Ben Harper & Relentless7 - White Lies for Dark Times
May 26, 2009 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other, New Album - Rock
Ben Harper & Relentless7 - White Lies for Dark Times - Album Review
“Ben Harper is that rare talent able to not only vacation in the worlds of gospel, soul, folk and even reggae, but meld them gracefully together on both album and stage. But sometimes you just want him to rock, like he did on 1995’s “Ground on Down.” And, at long last, he’s assembled a new band that seems dedicated to just that, and it’s a beautiful thing. The bare-knuckled “Lay There and Hate Me” is a head-on collision between soul and rock, a grittier, angrier “Gimme Shelter.” “Keep It Together” is a worthy tribute to Led Zeppelin, proudly bearing the influence of Harper’s 2007 Bonnaroo jam with John Paul Jones. The eyes-closed, fist-shaking, prayer-through-song side of Harper often comes through, most effectively on “It’s Up to You,” a slow-building tsunami of sound. The band quiets later in the disc, which might have been a buzz kill if the songs weren’t so damn good.”
Brian Blade - Mama Rosa
May 4, 2009 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other
Brian Blade - Mama Rosa - Album Review
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Brian Blade - Mama Rosa
“Since bursting onto the jazz scene in the early ’90s, Brian Blade has developed into a drummer, composer and bandleader of formidable force. Cutting across musical and stylistic divides, his playing has elevated the bands of such acts as Joshua Redman, Emmylou Harris and his own Fellowship unit. “Mama Rosa,” his latest album as a leader, is a surprising departure into moody, singer/songwriter fare, and a rousing success at that. Produced by Blade and Daniel Lanois protégé Adam Samuels, the album bathes Blade’s hushed vocals (and surprisingly fluid instrumental work) in tremolo-tinged guitars and pensive piano lines. Lanois guests on haunting tracks like “Mercy Angel,” “Her Song” and “You’ll Always Be My Baby,” his singular guitar sound the perfect foil for Blade’s sonic and lyrical benedictions. Other standout guests include vocalist Kelly Jones and pedal steel players Greg Leisz and Patrick Smith.”
Jesse Winchester - Love Filling Station
April 29, 2009 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other
Jesse Winchester - Love Filling Station - Album Review
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Jesse Winchester - Love Filling Station
“In a year that’s already seen several overdue comebacks—among them, folkie Tom Rush, erstwhile Manfred Mann vocalist Paul Jones and MG’s founder Booker T. Jones—legendary songwriter Jesse Winchester’s may prove the most significant. Since the late ’70s the author of such classics as “The Brand New Tennessee Waltz” and “Biloxi” has averaged about one studio album per decade (his last was 1999’s “Gentleman of Leisure”), which makes the arrival of “Love Filling Station” reason to celebrate. Recorded in Nashville and abetted by some estimable talent (including Jerry Douglas on lap steel), it swings easily between country/pop material like the sentimental, ’50s-ish “O What a Thrill” (previously covered by the Mavericks) and the jaunty, Western swing-flavored “It’s a Shame About Him,” plus a handful of well-chosen covers, notably Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me.” Throughout, Winchester’s keening upper register remains as delicious as a honey-coated confection, while the occasional raspy inflection conveys a touch-of-gray elegance.—Fred Mills”
Ramblin Jack Elliott - A Stranger Here
April 10, 2009 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other
Ramblin Jack Elliott - A Stranger Here
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Ramblin Jack Elliott - A Stranger Here
“Who better to bring some musical perspective to these troubled times than Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, as he takes on Depression-era country blues classics on “A Stranger Here,” his second release on Anti- Records. The former Woody Guthrie protégé is part of a musical thread that links Guthrie to early Bob Dylan. And as Dylan has recently done, Elliott, at age 77, proves the new relevance of traditional blues. “Children stand there screaming, ‘Momma we ain’t got no home,’ ” he rasps on the album’s opener, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Rising High Water Blues.” Elliott brings a seen-it-all authenticity to this repertoire while Joe Henry’s sympathetic production (aided by guest appearances by Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Van Dyke Parks) is pitch perfect, from the spookiness of Son House’s “Grinnin’ in Your Face” to the jaunty “Richland Women Blues” by Mississippi John Hurt. Elliott skillfully reintroduces these songs and, for that, he deserves to be no stranger to a new generation of fans.—Thom Duffy”
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem - In Person at Carnegie Hall: The Complete 1963 Concert
March 19, 2009 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem - In Person at Carnegie Hall: The Complete 1963 Concert
“Even more than most folk groups, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were all about delivery, especially the introductions and in-jokes with which they punctuated their performances. The classic Columbia album of their 1963 St. Patrick’s Day concert cut most of their asides, but this “Legacy Edition” presents the show as it should be heard: a complete recorded document of a cultural moment when four lads in Aran sweaters could perform on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” then joke onstage at Carnegie Hall about having them “cleaned in celebration—once a year, whether they need it or not.” In the midst of a self-consciously serious folk revival, the Clancys made an outsized impression on a young Bob Dylan, who borrowed from their hipster humor and later grabbed the melody of “The Patriot Game”—itself mostly taken from an older tune—for “With God on Our Side.” As fun as folk music gets.—Rob Levine”
Brett Dennen - Hope for the Hopeless
October 23, 2008 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other
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Brett Dennen - Hope for the Hopeless
“Those who find the approach of John Mayer a little too uncomfortably in-your-face would do well to check out this third offering from Brett Dennen, which lopes along on the teddy-bear Californian’s gentle voice and gentler sentiments. Dennen’s 2006 breakthrough, “So Much More,” contained more than a few highly sweet coffee-shop love songs, but “Hopeless” aims for Greater Importance, with Dennen offering cotton-candy social commentary on “Make You Crazy” (as in, the world is enough to) and “World Keeps Turning” (which it does, and you can’t do nothin’ to slow it down). Dennen’s tenuous vocals (and lyrics) are better suited to silly love songs than this sort of material, and though producer John Alagia knows how to make the guitars jingle and jangle and how to work up a soft, swimmy groove, Dennen needs a little more to rise out of the ever-growing multitude of sensitive guitar dudes. —Jeff Vrabel”
Pete Seeger - At 89
October 5, 2008 by Willis
Filed under New Album - Other
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Pete Seeger - At 89
“The folk icon’s first record since 2003 is less an album than the audio version of whiling away an afternoon at Seeger’s upstate cabin. It’s a pleasingly indulgent collection of songs, stories and detours that will be something of a treasure for longtime fans and packs at least a dozen treats for relative newbies. (There are 32 in all, 26 previously unrecorded, including stories, introductions and at least one “Nameless Banjo Riff.”) Seeger grudgingly nods to his own mortality on tracks like the extremely sweet “Little Fat Baby,” a growin’-up narrative with lines like, “Some day, we’ll be saying so long/ Some day, it’ll be time for me to move on.” Best of all is “False From True,” a ragtime throwback that finds Seeger settling into a sweetly melancholy tale of nostalgia, hope and “separating false from true.”—Jeff Vrabel”
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