MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JANN ARDEN - THESE ARE THE DAYS

Jann Arden sounds like she's having fun on this album, which is welcome, because sometimes she sounds just too darn sad, and we all know what a great sense of humour she has. Lead track Everybody's Pulling On Me, with its girl group throwback sound, addresses getting away from the people bringing you down. There are several songs with similar positive advice, and there's even a page in the booklet devoted to one line: These are the days to kick ass. That's no doubt directed at herself as much as us.

Bob Rock produced and co-wrote most of the tracks with Arden, and its a solid collaboration. The songs play to her strengths, with the focus on the vocals and not too much, well, Rock, or rock. And it's no exercise is being up for up's sake either. A Long Goodbye addresses being the caregiver to her mother as she progresses with Alzheimer's, also the topic of her most recent book. It's a powerful, unflinching song, and that's what ties all this material together, the strength in the lyric. Come Down The River With Me is a full-on gospel rocker, Franklin is Southern Soul, One More Mile To Go could be a new country hit, and includes my favourite line, "I pulled over to grab a cup of coffee and use a dirty bathroom." The album is varied, runs the gamut of emotions, but never loses that strength.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DAVID BYRNE - AMERICAN UTOPIA

Byrne's back with a big art piece, no surprise, most of his work has been just that. He's working with Eno again, who supplied the bulk of the track ideas. They are slightly funky, dance-y tunes, nothing explosive but happy and enjoyable, with that Latin influence Byrne's had this century. The focus is more on the lyrics, as this is a thought piece, and he goes out of his way in the sleeve notes to explain it as best he can. He's not being ironic with the title, he's referring to the original view of the U.S. experiment, that it could approach a utopian society.

Instead of wailing about how that failed, and the woeful situation that country and most of the rest are in, Byrne writes about what we could do to change all that. Not that he has any concrete ideas; it's more about the potential we all have. Much of this is abstract, askew, goofy, whimsical, even confusing if you're looking for a normal story arc. He looks at things differently, and wonders if we all looked at life differently, and acted differently, would it be better? He just wants to ask questions.

It's best not to think too hard, if you want to enjoy the record, and it is enjoyable, if a little jarring. "The bullet went into him, it went it's merry way," he sings in Bullet, which basically just talks about the act of being shot. You can study what he's singing, or sit back and get into the pleasing grooves. I'd go with the grooves. And of course, you have Byrne's always-fascinating voice and delivery, along with some pretty novel soundscapes, so there's lots being offered. It's like a visit to an art gallery with lots of pretty paintings of people you can almost recognize.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: CHRISTINA MARTIN - IMPOSSIBLE TO HOLD

There's a wider musical palette on this latest, from one of the most consistently strong Maritime singer-songwriters. Along with producer/guitar player/husband Dale Murray, Dave Rawlings to her Gillian Welch, Martin is ranging into styles you'd never call roots. Always Reminding is bubbly '80's electronic pop, while Foreign features a Euro/Bowie techno chill. Keep Me Calm is catchy with '60's Top 10 touches and the single Lungs Are Burning is everything Stevie Nicks should still be doing with Fleetwood Mac.

That's all very welcome, as it makes the 10-track album widely varied and adventurous. The key though lies in her dramatic delivery of sharp observational lyrics, whether it's a relationship moment or someone's personal crisis. It feels like we're on the knife-edge in each song, when things could go wrong, but love manages to save the day or at least pull us back for now. This album is why the repeat button was invented.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: LARISSA TANDY - THE GRIP

Her music might be called Americana, but that's a distinct Australian accent coming through clearly. Larissa Tandy comes from a rural background in that country, and now is working a lot in Canada. She's heading out on her first tour of the Maritimes starting today (Mar. 28) with a mix of house concerts and club dates, featuring this 2017 album.

Her singer-songwriter songs are acoustic at the centre, surrounded by a rough and ready roots sound, with touches of organ, pedal steel and twangy lead guitar. The key is found in her strong lyrics, and her sharp observational style. The stuff we all struggle to figure out, she's managed to find a way to put into words. In The River, she sums up a relationship with "When it comes to you and me, I know nothing is perfect/ It has never been easy but it's always been worth it." In the opening cut Friendly Fire, she tells us "I didn't want to be a fighter but it became apparent from an early age that life had me backed into a corner." Most striking is My Mother's Boyfriend, where she goes over advice received by two parents, one close friend, and the titular guy who says "Make your luck, I hope he meant it lying dead under that truck." In short, lots of advice, life's still a mess, but press on.

