David Gray, Foundling

For a while there, British singer David Gray looked like he was in the middle of a creative chasm. It took the talented songwriter four years to follow up 2005’s Life In Slow Motion album with last year’s fine Draw the Line.

Interestingly, the sessions that produced that record turned out to be extremely productive because Gray has just released another cd entitled Foundling which is full of songs that were mostly recorded during that time.

Initially, Gray thought about just adding some of the songs found here to a re-release of Draw the Line as a bunch of bonus cuts. However, Gray thought better of that idea and decided to give Foundling a proper release. This choice actually proves to be a wise one because both albums are different in their own way.

Draw the Line was a tight, well-produced album that was vintage Gray with piano and acoustic guitar driven songs of varying tempos. Foundling, however, is a quiet, moody piece that is much more understated and low key. (Need an example, Draw the Line featured an interesting song with Gray trading vocals with the big voice of Annie Lennox. Nothing like that is found on this latest release.)

So how does this more private side of Gray stack up? Well, there are definitely some fine moments on Foundling’s two discs. (There is a bonus cd of eight songs in addition to the 11 on the first disc.) “Only the Wine” opens the set in fine form with its nice acoustic guitar and simple but effective drumbeat while “The Old Chair” features Gray’s trademark fine vocals backed mostly by piano but with an extra bonus of an elegant string section near its end which brings the song a surprising emotional depth.

Foundling also finds a few tracks that see Gray using different kinds of horns and brass to good effect. A saxophone is heard on the title track and “We Could Fall in Love Again Tonight” and a trumpet and trombone are subtly used on “A New Day at Midnight.”

Unfortunately, however, Foundling’s overabundance of sparse, low key songs is its biggest downfall. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the lyrics to the tracks where a bit more upbeat. Some recent critics have called this collection Gray’s bleakest and, while that is arguable, one can see why at times. Gray sings on one particular song “The Saviour put a bullet/Right through his brains/When I was in your heart.”

Still, Gray has never been known as the cheeriest of Brits but his honest and heartfelt lyrics have always been part of his charm. That said, the singer is at his best when his music’s arrangements are more varied. The only time Gray livens things up on Foundling, at least tempo wise, is on the final two songs, the playful “Indeed I Will” and the urgent “A Moment Changes Everything.”

And yet, Foundling can’t be described as a disappointment. In fact, for diehard David Gray fans, it is a very good listen as it reveals more about what the artist was trying to accomplish with the Draw the Line sessions. As for the more casual listeners, they probably would enjoy Draw the Line better because of its more commercial appeal.

Author-Todd Sikorski

www.davidgray.com

Rating:

Ra Ra Riot, The Orchard

If you haven’t heard of Ra Ra Riot, don’t fret: it won’t be long now before this band is the biggest thing in the indie universe.

Possessing the flair for dramatic brilliance of The Hidden Cameras and the genuine, soft songwriting skills of Bright Eyes finer work, Ra Ra Riot seem to have everything going for them. The Orchard is truly a fruitful venture; the sweet yet bombastic indie pop portrayed on the record, from the soulful build of “Massachusetts” to the retro stomp of “Boy” is ripe for the picking.

How Ra Ra Riot manages to make their upbeat and bountiful ethos sound so compact is a thing of beauty. `You And I Know` is a graceful, keyboard-driven number that walks a fine line: it moves slowly, but never teeters. One of only two slower numbers on The Orchard, it`s good to know that the band know how to keep their ship on course.

