I first became a fan of Joss Stone in 2003 with her neo soul album The Soul Sessions. A big part of the charm was she was a 16-year-old with a mature voice in a retro medium. The timing coincided with Amy Winehouse’s debut and predates Winehouse’s blockbuster Back To Black by a couple of years. Stone was a very big deal in the UK but never has had the same traction in the U.S. despite her American style.
I have purchased every Joss Stone album since her debut, but none have knocked me over like that debut. My sense is she has been over produced. Listening to The Soul Sessions today it sounds fresh, funky and timeless despite over a decade of a zillion artist trying to mine retro gold.
Water For Your Soul takes a reggae-lite approach on most songs and it really works with the gorgeous instrument that is Joss Stone’s voice. She easily shifts from a breathy purr and to a rock and roll roar – often in the same song.
Per Wikipedia: The idea for a reggae record comes when Stone worked with Damien Marley on SuperHeavy in 2011. In an interview for Official Charts she stated: “Damien actually said to me, ‘Joss, you have to do a reggae album!’ I’m not crazy enough to know that a reggae album from me would be a very weird thing to do, but the songs we’ve created are heavily rooted in that sound. That’s the style of the album. There’s also the Irish fiddles, the Sarod, the tabla, the gospel, flamenco guitar.”
“Love Me” sets the tone with the pop reggae that dominates the session.
“This Ain’t Love” is a deep modern soul that would not sound out-of-place on Sade album. But rather than Sade’s mellow voice, Stone belts it out.
“Stuck On You” is a pretty ballad that is a bit over produced for my taste. It would have been an amazing cut if it had a more minimalist arrangement like the tabla outro.
“Star” opens with a nice big fat beat that has just a pinch of reggae in the big pop stew. Here the big production values of the track works and I can close my eyes and hear it backing a transition scene in a movie.
“Let Me Breath” has a nice Latin groove.
“Cut The Line” is more pop reggae that shines a light on Stone’s amazing pipes.
“Wake Up” starts with a Damien Marley toast. The reggae experiment is at full tilt here and her voice and Marley are a delightful volley.
“Way Oh” is a nice reggae slow boil. I appreciate that Stone’s take on reggae is to use her normal phrasing and not some fake Jamaican put on.
“Underworld” – by now the reggae groove is getting pretty infectious. I love this kind of soft boil that invokes a slow sway vs. a happy dance.
“Molly Town” is more of an old school reggae groove.
“Sensimilla” – a title that evokes Rastafari – is the least reggae cut on the album. Instead it is a very mellow soul ballad.
“Harry’s Symphony” is the most traditional reggae track on the album and has gorgeous reggae horns and organ punctuating the track.
“Clean Water” starts with a nice reggae groove with an almost Flamingo guitar over it. Stone jumps in on top and rides the groove with a great breathy vocal.
“The Answer” closes out the set with a Celtic groove. This song screams for a collaboration with Robert Plant and his blues meets world music meets techno sensibility.
Overall this a nicely crafted pop. Nothing revolutionary. But it is hard not to appreciate something so beautifully constructed. Stone’s voice is nicely framed by elaborate arrangements that focus more on the groove than the tinsel. Her voice is always front and center with minimal manipulation. This is classy mature pop that will appeal to retro loving millennials and nostalgic baby boomers.
And if you have the time go back to her debut:
Master is Reality is my favorite Black Sabbath album and this is the first vinyl edition I have owned. I picked it up at the recent Rock N Roll Sale for $7. It is in great shape with the green Warner Bros. center label and black on black embossed cover. Unfortunately it does not have the original “envelope sleeve” containing a poster of the band. It is a great addition to my collection – it has long been on my wish list (it is not rare, but I did not want to spend more than ten bucks).
The album starts with Tony Iommi’s pot induced cough that is the appropriate intro to “Sweet Leaf.” The song is classic Sabbath riffs and lyrics that drip of teenage pot induced profundity. For example, “You introduced me to my mind.”
“After Forever” opens with a riff that must have inspired Tom Petty and then rips into classic Sabbath grunge. I typically think of Ozzy’s as a clown, but lyrically here he is pondering some tough theological questions.
“Embryo/Children Of The Grave” opens with a medieval sounding intro and then rips into heavy metal. At least a thousand bands have been inspired by Tony Iommi awesome riffs like the ones on this song.
Side Two begins with “Orchid/Lord Of This World.” “Orchid” is a baroque acoustic guitar solo, that in classic Sabbath style, transitions into heavy metal. “Lord Of This World” It is turgid slop. Devil worship with a cynical and knowing eye.
