{"id":25723,"date":"2023-07-28T05:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25723"},"modified":"2023-07-26T09:33:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T13:33:40","slug":"album-review-various-artists-jem-records-celebrates-ray-davies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/28\/album-review-various-artists-jem-records-celebrates-ray-davies\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Various Artists \u2013 Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The reactivated Jem Records has established itself as a welcoming home for a particular brand of melodic powerpop. In addition to releasing a steady stream of albums by its featured artists, the label has organized a series of compilations under the banner of Jem Records Celebrates<\/i>. On the heels of three releases focusing on the music and artistry of John Lennon<\/a>, Brian Wilson<\/a> and Pete Townshend<\/a>, the latest entry serves up a collection of Jem artists covering the music of Kinks founder\/leader Ray Davies.<\/p>\n

The set \u2013 available on both CD and \u201ccherry cola\u201d colored vinyl \u2013 features 13 song by a variety of acts. The Midnight Callers tackle late-period Kinks on \u201cCome Dancing,\u201d effective rocking up the tune; in some ways their arrangement is closer to the classic Kinks aesthetic than the original was.<\/p>\n

Nick Piunti & the Complicated Men don\u2019t do anything new with \u201cTil the End of the Day,\u201d but an argument could be made that the song doesn\u2019t need reinvention. Their version rocks as it should, and the song \u2013 an underrated classic \u2013 is always worth revisiting.<\/p>\n

The Anderson Council digs deep and comes up with \u201cDo You Remember Walter,\u201d originally on 1968\u2019s The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society<\/i>. Oddly, the song\u2019s intro suggests ELO\u2019s \u201cMr. Blue Sky,\u201d but the group doesn\u2019t follow that path. Peter Horvath\u2019s faux British accent is too affected by half, but the arrangement \u2013 which recalls The Move \u2013 more than redeems things.<\/p>\n

\u201cLola\u201d is such an obvious choice for a Ray Davies collection: somebody<\/i> had to do it. The Weeklings take it on here, and deliver a nearly note-for-note cover. That approach does render the effort pointless, but on its own merits, there\u2019s nothing wrong with this version.<\/p>\n

In its original version, The Kinks\u2019 \u201cSee My Friends\u201d was a subtly droning pop tune, an effective foray into Eastern flavors that steered clear of gimmickry. The Grip Weeds up the rock quotient, give the song the kind of arrangement The who might have applied. Subtle melodic cues from The Beatles \u201cWithin You and Without You\u201d are wonderfully inspired, and fit nicely into the song. The arrangement\u2019s middle eight is lovely, too; it\u2019s followed by a searing, soaring lead guitar break. An undisputed highlight.<\/p>\n

Early-period Kinks are addressed by Johnathan Pushkar\u2019s reading of \u201cI Gotta Move.\u201d The arrangement\u2019s drums feel too stiff and programmed, but this track may nonetheless be the best I\u2019ve yet heard from this artist.<\/p>\n

It would have been malpractice had Jem allowed any act other than the Grip Weeds to take on \u201cWhere Have All the Good Times Gone.\u201d Their reading is predictably superb; the group deftly straddles the gap between faithful cover and inventive interpretation.<\/p>\n

Another Village Green<\/i> cut, \u201cPicture Book\u201d isn\u2019t among the better-known Kinks tracks (it was the b-side of \u201cStarstruck,\u201d nearly as little-known.) The Airport 77s turn in a streamlined yet spirited cover of the tune. The tight vocal harmonies are a treat, and serve to highlight the tune\u2019s playful lyrics.<\/p>\n

The Cynz cover \u201cI Need You.\u201d Their arrangement doesn\u2019t rock nearly as hard as the 1965 original, though the lead guitar break goes some distance toward remedying that. The skillful group vocal harmonies are the best thing about this version.<\/p>\n

Yet another Village Green<\/i> tune, that album\u2019s title track is celebrated by The Gold Needles. Their arrangement is excellent: it doesn\u2019t recast the song, but instead doubles down effectively on its Carnaby Street\/ swinging London feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid Watts\u201d was covered long ago in memorable fashion by The Jam; Johnathan Pushkar\u2019s cover can\u2019t help but suffer in comparison to both that and the Kinks\u2019 original. But it\u2019s not bad in any way.<\/p>\n

Face to Face<\/i>\u2019s \u201cThis is Where I Belong\u201d is another deep Kinks cut. The Anderson Council turn in a resounding cover of the song, in the process sounding a bit like Baby Lemonade. And that\u2019s never a bad thing. It all adds up to one of the best tracks on this collection.<\/p>\n

Jem Records Celebrates Ray Davies<\/i> wraps up in understate fashion with a lilting cover of Davies\u2019 nostalgic \u201cDays.\u201d The gentle pop arrangement shows Lisa Mychols & Super 8 making the song their own.<\/p>\n

Taken as a whole, Jem Celebrates Ray Davies<\/i> is easily the best-to-date entry in the series. And its availability on vinyl is an extra-special treat. Pushkar\u2019s \u201cI Gotta Move\u201d is out now, and the album\u2019s street date is August 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reactivated Jem Records has established itself as a welcoming home for a particular brand of melodic powerpop. In addition to releasing a steady stream of albums by its featured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,49,51,55,65,73],"tags":[4928,5204,950,4321,4927,1255,3428,4840,5203,3386,4323,4326,4322],"class_list":["post-25723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-new-release","category-pop","category-powerpop","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-airport-77s","tag-cynz","tag-grip-weeds","tag-jem-records","tag-johnathan-pushkar","tag-kinks","tag-lisa-mychols","tag-nick-piunti","tag-ray-davies","tag-super-8","tag-the-anderson-council","tag-the-midnight-callers","tag-the-weeklings","cat-19-id","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-55-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25723","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=25723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25725,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25723\/revisions\/25725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}