounds good, the band is sharp with its rhythms, and song quality is surprisingly efficient.  Hints of Sly Stone and Sonia Dada made my notes.  There's an updating of Whitfield/Strong's "War," of Edwin Starr's fame and a track called "Bounce," that if neither the Lakers nor Clippers pick it up for in-house use during games then someone needs to be fired. 

Included with this new album was a bonus disc of greatest hits, radio edits.  Gawd, how I hate that!  How can you cut "Slippin' Into Darkness" in half, trim "Gypsy Man" of six minutes, and reduce this to four?!?!



Even though I have the vinyl tucked away, I'm pretty sure they are worn out, so I'm off to buy the three original albums and maybe "War Live," too...

Walter Trout "The Blues Came Callin'"

 

I'd say so.  A diagnosis of liver failure would fit the title of this album which was written and recorded after first learning of his problems.  He said it himself that his early days of debauchery had come back to haunt him.  Damn near killed him.  He finally received a new liver about three months ago and recovery hasn't been easy.  The man is down to 120 lbs. and he used to be a pretty big dude!  The album shows the effects of his illness, written as if it would be his last.  Songs called "Wastin' Away" and "The Bottom of a River" are first-person penned standing at death's door.  When I saw a picture of him........oh, boy, did he look pale and drawn.  His vocals suffered from the lack of strength on all but one track and he included an extra instrumental probably for the same reason.  The writing is quite impressive and the fretwork still smokes.  Here is the label's pre-release trailer...



I hope you watched the video.  John Mayall (I have his new record in queue thanks to BKP) at 80 looks better than Walter!  Shout outs from Lukather and Sayce were cool to see.  I have posts on the previous two records Trout issued but look them up for yourself.  Since there's not any chance for support, here is a video of the man from shortly before he was stricken...



Now that's what I've come to love about WT, which makes it difficult to hear an album like this one.  I will play it another time or two before I decide to keep it as a whole. 

Here's hoping for a full recovery and another Walter Trout album.

Art Vs. Science "Create/Destroy"

 

I don't normally fool with EPs but this Australian band was recommended to me a couple of years ago when LCD Soundsystem was wrapping up their existence.  By the time I
discovered A.vs.S.' debut album it was past the designated time threshold I employ for my purchases, but I squirrelled away the name in the musical mausoleum lobe of my withered brain and was genuinely pleased that it floated to the front some thirty months later when I saw this EP released digitally in April.  Now that I've enjoyed it's twenty-something minutes of danceable, New Wave fun I understand why the comparison to LCD was made, though it wasn't exactly the same thing.  LCD was much more involved and intelligent, this EP just lays down the simple beat and surrounds it with all sorts of instruments and noises.  Thirty years ago, a record like this would have had five different remixes of each song targeting the dance floors of clubs throughout the land....



Man, if that doesn't make you grin then go away.  I await the next full-length...

Joan as Police Woman "The Classic"

 

Her last album had enough promise to justify purchasing this new one, which was released in March.  Finally making it through the three rotations and I noted this would have been one of those vinyl LPs from years-gone-by-that-happened-at-a-previous-time-historically-speaking, of course, where one side gets all the plays.  In this case, it would be Side 1 (A).  When I sat down to start this post, I went back to the one from 2011 and damn, I was going to say the same things about this record as I did the last, so click here and you'll have an idea of what "The Classic" is all about, too... 

 

This is the album's opener and a far superior video than its predecessor, which is actually a better song.  I truly don't quite understand how these records haven't had any chart success since they should appeal to the fanatical Amy Winehouse followers. 

Maybe it's the "Police" part of the name that scares them off?

Gazpacho "Demon"

I've never liked gazpacho, the soup, but while researching uses for leftover Bloody Mary mix, I found a promising recipe from Ina Garten (Da Vida) that turned out to be a wonderful mixture which has changed my view on this cold, liquid medley.  Gazpacho, the band, took the name based on "the bastard of soups...(offering) a surprise, something unexpected, something out of the norm..."  They hail from Norway (I was trying to think of others from there....was A-Ha Norwegian?) and started recording a dozen years ago.  I noticed the band's name on Steven Wilson's label, Kscope, and mistakenly ass-u-me(d) progressive rock and purchased this record which dropped in early April.  My copy has five tracks (most list four) and clocked in at 49 minutes.  One is 12:30 in duration, another is 18:30.  Was I that wrong to guess prog rock?  This is where doing my research post purchase/listen bit me in the ass.  This is art rock.....depressing art rock.......boring art rock....... popping-Quaaludes-like-tic-tacs art rock....



I NEVER get that wasted (anymore).  I don't want to be around people that wasted.  I don't want to listen to depressing music.  So this is where the entire file went...

