{"id":13283,"date":"2017-09-23T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=13283"},"modified":"2020-07-13T08:29:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T12:29:27","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-september-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/23\/hundred-word-reviews-september-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews: September 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time for some more hundred-word reviews; new music from many different genres.<\/p>\n

\"\"Linsey Alexander \u2013 <\/b>Two Cats<\/b><\/i> (Delmark)
\nA lot of modern-day blues has a sterility that makes it the sonic equivalent of a museum display: too perfect, too slick, soulless. Linsey Alexander is having none of that on Two Cats<\/i>. The 75-year old blues guitarist and singer does a fine job on the album, backed ably by a band that includes a solid horn section. His voice is best described as ragged-but-right, and his lead work on guitar falls into the same category. Titles fall into the familiar-for-blues territory (\u201cWhere Did You Take Your Clothes Off Last Night?\u201d) but it’s fun, well-done stuff throughout all fifteen tracks.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charles Lloyd New Quartet \u2013 <\/b>Passin’ Thru<\/b><\/i> (Blue Note)
\nNot many serious jazz artists venture into the pop world and come away unscathed. But even though he was a longtime associate of the Beach Boys, for goodness’ sake, Charles Lloyd’s reputation remains sterling. Here, his highly lyrical and expressive saxophone is set against the music made by three exceptional players. \u201cDream Weaver\u201d is nearly 18 minutes of exploration, and it veers from a kind of avant-jazz into much more catchy passages, and then back again. Passin’ Thru’<\/i> is a live set, but flawlessly recorded. Not for the faint-hearted, but the accessible parts will draw in the less musically adventurous listener.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charlie Ballantine \u2013 <\/b>Where is My Mind<\/b><\/i> (self-released)
\nBallantine is up-front about the fact that Bill Frisell is one of his chief influences. On Where is My Mind?<\/i> Ballantine covers musical territory that \u2013 to my way of thinking, at least \u2013 is far more interesting that Frisell’s more recent low-key efforts. Perhaps it’s not fashionable to say so in 2017, but in his guitar work I hear some of Mark Knopfler’s lyricism. His lineup \u2013 guitar, bass, drums and sax\/flute \u2013 gives the music a nice, unprocessed feel that one suspects is a good document of how he sounds live onstage. His leads are exceedingly melodic, too.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gene Loves Jezebel \u2013 <\/b>Dance Underwater<\/b><\/i> (Westworld)
\nThirty years may as well have never passed since Gene Loves Jezebel’s last appearance on the (UK) charts; the music on Dance Underwater<\/i> sounds just like it did then. The 80s-era synthesizers, the danceable beats and the infectious melodies are all intact. There is a disconcerting, wholly inexplicable use of Autotune (Cher’s \u201cBelieve\u201d style) on the opener, \u201cCharmed Life (Never Give In),\u201d but if one’s prepared to forgive that transgression, this is a decent album. \u201cSummertime\u201d is woefully \u2013 jaw-droppingly \u2013 short on lyrics, but it’s a catchy tune. That kind of good\/bad duality is a hallmark of the disc.<\/p>\n