By Joshua Kloke

Rating:

RANDOM STABBINGS & ARTLESS CRITIQUE, SEPTEMBER 2010

Various Artists, Sounds of Rhythm & Culture (ESL Music)
Washington DC-based electronica duo Thievery Corporation are the minds behind this compilation of varying degrees of chill, all of it advanced and terrific.  It’s advertised as the sound of DC, but even though that’s a utopian wet dream, it’s a worthy one.  I can’t imagine any city awash in the dreamy, laid-back Middle Eastern-inflected dubstep contributed by the mononymed Zeb – maybe Johannesburg on the last day of summer – but how nice would that be, and between waves of Zeb’s stuff are plenty of vibes that owe everything to Massive Attack and Zero 7, that sort, and not in some sad wannabe way but a real-deal way, with lots going on in the mix, none of it unpleasant.  Matter of fact I’ll go so far as to say it goes down better than Massive Attack’s last album, not that that should really be much of a shock to anyone. The obvious quibble is that the contributors, such as world-class New York-bred experimentalist Nickodemus, aren’t DC locals, so as long as you’re not fancying yourself doing DC a local-fanboy solid you can bask with clear conscience in all the greatness here.
Grade: A [street date: 9/7/10]

Gregorian BC, Conquistadors of War (Gregorian BC Records LLC)
Except for the drums, every instrument on here is played by this fellow who calls himself Gregorian BC, an impossible, Flintstone-ish scenario if you think about it.  He’s into Jesus and getting the most out of life, which can sometimes call for restraint, patience and multi-tracking.  The chatter on this was “Gregorian chants and heavy metal,” which led me to believe that, worst case, I’d experience a Trans-Siberian clone band with neutered Mesa Boogie amps and, with any luck, actual Gregorian chanting.  This was obviously a rush job with an eye toward chicks and some semblance of fame; it’s not a careful, methodical, well-learned attempt to dig into the real guts of monk-chanting and shock the planet with it.  The vocals are one-takes, but worse than that is that they aren’t multi-dubbed (common sense would have this guy pulling an Enya on the vocal end, singing the same chant over and over on multiple tracks, but – you get the idea).  The good that can come of the critical drubbing of this album (I’m being uncommonly nice about this, by the way) is that maybe Mister GBC will take it as direction, not personal attack.  At least he’s got an angle that hasn’t been microwaved into dogmeat – maybe next time he surprises everyone, who knows.
Grade: C [street date: 5/26/10]

Cochemea Gastelum, The Electric Sound Of Johnny Arrow (MoWo Inc.)
Adam Dorn, aka Mocean worker, should by now be considered officially past the “someone to watch” stage.  His marketing sense and overall cleverness in the jazz arena has resulted in wetworked cybernetics that appeal not just to wonks but fans who need a little in-your-face-ness in their intellectual music.  A new signee to Dorn’s label, session guy Cochemea Gastelum (who’s played various horns for such big-timers as Amy Winehouse and Paul Simon) is essentially a Latin-flavored version of Mocean Worker, fusing intelligent samples and other electro frills to common barrio flora and fauna.  “Carlito,” for example, sounds like what you’d imagine blasting from your average everyday Impala lowrider – Santana meets the Starsky & Hutch TV soundtrack – the twist being that it’s infused with Chemical Brothers non sequiturs. In non-great news, “You’re So Good to Me” invests heavily in Al Street’s futzing with wah-pedal guitar straight out of “Shaft” – a matching vibe for what colors most of Gastelum’s horn work on this album – and it’s patronizing when Street is simply keeping time rather than noodling (brilliantly).  But occasional moments of so-so-ness are allowed in this case – these cats are without any doubt leaders, not followers.
Grade: B+ [street date: 7/20/10]

Rose’s Pawn Shop, Dancing on the Gallows (self-released)
In a punky turn of events, the most worthwhile stuff coming out of the LA scene recently has been bluegrass.  Led by Paul Givant, this 5-piece will appease 4H-Fair-goers before they’ll get anywhere with big-time country radio, a good plan given the recent backlash to country’s stubborn adherence to Brooks & Dunn’s production-line approach to making hit albums.  You can practically smell the horse nuggets when these guys settle in with their mandolins, fiddles, banjos and accordions; one could easily picture them getting 15 minutes of NPR fame as a living tribute to Hank Williams.  Givant doesn’t shove phony twang up your nose; his simple tenor nestles into its assigned layers, mixed low enough not to overshadow anything else that’s going on but not hiding either, simply contributing in its own way to a fiercely tight band.  In other words, were Williams alive and new today, this could seriously be what he’d sound like.
Grade: A [street date: 6/8/10]

