MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DANIEL LANOIS - HEAVY SUN

Although best known for his star-power productions, for the past decade Lanois has spent more time on his own projects. They've been wildly different, from his dub-rock set Black Dub, to his 2018 pedal steel-synth-beats collaboration with Venetian Snares. You just never know. 

This time out, Lanois formed a group of some of his close friends, with a purpose in mind. He had a sound in his head, something old, and something new. He wanted to make a vocal album, with lots and lots of harmonies. He wanted it to be soulful, not just in name and style, but in real, gospel-based soul. He wanted it to be modern too, and of course, Lanois knows how to make anything forward-thinking, with his unlimited studio skills and sounds in his head.

It would also need a unified sound, something that can only come from a core group of like-minded souls, who could play and sing like angels. He already had long-time bassist Jim Wilson ready, plus guitarist Rocco DeLuca. But it still needed gospel authenticity. For that, Lanois turned to another connection that he had made through his drummer friend, the great Brian Blade. Blade came from the church, as did his father, Pastor Brady Blade, whom he had met when he had his studio in New Orleans.

"The Blade family certainly introduced me to another dimension of culture in Louisiana," says Lanois, currently in his Toronto studio. "I was introduced to their Pops, who runs the Zion Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, and I've sat in with the church band and choir a good many times, and that's how I met Johnny Sheppard, who was the choir director and organist. So that's it, we always wanted a harmony singing group, and I heard Johnny and thought maybe he could be that member of the orchestra we've been looking for."

Lanois doesn't choose his projects on a whim, and he pours his heart and effort into each one. Record-making, to him, has important rules. "It's always been my criteria to pay respect to tradition. We all came into this loving something that was already made. But then I have a responsibility to take it into the future. I managed to do it with Bob Dylan and a lot of folks.. We had such an eclectic group, everybody brought something to the table. Johnny had never sung outside a church, how rare is that? Such a pure form. Then me with all my record-making experience, to try and harness the magic as best I can, and then to write songs with these mates. Overall it was a very good setting for making something that will live on."

What leaps out is music full of joy. It's a positive sound, built on the harmony singing and spiritual vibes. It's not Gospel music, religion doesn't feature in the lyrics, but the positivity certainly does, much like the sound of Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions. "That's a good point of reference, because his music always had joy in its spine," says Lanois. "And no matter what the subject matter was, you got the impression he was on the pulse of something. If we could be in that club in any way, that's a big compliment."

Given how we've all been feeling, it could be the tonic you've been craving. Lanois felt it was important to make a positive record right now. "I felt that way before the pandemic," he says. "And so off we went, and Johnny Sheppard said, please make sure that every song has a good message. I said, alright Johnny, no problem, let's go. Then the pandemic came, and apparently the record is being called the Sonic Vaccine."

You don't have to overthink this album, just enjoy this mix of new and old, and simply beautiful melodies and harmonies. 

"I think that if there's any truth that artists feel the wave of the future in the present day, let that apply to this, says Lanois. "I felt something in the air. Nobody's occupying the centre stage in this, it's group singing in most places, and I think people feel that we left our egos hanging at the door. Isn't that why people sing in choirs? They want to harmonize, they want to blend. And there's a lot of harmony and blended singing on this record."

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: WILLIE DUNN - CREATION NEVER SLEEPS, CREATION NEVER DIES: THE WILLIE DUNN ANTHOLOGY

Long before this generation heard about residential schools, Charlie Wenjack, colonial privilege and environmental protests, Willie Dunn was trying to wake people up with his music. A product of the folk singer movement of the early 1960's, grew up in Montreal, where his Mi'gmaq mother from Restigouche and Liverpool-born father had settled. He became one of the core young leaders and creators in an artistic and political movement of First Nations artists, and his music was just part of his make-up. He was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, a filmmaker with the NFB, a politician, a visual artist, a poet, and a protestor. His inspiring life story would fill a book or two, certainly the lengthy essays in this new collection, and all of it influenced the stunning working collected here.

