This album will be legendary if for no other reason than U2 tarnished their brand by becoming spam. They broke the number one rule of online marketing: get the customer’s permission. But they are not the first mega-band to overreach. There has been plenty written about the U2/Apple fiasco – I am here to talk about the music – which is actually pretty damn good.
I haven’t touched iTunes in a year because of Spotify. Giving this away for free forced me to use it. But it will not bring me back unless iTunes goes HD. Who needs the trouble of a download? We are streaming baby!
My first impression was that is hard to be U2 – they are so imitated it is hard to sound like the original U2. My first listen made me think of Imagine Dragons. I wondered where was Danger Mouse (so much of the per-release hubbub was about that collaboration)?
I am a U2 fan and despite the bad PR and the first impressions I was determined to give it a fair listen. It is a grower – it is a good album. On a real stereo (vs iPhone and crappy buds) the textures are revealed – Danger Mouse’s fingerprints are obvious. Bono’s voice sounds as good as ever and Edge sounds more like a guitar hero than his usual atmospheric self.
I have read a several reviews. So far only raves and haters. They must be doing something right. Here is a quick overview of the songs.
The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) – This a little devotional to the power of rock and roll and has U2 sounding more like their disciples than themselves.
Every Breaking Wave – This sounds like classic U2.
California (There Is No End to Love) – This is the strongest and most ambitious cut on the album. It opens with a wink to the Beach Boys. As Bono gets warmed up he sounds like Police era Sting. A powerful pop song.
Song for Someone – This includes a rare acoustic guitar as the lead instrument, yet it does not sound like folk – it is pure U2.
Iris (Hold Me Close) – To me this has a bit of a Coldplay feel – and that is not a bad thing. Coldplay are clearly inspired by U2 and it is fine with me if there is a bit of a volley between the two bands.
Volcano – The song has a nice pre-Joshua Tree feel to it.
Raised By Wolves – This has a career spanning sound – a little bit of all U2’s bag of tricks is sprinkled throughout this song.
Cedarwood Road – Bono sings about his boyhood street without getting misty.
Sleep Like a Baby Tonight – By this point in the album I am hearing Danger Mouse and this track reeks of the Mouse. It is a very inspired pairing: the Mouse and U2. U2 is a band who is not afraid of a producer and they are typically better off when they are in a collaboration. They have had some great ones over the years.
This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now – Perfect collaboration of U2 and the Mouse. Almost a Black Keys feel.
The Troubles – A nice atmospheric ballad that allows Bono to show off his amazing rock and roll pipes (really he has not sounded better). The song is punctuated by Lykke Li’s very prominent “backup vocals.”
In summary this is a solid late career offering. I appreciate that U2 is not comfortable becoming just a legacy act and that they need to put out new material and that material has some ambition to it. But let’s be honest they have not put out anything truly innovative since Achtung Baby (1991). I like the fact that the album has a reminiscence theme – that seems age appropriate for mature rock stars.
I wrote most of this blog within the first week that this album came out, then I got busy and never finished it and set the album aside for a few weeks. I forced myself back to finish off this blog, feeling like the enthusiasm had worn off and thus maybe this was not such a good album after all. But it is a good album and it is a nice updating of the U2 sound with a gentle nod to their progeny.
I have been hooked on Ryan Adams since I stumbled upon his band Whiskeytown’s Strangers Almanac CD back in 1997. I bought that album (at Target of all places) without any idea of who Whiskeytown was – it was low-priced and the cover art appealed to me. It is one of my all time favorite albums.
I then got into his solo career – but honestly I could not really keep up with the raw volume of his output. I caught up with him again in 2011 with his brilliant Ashes and Fire LP. Adams has kept a low profile for the last couple of years and so I was excited to hear there was a new album coming. He released a couple of singles from the album this summer and they sounded great – I was really anticipating.