That's the kind of voice I want to hear, and it's not the accent (cool as it is), it's the clarity of her writing, and bursts of wisdom in each song. Catch Tandy at the Rogue Cafe in Saint John, N.B. on Thursday the 29th, Grimross in Fredericton on Friday, an in-store at Back Alley Music in Charlottetown Saturday afternoon, a show at The Dunk in Breadalbane, P.E.I. Saturday evening, and the Carleton in Halifax Tuesday, April 3.

MUDDY WATERS - CAN'T BE SATISFIED: THE VERY BEST OF

It occurs to me that there is probably a whole generation of music fans that only know Muddy Waters from his appearance in the The Last Waltz movie. Not that it wasn't good, it's just that he was near the end of his life at that point, and comes across more as the genial, revered grandfather figure, rather than the dangerous performer and massive innovator that he truly was. This set would be a fine place for anyone to go to pick up on that.

First off, they'd need to know these weren't cliches when Muddy sang them, he was putting them down for the first time. They were either new then, or gathered from old acoustic blues numbers, and being assembled for these new versions, you know, the blues tradition, either his own tracks or the ones he popularized by Willie Dixon. And when they hear Muddy do You Need Love, they'll recognize where Led Zeppelin got their songs. The sexy stuff, not the lyrics about hobbits and shit.

You can't go too wrong with a Muddy Waters collection, and this two-disc set does it just about perfectly. Unveiled chronologically, it traces Waters from acoustic to fully electric, and marks the explosion of Chess blues that he led in the '50's. While there aren't any of his sides previous to Chess, the initial cuts here, such as I Can't Be Satisfied, show him still in the acoustic field with just slide and bass, in the Delta blues style of mentors such as Son House. But soon he teamed up with the other greats of Chess, and exploded that particularly threatening, big city blues at which he was the master, more sophisticated than Howlin' Wolf, his great rival.

The second disc here follows Waters through the second half of his career, as his fame grew thanks to all those white boys from England bowing at his feet. Although it's usually the earlier material that draws the most praise, there were plenty of albums and tracks from the mid-'60's to the mid-'70's worthy of repeating play. Plus, there's the still-divisive Electric Mud album to discuss, Chess's attempt to modernize the master after the success of the Stones, Cream, etc. It keeps getting better with age, separated from the controversy over the premise at the time. Quite simply though, here's two hours of the real thing, and a kind of wish I was young again just so I could hear it all over for the first time.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: CHARLES WRIGHT & the WATTS 103rd STREET RHYTHM BAND - THE BEST OF

These funk pioneers came together as session players in the late '60's L.A. hotbed, among other jobs serving as backing band for Bill Cosby's foray in soul as part of his stage act. The talented group proved to have a great, danceable groove going on, able to fill floors with improvised jams and killer hooks. Soon they were editing actual hit singles out of those live shows, starting with 1969's Do Your Thing. Wright was the producer, singer on the funky stuff, and band leader, so his name went to the top of the billing. For the smoother fare, drummer James Gadson handled the vocals, best heard on the hit Love Land from 1970 that deserves to be better remembered.

It was the next song that became their best-known cut, Express Yourself, another adaption of the Do Your Thing theme, the band's signature. If it doesn't leap to mind, you'd recognize bits from the dozens of tracks that have sampled the break beats over the years, and all the group's material from those years includes ridiculously infectious rhythms. Although they just had three years of core existence, this best-of easily fills up an hour without flagging. Most surprisingly, there are two recent cuts from Wright from an upcoming album that are seriously strong, including the return of that ultimate groove in Remember That Thing.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: LED ZEPPELIN - HOW THE WEST WAS WON

It seems like this just came out, but it was actually 15 years ago, so it missed the rebirth of vinyl, which is the main reason it's being reissued now. It sounded great in the first place, after much detailed work by Page himself, and now gets some retweaking. This is where the detailed restoration has gone, and it's now the focus album for concert stuff of Zeppelin, rather than the inferior, bloated The Song Remains The Same soundtrack.

Page calls this the height of Zeppelin live, and certainly they are firing on all cylinders here. They are also by this time (1972) huge, conquering the new arena circuit in the U.S., and showing how monster shows should be done, for then and for the future. I tried to put myself in that audience, and can easily imagine how blown away people must have been. Disc one (or albums one and two) in particular is a tremendous listen still, songs that come at you with power and majesty. Particular effective is the opening trio of Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker and Black Dog. Stairway To Heaven is perhaps a might underwhelming, but it always was live, one song where it's impossible to meet expectations. But Going To California is a delight, its different textures a good contrast from the heaviness, and you'll notice Plant refer to "Joni" in an adlib, letting all know that Joni Mitchell was the inspiration.