It's the latest project from the Light In The Attic label, the same group that released the groundbreaking and Grammy-nominated collection Native North America in 2014, which featured three of Dunn's tracks. Dunn died just before the release of that collection, which helped increase his profile, and producer Kevin Howes has brought the same level of excellence to this set. This goes beyond any casual statement that maybe there were a few decent performers found in the First Nations that might have been unjustly ignored. One listen to the music shows that Dunn was a writer and performer of the highest calibre for decades, his songs as powerful and affecting today as they were when first recorded.

There are two reasons Willie Dunn isn't spoken of alongside Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot in this country, and the first one is obvious. Gatekeepers weren't about to play and promote his music in the past, and most Canadians didn't want to hear it anyway. Dunn himself didn't help matters, since he had no interest in commercializing himself other than the bare essentials of survival. There was no compromise, he was not for sale. Institutions such as the NFB and CBC were supportive in the '60's and '70's, and thankfully Dunn was able to work on lots of productions and recording sessions, and even put out a couple of albums with small commercial companies. For the small audience that did find Dunn's music and film, his work was monumental. 

Much of the music on this two-disc set is either topical or historical, Dunn fully invested in telling the truths about the Native experience under colonial rule. His landmark "The Ballad Of Crowfoot" was turned into a ten-minute NFB film in 1968 which he directed, essentially one of the very first long-form music videos. It takes the listener from 1821 to 1967 (Centennial year), showing the horrible impact felt by the Indigenous peoples. It is the flipside of Lightfoot's Centennial song, "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," and should have been played right after it. It's impossible to listen to this song and not come away changed.

There are lots of others of equal power, especially "I Pity The Country," his condemnation of bureaucracy and bigotry: "I pity the country, I pity the state/And the mind of a man, who thrives on hate." Respect to Gord Downie, but Dunn told Charlie Wenjack's story on his 1971 album, in the song "Charlie." And his spoken-word new version of "O Canada!" is undeniable: "O Canada, once glorious and free/O Canada, we sympathize with thee." 

Not everything is sadness and righteous anger. There are celebrations like "The Carver," who takes the nature and stories of his people, and puts it all in the totem poles and canoes. In "Sonnet 33 and 55/Friendship Dance," he combines the words of Shakespeare with drums and chants, a stunning and brave artistic statement. I've spent decades immersed in the career highlights of rock, pop and folk heroes, many of them ensconced in various Halls of Fame, usually for one or two highlights and then varying levels of achievement. There are precious few, only a handful, who have created at such a pure and powerful level, and with such a true artistic vision, as Willie Dunn.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GABRIEL MINNIKIN - SWEET NOTHINGS

Nova Scotia stalwart Gabriel Minnikin is always a delight, a cowboy with a heart of alt-rock. While capable of acoustic, deep-thinking troubadour tunes, on his latest he lets loose in the studio with great flights of pop production, and great big songs full of instruments and singers. He blows the doors off right at cut one, "Pretty Little Ditty," which is far from little. It takes off with an explosion of horns and ooh-la-la's, a wonderfully idiosyncratic tune that references "Heart Of Gold" and Steve McQueen in the lyrics.

Next up is "The Lion & the Lyre Bird," another magic mega-production with everything including actual bells and whistles. Make that belles, as Minnikin counters his country croak with charming N.S. singers Terra Spencer, Kristin Hatt, Alana Yorke, Mel Stone, and Gabe's sister Ruth. With a nod to Stompin' Tom, the cut "C eh N eh D eh" is a tribute to our homeland, more natural pride than national, but that's the right kind of patriotism.

"The Downtrodden Jubilee" is the most adventurous cut, which is saying a lot for this wildly diverse and imaginative collection. It's dramatic and operatic at times, with a horns and wordless vocals introduction which peels away to reveal a "Day In The Life"-style verse, but then some sort of Brechtian chorus with ummphs and moans instead of lyrics. It's like Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney and Frank Zappa got together in 1968 and played a game of "beat that" in the studio.

