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(Epic DVD)
I picked this
gem up recently in the bargain bin at Borders and it’s the best
$9.99 I’ve spent all year. AC/DC rocks hard and the sound is
excellent. The performance was filmed in 1991 in front of an
enormous crowd at the Monsters of Rock tour of that year. They do
many of the old classics like "Back in Black", "Hells Bells" and
"Dirty Deeds" as well as some of the newer tunes like
"Thunderstruck" and "Money Talks". Pop it in and turn your system up
to eleven!
-Dave
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(Universal LP)
2001
Roger has followed this kid since the demise of Whiskeytown closer than I and
played some of Gold for me a while back. I picked up the 2 LP
set in Austin last fall and it has been getting lots of play since
as I have also copied it onto CD for convenience. There aren't a lot
of current artists in this genre (Rock with Country Overtones
Singer/Songwriters?) who impress me nearly as much as Ryan Adams.
Too, this record is one of those chameleons where my favorite one
day is replaced by one I missed on previous listening, e.g. “Nobody
Girl” which I used to think was long and I now think is perfectly
timed and brilliantly constructed. Both hooky and stylistically
varied, this is a record with instant appeal and staying
power.
-Jon
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(Argo LP) 1961
I remember Andy playing this
for me twenty five years ago, well before the Absolute Sound
recommended it for sonic reasons. The story of Noah’s Ark (Noye’s
Fludde translates as Noah’s Flood), it is a quaint little one-LP
Chester Miracle play set to music by Benjamin Britten which elevates
it from mundane to sublime. Performed by key members of the English
Chamber Orchestra spicing up as first chairs An East Suffolk
Children’s Orchestra, and with the animal voices sung by some
45-by-two children’s voices, this recording charms with all that is
right about amateur music-making. And the recording is a
masterpiece. Set to tape in 1961, it ushers you into Oxford Church
for 45 minutes of involuntarily suspended disbelief. Space and
dynamics are breathtaking and I swear, when I clicked on the Audio
Research SDP1, I could smell the musty church basement.
Unfortunately, this record is pretty hard to find these days, on LP
at least. I don’t believe it’s been reissued on CD, but I can’t
imagine even SACD/DVD-A could do this master tape the justice that
vinyl does it. I found Scott a copy at the Milwaukee Public Library
last week for fifty cents, which inspired me to pull out my copy,
but he has yet to sign the right of first refusal agreement if he
doesn’t like it. I really want a back-up copy now.
-Jon |
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(Rhino CD) 2001
It’s hard to believe that someone who considers himself a serious music
enthusiast (I do) could somehow manage to overlook the entire career
of a great American band (I did), but “better late than never” I
suppose. Grant Lee Buffalo, a trio founded by Grant Lee Phillips,
left a legacy of only four releases during their all too brief
career. They had the misfortune of being an L.A. based band during
an era (1993-1999) when anybody who didn’t live in Seattle, own a
skateboard, and sport copious amounts of flannel, had scant chance
of achieving commercial success. The critics apparently loved them,
but even so, it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a glowing review of
this two-disc retrospective that I got my first exposure. Not
exactly what I’d call a “roots” rock band, GLB doesn’t stray too far
off that path. Relying heavily on acoustic instrumentation, melodic
vocals, well-crafted arrangements and songwriting more prone to
imagery than storytelling, this band deserved a lot more recognition
than they got. The first disc of Storm Hymnal samples their four
studio releases and disc two contains outtakes, “B-Sides” and other
rarities. I haven’t yet decided which I like better, but this is a
great starter set for the uninitiated and a “must have” for
completists. The sound is consistently excellent, especially given
the period during which these recordings were made and, if you count
yourself among fans of Paul Westerberg, The Jayhawks, early R.E.M.
or their ilk, I think you’ll probably find a lot to like here.
Highly recommended and still easy to find.
-Scott |
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(Prawn Song CD) 2002
Somewhat adventurous recommendation #2: I can’t
believe I’m recommending this, but I am. I have been indoctrinated
by some friends who are huge Primus/Les Claypool fans and after
being subjected to it long enough I guess it just started to sink
in. I was actually dragged to see Les Claypool twice, once with
Primus and the other time with The Frog Brigade and I ended up
liking them way better than I expected to. Les Claypool is a super
talented and rather bizarre bass player/lead singer who is the
mastermind behind both groups. Les has one of those voices that
makes you wonder why in the hell he
decided to become a singer, yet his voice works in a weird sort of
way. He will slap the frets right off a bass guitar with a style and
a sound that you will never hear anywhere else. The band is also
versatile enough to do excellent covers of Pink Floyd, with Les
sounding eerily like a young Roger Waters. Purple Onion is a
strange, hard hitting, funky kind of thing that has a groove all its
own. It’s the kind of music that really gets into your head and
stays there. I find myself singing "Dee’s Diner" and
"David Makalaster" in my head all
the time lately. As a bonus, it sounds pretty good too!