I find discs two and three (or on vinyl, albums three and four) lose the momentum, thanks to the expansions of Dazed And Confused (25:25), Moby Dick (19:20) and Whole Lotta Love (20:59), which were probably more effective in person. And as for the infamous drum solo in Moby Dick, well, those things stand out like bell bottoms and afros do from the '70's these days. And the band really didn't have a good encore figured out on that whole tour. Certainly Rock and Roll and The Ocean worked, but ended on Bring It On Home seems like a let down. Disc one is the one to replay, as an example of when giants roamed the Earth.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SIERRA NOBLE - CITY OF GHOSTS

I know everybody's down on Facebook these days, selling off our personal info to Russians or Trump or the Illuminati, and being full of fake news that gets us all riled up and voting for right-wing, pro-cannibals. That's all true (ish) but if it's truly bugging you and you want to log off and live in the woods with no computer and indoor plumbing, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet. Howz about we all stop using it for say, just news (easily manipulated) and instead use it for good and truth and beauty and art? For instance, here I was just yesterday, checking out a live show by a musician I knew but had never had the chance to see live before. Very handy, this Facebook Live thing. A Winnipeg group called The Village Idiots have a weekly show Live At The Roslyn each Wednesday night that features a different local group in concert. That let me look in on singer-songwriter Sierra Noble, whose 2016 album City Of Ghosts I found intriguing and surprising.

I can remember Noble when she was starting out as a kid fiddler, but along the way she moved into songwriting, guitar and has become a first-class vocalist and performer. Two years in Nashville and another two in New York City happened, but she moved back home with all that experience, and a parcel of good songs from it as well. On stage she presented a powerful set of originals with sharp, insightful lyrics, some from City Of Ghosts, and a couple of brand-new ones that even stronger. One as-yet unnamed tune she explained came from the scary, changed world for someone who is single, the risks that are out there. That left me looking forward to her next one.

But for now, City Of Ghosts still sounds sharp and full. Her fiddle still appears, every few songs on stage, and as a mood-maker on several songs, including album-opener Be Who You Be, with an Eastern feel not unlike Robert Plant's recent albums. There's strength throughout in the lyrics, including a farewell song, Breaking Up With New York City, really a love song. Kiss Me Like You Mean It is a break-up song, but one that takes strength from it: "So let's drink our cheap red wine, and pay our last regrets/Push our hands in concrete and split a cigarette." Rebel Song has a pointed message for the corrupt and powerful who take greed too far: "Music never dies/but kings do every day."

I had heard the album before, but the live performance of several of these songs made it all hit home stronger. So I'll salute Facebook, and remind all it's okay to use - with caution.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: KRISTI LANE SINCLAIR - THE ABILITY TO JUDGE DISTANCE

From B.C. and now living in Toronto, Sinclair challenges rather than soothes on this five-song E.P. Her five-piece band specializes in melancholy post-punk with a touch of Factory Records sounds. That includes a mesmerizing violin that sets the unsettled, but still melodic mood on the soul-searching cuts Starlite & Dust and Time.

Sinclair can also rock out in a jagged way, Guido energetic and rough, short and danceable, a Siouxsie and the Banshees-worthy track. Reflection turns to anger on Fire In Santa Fe, inspired by the shitshow in the U.S., and the Standing Rock protest. No surprise her last album, 2015's Dark Matter, won Best Rock Album at the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards. There's substance in each song.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ELISE LEGROW - PLAYING CHESS

I recently slammed Randy Bachman for his ham-handed tribute to George Harrison, By George, as an example of what not to do in a covers album. On the other side, we have this, with LeGrow doing updates of classic Chess Records songs from the '50's and '60's. The key word is update, and Bachman's grievous error was that his covers did nothing to move the songs forward, but instead offered reinterpretations stuck in cliches. Here, Toronto's LeGrow comes up with soulful, modern and captivating versions of these well-worn numbers that brings them alive again.

Chuck Berry's playful You Never Can Tell is rendered as a simmering ballad, with LeGrow's elegant vocals capturing our attention, never letting go. Fontella Bass' immortal Rescue Me is delivered as something funky and hot, slower but spicier.
When she does play it straight, such as Long Lonely Nights, originally by Lee Andrews on Chess, but better known by Bobby Vinton, she simply wows with her great, emotional delivery, winning the song back from Vinton's schmaltz.

Nicely, the album isn't filled with the Chess sampler hits, but goes deeper to grab some obscurities, such as Hold On by The Radiants. She also reminds us that certain well-known numbers were originally Chess cuts, such as Sincerely, a big sappy #1 hit for the McGuire Sisters in 1956 but first done by The Moonglows. And another great idea was doing a medley of You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover with Berry's You Can't Catch Me. Everything about this album is fresh and inspired.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE DOORS - LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL 1970 (Blu-ray/CD)

I'm sure if The Doors had known this was the last concert of theirs that would ever be filmed, they would have brought more than the one red light illuminating them throughout this set. Of course, how were they to know they'd only play two more gigs before Jim Morrison left for Paris, and his demise. Also, they didn't know the deal at the Isle of Wight was that each band was responsible for their own lighting, so they just borrowed a red one, and had the festival's follow-spot to cut through the 2 a.m. gloom. Actually, the red gives the whole thing a spooky aura, fitting for The Doors, and the overall mood of their performance.