\"\"Karla Kane \u2013 <\/b>King’s Daughters Home for Incurable<\/b><\/i>s<\/i> (Mystery Lawn Music)
\nFor pop fans who are just joining us, Kane is a Bay area singer, songwriter and ukulele player with an unassailable musical pedigree (Corner Laughers, Agony Aunts, session work). This is her first solo album, and for anyone who appreciates razor-sharp (if off-kilter) lyrics, this one works a treat. There’s a bit more folk (American and British varieties) flavor to this record than one find in her group work; to my ears it’s a kind of modern, highly sophisticated rethink of Spanky and Our Gang. And if you know my tastes, you know that’s high praise indeed. Martin Newell guests!<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"Diamond Hands \u2013 <\/b>Diamond Hands<\/b><\/i> (Kool Kat Musik)
\nI’m a pushover for the chiming sound of a Rickenbacker twelve-string, especially when it’s joined by insistent rock drumming and high quality vocal harmonies. You’ll find all those and more on Diamond Hands<\/i>. The riffs are solid; \u201cNot the Same\u201d is a wonderful cross of The Beatles’ \u201cTaxman\u201d riff and part of the melodic line from \u201cIf I Needed Someone\u201d by, er, the Beatles. Elsewhere the lovely \u201cMaybe Tomorrow\u201d (not the song by Badfinger, a group discovered by, um, the Beatles) offers up some wonderful shades of Merseybeat, that musical style from Liverpool, home of (you guessed it) the Beatles.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Greek Theatre \u2013 <\/b>Broken Circle<\/b><\/i> (Kool Kat Musik)
\nThere’s nothing Greek at all about this outfit from Sweden. In places, the moody textures of Broken Circle<\/i> strongly recall the Church. Somewhat out of character for an artist on power pop label Kool Kat Musik, the group makes a sort of melodic, progressive-leaning music that owes a debt to Steven Wilson. The widescreen windswept ambience also calls to mind the Waterboys. The songs are on the long side, but they offer more than enough to justify their length. It might seem lazy to suggest that The Greek Theatre’s music evokes the dark-blue feel of Sweden, but hey: it does.<\/p>\n

\"\"Underlined Passages \u2013 <\/b>Tandi My Dicafi <\/b><\/i>(Mint 400)
\nImagine shoegaze with an uptempo, insistent beat added to it. That’s at least part of the musical recipe at work on this strangely-titled release from the indie-rock duo based in Baltimore. The vocals are mixed in such a way that they function at least as much as a sonic element as any kind of delivery medium for lyrics. There’s a pleasingly hypnotic vibe to the songs that will draw in the listener who allows it. The album has a timeless feel; there’s nothing abut its sound that pins it down to any era, but it still sounds fresh and modern.<\/p>\n

\"\"Double Naught Spy Car \u2013 <\/b>Moof<\/b><\/i> (11 Foot Pole)
\nIt’s difficult to know exactly what to expect from this collective of experimental musicians. Their 2015 project with Stew<\/a> (of The Negro Problem) was fascinating. This sounds not in the least like that album. Weird title and weirder cover art aside, what we have here \u2013 sort of \u2013 is a collection of atmospheric, guitar-led instrumentals, each featuring a guest musician. Some are uber-catchy; Nels Cline’s work on the surf ‘n’ spy \u201cTale of the Comet\u201d is worth the price of admission. Other places it’s proggy, punky, metallic \u2026 all over the place. Buckle up and enjoy the crazy ride.<\/p>\n

\"\"Esmark \u2013 <\/b>M\u0101ra I \/ M\u0101ra II<\/b><\/i> (Bureau B)
\nThrobbing, thumping motorik is what’s on offer within this pair of releases from this German duo recording in Scandinavia. Analog machines are the primary tools used, and one imagines that the icy, bleak and monochromatic winters had an effect on the music made by Nikolai von Sallwitz and Alsen Rau. There’s the expected cinematic quality, and the textures sound like the more adventurous end of the early 1970s synthesizer experimental. For those \u2013 like this reviewer \u2013 who revel in such things, M\u0101ra I <\/i>and M\u0101ra II <\/i>will be a pair of delights. For others, let’s say \u2026 not so much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time for some more hundred-word reviews; new music from many different genres. Linsey Alexander \u2013 Two Cats (Delmark) A lot of modern-day blues has a sterility that makes it the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42,43,49,51,55,56,57,62,65,67],"tags":[3167,3166,3163,707,3160,3165,3164,1259,3168,1553,4120,3161],"class_list":["post-13283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-jazz","category-krautrock","category-new-release","category-pop","category-powerpop","category-prog","category-psych","category-rawk","category-review","category-shoegaze","tag-charles-lloyd","tag-charlie-ballantine","tag-diamond-hands","tag-double-naught-spy-car","tag-esmark","tag-gene-loves-jezebel","tag-karla-kane","tag-kool-kat-musik","tag-linsey-alexander","tag-mystery-lawn-music","tag-the-greek-theatre","tag-underlined-passages","cat-9-id","cat-42-id","cat-43-id","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-55-id","cat-56-id","cat-57-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","cat-67-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13283"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19101,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13283\/revisions\/19101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}