“Solitude” is the mellow side of Sabbath. This sets the agenda for many metal albums to come that it is cool to compose pretty melodies.
“Into The Void” is more classic Sabbath riffs of goodness and you can see the foreshadowing of punk and Metallica. Tony Iommi single-handedly creates so much thick sound.
This is a classic album in the heavy metal genre and Black Sabbath are cornerstones of that genre. This is Black Sabbath at their finest.
I have had a love hate relationship with the 2014/2015 Led Zeppelin reissues. They sound great, but the bonus material has been shockingly weak. I have not been able to help myself and I have purchased most of the reissues. Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest rock bands of all time and their catalog was an important soundtrack to my youth. The original CDs sucked so these reissues are a welcome correction. Like a lot of early CD reissues the vinyl was better so this is not a unique criticism of Led Zeppelin.
I remember buying Coda in 1982 (on vinyl of course) and being unimpressed. Timing is everything. The band had retired after the death of John Bonham and the band had updated their sound with In Through the Out Door. Coda was merely a set of scraps to fulfill a contract obligations. I remember being very disappointed at the time.
But time heals. In light of the disappointing bonus material of the 2014/2015, reissues Coda Deluxe is the gem of the reissues (at least it felt that way on the first couple of spins).
Coda now makes sense and the three CD version is the first legitimate set of bonus material in the reissue series. Coda was bonus material. It appears that Led Zeppelin gave us everything and left nothing in reserve. Unless Jimmy Page is toying with us, there are hardly any scraps. This is a huge disappointment to me as my other musical heroes appear to have unlimited reserves (e.g. Dylan and Miles Davis).
Disc one is the original LP which is a handful of outtakes from Led Zeppelin’s carer. Side one is early career and side two is the late career. In hindsight this was significant. The current reissues have shown us there was very little extra material.
When Coda first came out this material did not seem like an album – rather a jumbled mess. It still is a mess, but now we realize that this is the last of the juice that was going to be squeezed from the lemon.
Disk two is early leftovers. It starts out not very promising with an alternative mix of disk one’s “We’re Going To Groove,” but the next cut is an early workout of LZ IV’s “When The Levee Breaks” that is a yawn.
Next comes a rough mix of disk one’s “Bonzo’s Montreaux.” It was only of minimal interest the first time around.
“Baby Come Home” is some nice blue-eyed soul. It is an outake from LZ I and for completist it has been issued a couple of times. I had not heard it before and it is an absolute gem.
“Sugar Mama” is a genuine rarity from LZ I sessions. Another gem.
“Poor Tom” is merely a dub version from disk one.
“Traveling Riverside Blues” is a nice live Robert Johnson cover from 1969. Again completists already have this. For me it was a nice rarity.
“Hey Hey What Can I Do” was the B-side of LZ III’s “Immigrant Song.” New to me, but again completists already have this.
So in hindsight disc two did not have any revelations for the true fan, but a nice bonus for a half-assed fan like me.
Disk three kicks off with “Four Hands (Four Sticks) which is an instrumental from the so-called Bombay Sessions. The song is from LZ IV and this version is with some local Indian musicians nick named the Bombay Orchestra. As best I know this is the first release from that legendary session.
“Friends” is another song from the Bombay Sessions. The raga like feel on this arrangement is perfect.
“St. Tristan’s Sword” is a rough mix from the LZ III sessions and sadly it is an unimaginative and tedious jam.
“Desire” is a rough mix of “The Wonton Song” from Physical Graffiti. Pretty cool to see the song in process of being developed.
“Bring It On Home” is a much rougher and raucous version than LZ II. Again it is fun to see the construction process. This song had lots of controversy as uncredited plagiarism.
“Walter’s Walk” is a rough mix instrumental of the same tune from disk one. Without Plant’s distinctive vocals the song has a nice punk feel.
“Everybody Makes It Through (In The Light)” is a rough mix of a Physical Graffiti track “In The Light.” Not remarkably different from the final version.
In summary Coda is the final statement by Led Zeppelin. It is for hard-core fans. When I first picked up this deluxe edition I was impressed because I never seriously listened to Coda when it was first released and because I was so bonus material starved with the 2014/2015 reissues. After marinating in it for a couple of weeks I am amazed at how great the original studio albums are. There is no fluff. The fact that there was next to nothing left out makes it all more amazing. It is also disappointing that there is not a lost album in the archives.
It has been over a week since Wilco dropped Star Wars as a free download on their website. They then followed it up with a blog post with advice of other acts you should support with your extra Wilco cash. An established act that gets it.
