Because I have been really busy, but with plenty of time for listening, I have had the opportunity to really marinate in Neko Case’s latest. I first became acquainted with Neko Case as the big female voice in the New Pornographers. Then I was really into 2004’s The Tigers Have Spoken which positioned her as a alt-country and indie-rock Patsy Cline. She kind of fell off of my radar screen with her subsequent albums – I listened to them all but none of them really resonated with me. This album was really hyped and was on several fall preview lists so I purchased the deluxe edition on release Tuesday.
If you are not familiar with Neko Case here is how I would describe her for the uninitiated:
- Big Voice – Neko has a huge and powerful voice, but not in a pop diva sorta of way. She has a big voice like Patsy Cline – it is pop, it is country and totally unique.
- The music is spooky/quirky – I loved the TV show Twin Peaks – Neko Case’s music is like Twin Peaks.
- Reverb – Neko’s music is very wet, it is soaked in echo/ reverb.
- Indescribable Pop – Neko and the New Pornographers music is hard to put you finger on – it is totally accessible, but without obvious influences. It is elaborate, but not pretentious.
So anyway the album is great – I know it is great because the first time I listened to it I was unimpressed. Yet every time I listen to it (and I am at about the 20th rotation) I like it more and discover something new. I also know it is great because I am plunging into her back catalog and wondering why I don’t have it all memorized. This is why you sometimes have to actually purchase music. When you drop $15 you can’t just dismiss it like a you can on Spotify or You Tube – you have made a commitment. Damn – either I just wasted 15 bucks or I made a great investment. I felt compelled to listen to this several times and it took the 5th rotation to enlighten me.
Again this is a great album – worthy of all the hype and worth your investment of your precious time. This will be on my top 2013 Top Ten and if I didn’t blow $15 on the deluxe edition I would nab this on vinyl (proof of my commitment to an album). The lyrics feel very raw and intimate – not the typical hipster aloof of most of Neko’s albums. Musically this is very ambitious pop – there is a lot going on here – there is a lot of music to explore. You can almost get lost in the arrangements. This is the closest to Neko’s New Pornographers material of any of her solo albums.
One final comment – if you are on a budget you can pass on the deluxe edition. It is very beautiful, but the bonus material is nothing special. Spend the extra money on vinyl if you are confident you will fall in love or have pre-sampled and know what you are getting into. WAIT: maybe I am wrong here. As I blog I am listening to the deluxe’s “Magpie To The Morning” and this songs totally touches my soul. It was flyover country on Middle Cyclone. So there – buy the deluxe and buy the LP – support the artist (their label and your local record store) if you love them!
Several weeks ago I blogged in anticipation of this release. Reading about this release had me reevaluating Dylan’s Self Portrait – one of his most bewildering albums in his long and distinguished career (that has had a few head-scratchers – can you say “born again”). Well it is finally here and I have been listening all week. I was torn with what edition to buy – do I go cheap and get the standard edition for twenty bucks, the LP for seventy or the deluxe CD box for a spendy C Note? I splurged and got the deluxe (I picked up the LP too, but I am afraid to open it).
First the deluxe is a beautiful package – two hardcover mini coffee table books and four CDs: The double standard CD, Bob Dylan & The Band at the Isle of Wight (August 31, 1969) and a remastered Self Portrait. The Greil Marcus (author of the notorious “What is this shit?” 1970 Self Portrait review in Rolling Stone) revisionist review is outstanding. Great photos and cool artifacts like photos of the original tape reals.
OK – but it is about the music right? Yes it is.
The Two CD’s that make up Another Self Portrait is some of the most passionate and excellent singing of Bob’s career. There is folk Dylan, rock and roll Dylan and country Bob (the Nashville Skyline croon). Honestly I have not heard Bob sing this well across a full album let alone a double one. He sang this well on the original Self Portrait, but his singing got lost in the distraction of what seemed over produced at the time (I have a revised and enlightened opinion now) and the eclectic nature of the material (again it now makes sense 40 plus years after the fact).
I have been listening all week and each listen reveals new nuances of Dylan’s voice and nods of agreement with his repertoire: Public Domain folk songs, remakes of his own classics, new Dylan tunes and covers. If there is one recurring theme, it is the sheer joy in the performances – Bob is having the time of his life and grinning from ear to ear. On paper some of his song choices seem like hipster irony, but I am pretty sure he just plain loves these songs and does not give a damn.
