{"id":15593,"date":"2018-12-04T05:30:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T10:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=15593"},"modified":"2018-11-12T13:29:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T18:29:10","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-december-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/04\/hundred-word-reviews-december-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews, December 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

This will almost certainly be my last roundup of new releases \u2013 capsule review style \u2013 for 2018. Lots of great music came out this year; don\u2019t let anyone tell you differently. As always, each of these albums deserves more coverage than I\u2019m able to give here, and each warrants a spin (at least) by you, gentle reader.<\/p>\n

\"\"Colin Edwin & Lorenzo Feliciati \u2013 <\/b>Twinscapes Vol. 2<\/b><\/i>
\nEnough time has elapsed now \u2013 The Incident<\/i> was released more than nine years ago \u2013 that we should no longer describe Colin Edwin as the bassist of Porcupine Tree. No, he\u2019s better described as the very busy, superbly melodic prog bassist who has a strong predilection for collaboration. Working with frequent associate Lorenzo Feliciati on a project subtitled A Modern Approach to the Dancefloor<\/i>, Edwin spins accessible and alluring instrumentals. Intricate enough to intrigue prog fans and groove-oriented enough to live up to that subtitle, Twinscapes Vol. 2<\/i> is a treat. Some intriguing soundscapes here (see \u201cSevering Suns\u201d) too.<\/p>\n

\"\"John McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring \u2013 <\/b>Live in San Francisco<\/b><\/i>
\nLast December I realized a lifelong dream: seeing John McLaughlin in concert, and meeting him in person (I had interviewed him twice before and famously missed our first planned meeting). I was initially less excited about seeing Jimmy Herring, as I was unfamiliar with his work. Turns out Herring is easily up to the task of standing toe-to-toe with the maestro. This summit \u2013 featuring both McLaughlin\u2019s and Herring\u2019s bands \u2013 is a supremely accomplished end-note to McLaughlin\u2019s performance career. Jaw-dropping, muscular contributions from all involved, showcasing some of the best fusion ever made. A perfect souvenir of the show.<\/p>\n

\"\"Various Artists \u2013 <\/b>The Three Seasons<\/b><\/i>
\nI\u2019m a serious acolyte of late-\u201960s psychedelia\/freakbeat, British variant. So this 3LP (well, 2 CDR in my case) collection of deep-dive covers by modern-day acts works a treat. There\u2019s so much to like here \u2013 27 tracks in all \u2013 that mentioning one does the others a disservice. Current lineups of classic bands (Pretty Things, Yardbirds, Electric Prunes) site nicely aside newer artists \u2013 many of whom I\u2019ve covered previously \u2013 like Cary Grace, Kris Gietkowski, Anton Barbeau expertly cover nuggets by the likes of the Action, Love, Alice Cooper, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, Family and the Attack.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nick Frater \u2013 <\/b>Goodbye Kayfabe<\/b><\/i>
\nPart of the proud tradition of bedsit creatives, Nick Frater is an artist in the mold of R. Stevie Moore and Martin Newell; he\u2019s prolific and tuneful at once. Frater\u2019s chosen style hews more toward a powerpop manner than either of those lo-fi auteurs. I have three of Frater\u2019s albums on my desk this moment. Goodbye Kayfabe<\/i> is the most recent effort from the Croydon, England multi-instrumentalist. He proudly wears many of his influences on his (record) sleeves, but is possessed of character all his own as well. Ear candy melodies and uncluttered production style are hallmarks of his work.<\/p>\n

\"\"Caddy \u2013 <\/b>Ten Times Four<\/b><\/i>
\nFrom Norway comes this chiming powerpop group. Hints of Shoes, Smithereens and other intelligent yet high-powered rockers can be found in the band\u2019s songs. Crystalline vocal harmonies are backed up by taut and lean instrumental work; well-worn pop ingredients like hand claps are used judiciously, and there\u2019s an especially well thought out use of keyboards (in other words, minimal, and in service of the songs) throughout. Occasionally, songs seem to recall the past a bit too on-the-nose (\u201cSomewhere Beautiful\u201d sounds like a previously unheard cut off the Records\u2019 Crashes<\/i>), but one cold certainly do worse influence-wise. Well worth seeking out.<\/p>\n