After that palate-cleanser, Minnikin calms things down as we head to the end, getting more country as he goes. "Please Forget Me" is a barroom weeper, pedal steel and piano now dominate. And closer "Blood Harmony" is an old-school spaghetti western number, drama and veiled threats in the family, in what could be a murder ballad up in the mountains where family is everything and the police won't go. And I think I heard an oboe. 

There is a lot going on, but in no way is it a challenging listen. It's actually a delight, with lots of ear candy to enjoy and fine playing to appreciate. But the deeper you listen, the more impressive the album becomes. Put on "repeat."

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: TOM PETTY - FINDING WILDFLOWERS (Alternate Versions)

I have already waxed enthusiastically about the release last fall of the box set called Wildflowers And All The Rest, a fantastic set featuring all sorts of alternates, live cuts, demos and more from Petty's Wildflowers sessions. What I didn't mention was that there was also a Super Deluxe version with a bunch more artwork and an entire extra album of cuts not available elsewhere. It cost you a bundle more. Well, guess what? After waiting a few months to hopefully not piss off the collectors who spent that bundle more, the extra album has been released separately, meaning smarties like me and you didn't have to shell out all that extra cash.

Enough smugness, I certainly coveted that bonus disc, and now am very happy it's available on its own. It includes a further 16 cuts, alternate versions of most of the songs that made up Wildflowers, plus a couple of b-sides, and a one-off track from the sessions, "You Saw Me Comin'," that makes its debut here. What's with all the alternate versions? Well, Wildflowers took ages to make, from sessions over two years, and was originally planned as a double album. It was at a transitional time for Petty, with drummer Stan Lynch leaving, signing to a new record label, and Tom unsure if he was making a solo album or another Heartbreakers disc. Rick Rubin was producing, some session players had come in, Lynch had been invited back for awhile, and Petty was trying out his songs in various ways. So here you get the tracks sometimes in more rocking versions, others in their acoustic mode, some with different lyrics, and others with completely different moods. 

In the end Petty didn't want to make a Heartbreakers album, even though all of them played on these songs, and the original release from 1994 featured a lot of takes that were more emotive than raw. Here are some of the more rockin' versions, especially on tracks featuring Lynch, and the whole Heartbreakers vibe. "Crawlin' Back To You" is faster here, and "House In The Woods" has a regrettable middle section jam inspired by Mike Campbell's recent interest in the Grateful Dead. Petty probably made the right choice on most of the tracks, even though he must have been sad not to include the Ringo Starr take of "Wildflowers." Yeah, any album that includes a song starting with "You count it in, Ringo," is got to be good. You can pick this up on CD now, on special gold vinyl, or coming soon, regular old black vinyl.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DIANA HAYES/ANDY MEYERS - DEEPER INTO THE FOREST

Many people in the arts have found themselves shut out of some of their regular work in the Covid reality, which has been a curse financially, but occasionally there have been a few creative blessings. Without readings, conferences and launches on the schedule, B.C. poet Diana Hayes had time to turn some of her most recent work into a different project. Teaming up with guitarist and experimenter Andy Meyers (The Scenics, "The Last Pogo"), Hayes recited a number of her poems, which were then augmented with music, voices and sound effects. It's a rewarding combination of spoken word, music and atmosphere.

Rather than simply composing music to accompany the poems, Meyers lived with the audio, thought about the words, and found sounds, natural or created, to weave in and layer. Since nature is key to Hayes' poetry, field recordings of bird calls and frog peeps appear, treated with effects. There are wordless vocals at various times, supplied by Susheela Dawne, and Hayes' own voice is sometimes echoed back, a ghostly repetition. For the most part Meyers provides calm beds for the poems, fitting as Hayes has a soothing, Hinterland Who's Who-quality of narration. But when fuller sounds appear, it makes it even more dramatic, as found on "Thirteen Ways to Free a Crow." Here the guitar is richer and louder, train-like tones appear and the poet's voice doubled, sometimes repeated. If you too have extra time in lockdown, it's a good chance to expand your listening and try something different. 