The live Isle of Wight concert is pretty damn cool. The original Self Portrait teased us with a few gems, but this airs it all out. This is the Nashville Skyline crooning Dylan covering his hits with his greatest back up band (The Band). This CD alone had me dropping the C Note.
The remastered Self Portrait sounds immaculate. I have listening to an old worn vinyl edition and a Spotify edition – so this is a great improvement on both. But most of all this strange album makes sense now in a way it never did for all those years. Part of it is Dylan’s late career where we have seen what devotion he has to old songs and our understanding that he seems to have internalized everything he has ever heard. In the rear view mirror we better understand the madness of the 60s and how brilliant Dylan was for dropping out and ignoring pop culture by immersing himself in Americana. But mostly it is the back story that is revealed in Another Self Portrait that puts it all in perspective.
Now all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt because I am a crazy Dylan fan who would likely listen to Bob fart and think it genius. So you may listen and wonder what the hell is wrong with me. So dip you toe into it with a free listen of the 15 song sampler on Spotify. If you dig that you can take the plunge.
The Dylan Bootleg series has been an amazing treasure chest. What is best, and kind of maddening, is that Team Dylan has never gone for the obvious, but instead mined where you would never have thought to look – like Dylan in 1970 – when the critics thought he had lost his mind or was performing an elaborate put on. Yet despite being odd, Self Portrait sold 3 million albums back in the day, not bad for a lark.
Most Saturdays and Sundays, weather permitting and commitments permitting, I go an 30 to 40 mile bike ride. This is one of my best listening times as I have next to no distractions. Unfortunately it is also one of the least quality listening times. Typically I am listening to Spotify through $20 yurbuds. Between the low quality audio and the wind whistling it is not a great listening experience. But the focused solitude more than makes up for it. What follows is not really a playlist. I am not a song guy, but an album guy. On my 30 mile ride today I listened to 3 albums without any premeditation.
A few weeks ago I clicked on a Tweet from the LA Times that highlighted their pop critic’s best of 2013 so far. David Bowie, “The Next Day” was on the list so I thought I would give it listen. How is it that guys like Bowie and Dylan can toss off masterpieces late career? This album is shockingly good. I particularly like the arrangements and horns. Bowie’s vocals are strong and passionate. It sounds like classic Bowie, but totally of the moment too.
Listening to Bowie somehow made me wonder about Joy Division. So I searched Joy Division on Spotify and selected Closer. For an alleged music head I have some serious gaps in my listening experience. I have never listened to Joy Division despite being a moderate New Order fan. I can see why this is such a huge band. Despite being released in 1980 this sounds totally timeless and could have been issued yesterday.
This is the darkest disco you could ever imagine, but it is disco. It has incredible groove even if it goth as hell. I am impressed – I will be back.
Last week on my ride I listened to the latest Black Sabbath so that must have been in the back of my mind as I dialed up Dio’s debut Holy Diver. Ronnie James Dio’s vocals have graced Rainbow and post Ozzy Black Sabbath and he had a nice little career as a leader with the band Dio. Dio has the quintessential metal voice – a melodic scream. His voice is highly commercial with an appropriate edge. This album could have been hair metal, but has a authenticity that avoids caricature.
So that was my ride today. Not sure how it all fits or what it says about my taste.
I have been a Derek Trucks fan for a long time and when Revelator came out in 2011 I felt he really hit his stride – finally he had the perfect vocalist in his wife Susan Tedeschi. Revelator was an outstanding and Made Up Mind is a worthy follow-up. Musically these two albums are similar, but this time around everything seems a little more relaxed and lived in like your favorite jeans.
Susan sounds particularly in command on this set. Her vocals are emotionally expressive – a worthy tonal equivelant to Derek’s guitar. Derek’s solos are a thick and naturally sweet as honey. The whole band sounds great – the horn arrangements are subtle and sophisticated at the same time – punctuating both Derek’s guitar and Susan’s vocals.
If you’re not familiar with the Tedeschi Trucks Band here are few reference points:
- First and foremost The Allman Brothers Band – that is where Derek made a name for himself as the reincarnated Duane.