This was not a happy time for the group, with Morrison on trial for obscenity in Miami, nobody willing to book them in the U.S., and their immediate future bleak. Morrison had entered the beard phase, and clearly is not interested in causing a ruckus that night, barely moving from behind his mic, singing with his eyes closed for much of it, and letting the band try to make up the energy. Funny though, even this version of Morrison is still captivating, and he still manages to come alive at the right times to howl in Break On Through. If you couldn't see his face, like most of the 600,000 festival-goers, you'd have heard a really good show. The Blu-ray viewer has to wonder if he's stoned or drunk from his face, but really, he doesn't sound it.

The show does drag though, because of the long jams added to everything. There are just seven songs, but the set lasts over an hour. That's an awful lot of Robby Krieger soloing, never the best guitar player of the era, a time when everybody felt the need to ramble on. With nobody moving much, the viewer is left with the feeling they've entered a practice hall, not a live show. It also speaks volumes that this August 1970 show is based around their debut album from three years before, with the big four cuts from then featured: Light My Fire, Break On Through, Back Door Man and The End. Only Roadhouse Blues and Ship Of Fools are played from the just-released Morrison Hotel, with When The Music's Over the other number. It feels very much like they're doing what they have to do so people will feel like satisfied.

The sound is great though. Original Doors engineer Bruce Botnick has done a shiny 5.1 mix, and the film has been expertly restored, probably looking better than it ever has. A feature called This Is The End has been added, which explains the whole Miami incident in clips from the other three members, some new, some of the old Ray Manzarek stuff. The Isle of Wight show happened just after the trial started, Morrison still possibly going to prison, so no wonder he was subdued. It's good to have the context, I'd actually advise watching it first, before the live show.

Are there better Doors shows and videos available? Oh you bet, but with these important bands, we're now at the point where it's important to have the history. As John Densmore says, "Since he checked out at 27, it's precious footage."

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: RANDY BACHMAN - BY GEORGE HARRISON

Randy Bachman has all the right in the world to do a tribute album to George Harrison, but he sure has a lot of balls to do this one. Bachman is almost the same vintage as Harrison, having started out in the early '60's, and was a Beatles fan before they even made it to North America, famously hearing them via a friend's reel-to-reel tapes sent over from England. They were both lead guitar players for hit-making '60's bands, and had a second big career in the '70's. So why did this turn out so tacky?

 

I won't slag Bachman for the usual reasons many Canadians do, sick of his radio  show and the constant me, me, me, refrain of his chatter, plus the outright factual errors he and the CBC allow to go through. At least I won't slag him in connection with this album. Instead, I'll slag him for the unnecessary and bizarre reinterpretations of the Harrison songs that will no doubt leave the late beloved Beatle spinning wherever he is, somewhere in the greater cosmos.

 

The thing starts somewhat lamely, but at least harmlessly, with a new tribute song Bachman wrote, Between Two Mountains. The title phrase refers to George's place between Lennon and McCartney, not the worst metaphor ever, but the rehash of classic Harrison guitar lines doesn't really make this a needed work.  Then, in a jaw-dropping move, the next cut and first cover is the Beatles' oldie If I Needed Someone, and I shit you not, it's done in a smooth jazz version. Now hey, I'm all for stretching and changing these things, but The Beatles as George Benson in his near-disco phase?  

 

And it gets worse. Here Comes The Sun as a reggae tune only sounds good on paper. Get it? Sunshine = Jamaica? The Wilburys' beloved Handle With Care is dull and sludgy, and sounds like BTO doing it. To liven up Think For Yourself, he flies in the slide guitar lick from My Sweet Lord, which only confuses the matter.

 

Taxman becomes an electric blues with a John Lee Hooker beat on the verses, and in the chorus it sounds like he and the singers are going "Batman!" instead of Taxman, like in the cartoon TV theme. And to show there's not a subtle moment on the album, I present Something, one of the great love songs of our day, now sped up and more resembling Boz Scaggs' Lowdown (actually a good song) with a plodding bass line and way too much electric soloing from Randy.