-Dave
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(Ace Reissue LP) 2003
Dave tried to guess who this
was and couldn’t. Not that Dave doesn’t dig the blues, but there
wasn’t Elmore’s signature slide guitar intro on every tune, enough
of which, for me, is enough anyway. That’s why I like this. It’s
blues leaning toward R&B with a bigger band on most cuts and Elmore
is fingering, more than sliding, on the fret board. Which he does
awfully well. Nearly as well as he sings. Man, can he sing. There’s
not much that gets my blood pumping faster than a great blues singer
and I can play this record over and over again and just keep my
heart-rate up. The sound is vintage good, the kind where you don’t
think about it because it lets plenty of the music come out to play.
Got the vinyl in Austin at Waterloo Records and didn’t play it for
five months because of the size of the Austin Record Show haul. Too
bad. Five more months of this in my bloodstream could have only done
me good.
-Jon
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(Shelter Records LP, Capitol CD, Hi-Rez DVD-Audio) 1972
"Texas Cannonball" captures Freddie King
at his absolute peak as a singer and guitar player. The album is
full of powerful screams and high full-note bends that were his
trademark. "Reconsider Baby," is just dripping with the blues and is
one of the greatest recorded performances I have ever heard. Others
like "Can't Trust Your Neighbor" and "I'd Rather Be Blind" are
arranged in a way that is uniquely Freddie King and no other
versions will ever resemble the tunes as performed here. If you
don’t own any Freddie King, this is the one to buy. The CD sounds
great, the LP even better and I haven’t yet heard the DVD-A.
-Dave
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(Rounder DVD) 2003
I was disappointed by the sound on the CD release, finding it bright and
unnatural. But this DVD sounds superb, especially in DTS 5.1
surround. The performances are great, as you would expect from a
band with such talented musicians as Union Station. It's great to
watch Jerry Douglas work his slide guitar magic on his Dobro. Even
if bluegrass is not your cup of tea, you should still be able to
find things to enjoy here.
-Dave
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(Universal DVD) 2004
Adventurous recommendation #1: This is not for
everybody, maybe not even for most people. But if you like
Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” you might want to pick up this DVD. If
you don’t know the original Coltrane album, don’t bother with this
until you know that one well and like it a lot. This live
performance features Branford Marsalis, the terribly underrated
saxophone playing brother of more respected trumpet player
Wynton, doing all of the music from the
legendary Coltrane album. The solos are totally his own, but he
captures elements of the original that will be familiar to fans of
the music. At times it is very aggressive jazz, enough that it
caused Scott to call it cacophony and quickly exit the room. But
it’s good cacophony. Best of all, because it’s a DVD it has a great
widescreen picture and really nice sound combined.
-Dave |
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(Self-Released CD) 2001
Ever since the Coen Brothers came
down from the mountain and proclaimed that it was okay to like
old-time country
music again, a lot of American bands have figured out that they can
sell more records if they just unplug the guitars, fire the drummer,
and call themselves a “bluegrass” act. Old Crow Medicine Show
isn’t one of those bands. We saw O.C.M.S. by accident - they were
opening for Del McCoury in Chicago- and they stole the show. "Eutaw" isn’t going to get the boys at Stereophile wetting
themselves over its stunning dynamics, but it sounds pretty good.
The real strength of the album is the pervasive energy, emotion, and
enthusiasm; the band proves it’s possible be both ‘tight’ and
‘unpolished’ at the same time. All but one of the tunes are
re-workings of lost treasures of a bygone era; the delivery is
anything but stale though. If Old Crow Medicine Show can’t put a
smile on your face, it may be time to step up the dosage on the
Prozac. (Also, check out their new eponymous major label
debut….haven’t heard it yet, but soon will.)