- Bonnie Raitt – the easiest reference point for Susan’s vocals
- Delaney & Bonnie – the blueprint for the husband and wife soul/rock/blues ensemble with really cool friends.
The three Tedeschi Trucks Band albums are very much soaked in a 70s vibe. But I have no problem with that. I am grateful that a younger band is keeping the tradition alive and moving it forward. This is easy-going, yet virtuosic at the same time. The textures are deep. Each repeated listen reveals new nuances. Derek nods to Duane, Eric and Jimi – yet remains his own man. Again I can’t think of a more perfect vocalist to be fronting this band (and she can tear off a tasty little solo herself on the six string). This is very much a balanced performance by Susan and Derek.
I have been sitting on this album for several weeks now. I meant to write a review right away, but a busy life got in the way. I was feeling a little guilty and then a I read a profound interview with Jay-Z where he said: “…you can’t listen to an album and rate it in a day. It’s just impossible.” Well I have been listening to this album almost every day for about three weeks – I have been marinating in it.
When this album first came out, I was vaguely aware of it – it had a little hype. Then I was paging through the infamous Boston Bomber Rolling Stone and I came across an article “Is Laura Marling the New Joni Mitchell?” Well that is quite a question and I am pretty major Joni fan so I dug into the article.
I was intrigued enough to give it a Spotify listen and I was pretty blown away – this is Blue for the new millennium. Marling channels Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Nick Drake, Ryan Adams (Ethan Johns produces and plays on the album) and even a little Patti Smith.
My new gauge of an album is do I want to buy the vinyl and there was no question with this one. And it looks like Marling was even thinking about vinyl in the presentation. Side one is a seamless song cycle. One of the most outstanding and coherent sides I have heard in a long time. Each of the four sides is a chapter. This could be 4 albums or at least 4 EPs. This is one of the many problems with the CD – you throw it in the slot and let it roll – sometimes you need to listen to 4 or 5 song sequence over and over – sometimes you need to never flip the album.
Let’s go back to Joni. I first heard Joni Mitchell in 1977. I was a freshman in college and living in a Catholic seminary dorm. My neighbor was a hip older guy from Omaha who had an intriguing past for a seminarian. Some how we hit it off – I was a hopeless nerd and I think he felt sorry for me. One night he invited me over to his room and said “I am going to blow you mind.” He rolled one, fired it up and played Joni’s Court and Spark on his sweet stereo. My mind was blown and my life was changed. I can trace my passion as a music head and audiophile to that fateful evening. I was hooked and I began a life long schoolboy crush on female singer-songwriters.
I listened to Laura Marling’s back catalog on a long bike ride today. It was good and there are moments that foreshadow Once I Was An Eagle, but nothing to suggest that she was capable of this kind of masterpiece. This is a breakout – a breakthrough – an artist finding her authentic voice. This is deep and contemplative pop music. It is very intimate. Imagine overhearing a conversation though a thin wall or hearing the troubled thoughts of a beautiful woman. The vocals, the arrangements and the lyrics are melancholia. I love this mood – it is not depression for me – but an honest embrace of life – the joys and the sorrows and everything in between. Life is real – it is ecstasy , it is pain.
Joni wrote a masterpiece and called it Blue. It was not the blues, but it was. Laura Marling has written a masterpiece that is a current Blue – again it is not the blues, but it is.
I received an email from bobdylan.com this past week announcing that the tenth volume of the bootleg series will be released in late August – Another Self Portrait.
Really? Not The Complete Blood on the Track Sessions or Dylan Live with Tom Petty or the definitive edition of The Basement Tapes? No the Columbia vaults have been mined to flesh out one of the most baffling releases of Dylan’s career. When Self Portrait was released in in 1970 it was famously reviewed by Dylanologist Greil Marcus in Rolling Stone with the opening sentience “What is this shit?”
When I ventured on to Self Portrait thirty plus years ago I was unaware of the legend of the album. I was still a fledgeling Dylan fan only knowledgeable about his most popular material. I remember opening the gate-fold of the double album and being amazed by the credits: produced by Highway 61 Revisted’s Bob Johnston, The Band, David Bromberg, various Nashville session cats – wow this was going to awesome.
The album opens with “All The Tired Horses” which is a Nashville saccharine female backup choir repeating a simple lyric – Dylan’s voice does not even grace the track – “what is this shit” indeed.