 

I'll give it this, the guitar playing is fine throughout, and the version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps works, along with guest Walter Trout on guitar. But like everything else he does, this album is all about Randy, and George gets lost in the process.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: TIN PAN DARLINGS PRESENT: INSIDE A MELODY

If anybody has done this before, I've never heard of it. Making an original album wasn't enough for the Tin Pan Darlings, so the group went ahead and made a movie to go along with it as well. Not a documentary or making-of, an actual movie that matches the plot of the album. And, the Maritime group is touring the creation, so you can go see the show, as they perform the album to go along with the film. Tres cool.

You'll also be able to see the film on YouTube starting in April. It's a silent movie, a comedy, reflecting the jazz age style of the music, a '20's - '30's vintage feel and look. Tin Pan Darlings is lead by singer Tracy Anderson, who conceived of the project five years ago, first as music. Then her sister, pianist Amy got more involved, and learned, yes learned, how to make a film. The nine-track album runs about 36 minutes, so a good chunk of filming to do.

I can't tell you about the visuals yet, but the music is superbly created, featuring some of the region's best jazz players. Anderson teamed up with the dean of the scene, Halifax jazz-blues pianist Bill Stevenson, a fixture on CBC for years, and a frequent collaborator with, hmm, everybody, as producer and co-writer. He brought along his colleagues in Easley (Thom, double bass), Stevenson and Arsenault (Geoff, drums) for some cuts, and there are different combinations of players on each cut, featuring rich horn arrangements, and even some vintage jazz violin from Ray Legere. Amy handles lots of piano, and predictably Stevenson wades in with some tasty keys himself, especially the organ on Bathtub Gin.

Legere's violin is featured on Let's Have A Romance, playing off Anderson's vocals, a lighthearted proposal played out to a tango. On Cabana Song, the troupe goes Latin as the lovebirds go on vacation to a gentle samba, with Anderson getting to playfully follow the melody, scatting along to the piano notes. You can get a good sense of the plot from the soundtrack, all those classic jazz scenarios, and revel in the fine performances all the way through.

The live show is going to be quite an event, with the movie and with the Tin Pan Darlings performing as a jazz quintet, featuring both Andersons, Paul St. Amand on trumpet, Adam Bourque on double bass and Brendan Melchin on drums. Here are the tour dates so far:

March 21st, Second Wind Music Centre, Florenceville - Bristol
 

March 22nd, Five and Dime, Saint John
 

March 23rd, Sackville Commons, Sackville, NB
 

March 24th, Grimross Brewery, Fredericton 

 

May 12th, CodaPop Studios, Halifax

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK - CONCERT FOR GEORGE

One of your classier and more enjoyable tribute concert sets gets reissued, and certainly one that resonates with fans still. There was no trouble gathering big names to celebrate Harrison, so much so that it was kept to real, close friends, which ended up making the performances all touching, and first-class as well. Everyone brought their A game, and of course, they had wonderful material to work with. Too bad Dylan wasn't there, no idea why not, but you had other fellow Wilburys Tom Petty (and the Heartbreakers) and Jeff Lynne, plus Beatles Paul and Ringo, one-time fifth Beatle Billy Preston, and friends Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) and Joe Brown.

Then there was Ravi Shankar watching his daughter Anoushka lead a big Indian orchestra through his composition for George, Arpan, and Jeff Lynne singing Harrison's Indian-themed Beatle number The Inner Light, music that encompasses the first CD here. Of course, Harrison was the one who made us all pay attention to these exotic sounds in the first place. I remember as a kid finding them so difficult to appreciate, but now they float by, and I can follow these deft and delicate patterns, and find it relaxing and inspiring. Thanks for that, George.

On the rock side, well it's beloved hit after hit, with a huge band led by Clapton and augmented by young Dhani taking his father's place. Lynne, Clapton and Brooker offer up versions of three Harrison Beatle tunes back when he was being allowed the odd one: I Want To Tell You, If I Needed Someone and Old Brown Shoe. Not only do they hold up, they prove the point that he was being held back by being in the world's best band as his talents grew. A couple of solo numbers then make the point that his songwriting was brilliant from '68 on. Lynne does a nice job on Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), although really that's one where the band absolutely shines, while Clapton does a stunning job on Beware Of Darkness, one of those times that proves how awesome he can be with the right song. British singer/actor Joe Brown gives a music hall feel to his tunes, including Here Comes The Sun, good-natured stuff. But then show switches to overdrive.

Petty and the Heartbreakers take things back to The Beatles with Taxman, before a mini-Wilburys reunion happens with Lynne and Dhani on board for Handle With Care, a true highlight. Then after Preston delivers a soulful Isn't It A Pity, Ringo rocks for his friend on the Harrison composition Photograph, and their old Carl Perkins favourite Honey Don't. Then it's Paul's turn with For You Blue, and a touching ukulele tribute on Something. The final push sees Clapton and McCartney team for While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Preston back on as the best one to do My Sweet Lord, and the whole gang with Clapton leading doing Wah-Wah. As a touching farewell, Brown returns to wish George well, singing I'll See You In My Dreams.