I have had several days to marinate in it and I love it – total feel of a Wilco album, but something new too. I like that the songs are short and compact and that it has a messy feel – not shoddy, but not over produced either – a nice fine line.
The album kicks off with a noisy instrumental track “EKG” that is all about dissonance. One of the great things about Wilco is their comfort with pop rock, folk and prog (sometimes in the same song). For example the next track, “More…” Opens with a folky strum only to trip into beatlesque high gear with some great noise guitar spicing up the mix.
“Random Name Generator” is a great sounding pop rock jam with an edge (think Velvet Underground or Big Star). This is “roll down the windows and turn your car radio loud enough to annoy your neighbor at a stoplight” kind of jam.
“The Joke Explained” has a dylanesque vocal and lyric backed by a George Harrison solo rock, that is Wilco in a nutshell.
“You Satellite” evokes Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. A drone of buzz saw guitar mixed with jangling guitar. Tweedy does his best Lou Reed rap over the drone. The song ends with an extended jam.
“Taste The Ceiling” is easy listening Wilco folk rock. Classic Tweedy: plaintive vocals bleat.
“Picked Ginger” is a nice heavy groove – it sounds like Wilco is passing AC/DC through their system.
“Where Do I Begin” is more plaintive bleating that starts cool, then simmers and finally boils over the pot as it fades to black.
“Cold Slope” is a cosmic mess of Wilco’s full repertoire of sounds yet it works – a tight rope walk.
“King Of You” has the band sounding absolutely Replacements like including Tweedy’s phlegmatic pronunciations.
Magnetized” ends the album with a dirge that flips itself into a pop beauty. A gorgeous love song.
Overall I am loving this album. It sounds less deliberate than the typically Wilco album and that is the charm. It is a revealer – rewarding new flavors after each listen. There is so much going on beneath the surface the leaves will have fallen before I hear all the nuances. A great summer gift from arguably America’s greatest active band. I can’t wait until the LP version is available (CD release date is August 21 and vinyl a little later, on November 27 – Record Store Day).
Sometimes an excellent new release has more to do with receptive ears. I have listened to pretty much everything Mark Knopfler has ever released (solo and with Dire Straits), but somehow Tracker really resonates with me. It is a nice fusion of his Celtic folk and the Dire Straits sounds.
The first cut “Laughs and Jokes and Drinks and Smokes” starts out with an Allman Brothers feel and then eases into Knopfler’s Celtic groove. The transition is so smooth that you begin to understand the folk foundations of the Allman’s music. Pretty damn brilliant.
“Basil” is a beautiful folk ballad that is classic Knopfler story telling. This could easily be a boring folk ballad, but Knopfler spices it with great lyrics and is amazing guitar tone. Absolutely gorgeous. His dry baritone is beautifully augmented by female harmonies (uncredited – as are all the musician except the “featured” vocalist on the last song of the album).
“River Towns” is gentle rolling ballad about a river sailor on shore leave. The song has a gorgeous lush sax solo. The music and the lyrics are perfect melancholia (one of my favorite musical moods).
“Sky Diver” has a nice beatlesque sound.
“Mighty Man”opens with very cool George Harrison sitar sounding slide guitar riff. Lyrically it is candid reflection of life from a worn out tough guy.
“Broken Bones” has a nice J.J. Cale groove. Cale is one of Knopfler’s most significant influences. If you are Dire Straits or Knopfler fan and you have not discovered J.J. Cale you have got to check out his Cale’s catalog. You can get lost in the sedate funkiness of the riffs that are the foundation of this song. Pure ear worms slinking though my mind.
“Long Cool Girl” is the most Dire Straits like track on the album. The song oozes sexy infatuation.
“Lights Of Taormina” is so dylanesque I had to double-check the credits that this was not some long-lost Dylan song. But it appears to be a Knopfler original. Knopfler does not attempt to hide his influence – the album art behind the songs lyrics is a live shot of Knopfler and Dylan from the 80s. Musically and lyrically the song evokes “A Simple Twist Of Fate.”
“Silver Eagle” is the most acoustic song on the album. Another melancholy remembrance.
I take back what I said earlier, “Beryl” is the most Dire Straits like track on the album. The song is a salute to Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge an English writer. I am not familiar with her but after reading her Wikipedia page I am intrigued.
The album closes with “Wherever I Go” a nice duet with Ruth Moody (of The Wailin’ Jennys). The song features another gorgeous sax solo – such a great sound weaving in and out of Knopfler’s guitar tone.