I was on bike ride yesterday listening to the sensational new Laura Marling album (hope to have a post on that LP soon) – which has an “It ain’t me babe” Dylan quote in the song “Master Hunter.” That quote had me recalling the email of the new 4-CD Another Self Portrait coming out in late August and so I decided to give Self Portrait a fresh listen – I bet it is 15 years since I have listened to it – all I could remember was the cover (original painting by Bob), that it was weird and one kick ass rock and roll song: “The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo). Thank goodness for Spotify – I dialed up Self Portrait and gave it a listen. When I got home I gave it second listen on vinyl.
Shocking it did not sound weird – it sounded great. After 35 years of listening to Dylan and his many career twists and turns this album sounded oddly legit. It mixed late 60’s pop country, a diverse set of Dylan voices: folk Dylan, Nashville Skyline Dylan, rock and roll Dylan and some cool mutations of those three voices. The album does not have a coherent feel – it is more like you have stumbled into the cluttered closet of Dylan’s late 60s mind (when he had heroically flipped off the counter culture at the height of his success) – yes a self-portrait of the artist who takes himself less seriously than his fans. There is a wonderful whimsy to the album.
Dylan throws in covers and mixes in are a couple of live tracks with Dylan and The Band circa 1969 (Like a Rolling Stone. The Mighty Quinn, Mistrial Boy, and She Belongs To Me). Dylan’s duets the classic voice with the Nashville Skyline voice in cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer.” I am not sure if that is brilliant or merely a novelty or a joke. As I mentioned earlier there is the raucous rock and roll masterpiece: “The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) – which is Dylan and The Band punkishly and brilliantly stumbling like drunks returning home from the pub – not that far from The Replacements’ territory.
In the review mirror of Dylan’s full career, Self Portrait makes some twisted sense and stands the test of time. More importantly it has me anticipating Bootleg Volume 10. Every volume has been enlightening and worth every penny – so I assume this one will too.
I first started this blog when I was recovering from major surgery in the fall of 2011 – I had time on my hands. My first post was a review of my main turntable – it was September 21st 2011.
I have a long-standing passion for music and my primary objective of this blog is to express my thoughts about the music I am listening to and the machines that aid me in that listening. I don’t see myself as a critic – I am not interested in reviewing anything I don’t like – if I don’t like it I have no need to express my hate. Sometimes I spend a long time absorbing a piece of music, but more often I am just reacting after a couple of listens. There is hardly any albums that stick with me over time – I have a bit attention deficit issue when it comes to music – I am always looking for what is around the next corner. I do hope that my posts will help others discover something they might not otherwise check out on their own.
I have found it extremely challenging to put into words why I like a particular piece of music. I find it hard to describe the music in a way that captures its spirit without biasing labels or meaningless contractions (jazz-rock). I have found that my most common analogies when describing music that moves me involve food or drink.
I wish I had more time, creativity and energy to write these posts. I probably listen to about 20 albums a week and at least half of which are new to my ears. At least 5 each week are worthy of a blog post – but if I get one post a week I am doing good.
I realize that hardly anyone reads my posts, but that does not discourage me. I find it very satisfying if I can document my thoughts on a topic and know it is just public enough that I need to make it more than a “note to self” and that I need to make an attempt at editing and coherency.
I try not to be snob, but I do know that not all music is good. I think it is important to listen to music on the best equipment you can afford and not just go for convenience. It is more convenient than ever to discover music which is a mixed blessing – it is easy to take things for granted when things are too easy.
When people discover that I am a music head they often ask me what style of music is my favorite – this is an impossible question to answer – I like all genres – as long as it is good music (a pure self-indulgent judgement call). About the only way I can describe my taste would be to list my top artists/bands/labels: Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, CTI, Pat Metheny, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Neil Young, Rolling Stones, George Clinton/P-Funk, Norah Jones, Blue Note, etc. ( I could go on and on). Not exactly cutting edge stuff – but it is who I am.
I have a theory of pop music and that is there is nothing original after 1975. That is not to say I don’t enjoy a lot of current music – I do. It is that just the most original period in pop music was from 1965 to 1975 and I can’t think of anything current that does not have its roots in that time period. I am not an early adopter – I come to most trends late and even then it can take me several years to “get it.” But what I lack in a discovering ear, I make up in a passionate ear.