The reason for the reissue was to get it on vinyl for the first time, and to continue raising funds for Harrison's Material World Foundation. The big news on the vinyl is that the song Horse To The Water is included, as done by Sam Brown and Jools Holland, edited off the CD. And on the Blu-ray side, you get to see the hijinks of George's Monty Python pals, who show up for The Lumberjack Song in intermission, with Tom Hanks as an honourary Mountie. Here's the thing, not only is it a great watch or listen, you're going to feel good just owning it.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: HYNESS - THE END OF MUSIC

New band, short E.P., four tracks. Hailing from Kitchener-Waterloo, Amy and Marcus Addams handle the fuzzy guitars and vocals, while Colin White drums and Justin Cober, umm, basses. What they're doing isn't as noisy as shoegaze, but could be, if they weren't so keen on melodies and twin harmonies. There's a distinct retro feel to the cut Satan, with its boy-girl, which starts out Mickey and Sylvia and winds down all '60's Who.

On her own, Amy Addams sound a little like Neko Case singing The Smiths' Hand In Glove here, the lone cover, done in a less dramatic version. On their three originals, the group doesn't dwell in Retroland, instead letting all their influences jockey for position, coming up with a cool take on where pop could have gone after the '90's. Let's just pretend the last two decades didn't happen, and now Hyness is here.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE LAZYS - TROPICAL HAZARDS

It remains mysterious to me why a heritage band such as, say, AC/DC remains hugely popular with original fans, concert-goers who have never owned one of their records, and entire new generations not born during the group's heyday, despite now being down to one original member (Angus). Yet new rock bands are having a desperate time trying to build any kind of interest and staying power, like its Dixieland or ballroom dancing or something else from a bygone era. I guess its just the whole spectacle of the thing, the cultural iconic moment it represents, and it doesn't matter who's up there as long as there's a guy in short pants and another one screeching "Highway to Hell" and some big lights and fireworks and like-minded souls numbering in the tens of thousands.

Anyway, if it's the music you actually enjoy, here's a band built on the AC/DC sound, from Sydney, Australia, natch. They'd been building and recording in their own country for a decade before a unique twist brought them to Canada. Playing in front of industry types at Canadian Music Week, they impressed the right folks fast, and in short order ended up working with Ian D'Sa of Billy Talent, and eventually moving here, so they're basically Canadian now.

The Lazys actually have more going on than the one-dimensional hard-pounding sound of their Australian forebearers, with the ability to throw in a ballad or two on the new album, and some more imaginative ways to get to the heavy choruses on the rockers. But when they strut their stuff, well, these are probably the hit songs Angus Young (and Def Leppard and Axl Rose and lots of others) wish they were still able to write. Nothing But Trouble is the first single, all churning energy, while Little Miss Crazy does the same trick as well. Half Mast Blues is an example of that rare genre, pirate rock ("Shiver me timbers/drink a barrel of rum"). But Young Modern Lightning is where the group stretches, kind of a power ballad with something decent to say. And One's Too Many is a hard rocker, but with more punk roots than metal. So, you know, rock 'n' roll still lives.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SUZIE VINNICK - SHAKE THE LOVE AROUND

After a couple of acoustic albums, this Ontario favourite singer/songwriter from the roots field returns with a full band album. It's hard to single out one aspect to focus on with Vinnick, as she writes strong songs and sings with tons of emotion, plus plays both guitar and bass with authority. And when she does choose a cover, she makes it her own. Check out her version of Percy Mayfield's Danger Zone, which she does solo, just her and her bass, pouring her heart in to the vocal, and making us realize the world's still in an uproar these days.

With the full band, Vinnick turns up the soulful sounds, with Find Some Freedom an inspiring gospel-flavoured number featuring a guest solo blast from Kevin Breit, and Colin Linden doing the same on slide for Crying A River. On Creaking Pines, Vinnick conjures up a dark, creepy and slow groove over writer Kent Theaker's ghost story, with a spooky vocal to help the mood. But then she turns right around on All I Wanna Do, with a great bit of fun in All I Wanna Do with its slinky New Orleans vibe. There are several co-writes with some of the best blues-roots folks around, including Steve Strongman, Treasa Lavasseur, and Matt Andersen. That last pair close off the set with Drift Away, a thoughtful, dignified ballad that really shows off Vinnick's luminous voice. Again, it's a real toss-up as to which kind of song here I admire most, and thank goodness we get lots to choose from.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: TAMPA - BELATED LOVE

Hey, it's release day for the debut album from the Moncton band, Tampa, called Belated Love. New band, old friends actually. This is three members of the group Danger Cat, now transformed with a new sound into Tampa, and adding a real ringer in Katrine Noël from the much-loved Les Hay Babies, newly deputized as the group's bass player. Speaking of ringers, Tampa made a smart move drafting in producer Joe Grass, sonic adventurer, N.B.'er by birth, and guitarist to the stars (Patrick Watson, etc.) in Montreal.