-Scott
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(Stardust Records CD) 2000
Okay, if you’re a legitimate jazz
enthusiast, just move on now, there’s nothing for you here. I’m not
the utterly clueless novice, but he’s the only one behind me on the
road to jazz enlightenment. I have however managed to ferret out a
few artists whose work, or some part of whose work, sounds pretty
good to my admittedly unsophisticated ear and Bird is at the top of
that list. The downside of being both ignorant and a rabid record
collector is that opportunities abound to make purchase decisions
that are both ill-advised and costly. After buying, I can’t tell you
how many, lousy Charlie Parker records, I finally took Jon’s advice
and focused on his work for the Dial and Savoy labels. This CD is an
excellent mono remaster of the 1946 Dial studio sessions (with Miles
Davis, John Lewis, Max Roach, and Duke Jordan) where the nascent
bebop movement seems to get itself out of first gear. If you love
your hi-fi rig more than your recordings, this probably isn’t going
to find your sweet spot. If you’re passionate about the music, it
can’t miss.
-Scott
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(Oh Boy CD) 1999
After seeing John Prine at the Riverside
recently, I ordered this CD of country standard duets with female
singers and have played it several times. Actually, my sweetheart
tends to listen on REPEAT a lot so I've heard it several times
several times. John's original, the title tune, is a quirky twosome
with Iris Dement, who appears on multiple numbers here, and is the
perfect partner for an unmistakably Prinean modern day, old country
classic on a par with anything on the record. It's a treat to hear
Prine as an interpreter and duet partner even if you wouldn't want
him to reprise this concept in lieu of more of his own great
writing.
-Jon
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(Warner Brothers CD) 1990
I’ve had this on endless
loop again in the car. Seems at least annually, I pull this off the
shelf and play it incessantly until the addiction has cooled to
where I merely love it again and then I stick it away for a little
while. During the “on” periods, it invariably finds its way to a
good, main listening system where it proves how enjoyable a rock
recording can be sonically. Sure, true Mats fans will say this is
really the first Paul Westerberg solo record, but that’s fine by me.
His lyric and tune crafting are why I show up anyway. They are in
full flower here to the extent that I can scarcely pick favorites.
Oh, all right - "Someone Take the Wheel", "Nobody", "Happy Town" and
the title tune. But that’s just for now. Next time through it may be
other ones altogether.
-Jon
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(MCA/Classic Records LP) 1977/2002
While the accolade “minor
masterpiece” may be overused, it’s no less fitting when describing
this one-off gem that paired Pete Townshend with Faces alum Ronnie
Lane. The sessions were apparently well attended by British rock
royalty – appearances by Eric Clapton, John Entwistle, and Charlie
Watts – but that isn’t the allure of this record; the songs are
flat-out great. The record is a bit schizophrenic in that this is
seemingly less a collaborative effort than a single vehicle allowing
a couple of artists to share the stage, but they complement each
other nicely and each make meaningful contributions when taking the
supporting role. The original record sounded great, but the 2002
Classic Records 200g remaster will take your breath away. I’ve
periodically enjoyed this record over the years, but since this
Classic pressing came out, it hasn’t left the “heavy rotation” pile.
Come in and pick up a copy and you’ll hear what I’m talking about;
very highly recommended.
-Scott
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(Atavistic CD) 2004
Adventurous pick #3: This one is a bit more “out there” musically. I won’t even
highly recommend the whole thing yet. But what I like about it, I
really like. Ken Vandermark is a superb saxophone player who has a
tendency toward avant-garde jazz. The first track is what hooked me
while listening to WYMS radio one weekday afternoon. I called up the
radio station and asked who they were playing that sounded like what
Coltrane would have been doing had he lived longer. I ran out and
picked up the disc immediately. I also dragged my friend RJ to see
Ken Vandermark with a 12 piece jazz ensemble at the Todd
Wehr center during the summer. It was a
total disaster. Here were twelve guys playing twelve totally
unrelated things at the same time, very loud. It was so loud, you
could have lit off a pack of firecrackers during the performance and
no one would have noticed. Fortunately the album is nothing like
that live performance. The bottom line is that when Vandermark is in
the zone, he’s incredible.
-Dave
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(MCA CD, LP &
DVD-Audio, Geffen SACD) 1969
I have been waiting for a
better sounding version of "Tommy" for years. The LPs don’t sound
very good and the CD is OK. But the new SACD sounds better and is
now available, while the DVD-A is due to be released on April 27th.