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: KAT DANSER - ONE EYE OPEN

There's not too many albums that would qualify as blues with such a straight-up punk rock song as the title cut. But that's the big wide blues world for Kat Danser. She isn't confined to the bar band sound of much modern blues, nor is she confined to her hometown Edmonton sounds, pandemic or not. Danser teamed up with producer Steve Dawson in Nashville, and aces scattered around the continent for this set, recording her vocals remotely in Edmonton, with nobody in the same studio. How they pulled off all her different styles is a testament to the talent involved, and the now-familiar miracle that is Zoom.

Danser is an integrator, taking classic location sounds and smoothly blending them, while still allowing different genres to come to the fore depending on the track. "Mi Corazon," obviously Cuban and sung in Spanish, still has horns that owe as much to New Orleans. And where that pedal steel solo comes from, well, it's part of the magic. In "Lonely & The Dragon," those horns are now serving up slow-burning soul jazz lines, while Kevin McKendree (Brian Setzer, Delbert McClinton) provides a shot of vitamin B-3. And "Bring It With You When You Come" is delightfully Dixieland/Fats Waller, with Dawson sliding in some licks, while the horns go off script for a bebop moment or two. Meanwhile Danser goes from goodtime vocals on "Frenchman Street" to tough as nails on "Way I Like It Done," a different character for every different song. By the time she rages, "What the hell is going on?" in her best punk voice for "One Eye Open," it all makes sense actually.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NEIL YOUNG - YOUNG SHAKESPEARE

Just imagine the people who went to this concert in January of 1971, and said after, "It was good, but he played a bunch of new songs nobody knew." It would be a year before they came out on Harvest, and that night Young treated the crowds to the brand-new "A Man Needs A Maid," "Old Man," "The Needle And The Damage Done," and "Heart Of Gold." They didn't know how lucky they were at the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, CT. 

This new LP/CD/DVD is billed as the earliest concert film of Young, but let's be realistic. He looks and sounds the same as he did all for decades, at least when he did these acoustic shows. More importantly, it's a strong show from this crucial time in his career. His songwriting was flowing so well that he couldn't afford to stand still and promote his just-released album After The Gold Rush. The set features just two of those tracks, "Tell Me Why" and "Don't Let It Bring You Down." He did the CSNY favourites "Ohio" and "Helpless," but it was the unreleased material that really held his interest.

Definitely the high point is when he switches to piano, an instrument he admits he's still learning. But he's used it to write stunning new material. We get his "Man Needs A Maid/Heart Of Gold" suite, still in its original medley state. It's funny how "Heart Of Gold" was the afterthought at this point. In introducing "Maid," he explains his recent back injury (slipped disc) had left him bedridden for a time, wishing somebody would clean up. That might have inspired the "maid" lines, but the real story here is the bit about "I fell in love with the actress," a reference to his new relationship with Carrie Snodgrass, probably the heart of gold. Young stays at the keys for "Journey Through The Past," such a strong number it would be saved for his experimental film of the same name the next year. 

Young fans will know this this show was a mere three days after his Massey Hall concert, released in 2007. That featured a longer setlist, and the only difference here is an encore of "Sugar Mountain." Also, the Massey Hall show had a DVD that linked up those cuts with this same exact film footage, since at that point, they didn't realize they had this good audio from the Shakespeare Theatre set. Well, never mind, it's good to have the video and audio now in its proper place, and the Shakespeare show is more serious and quiet, without the excitement of the audience at the hometown Massey Hall gig. It is Young at the very height of his songwriting prowess. You can buy the CD, LP or a deluxe set with the DVD and both audio versions.