The War On Drugs "Lost In The Dream"

 

Well, I lost all my audio notes to a dumb phone getting older so I'm going to wing it the best I can.  My post on this band's previous album received quite a few views but I'm unsure what moved people to check it out.  It wasn't the most positive review but I did have some cool bands linked within.  I only kept one track but was intrigued enough to seek this new one out upon its release in late March.  I had no impetus to flash it past other records in the queue until I saw it top one critic's list for Best Albums Of 2014 (First Half).  So for the past month I've played this through several times.  In no way, shape or form is it one of the year's best but it certainly is a keeper as a whole with only a couple of quibbles. 

This is most certainly an American rock record.  Gone is the New Wave-ish bent of the previous one, replaced here by every studio effect on the console.  Quibble #1; there is scarcely an instrument or vocal that isn't treated in some form.  Heavy is the presence of the Tom Petty influence of the previous album and the Dylan manifestation would work if Bob had crystal meth in his youth.  I also noted places where this sounded like Springsteen on speed.  Absent was the U2 chiming, replaced by a Waterboys sensibility and a Mumford energy. 



That's the only official video I could find and it was pretty worthless as far as the visual goes.  That's not a quibble I had initially intended but let's add it anyway.  Quibble #3; half the songs are 6 minutes and longer (that's not my objection) but there's this "electric atmospherics" aspect to several songs that only adds minutes of droning waves of guitar mutations.  Jesus Christ....there are eleven engineers listed in the credits and you'd think at least one of them would have said, "OK, that's enough!" 



There we go.....that's more like it.  Rock song!  Tracks like this are what has helped it vault into the Top 30 of the 200 chart...

...but Best Of The Year consideration?  Not in my snobbish opinion but at least I kept it, which is  >50% of the records I've acquired so far in the past seven months.....

Selwyn Birchwood "Don't Call No Ambulance"

Just like the Joel DaSilva from a few posts ago, had not heard of this guy until I saw him listed on the bill playing before Ana Popovic at the Mt. Dora Blues~n~Groove a couple of months ago.  He had the dusk slot immediately preceding Ms. Pop because he won the 2013 International Blues Challenge's band category.  Little did I know that he was born here in Orlando, went to the University of Tampa and has since settled there.  Did not know he had two other albums available.  What I do know, however, is HE BLEW ME AWAY!  I texted BKP during the show things like, "OH.....MY.....GAWD!" and "I have seen/heard a future blues legend."  He possessed a relaxed stage presence wearing a big smile most of the time, conversationally speaking to the audience about the new material he was playing from his Alligator Records debut (which was why I sprinted to the merch tent as soon as his set was finished only to find it hadn't dropped yet), displaying fretwork along the lines of Buddy Guy/SRV/Albert Collins and singing like the bastard son of Darius Rucker.  Oh, and the songs were good, too.....duh.  On the day of the album's release three weeks later, paid full price for the download and threw it into the player.  It was just as fine the second time hearing the songs' studio versions.  Since there seems to be no theatrical videos I will go to an Alligator-sanctioned live one for an example.  Sound quality is low on this one so TURN IT UP!

The saxophone gets substantial solos, too, throughout the record and the live performances.  I had alerted my Nashville-area friends via Facebook to a show in their region and a former M4L employee who does a local entertainment blog messaged me saying he was doing two upcoming shows out at the Lakeridge Winery.  Well, I jotted the dates down and actually got to go on a Saturday afternoon.  Certainly didn't drink the liquid jelly they claim is wine but I did buy a couple of other beverages to show my support because the concert was FREE!  They played two 75 minute sets in the 90+ degree heat for tip/gas money!  Birchwood was telling the crowd (indeed, a crowd) about all the upcoming travel involved promoting the album and literally was soliciting gas money.  Unbelievable...  When they took a break, Birchwood was selling his CD for $20 a pop and people were lining up!  That's a healthy profit over what I paid but he was talking with everyone, signing the insert, taking pictures....truly working the new fan base.  I waited for everyone to clear and then stepped up to meet him.  I said I bought the record on release and wanted to shake his hand while I could because, "...you'll soon be too big to have to do this."  He laughed and thanked me for the positivity.  I told him that I believed the track from the new record called "Tell Me Why" should be on every rock radio station for years to come and he looked genuinely surprised to hear someone say that.  You decide...
 


Gotdammit, I got goose bumps just watching that video.  The sax wasn't terribly prominent in it because he was amped on the opposite side of the stage but I'll tell you, the man works that thing so hard that I was tired for him!  The band makes a return visit to the winery in about ten days for the grape stomping event and has 2 1/2 hours listed for his set, all for a $2 donation to a charity......damn right I'm going to try to get there!

I'm an unapologetic musical snob (just ask my wife) and I don't get on many bandwagons, but I want to drive that fucker for this guy...