Then on August 19th 2014 he released a 10 song 45 (1984). 1984 is nothing like the new album Ryan Adams. Ryan Adams is “classic rock” and 1984 is hardcore punk. On Ryan Adams Adams taps his inner Tom Petty and on 1984 his inner Hüsker Dü. This album will likely not appeal to Adams mainstream fans. If you have read about Adams you know this punk side is a very real side of his musical personality. So even if hardcore punk does not appeal to you, as a fan of Adams you need to give it a listen – think of it as an adventurous appetizer before the main course. From a marketing perspective it created a nice little pre-album buzz (and became an instant collectable – the $6 single is now on eBay at $40 – fortunately it is available on Spotify with a bonus song)
Ryan Adams will absolutely appeal to his mainstream fans. It is not alt-country, but classic rock. This album would not have sounded out-of-place in the mid-70s. But it is not an anachronism – instead it sounds pretty timeless. Which is what all Adams best work is. There is a bit of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Lindsey Buckingham and Paul Westerberg on Ryan Adams. The album whispers and it screams.
It is a grower (sounds better with each repeated listen). I listened a few times last week on the NPR First Listen preview – and it sounded OK. Similar on Spotify. But on vinyl the album really reveals itself. Adams is a serious analog and tubes guy and he clearly took care in the vinyl presentation: high quality 180 gram BLACK vinyl (thank goodness!) and a lyric sleeve – but wait that is just for looks – the actual LP is encased in an audiophile sleeve. Thank you Ryan for not treating the vinyl customer as someone with a fetish, but as a music lover and audiophile. Interesting gimmick: the MP3 download that accompanies the vinyl LP is a vinyl rip.
Clearly this will be on my best of for 2014 and I can’t wait to see him live this fall. This is as good as any of Ryan Adams’ best stuff.
PS – for a real treat check out Bob Mehr’s long read on Adams on BuzzFeed.
Barely Brothers Records has been in business about 6 months. Today was my first visit and I was very impressed. This is a vinyl only record store.
About 1/3 of the inventory is new at prices comparable to other retailers. Their used was appropriately priced to grade. Not over priced, but not discounted either. It was a deep inventory with a broad selection in several genres. They had a generous selection of $1 titles in good to very good condition. They had a big pile of $.50 LPs – this was for me either uninteresting titles or in dubious condition. But hey for half a buck what do you expect (my daughter who happened to be there today was able to find a handful of appealing titles in the $.50 crates)? The overall inventory was interesting enough that I had to limit myself to stay within budget.
I’m not a 45 guy, but it looked like they had a great supply (and it appeared well-organized). They had a nice selection of used turntables too.
The overall vibe of the place was cool. They had a nice performance space in the back. They had great lightning that facilitated both crate digging and examining titles for condition. My only complaint was that the crates were too full – it was hard to browse certain sections. But I will take that over too thin an inventory. Staff was friendly and helpful. There was plenty of street parking (however this was a Sunday). They had some chairs too – a necessary accessory when crate digging with your lovely wife who is more than tolerant (supportive) of your vinyl obsession.
In summary this is a nice addition to the Twin Cities record store landscape and I will be back. Look forward to some reviews in the near future of my crate digger’s gold from Barely Brothers.
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This is a 1975 classic on the CTI label. Unlike most CTI releases this is not soul jazz, but one side of bop and another side of classical music (a jazz interpretation of Joaquin Rodrigo’s 1939 piece for classical guitar and orchestra, “Concierto de Aranjuez”). If that piece sounds familiar it is because it is on Miles Davis’ masterpiece Sketches Of Spain.
The LP boasts a dream line up of Hall on guitar, Roland Hanna on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, a temporarily straight Chet Baker (who is on top of his game) on trumpet and Paul Desmond on alto sax. The music is arranged by Don Sebesky and the album is engineered by the great Rudy Van Gelder (at his studio). Creed Taylor produces of course.
This very tasteful mellow bop. This is late night music, but it also plays well on a slow-moving hot summer Sunday afternoon (as I write this post). The interplay between the musicians like overhearing a most pleasing gentle and intimate conversation between fiends.
This is a fairly easy vinyl LP to find (and it is available on CD and various digital services with bonus cuts) in the $5 to $10 range. There is no excuse not to check it out.