Woven Hand, The Threshingfloor (Sounds Familyre Records)
Woven Hand, a Denver outfit led by David Eugene Edwards, were a hard thing for me to wrap my head around until I discovered that they won an opening act for Tool in the wake of this album, in fact, far as I know, that’s going on right now.  I covered their last one, 2008’s Ten Stones, and upon encountering their vulnerable but more or less industrially heavy sound, I figured them for small cult success if that.  But if there was ever a band built to tour with both Tool and Conor Oberst (the latter isn’t a reality yet, but who the hell knows), it’s these guys.  As is my attitude toward Tool, I could survive this life without the po-faced drama that constitutes the bulk of these tunes, which mostly imbibe in a desperate view of Native Americans, a trick that’s as old as Billy Jack.  An outward lack of electronics doesn’t help either, this sure ain’t Tomahawk, but don’t think silly 80s stuff like Badlands either – what they really sound like is Guess Who after a week in the peyote teepee with early Ministry in their earbuds.  That’s enough to recommend it, sure, and they finally, at a point much overdue, reveal a sense of humor in the jacked-up oldschool closing rockout “Denver City.”
Grade: B [street date: 6/21/10]

Georg Levin, Everything Must Change (BBE Records)
There’s nothing inherently wrong with an album exhibiting a little ADD, I suppose, but that doesn’t mean anyone is going to run out and buy it, particularly if the set of whims is from a relatively new artist.  If anything is consistent about the new artist LP from this songwriting Berliner DJ it’s that it’s all chilly, but past that it’s as unfocused as any Jazzanova compilation, and by the way Levin has appeared on one of those.  You could pass this off as a set of just-for-fun Seal demos and leave it at that, but the CSI really tells the tale, to wit: “Runaway” borrows its torpid staccato rhythm from Thompson Twins; “The Better Life” is Klaxons-ized jazz for the Weather Channel; “Falling Masonry” visits apocalyptic winds upon a James Bond soundtrack item; “Time To Reenact” executes some early Jamie Liddell basics; “The Scent of Hay” whites up some basic reggae; and “Colour of the Day” welds Gorillaz to Steely Dan.  The songs aren’t dogs, but I can’t seem to get excited over artists evincing a lack of courage toward picking one vibe and sticking with it.
Grade: C+ [street date: 4/20/10]

Walter Trout, Common Ground (Provogue Records)
59-year-old Trout’s guitar has a rare Clapton-like fluidity to it, but he doesn’t advertise his age in any way, either with his Bon Jovi-ish voice (he’s a Jersey-ite) or his breed of blues-rock, which has a Muddy Waters tinge to it that Kings of Leon wouldn’t necessarily throw out of bed.  He’s done time with everyone, too, from John Lee Hooker to John Mayall to Percy Mayfield – impeccable credentials that aren’t just empty badges of honor but the wages of real talent.  I like how this album was done in a technical sense, eschewing throwback Ampex tape recorders and other unnecessary hindrances; the mix is crystal-clear, not zapped with high end, just a simple capturing of greatness.  Harmonica-driven mud-blues hard-charger “Maybe A Fool” leads off, followed by the balladic “Open Book,” a real pleasure to listen to if only because of its lack of Clapton-style mawkishness.  Full of slide, country-burner “Her Other Man” would have easily fit on any recent Bon Jovi record, while “Hudson Had Help” settles into some genial hony-tonk that, again, benefits greatly from a full-budget sound.
Grade: A [street date: 7/6/10]

