{"id":22054,"date":"2021-12-03T05:30:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T10:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=22054"},"modified":"2021-11-30T15:31:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T20:31:37","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-december-2021-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/03\/hundred-word-reviews-december-2021-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews December 2021 #2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back for another round of capsule commentaries concerning current creations.<\/p>\n

\"\"Onetwothree \u2013 (untitled)<\/i><\/b>
\nWhat might happen if Trio (\u201cDa Da Da\u201d), Nina Hagen and Neu! got together for a giggle? Well, it might sound a bit like this supremely wonderful pop confection. An all-female group from Switzerland, Onetwothree sounds like Gang of Four in a really good mood, and with a keyboard player joining in the fun. The throbbing, hypnotically insistent corkscrew bass work reminds me of Sara Lee circa The League of Gentlemen. The vocals conjure memories of The Flying Lizards\u2019 deconstruction of \u201cMoney.\u201d The fact that all three members play bass \u2013 really! \u2013 has a lot to do with the group\u2019s sound.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Bobalows \u2013 Flatlands<\/i><\/b>
\nIf I\u2019m honest, when I see the label \u201cAmericana,\u201d I\u2019m disinclined to be interested in pursuing further. But when I do make exceptions, I\u2019m occasionally rewarded with something that moves me. That happened with The Bobalows\u2019 debut. This Mississippi group has a sound closer to Gin Blossoms, with the added treat of lead guitar that\u2019s highly reminiscent of David Lindley\u2019s work for Jackson Browne. As it happens, the guitarist is Scott Coopwood, who also wrote all the songs and produced this fine effort. Flatlands<\/i> is better described as an EP rather than an album (it has seven thematically linked songs).<\/p>\n

\"\"Victor Krummenacher \u2013 Silver Smoke of Dreams<\/i><\/b>
\nYou may know Krummenacher from Camper van Beethoven<\/a> or Monks of Doom (or even The Third Mind<\/a> or Mushroom<\/a>). And if you do, you\u2019ll know to expect something from his solo work that\u2019s both compelling and eclectic, drawing astutely from across the musical landscape. The songs, created during the pandemic, have a passionate, contemplative and heartfelt character very much in keeping with the inward trajectory upon which many of us found ourselves in 2020. But the songs are really, really good, and if you let them, they\u2019ll draw you in. Krummenacher expresses emotion without getting mawkish or trafficking in clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chantel McGregor \u2013 Shed Sessions Vols. One and Two<\/i><\/b>
\nSpeaking (as we inevitably must) of the infernal pandemic, the lockdown did bring out the best in some creative corners. British guitarist Chantel McGregor is thought of primarily as a blues artist, but in response to being off the road and holed up at home, she embarked on a project called The Shed Sessions. A weekly show performed online, it found her covering the work of others. The first volume is acoustic and focuses on well-known songs. The second, more interesting volume goes electric, featuring original material aside superb readings of songs by Steven Wilson, Radiohead and the Gershwins. Recommended.<\/p>\n

\"\"David Christian & the Pinecone Orchestra \u2013 For Those We Met on the Way<\/i><\/b>
\nI don\u2019t know why it is, but when British artists take a swing at making a kind of music more associated with heartland America, they often hit the sweet spot. And that\u2019s true even if their background isn\u2019t steeped in Americana or whatever you\u2019d call it. Nick Lowe<\/a> and Robyn Hitchcock<\/a> are exemplars of the point I\u2019m attempting to make here. And so is David Christian. Evocatively subtitled \u201cHomemade dreams from the lonesome green,\u201d this album is Christian\u2019s equivalent to what The Dream Syndicate\u2019s Steve Wynn<\/a> did on Kerosene Man<\/i>. The warm ambiance is furthered by the album\u2019s guest musicians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back for another round of capsule commentaries concerning current creations. Onetwothree \u2013 (untitled) What might happen if Trio (\u201cDa Da Da\u201d), Nina Hagen and Neu! got together for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,49,62,65],"tags":[4710,4711,4712,4713,4298],"class_list":["post-22054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americana","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-review","tag-bobalows","tag-chantel-mcgregor","tag-david-christian","tag-onetwothree","tag-the-brothers-steve","cat-6-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22054","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=22054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22060,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22054\/revisions\/22060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}