A few weeks ago I was at the RockNRoll Music Sale in Maple Grove MN when I stumbled upon this release for just $1. As I examined it, proprietor Jeff warned me that this was a great album, but there was some non-visable damage and the double LP was priced accordingly. I figured for a buck if just one of the four sides was playable it would be worth it.
The album is damaged with a heavy thump on the first minute of each side (but it did not skip), but who cares this is the definition of Crate Digger’s Gold:
- An unknown album to me
- Cover art suggested this was likely to be some funky shit
- Credits that are a who’s who of fusion greats from the early 70s (recorded live at a club date in 1970)
- Priced so low you can’t miss
- And when you play it the first time your jaw drops as you realize this is jazz rock fusion that rivals what Miles Davis was doing around this time
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet (Cannonball on alto and soprano sax, brother Nat on cornet, Roy McCurdy on drums, Walter Booker on bass and George Duke on electric piano) is augmented by percussion great Airto Moreiara on all the cuts. The Wrecking Crew’s Mike Deasy plays guitar on most cuts. Ernie Watts plays sax and flute on a few cuts. Buck Clayton plays African drums here and there and Alvin Battiste plays some clarinet. Cannonball announces from the stage that all these players are the Cannonball Adderley Quintet and “I don’t give a damn how you count.” Turns out the Quintet is a concept and not a literal name. Oh and the great David Axelrod produces.
This a bit more accessible that Miles’ Bitches Brew, but it has its pretty far out moments too. Deasy gives the proceedings a bit of a Grateful Dead feel at times. My favorite cut is “Dr. Honouris Causa” (sp) by the Quintet’s old piano play Joe Zawinul. The cut predates the Weather Report version by a couple of years and is allegedly a salute to Herbie Hancock for being awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Grinnell College (Hancock had earned an undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and music at Grinnell).
This must have been some show: there is some pretty straightforward blues rock, Miles era fusion, some Brazilian folk, jazz, some vocals, but mostly this is not category music – it is good music. Although Zawinul is not present, but you can tell Weather Report was more influenced by Cannonball than Miles – a revelation to me.
It looks like Real Gone Music has recently reissued this on a remastered 2 CD set if can’t find it in the crates. Online vinyl copies are about $20. It is treasures like this that keep me in the game.
I am total sucker for highly produced 70 pop rock and Jenny Lewis has just released a classic of the genre: think Buckingham/Nicks era Fleetwood Mac, mid-70’s Linda Ronstadt, Court and Spark Joni Mitchell and the edgy side of The Carpenters. Luscious ear candy where you discover another subtle nuance and layer with every listen.
The album is produced mainly by Ryan Adams, but with contributions from Beck, long time Lewis collaborator Johnathan Rice and Lewis herself. All folks who know how to produce great musical sounds – 3 minute pop symphonies.
As slick as the album as is, it has a nice underbelly of a darkness and quite desperation. The juxtaposition of lush pop arrangements and lyrics filled with regret gives the album some genuine nutritional value – this is not empty calories.
Lewis voice is absolutely gorgeous instrument capable of folk, rock and country. It is emotional and as clean as a brand new white pinpoint shirt.
There is not a bad cut on the album. At well past the half way point of 2014, I can confidently declare this will be on my top 10 list.
My father-in-law Jim Adams passed away this afternoon. He would have been 93 this October. While it is sad to lose him, it is also joyful – he lived a great life. His spirit was strong, but his body was done. He was sharp to the end and died peacefully at home.
Jim was an optimist. If you asked him how he was he would shout: “TERRIFIC!.” If a young person like his granddaughter (my daughter) told him about her new job or a trip he would exclaim “The opportunity!”
Jim was an unashamed “tax and spend liberal.” There was no problem so big or so small that a government program could not solve it. I got endless pleasure teasing Jim about his politics. He always took the ribbing in stride.
I have known Jim 34 years and I have never seen him angry, mean or cruel. At best he might have some righteous indignation about an injustice.