If you are regular or occasional reader – thanks. A special thanks to my family. My wife has been my endless supporter encouraging me to retire to my listening room to pound out theses posts. She is enables and encourage “my habit” – you know you are married to the right woman when she asks on release Tuesdays “anything you want out today?” My son’s blog was the first blog I ever read and therefore my teacher. My daughter has been my curator and encourager of the catchgroove brand and concert companion. Thanks and I love you all. We will check in again when we get to some other significant number of posts!
One of my favorite albums of the last dozen years or so is John Scofield’s Überjam. That album mixed soul jazz, hip-hop, electronic music and jam band concepts on top of Scofield’s jazz chops resulting in a very satisfying concoction. I was pumped to see Scofield was revising the concept with Überjam Deux. These are apples from the same tree, but where the first take was carefully crafted, this time around Scofield has perfected this gig and is able to play this gumbo in a relaxed manner. This style of music has become broken in for Sco and as comfortable as an old pair of jeans. That is not to say this is a lazy take, but familiar, confident, natural and masterful.
I re-listened to the original Überjam last night and as much as I loved that album I was struck by how diligent and deliberate it sounded vs. the carefree sound of this album. For sure this is on my “best of” for 2013. A completely contemporary take of early 70s soul jazz.
Sometimes you have to go crate digging in your own collection. I recently picked up a nice vinyl copy of V.S.O.P – The Quintet and it reminded me of this very important album from my youth. This was one of the first albums I purchased as an 18-year-old budding music head. Not sure why I bought it – assume it must have gotten a lot of press at the time. Little did I know at the time that it was an classic retrospective of one of modern jazz’s great players, composers and band leaders.
This a pretty amazing album – it is a live recording of a concert on June 29, 1976 in NYC, The intention was to be a retrospective of Herbie’s career to date, but as Herbie put it this is really a “tribute to Miles Davis” who was a very sick puppy at the time. It gathered three great bands Herbie was associated with:
- The Miles Davis Second Great Quintet (Ron Carter – bass, Wayne Shorter – sax, Tony Williams – drums, Herbie Hancock – keyboards, and Freddie Hubbard serving as understudy for Miles Davis on trumpet) – sides 1&2. There are some who say that side 1 and 2 of this album were instrumental in hatching the neo-bop young lion movement of the early 80s (e.g. Wynton Marsailis). These guys had not played in this style for quite a few years and it was a thrill for the jazz world to see this great group reunited.
- The Mwandishi Sextet – side 3 – this was a group that took the spirit of Mile’s Bitches Brew forward into very deep and profound territory.
- The Headhunters Band – side 4 – this group was a funk inspired outfit and would have been representative of the music of the moment for Hancock at the time of this concert.
I played this album to death in the late 70s – especially the Headhunter’s side, but really the whole album has had a great impact on my listening to this day – all three bands and the styles they represent are very dear to my heart. If you want a quick intro to the music of Herbie Hancock this is the album to do guide you in that discovery. This was a popular album so it is pretty easy to find a decent quality vinyl edition at a reasonable price.
I barely understand hip hop. But I do understand funk and if you disregard retro soul, hip hop is the funkiest show in town. In my mind there are two kinds of funk – party funk and thoughtful funk – and sometimes (e.g. masterpieces) it serves both masters.
I want to be a Kanye hater, but he keeps putting out masterpieces. Yeezus is audacious, combative and brilliant. This is not crossover music, but fuck off music. Kanye is flipping off the whole pop world and he is doing it with serious swagger. It is harsh, offensive and in your face, but it is so cleverly executed that it is impossible to dismiss.
Not something that I will repeated listen to, but I have to give the guy props – he is a genius and fearless. He is capable of being a pop star, but prefers to run down the dark alleys. The music is austere, yet very interesting. The lyrics are not something I get – I don’t have a clue what Kanye is rapping about. I feel like I am eavesdropping on gossip where I don’t know any of the people talked about – it seems interesting, but I am not emotional involved. Kanye is not speaking to anything I know or living a life I fantasize. But he is one interesting and intriguing one-man circus. Worth stopping a few minutes to see if he falls off the high wire or makes it to the other side and back.
All the same
Axl's Catch Groove 