Over the years, "Tommy" has become my favorite Who record. It’s
long and usually has to be split onto two CDs, the first of which
contains the best and most memorable material, although some of the
same themes reappear again and again throughout the record. The
original movie is also interesting, but the music is better
performed here than on the film soundtrack.
-Dave
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(Polygram CD) 1998
I have been spinning this
a lot lately and it gets better each time. The sound isn’t the
greatest, but it’s good enough to enjoy. There is something about
Lucinda’s voice that is hard to walk away from, for me anyway. The
album starts out on a very high note with “Right In Time” and, if
you skip the next two tracks, stays there until the end of the
album. Other addicting songs include, “Drunken Angel” and the more
mellow “Lake Charles.” But the best performance on the record is the
intense “Joy” where Lucinda sounds like a woman with an axe to
grind. The band is fantastic throughout the album.
-Dave
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(Paramount DVD) 2006
Shame on me. I’ve never been a big enough Neil Young fan. I’ve always enjoyed his tunes when they come
on the radio and I even do my own unimpressive imitation of the awkward way Neil stomps his foot when he’s playing electric guitar – he looks like an uncoordinated Neanderthal - but I have never really sat down and listened to his music much at home on my hifi system.
A couple of months ago Scott walked in with a few new music DVDs, one of which was this Heart of Gold concert recorded live in Nashville. I threw it
on and looked through the song menu where I spotted a bunch of tunes I was familiar with including a favorite classic, "Old Man", so I
decided to start by firing that one up first. The track begins with an older, wiser and more distinguished looking Neil than I remembered, telling
a charming story about the origin of this song that I’ve heard hundreds of times. As it turns out, Neil was a "rich young hippie" to use
his words, and had just purchased a really nice house on a big piece of land which he was getting a tour of from the caretaker, an older gentleman
named Louis Avila. Louis asked Neil how such a young man could afford such an expensive property and Neil told him that he was just really lucky.
Well the song "Old Man", was written for Louis all those years ago, and Neil still lives in the same house on that same property to this day.
I was riveted and the song hadn’t even started yet. Then Neil hits that cool familiar hammered intro chord on this great sounding old Martin D28 and
launches into an incredible version of "Old Man". Wow, that was amazing! Then before I have a chance to recover, the next tune is underway;
a captivating version of "The Needle and The Damage Done". Here, Neil is so on target vocally and his guitar
playing so clean that this one is a real treat. Needless to say, as I listened to the rest I realized that the entire concert is just as good and
full of other great songs new and old.
I feel I have a whole new perspective on Neil Young. Maybe it’s because he is older and just went through surgery for a dangerous
brain aneurysm which could have easily killed him. It might also be that as musicians get older, they often get better.
They are usually more experienced, more polished, more composed and that certainly seems to be the case here. Or, maybe it’s just
that you don’t realize how lucky you are to have access to someone as great as Neil Young until he himself is an old man, and
then all you can do is try to make up for lost time. The bottom line is whether you’re already a huge fan or, like me, you haven’t
been enough of one, this disc is for you.
-Dave
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(Artemis Records LP) 2003
Does knowing death waits, not patiently, on your doorstep make you a better songwriter?
I don’t know. Does knowing that an artist produced his final
offering with that knowledge predispose you to give it more careful
consideration? It almost has to. I’m not a fan of Warren Zevon, or
more correctly, I didn’t used to be. Roger has talked about what a
“musician’s musician” Warren was, but not being a musician, my
former take on the guy was that he was just having a pretty good
time and selling some records – you know, the “Werewolf at Trader
Vic’s with the Chinese menu in his hand” kind of thing – a little
wacky, but nothing too substantive. That all changed when I played
“The Wind”. Warren’s literal “swan song” is, quite simply, one of
the most moving pieces of music I have ever heard. It is full of
joy, hope, and compassion, wrapped in the extraordinary pain of a
man who knows he has very little time left. We’ve all heard a lot of
tragic music, from tragic figures, very little of which has been
composed from the perspective of someone dying a natural death and
struggling to express what that feels like. This isn’t a tortured
artist drowning himself in a bottle or dulling his pain with a
needle and a spoon and that distinction is what makes this recording
so intensely personal, heartfelt, and above all, believable. The
record was recently released on 180-gram vinyl and the sound is
excellent, but I’m afraid I’d still unreservedly recommend it even
if it had been pressed on a Frisbee. Be forewarned, it will both
break your heart and lift your spirits and, in my book, a songwriter
earns no higher compliment.
-Scott |
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