Jim was a people person. He was genuinely interested in everyone he met. He was energized by others. Even in his last year, when a stroke robbed him of most of his speech, he would greet everyone in his line of sight with a wave and a “how are you?”
Jim was a simple man and that is not an insult, but a complement. He lived by a set of upbeat phrases. My son recently got a tattoo with one of Grandpa’s phrases: “patience is a virtue.” Grandpa was proud of that tattoo and made my son roll up his sleeve and show everyone he met.
Jim loved to call you up on your birthday and sing you “Happy Birthday” and hang up before you could thank him.
Jim lived life well and was a happy warrior. He enriched everyone he touched in life. He left the world a better place than when he entered. Rest in peace Jimbo.
I first discovered Ronnie Wood on his 1979 classic Gimme Some Neck. I fell in love with his Dylan cover “Seven Days.” I then proceeded to learn this guy had some amazing rock and roll pedigree. At the time he was a relatively new member of the Rolling Stones (officially declared a member in 1976). I started to research his background and he showed up playing bass in the early Jeff Beck Group, Rod Stewart era Faces and helped launch Rod Stewart’s solo career playing on his early albums and co-writing the classic Rod Stewart songs “Gasoline Alley” and “Every Picture Tells a Story.”
What I love about Ronnie Wood is his virtuoso sloppy style – everything sounds drunken and tossed off – but it is done so tastefully you can’t help but love it. Bands like The Replacements based their whole careers on Wood’s delicious mess. An added bonus is Wood’s Dylanesque rasp.
Some how over the years I have never listened to Now Look. This is Wood’s second solo album. I recently bought a nice vinyl copy at the RockNRoll Music Sale. What makes this album special is that is a collaboration with soul music genius Bobby Womack. Womack helps Wood master his bleary eyed soul. A highlight is Wood’s cover of the Ann Peebles “I Can’t Stand The Rain.”
If you are a fan of the sloppier side of the Stones, the era when Rod Stewart was the greatest rock singer on the planet (early 70s) and soulful rock then I highly recommend this release. You should be able to find a decent copy well under $5.
A couple of weeks ago a buddy of mine invited me to see Trampled By Turtles perform Wild Animals at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis (listen to the stream at The Current). I can’t say I was a huge fan prior to that night, but I had purchased their last album Stars and Satellites when it came out and found it charming, but not mind-blowing. I guess I dismissed them as “just” a novelty string band riding the vapor trails of various acoustic juggernauts (Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, etc.).
That night a the Cedar Cultural Center I heard something different – a band with a unique voice. This might be a stretch of an analogy, but if Hüsker Dü was a brilliant pop band masquerading as a hard-core punk band, similarly Trampled By Turtles is a brilliant pop band masquerading as a string band. “Brilliant Pop Band” is a big compliment in my book – Big Star is a brilliant pop band.
A few days later I picked up a CD version of the album ($8 for a CD vs. $20 for the wax – I guess I was not really that committed to the cause). I have been listening to it every day for over a week now and it is not wearing thin. TBT has officially captured my attention.
Low’s Alan Sparhawk has done what great producers are supposed to do with this album: bring their own point of view without overpowering the band and inspiring the band to go to new (but not unnatural) places.
The boys have toned down the string band machismo in favor of quieter more contemplative arrangements that focus on the song vs. technique and speed (although they occasionally throw a little bluegrass gasoline on the fire to remind the fans what they are capable of – just like the Replacements juxtaposing the punk sass of “Tommy Got His Tonsils Out” with the thoughtful pop art of “Androgynous” on Let It Be).
I now find myself wondering about them. I noticed on the CD case that all the songs are written by vocalist/guitarist Dave Simonett – has that always been the case? How do the other guys feel about that? What does it feel like to catch a little wind in your sails? Do the guys feel Sparhawk had too much influence on the sound of the album? Do they feel like they have sold out or that they have painted their masterpiece? Hmm, now I am a TBT fan. Sure is fun to discover a band – even when you are late to the party and half the hip music fans in the state of Minnesota would likely say “no shit Sherlock.”