Red Line Chemistry, Dying For A Living (Bulldog Productions)
This Kansas City grunge-throwback foursome may have to work a little to overcome the Layne Staley soundalikeness of singer Brett Ditgen, not that having a sound like that is a bad thing, but considering that the band’s guitarist is on par with — if not better versed in blues scales than — Jerry Cantrell, your typical mean-guy critic with something to prove will dismiss them with a summary “Alice in Chains clone band” insult or three.  There’s some Skid Row to this as well, though (“Johnny Come Alive”) as well as some fairly competitive nu-metal (“Fire Rising”) and even an old-jack hard-radio-popper whose chorus gets its tensile strength from Blue Oyster Cult voices ( “Deja Vu”), so there’s more than a little hope.  But any hope does hinge directly on this generation tossing aside HIM and all the other plastic-coated punk-infused, blues-ignorant bands of the right-now and taking a backward step, ie the best route for this crew is through Japan, Germany, etc.  
Grade: B+ [street date: 8/10/10]

Glass Graves, Architecture (self-released)
It’s one thing to wait until the last track of your album to be artistically revelatory and quite another to have the entire track order reversed.  A common mistake for new artists, and Oakland’s Gaby Graves is as DIY as they come, having invented this 9-songer in one shot during an appropriately snowstormy day and taking the admirable approach of offering the whole thing free for the cost of your email address (through www.glassgraves.com).  This one-chick bedroom operation does have a decent enough Versus-like voice, in need of a little training going by the first couple of tracks, which, as I alluded to, are the weak things about this. Soundwise it’s your basic Bauhaus-tee-shirted outcast dorm-sister doing her spaghetti-western-guitar best to praise her totally fave band through dank, eerie, indecipherable goth-ambience.  Closer track “Lila Lov” sees her cutting loose, rolling everything into one final burst of “White Rabbit”-infused spookiness while showing that she isn’t just a nut who sings made-up ballads to an imaginary Trent Reznor in the shower but is indeed a real-deal artist, though her best singing is in next-to-last track “Quarantined.”  One to watch for the cut-and-piercers.
Grade: B- [street date: 8/10/10]

The Fractals, Heavy Rotation (Kevinski Music)
There are probably a few tired-looking reviewers slumming in the Philadelphia press corps who never want to hear about these guys again, being that The Fractals probably soundtrack annoying jock bars when they weren’t contributing their various talents to Usher albums and the Aqua Teen soundtrack.  Every state has a crew like that, doesn’t it?  There’s nothing screamingly wrong with what bands like this do – a little dishwasher-safe punkishness, some fake-jazz-chill, some joke-band stuff, the odd Joe Jackson nick – but singer Kevin Hanson sounds like a James Taylor karaoke winner, safe, white, fat, dumb, happy and fresh from entertaining legions of well-guarded sixer-pounding dweebs.  That isn’t to say that “Take Your Clothes Off Please” isn’t possessed of a big-ass hook that could take home the pot at a songwriting contest, nor that the band’s technical aptitude is anything to sneeze at, there’s just something – I dunno, loserly about the overall sound, like when you hear a 4-piece organic band trying to sound like all 24 tracks of an ELO song from 1976.  For this they are forever doomed to hack for spare major-label change, but things could always be worse.
Grade: B+ [street date: 7/20/10]

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Outraged ranting, indie label release news and spaghetti sauce recipes are always welcome.  Email esaeger@cyberontix.com

Limes, Rhinestone River

In yet another decent, if slightly sluggish release from underground garage legends Goner Records, Limes prove that you don’t need to assemble air-tight, immediate songs to make the kind of garage rock and roll that sticks with you. Yet the title of “Garage rock and roll” is a little misleading: there is very little “Rocking” on Rhinestone River, but enough “Rolling” to keep that proverbial stone heading down the road for quite some time.

All twelve of the tracks on Rhinestone River possess the kind of loose, jangly charm that feels as warm as the first beer of the evening. The thing is, at times, Rhinestone River manages to plod along with the efficiency of a deathly hangover. “Sounds Like A Shimmy,” which clocks in at under three minutes, is a glaring example: with its hazy arrangements and Shawn Cripps’ murky vocals, by the end of the track, you feel like you’ve spent half an hour under Limes spell. And Rhinestone River definitely manages to drag the party out much longer than you’d expect it might. But between the polite, jazzy feel of “Do You Mind?” and the ghostly shakedown of “Good Times” there are tracks that plod so haphazardly, you begin to wonder why you came to the party in the first place.