\"\"Athanor \u2013 <\/b>Hills of the Universe<\/b><\/i>
\nImagine, if you will, a current-day garage band writing its own original material, influenced mostly by artists like Phil Spector, Jim Steinman, Bruce Springsteen, Lee Hazlewood and the like. A bit odd, right? Well, you\u2019ve heard the melody to\u201dNow I Know\u201d eleventy-billion times before, and the guitar on \u201cLie to Me\u201d evokes strong memories of Gerry Marsden. There\u2019s a singular production aesthetic at work here \u2013 fishtank reverb, everything bathed in one particular echo setting \u2013 and I\u2019m not sure I like it; twelve songs with that sound\u2019s a bit much. But there\u2019s no denying the appeal of the music.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brandi and the Alexanders \u2013 <\/b>How Do You Like It?<\/b><\/i>
\nCatchy funk-soul is the specialty of this Brooklyn group. Music listeners who appreciate the stylings of top-flight practitioners of the genre (the late Sharon Jones, the late Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, the New Mastersounds) will surely enjoy this set. The songs are rock-solid if familiar (in this sort of music that\u2019s a feature, not a bug) and the arrangements are top-notch, full of thrilling horn charts. And it\u2019s capped off by the powerhouse vocals of Brandi Thompson, who wrote or co-wrote all but one of the album\u2019s 12 songs. There\u2019s also an inventive cover of Black Sabbath\u2019s \u201cParanoid.\u201d No, really.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Grip Weeds \u2013 <\/b>Trip Around the Sun<\/b><\/i>
\nLike fellow New Jersey residents the Smithereens, the Grip Weeds make absolutely superb melodic rock. And like Smithereens, they toil in undeserved obscurity. Powerpop fans know and love \u2018em, but the \u2018Weeds are really so much more power than pop. The band has an inexhaustible well of creativity, and the foursome\u2019s Who-like power and note-perfect vocal blend is on full display on Trip Around the Sun<\/i>. Now, if listeners beyond the powerpop and \u201cUnderground Garage\u201d listening community would take notice, the Grip Weeds might finally get the attention they so richly deserve. In the meantime, they\u2019re rock\u2019s best kept secret.<\/p>\n

\"\"Postmodern Jukebox \u2013 <\/b>The Essentials II<\/b><\/i>
\nI must admit that I never grow tired of Scott Bradlee and his high-concept Postmodern Jukebox project. Giving life to the adage that a great song holds up to interpretation in most any style, Bradlee and his rotating cast of singers demonstrate that \u2013 in the right hands \u2013 the same is true for just-pretty-good songs. Admittedly, Soundgarden\u2019s \u201cBlack Hole Sun\u201d is an absolutely ace tune, but hear it done by PMJ and it\u2019s something wonderfully new. And 17 other tunes get the PMJ treatment here, from Hanson\u2019s \u201cMMMBop\u201d to David Bowie\u2019s \u201cHeroes\u201d (featuring Nicole Atkins) to Aerosmith\u2019s \u201cDream On.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Martin Barre \u2013 <\/b>Roads Less Travelled<\/b><\/i>
\nIan Anderson\u2019s return to the use of the Jethro Tull name might suggest to some that he is\/was that band\u2019s sole creative force (see also: Jeff Lynne and ELO). But anyone who has witnessed Martin Barre live onstage or heard his solo work knows this to be a falsehood. Barre doesn\u2019t ape Tull\u2019s approach \u2013 he\u2019s rockier and bluesier \u2013 but sometimes, as on \u201cLone Wolf\u201d he nails the Tull vibe. Weirdly, Barre\u2019s banjo on that track feels (if not sounds) like Anderson\u2019s flute. With a muscular band and solid songwriting, Martin Barre shows that he has plenty to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This will almost certainly be my last roundup of new releases \u2013 capsule review style \u2013 for 2018. Lots of great music came out this year; don\u2019t let anyone tell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32,33,49,51,55,56,57,62,65,69],"tags":[3632,3633,447,476,2587,3630,1187,2570,3631,2873,3634],"class_list":["post-15593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funk","category-fusion","category-garage","category-new-release","category-pop","category-powerpop","category-prog","category-psych","category-rawk","category-review","category-soul","tag-athanor","tag-brandi-and-the-alexanders","tag-caddy","tag-cary-grace","tag-colin-edwin","tag-jimmy-herring","tag-john-mclaughlin","tag-martin-barre","tag-nick-frater","tag-postmodern-jukebox","tag-the-grip-weeds","cat-31-id","cat-32-id","cat-33-id","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-55-id","cat-56-id","cat-57-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15593","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=15593"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15609,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15593\/revisions\/15609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}