The phrase has become so frustratingly overused that it's now meaningless, but I'd call this real alternative rock music. It has all the recognizable traits of your basic rock song, but messes with them all with bright, new ideas. The verse-chorus-verse structure gets tossed, even the basic sounds of the instruments get manipulated. For every little retro moment, there's something to counter it on the adventurous and new side. If Richard Lloyd and Television came along now, I think this would be the kind of record they'd make. It's catchy as all get out, funky and danceable, and just crammed full of great ideas.

It's fascinating listening to all the individual guitar parts, sharp chords or stinging little riffs, pretty lines that run in and out with the melodies. There will be three, four or more of these in each song, along with different vocal styles, from single leads from Nic LeBlanc, to double-tracked ones to harmonies and blankets of effects. There's nothing better than adventurous music meeting adventurous production. There's an album release show today (Mar. 09) at the Capital Complex in Fredericton, and the big launch party is Saturday at Salle Bernard-LeBlanc in Moncton.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NEIL YOUNG - HARVEST MOON (Vinyl)

It's getting hard to keep up with all the new albums, movies and TV shows Neil Young is putting out, mixed in with the constant stream of reissues, plus of course the currently free content on his website archives, all of his released music streamable. We wait anxiously for his new flick, Paradox, filmed on the Earth tour, to debut on Netflix, and his Roxy: Tonight's The Night Live album to be released on Record Store Day in April. But don't miss out on this release, slipping out during this brief lull in the schedule of new stuff.

This is the first readily available version of this Young favourite on vinyl in Canada and the U.S., after a brief availability at last November's Black Friday RSD. It came out in 1992, when vinyl was pretty much dead, so it didn't get a release then, except in Europe. Now it's a three-sided album, to cover the 50-plus minutes and keep the fidelity high, with the fourth side an etched graphic of the cover image. The extra side is very appreciated, as this largely acoustic album boasts some of the warmest-sounding songs of Young's career, ideal for a vinyl listening.

The album marked a real burst in popularity for Young, when the new generation of MuchMusic and MTV viewers embraced him. Marketed, with Young's active approval, as a followup of sorts to Harvest, for that generation the two albums are spiritually connected. Young used many of the same players and singers, including Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Kenny Buttrey, Tim Drummond and Ben Keith, and even copied the style of playing. Listen to the acoustic guitar on War Of Man, right down to the chord changes, it echoes his playing on that earlier album. He drops the phrase "old man" in You and Me, and the set positively reeks of nostalgia. One Of These Days is a tribute to the '70's musicians and friends ("And I'm gonna thank that old country fiddler/and all those ruff boys who play that rock and roll"), while there are a couple of tributes to his then-wife Pegi and their initial courtship.

So Young knew exactly what he was doing, but at the same time, these are for the most part really great songs, and it was a welcome return to acoustic music after the 80's dabbling in proto-electro, rockabilly, country, blues and doom rock. Also it was yet another really great album after 1989's Freedom, 1990's Ragged Glory and the 1991 live set Weld. And now listening back decades later, now that what's new and old doesn't matter, we can appreciate that it is a strong companion to Harvest. And it's even better on vinyl.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: VANCE JOY - NATION OF TWO

The Riptide hitmaker from Australia releases his second album, with more acoustic singer-songwriter music. There's lots more coming in the Riptide vein, potential hit singles, some already hits in his home, with his trademark ukulele prominent, or at least acoustic guitar. Then the songs build, with lots more vocals added, wordless chorus bits of "oh-oh-whoa-oh" and "buh-ba-buh-ba", more instruments join in and it's all catchy as hell.

Catchy, but a bit too repetitive perhaps. The formula doesn't get changed much. We're Going Home adds brass, which makes it stand out, and current single Saturday Sun has that bright ukulele right off the bat, still a winning and different sound. But they are all love songs, all sentimental, and the same mellow style throughout. What sounds great as individual tracks overwhelms you the course of 13.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SHOVELS & ROPE - BUSTED JUKEBOX VOL. 2

Shovels and Rope have always been about mixing things up for surprising results. Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst started out in separate groups, then with separate solo careers, then teaming up to tour, then marrying, then playing together and finally forming this band. It's always been a combo of both of their styles, and hard to pin down from folk to country to roots to rock. These Busted Jukebox sets are about mixing it up with their friends, and mixing all their styles into different takes on favourite covers. I'm all for it.