Still, you have to applaud Limes for sticking to a unifying vision. Rhinestone River may feel akin to both the party and the hangover, but if you stick with each long enough, you might attain the clarity that can so rarely come with both.

By Joshua Kloke

Rating:

KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD, LIVE! IN CHICAGO

On this CD, Kenny goes back to his blues roots.  This release was recorded at the Chicago House of Blues with his current lineup of Noah Hunt on vocals, Chris Layton on drums, Scott Nelson on bass, and Riley Osbourn on keys.  Some R&B luminaries showed up including Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett, and Chris’s Double Trouble rhythm section partner, Tommy Shannon.  This was recorded during the Blues From The Backroads Tour.

Noah has been a good addition, being adaptable to various styles, even doing a good job on Jimi tunes when the KWS band lit up the stage during the Experience Hendrix tour.  The recording captures some KWS originals, in addition to offerings of material by B.B. King, James Moore, Jimmy Reed, and others; they cover songs by Wille, Hubert, and Buddy who are appearing here.

Somehow, Somewhere, Someway is an energetic version of a KWS standard, as is the slower Blue On Black. B.B.’s lively Sell My Monkey gets good jazzed up treatment here.  I was hoping this included Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) which they kick great live.  Dance For Me Girl is a straight up old blues styling, and features Buddy with Kenny on slide.  The ageless Hubert Sumlin’s Feed Me features that great B3 backed groove which you’ve got to have.  In contrast, harp is used sparingly, which is always a good thing.  Rocking Daddy is also on the KWS touring play list, and the piano clicks. 

Kenny has always had a notion of when to work his way in and out, and not just take off shredding on every song, tasteful, but effective.  If you like traditional blues, you need this disc.  Some of the real blues dudes are here, and backed by a tight band and searing guitarist.  Here’s your blues fix!

By RME

Rating:

SEVENDUST, COLD DAY MEMORY

Long regarded as one of the best live heavy touring bands, the guys have grown an impressive following.  The Atlanta group has released its eighth album, with some great initial results.  The release features their trademark double guitar punch by Clint Lowery and John Connolly, which singer Lajon Witherspoon effectively weaves in and out of, led by drummer Morgan Rose and bassist Vinnie Hornsby.  At times, you hear traces of their influences, the same way you hear them in other acts material.  As the guitarists related to me, all in all, its all one big metal family.  The reuniting with Clint has allowed the group to return to a former dimension, via his songwriting, added vocals and playing.  The band feels whole again, and shows it.  The band also uses some varied effects on this record to their benefit.  Producer Johnny K did a good job putting this thing into context.  This is a two-disc set, including a “Making of the Record” DVD. 

Lajon can throat growl and scream with the best of them, but also lends a melodic touch with songs like Last Breath.  Unraveling has a melodic vocal beginning before getting down to business.  Splinter is an in your face, heavy on everything offering.   Better Place is a great track, a bit more contemporary but without neglecting the heavy pounding backbeat and metal guitar licks.  All of the band members threw their lyrics into the hat, emotion, heartbreak, and those of relationships both personally and musically. 

The disc is a new direction from the last one, and explores some previously charted territory.  The band continues to rock live, as they proved during the Carnival of Madness tour.  I had the opportunity to see them perform live acoustically, and they rocked.  Always committed to performing, this is an album that will roll around in your head for a while.  Go for it!

By RME

Rating:

The Grip Weeds, Strange Change Machine

The New Jersey band The Grip Weeds may have formed in the late 80s but the talented group led by brothers Kurt and Rick Reil could have just as easily been playing music a decade or two earlier. This isn’t so much of a surprise because the band’s name is actually inspired by John Lennon’s character in How I Won The War which came to life at movie theatres back in 1967.