Just a side bitch from a vinyl buyer: why, when you pay top dollar for an album, do you not get a digital copy? Especially when you are denied bonus tracks on the deluxe version (which is half the cost of the LP version). This is especially annoying when the artist is a Troglodyte with regard to streaming.
Overall this is delightful album and my favorite Knopfler solo album since “Sailing to Philadelphia in 2000. There is nothing particularly innovative here (Knopfler pretty much shot his innovation wad in the late 70s/early 80s), but this is the work of a great craftsman and in my book great craftsmanship is a beautiful thing. Most of the songs drip with melancholia, but as I mentioned earlier I love a sad song – very Irish (Celtic music yet another Knopfler influence).
Mick Jagger is a freak of nature. He rocked his ass off in Minneapolis. How a guy in his early 70s can rock like a teenager is beyond comprehension. The band legitimately defended their title as the “world’s greatest rock and roll band” and they did not even seem like they were trying that hard.
My wife and daughter accompanied me to the show and one of the cool features that it rained all day and we stressed all day about a wet show. Just as warm-up act Grace Potter started her set, the rain cleared and it was a dry evening for the rest of the show. A great memory for me will be my young adult daughter discovering the quintessence of rock and roll in Keith Richards. She was mesmerized by his multitasking (cigarette in is pick hand).
Set list:
Jumpin’ Jack Flash / It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It) / All Down the Line / Tumbling Dice / Doom and Gloom / Bitch / Moonlight Mile / Out of Control / Honky Tonk Women / Before They Make Me Run (Keith Richards on vocals) / Happy (Keef again) / Midnight Rambler / Miss You / Gimme Shelter (with opener Grace Potter as guest vocalist) / Start Me Up / Sympathy for the Devil / Brown Sugar ENCORE: You Can’t Always Get What You Want (with Minneapolis choral group VocalEssence) / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Less than a week later it was time to check out the Sticky Fingers reissue. What a deal Target has: the two CD edition with a copy of the LP mailed to your house for $20 (in 4 to 6 weeks – good to lower expectations – I was delighted when it showed up in 10 days).
Sticky Fingers is a an absolute classic. I can’t declare a favorite Stones album but Sticky Fingers is right there in the mix and “Can’t You Here Me Knocking” is my favorite Stones song.
The album flies out of the starting block with a rock and roll classic “Brown Sugar.” I never realized what a fucking depraved song it was until I heard Ryan Adams cover it as dirge in concert many years back. Who but the Stones would juxtaposition fun rollicking music with lyrics about the slave trade?
About 15 years ago a guy at work turned me on to this album. It was his favorite album and it was not available on CD and so he had a Japanese important. He lent it to me and I dubbed a copy for my collection. To this day it is still not available except as a Japanese import on CD (fortunately it is on Spotify).
I was on East Lake Street (Minneapolis) this past weekend so I stopped into Hymie’s and found a nice vinyl copy for $3. The LP was issued in 1971 long before Scaggs became a big star (but he was a cult favorite at the time).
Scaggs hit the big time in 1976 with the LP Silk Degrees. That album rode a thin line between disco and R&B. Scaggs was enough of a rocker to keep it real. I assume, by the center label, the $3 LP I found in the Hymie’s crates was a post Silk Degrees reissue – but it is still a nice piece of wax.
When we backtrack to an album like Boz Scaggs & Band we can see he where this white boy got so much soul. The album features a nice large band with horns. It features blues, R&B, soulful country and at times foreshadows the slick sound of Silk Degrees. It is slick and raw at the same time – like a well mixed cocktail (I assume the great engineer/producer Glyn Johns had something to do with that).
Scaggs penned or co-wrote every cut on the album. Scaggs greatest feature is that he has such a unique voice – which is instantly recognizable. He makes every song his own. It’s an easy voice that has just a bit of a smirk.
The album is a great taste of the 70s when a skilled singer songwriter could throw down a diverse set of cuts in a great studio with a top-notch band. This album will appeal to baby boomers and retro R&B loving millennials – something Mark Ronson would have created if he was sent in a time machine to the 70s.
An album title has never been more appropriate. This is a three-hour tour de force – a 10-piece jazz band augmented by a 32-piece orchestra, 20-member choir and a featured vocalist (Patrice Quinn). I come to this as a jazz fan and I am guessing most ears will be coming from a hip hop aesthetic. This is not hip hop based jazz like Robert Glassper, but rather pure jazz. I will be curious to how the hip hop audience takes to it. I won’t bore you with the back story as it is better told elsewhere.