There isn't even a firm concept on the album itself, so you'll get Brandi Carlile as a guest on one of Trent's songs, Cleanup Hitter, no guests at all on a cover of Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell, some classic covers featuring well-known guests and some more obscure one, and more obscure guests. The one overall connection is that they all work well. Indianola (a/k/a Owen Bradley) joins his pal/producer Trent for a slow, dreamy cover of The Hollies' Air That I Breathe, with Hearst's harmonies and a cool banjo line. Matthew Logan Vasquez takes time off from his group Delta Spirit to do a Midwest version of Untitled 1 by Sigur Ros. Americana favourite John Fullbright steps out of character to sing Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man.

Bigger names include Nicole Atkins on Concrete Blonde's Joey and Rhett Miller singing Do You Love Me Know by The Breeders. Best of them all comes from Hayes Carll, as he and Shovels and Rope completely re-imagine The Clash's Death Or Glory, as a shit-kicking mandolin party tune. You can overthink the value of these things, but when it's a fun listen, that's all that really matters.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SUE FOLEY - THE ICE QUEEN

The Ice Queen is on fire on this release, her first for Edmonton's beloved Stony Plain label. Sounding relaxed and pleased to be in the studio, Foley has returned to Austin where she spent much of her early career, and recorded this new one with lots of pals, stars and influences. The good vibes come over plain as day, with Foley singing and playing at the top of her game, and her new songs sharp and smart.

Indeed, Foley's writing so well, I'm tempted to call this a singer-songwriter album, especially as she stretches on songs Death Of A Dream, which is jazz-influenced, and The Dance, a solo acoustic flamenco-styled number. The lyrics, especially to the latter, are inspired, The Dance a dramatic tale you'd never find from another blues performer. There's also a solo take on the Carter Family's Cannonball Blues, where she shows off her mastery of that style of country blues storytelling.

Worry not though, electric blues fans, there's lots of that too, featuring one heck of a team, featuring Double Trouble/Arc Angel drummer Chris Layton, producer Mike Flanigin (Jimmie Vaughan) on keys, Chris Maresh (Eric Johnson) on electric bass, Johnny Bradley (Gary Clark Jr.) on standup bass, and The Texas Horns. In other words, some of the best of Austin. Then add in a trio of special guests ... Jimmy Vaughan, Charlie Sexton and Billy Gibbons ... and the party really gets going. Foley won't be overshadowed though. Her lead playing stings throughout, and her significant drawl plus sweet higher range gives her a fascinating vocal style. With all these elements firing at once, it's time to consider Foley among the very top tier of blues stars in North America.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JETHRO TULL - HEAVY HORSES (NEW SHOES EDITION)

I'm repeating myself here, but once again, the Tull camp sets the standard for album reissues with is ongoing series. It's not difficult, it's just treating the material and the fans properly by giving them everything all at once, and in high-quality audio and packaging. That means all the associated session material, from B-sides to unreleased numbers to alternates, lots of live work, and even video. You get multiple mixes of everything on DVD, and even a hidden track. The generous 96-page book has the entire story of the album, not fluffy and overly praising, but realistic and fact-based, warts and all. And when you put all these boxes together over the course of the decade covered so far, you get the complete history.

Heavy Horses was the second of Ian Anderson's trilogy of rural England-themed album, coming after 1977's Songs From The Wood. Like the rest of his '70's album, there was a loose lyrical concept, stemming from his move to the English countryside. The songs were more folk-based than other Tull albums, but still had lots of other elements, including lots of strings and some heavier guitar moments. It was a sadder, darker album though, with regrets that some of the old rural values were gone, as symbolized by the replacement of the workhorse by the modern tractor. It's a pretty well established theme, you'll find it in Lord Of The Rings, for instance, and I'll certainly take that over somebody stumbling through the writing of another love song. The title track, Moths, One Brown Mouse, these are all strong Tull songs with good melodies and drama. The variety of music makes this album, and its predecessor two of the better '70's releases, a step above works such as A Passion Play and Minstrel In The Gallery.

Tull fans will know that the next album in line was the double-set Live-Bursting Out. Instead of a simple reissue of that, it's included here, not just the original, but the full show from which it was taken, from Berne, Switzerland in May 1978. Importantly you get the song Heavy Horses back in the set list to give you the whole experience of what was a really strong tour. Anderson's stage banter is funny and engaging, Martin Barre is on fire on guitar and the whole band shows why they were one of the top touring draws of the decade. It's a strong mix of the big favourites, such as Aqualung, Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die and a long segment of Thick As A Brick, and lots of the new material. I've always liked '70's Jethro Tull, and these boxes have made me appreciate them even more, learn a lot and enjoy revisiting, a great experience for music collectors.