What is a surprise though is how fresh The Grip Weeds sound today despite its many 60s and 70s era influences. You can tell this by listening to the band’s latest release, Strange Change Machine, which is a double album comprised of 24 tracks that remind one of bands like the Kinks, the Who, the Byrds, and even the Beatles.

Strange Change Machine works best early on with a bunch of winners that open the ambitious collection. The opening track, “Speed of Life,” features some psychedelic guitar work by Rick Reil and the band’s other main guitarist Kristin Pinell. Kurt Reil’s impressive work on drums also adds an extra layer to the song that makes the track sound rather progressive, like something that might fit well on an early Yes record.

Even better are subsequent songs like “Don’t You Believe It” and “Be Here Now.” The former track is primo garage rock that just plain sparkles and sounds like a ragged lost Kinks treasure while the latter is the band’s glorious attempt at a song with infectious harmonies and melodies that Big Star fans would adore.

The first disc continues along in this more pop-rock oriented vein where the songs are short but meticulously produced. Other strong tracks included the rambunctious rocker “Thing of Beauty” and the Pinell-sung ballad “Mistress Forest.”

As for the 12 songs that comprise the second disc, they tend to be longer but just as effective. “Long Way (To Come Around)” is another piece of guitar rock heaven where Rick Reil and Pinell shine. “The Law” also impresses with its early Who vibe and its spoken word interlude that sounds like something Pete Townsend might sneak in on his own song.

All of these highpoints don’t negate Strange Change Machine’s biggest flaw though. There is filler here such as the standard cover of Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me” along with a few of the instrumental tracks. Sure, there is nothing embarrassing about any of these musical moments but deleting them could have made the album long enough for one disc which would make it resonate more as a whole.

Nevertheless, The Grip Weeds have produced one fine piece of work here and it shows all the acclaim that Steve Van Zandt (guitarist for Springsteen’s E Street Band and the host of the popular radio show Underground Garage) has given the group in the past is well deserved.

Author-Todd Sikorski

www.gripweeds.com

Rating:

Rumbletone, Self-Titled

Right away from the cover art, you are seeing a tropical setting complete with palm trees, water and rocks.  On the back cover, you get a serene visual by way of the sun glaring down on the calm ocean waters.  And here’s the kicker; Rumbletone is actually from the Hawaiian island of Kauai.  So…it seems that the stage is set for a relax-in-your-hammock-type-record or is it???

The fun-in-the-sun, island vibe that I was expecting from this album never happened surprisingly.  I couldn’t have been more wrong as to what to expect from this band and Rumbletone proved that to me.  They also helped me realize to not assume things right away until you take in the full picture.  We all know what happens when you assume, so no need to go there.  Moving along now, what I did hear from this debut release was a lively mix of classic rock and alternative. 

The group is made up of: Paul Ventura on lead guitar/vocals, T.J. Wead on lead vocals/bass, Dale Dombrow on bass/vocals and Mark McKamey on drums.  Ventura is the main driving force behind Rumbletone as he is solely responsible for all 12 songs with some co-writing help from Dombrow on two tracks.  The project is also produced by Paul, engineered and mixed by Ventura & Alan Gaylor and Paul Ventura even supplied the wonderfully scenic photos for this album. 

As soon as you push play, you are hearing cool rock mojo from the Hawaiian natives.  What really impressed me were the awesome guitar solos throughout the 12-song set; no messin’ around in this department by Paul.  I’m picking up on a classic, garage band appeal as well as a jam band feel after taking it all in.  The other aspect that stood out to me in a BIG was how well each member played their individual instruments.  All four musicians came together nicely, as a team, proving that band chemistry was not an issue.  Rumbletone jammed out in fury and played like there was no tomorrow.  My only drawback was that the vocal delivery by Wead didn’t match up with the flow & style of certain numbers.  For example, on track five “All About You” I was not diggin’ the vocals here at all; the singing just didn’t seem to fit for me.  I do have to say though that toward the end of the record, Wead was vocally in tune with the songs and with the rest of the band. 