In 2012 I was blown away by Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s Big Moon Ritual. In fact it was my #1 from that year’s “best of list.” I am a long time Black Crowes fan (it is hard to believe that is a 25 year pursuit), so I come to Rich Robinson’s new album (The Ceaseless Sight) with a pretty positive bias. CRB’s has had a few equally cool releases since Big Moon Ritual, including an amazing Record Store Day release. The last couple of years have been Chris, but this year is Rich. I will state right up front that this album is a front-runner for my album of the year for 2014.
First kudos to Rich Robinson for doing vinyl right and making the vinyl edition the deluxe package it should be at two to three times the cost of a CD. I am so sick of paying $20-$30 for a new album on crappy vinyl (pop, clicks and static on the first play) and the “bonus” of an MP3 download (could you at least provide CD quality lossless format?). Robinson uses high quality vinyl (that is visual gorgeous too – see below), provides a CD version of the album and has a side D of bonus material not available anywhere else other than on the vinyl edition – and priced at about $22 (the low end these days for a double disk). Thanks for treating your highest paying customer (the vinyl buyer) right!
Given that Rich Robinson is an established guitarist in a pretty famous guitar based rock band, I would have expected this to be a guitar slinger’s LP. There is great string play here, but Rich is first and foremost a songwriter and his guitar playing is focused on support of the songs rather than showing off his guitar-god prowess.
The first few times through the album I was handicapping Rich’s voice as he did not have the classic rock and roll pipes of big brother Chris. But the more I listened I began to really appreciate the relaxed subtle nuance of Rich’s voice. Like his guitar playing, his voice is there to support the song vs. being the star of the show. There are several textures to his voice – he seems to introduce a different texture on every song.
I am always careful about trying to classify music as the labels can be so deceiving, but if you are not familiar with an artist labels are helpful to determine if this is someone you want to check out. So here goes the label: bluesy-folk-rock, with just a touch of jam band. Influences seem to range from classic Stone’s boogie to Nick Drake belly button contemplation.
The secret sauce for this album is keyboardist Marco Benevento. His contributions add significantly to the overall sound of this album. One of the elements I always loved about Lynyrd Skynyrd was Billy Powell’s contribution. Great keyboards are very underrated in a guitar based rock band – that add some serious soul to proceedings.
Some quick thoughts on each cut:
“I Know You” Sounds like Karl Wallinger of World Party fronting the Stones.
“Down The Road” This song highlights a more acoustic sound. I can imagine lying on my back in the grass at a jam band festival enjoying this one.
“One Road Hill” Another acoustic based song with a folk/country feel. This is the song that made me think of Nick Drake.
“The Giving Key” Great Laurel Canyon/Southern California 70s vibe. Love the organ and female back up vocals courtesy of Levon Helm’s daughter Amy.
“Unfortunate Show” has that Black Crowes’ bluesy vibe dripping with Stones and Faces influences.
“In Comes The Night” I love the nice acoustic intro. This is classic folk rock and proof that Rich has some great pipes of his own.
“Inside” has a great funky and playful groove.
“I Have A Feeling” I love songs like this that simmer and then boil. This song has a Traffic feel that is sexy and seductive.
“I Remember” Rich shows his full set of skills: Allman Brothers’ groove, strong guitar lead across the track and yet another solid vocal.
“In you” Rich treats us to a Gary Louris like (Jayhawks) vocal and Stephen Stills like guitar solo.
“Trial and Faith” Marching drums lay a nice foundation for searing guitar work.
“Obscure the day” The album ends on with beautiful instrumental track. It has that acoustic Led Zeppelin feel to it. It has shifting moods from quite lullaby to subtly menacing. Side D (LP only) is filled out with similar acoustic based instrumentals.
As I said at the beginning of this post I am quite smitten by this album. If you are a vinyl person you are richly rewarded with a great presentation in that format. One of my definitions of a great album is that with every listen the album reveals more – this album keeps revealing more and sounds better with each listen.
Axl's Catch Groove 