One of my favorite books is Michael Chabon‘s Telegraph Avenue. A key “character” in the novel is a jazz record store (Brokeland Records). It is not hard to imagine The Epic playing 24 by 7 in the store. The album juxtapositions John Coltrane and soul jazz – imagine Trane on CTI Records.
Kamasi (and other soloist) shred on top of elaborate arrangements that would not be out-of-place on a David Axelrod LP or a Mingus LP. The arrangements are elaborate, yet the soloist sound totally spontaneous and improvisational. Kamasi’s wailing sax solos evokes both Coltrane and an expert rapper’s flow – sometimes at the same time.
There is a lot to absorb here and it is going to take me weeks to fully appreciate this album, but I feel compelled to post after just a listen and half because I am sure this is a masterpiece and I feel the need to shout from the mountain. This is both devotional to the jazz cannon and a completely modern reinvention. This album has the potential, like Mile’s Bitches Brew, to turn on a new crowd to the beauty of the jazz form. Finally I love the ambition of this album: an amazing combo (but even that is oversized), a jazz orchestra, a choir and classic vocalist. It dashes from one place to another (Stevie Wonder, Trane’s Classic Quartet, Axelrod’s jazz symphonies, etc.), yet never sounding disjointed – it is a cohesive whole. I am gobsmacked. More later if I can climb my way out of this pleasure-dome.
When Mumford & Sons came on the scene in 2009 their sound was fresh, but by the time their second album came out in 2012 they were over played and I was bored with them.
The boys did what they had to do on Wilder Mind – they changed up their signature sound – including banning the banjo. This is dangerous stuff tampering with the recipe, but if you are a real musician you have to evolve.
I like the new sound. Sure at times it evokes Coldplay, but I think that is a superficial criticism.
“Tompkins Square Park” – The first time I heard the song I thought Coldplay, but subsequent listens it remind me of Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer.” Not a bad influence for guitar strumming and banjo plucking band trying to find a new voice.
“Believe” really has the Coldplay sound, but Marcus Mumford has a much more unique and interesting voice than Chris Martin. This works for me. Full disclosure I like Coldplay and most other U2 influenced bands so it is a guilty pleasure to consume this kind of pop.
“The Wolf” takes Mumford & Sons signature hard and fast strummed acoustic guitars and substitutes electric guitar and rock drums. What do you get? A great sounding U2 song.
“Wilder Mind” the band hits their stride with the new sound. They sound like an evolved Mumford & Sons and not someone else. They have a legitimate new voice on this song.
“Just Smoke” – Again I feel like this song sounds like an appropriate evolution. Maybe a little Dave Mathews Band sounding – but I think that is a good place for them to go (I am not a DMB hater).
“Monster” is a quite ballad that really highlights what a cool pop voice Marcus Mumford has. Very nice melancholy tune.
“Snake Eyes” is a little taste of old M&S – opening with acoustic guitar. But then it goes atmospheric. Then big electric guitars. This is going to sound great in arena.
“Broad-Shouldered Beasts” has a nice little Led Zeppelin North-African groove.
“Cold Arms” is a nice mellow ballad accompanied by some stark acoustic guitar.
“Ditmas” by this point in the LP, the band sounds completely at home in their new style.
“Only Love” starts out as the quietest song on the album but ends with a bang. This song is likely to draw the Coldplay accusation. But again Marcus Mumford’s voice is so much more interesting than Chris Martin’s – this sound fits the boys like a glove – it is a great steal.
“Hot Gates” ends the album on a solemn note. A bit of dirge, but with a certain magnificence.
I love the new sound and I am glad these guys took the gamble to reinvent themselves. This is arena worthy folk rock. Glorious melancholia.
Fresh Blood is suffering from the same problem as Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear – it follows a masterpiece debut. White’s 2012 Big Inner was an amazing LP and was on my best of 2012.
White is a pop musician whose work evokes Stevie Wonder, Self Portrait era Dylan, Brian Wilson and the the A team of Atlantic Records (Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin). His arrangements drip of the late 60s and early 70s pop: rock instruments with strings and horns.
It is so refreshing in the hip hop era to have lush organic arrangements. White leverages his Spacebomb Records crew (Richmond, Virginia) which includes real instruments and vocalists.
Fresh Blood is a nice sequel to Big Inner. If you are a baby boomer you will have a sentimental smile as White evokes the pop symphonies of Motown and Memphis. If you are younger you will be treated to some wonderfully warm music (think Bon Iver without the computers). Pure ear candy. Love this LP.
Axl's Catch Groove 