Honestly, I would have loved to have heard an all-out instrumental, jam session with zero-limited vocals here.  This band has some terrific players with shining moments displayed on this disc and that is why a CD focused on nothing but the group instrumentation would have been perfect.  I also feel that Ventura & company were completely in sync particularly from tracks 10-12, so maybe stick with that formula from here on out.  In the end, I do believe that Rumbletone has a lot to offer with their fast & rollin’ tunes.  Get ready for an all-out rock fest from some not-so typical Hawaiian rockers that call themselves Rumbletone.  For more info on the band and the new release, SKOPE out www.rumbletone.org. 

By Jimmy Rae (jrae@skopemag.com)

Rating:

Rick Shaffer, Necessary Illusion

After a stint in the late 70s and early 80s, the bluesy duo The Reds faded into obscurity only to revive their garage rock/blues-laden career in 2007. A follow-up album came in 2009 and saw keyboardist Bruce Cohen release a solo album. Not to be outdone, Shaffer has released his own solo LP, Necessary Illusion—a 10-track DIY, distortion dynamo featuring Shaffer’s trade reverb blues guitar and throwback vocal delivery.

Title track “Necessary Illusion” gives you a snapshot of the album ethos… dirty, drone blues combined with tons of guitar fuzz and 60s garage elements. The “tin can-ish” percussion keeps the simple backing beat and allows the guitar wails and Shaffer’s hard luck vocal delivery to stand at the foreground. “Burnin’ Hell” opens to stomping percussion and Shaffer’s wailing tremolo and slide work. The fuzz is tuned down on this track but is laden with string bending (if not “string busting”) fills and intermittent bent backing howls and moans. “Shakin’ Hips” simply put is the dirtiest of dirty blues. The guitar sounds soaked in lament and turmoil. The lyrical content reeks of defeat and their delivery is downtrodden. The true mood-changer of the album, this track almost hurts.

Forget everything you know about Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion. This Rick Shaffer and his “Blues Annihilation” and he’s the real deal. A true product of the era, Shaffer combines 60s garage with the lowest of lowdown blues to achieve a sound that no one is pursuing. His guitar work is uncanny and sounds more like he’s conjuring demons from it, rather than playing it. So that being said, congratulations Rick, you just garnered the first 4.5 rating that this writer has ever given (EVER.) Buy it, listen on repeat and love the raw dirt of the sound is the only advice I can give. Because that’s what I intend to do.   

by Chris West

Rating:

Nadia Kay, Reloaded

Emerging Pop princess Nadia Kay has released the follow-up to 2009’s “Music, Sex and Marshmallows” with her 10-track LP of electronica-laced, beat-heavy dance pop, Reloaded. Lyrically, the album is comprised of the relatively standard fare of clubs, DJs and “Bling” (Track 10, actually. See below.), although a few songs are thematically based: aviation, beauty salons and chemistry. And while the analogies seem far off, Kay’s storytelling via lyrics pulls them off surprisingly well.

Album single “Captain Sky Love” is replete with dance club electronic squeaks and a heavy accompanying beat. Kay’s vocals stand out and though they are laden with effects, it bolsters her voice into a strong vocal delivery. “Crashing Down” is a break from the racing album pace with its down-tempo delivery and demure backing instrumentation. Again the strong vocals begin with Kay’s a cappella intro through to the fade. “Bling” features quirky electronica, an amped drum beat and the ubiquitous lyrics you would associate with a song called “Bling.” The track as a package is catchy without quite tipping into kitschy. Think a dance version of Madonna’s “Material Girl.”

When it comes to Pop stardom, Kay is the complete package. She’s obviously easy on the eyes. Her theatrical background has lent the necessary amount of stage presence and her vocals and songs are certainly radio-friendly enough to make a standard rotation. But it seems the best place for her music to find a home was summed up nicely by 50 Cent when he said: “You’ll find me in da club.” 

by Chris West

Rating:

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