MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: G. LOVE - FIXIN' TO DIE

G. LOVE - FIXIN' TO DIE

No Special Sauce on this one.  G. Love goes it alone, or rather goes it without his usual backing band, trading them for the hot hot sounds of the Avett Brothers.  Scott and Seth are the producers, and much of their folkie-rootsy sound is picked up with the disc.  That's nothing new for G., who has switched gears a number of times in his now quite-lengthy career, almost 20 years and 17 albums.

I've been quite disappointed with G. Love's past decade, and his genre-hopping.  Originally he was one of the best white hip-hop artists, one of the first to show how there was an artistic future for the form, as opposed to the cartoonish Vanilla Ice, for instance.  Plus, he was out there doing it for his home town on the landmark Philadelphonic album in 1999.  But that's also when he met Jack Johnson, who was then unknown.  When Johnson got famous, G. Love became part of his label and scene, and the music changed.  Now G. Love albums were more jam-based, acoustic, all Jack Johnson-y.  There's been some country there, blues, but it's been watered-down, and hardly original.

With the Avetts on board, G. Love is still dealing in other people's music.  There are some old blues numbers, and this watered-down roots sound the Avett Brothers deal in.  You get the feeling none of these guys grew up with any of these influences, but instead discovered them on-line, and do an approximation rather than connecting with the sound in their soul.  Oddly, Love and the Avetts have little to add to the covers they've chosen.  Paul Simon's 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover and The Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes given very basic readings, almost as if the group has just discovered these songs, and thinks that most of us won't have heard them before, like we're 16 years old.  Actually, that may be the main audience here.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JARED LUTES - WAITING ON YOU

I have a weekly column on CBC Radio 1 here in New Brunswick where I focus on East Coast music.  I've been doing a version of it pretty steadily since 1985.  It's each Wednesday on the Shift program, at around 4:45 Atlantic time.  As a firm believer in recycling, I shall also present it here.  You'll notice a bit of a difference in the writing style, as it's meant to be performed on radio, but you'll get the idea.

 

JARED LUTES - WAITING ON YOU

 

When I hear the name Lutes around here, I'd say that person is probably from the Moncton area.  It's one of the great old Moncton names, going way back to 1766.  A German fella, one of the original settlers of the area, came out of Pennsylvania actually, along with some other Germans of that region.  They had made a land deal down there to go settle some land in this area, all British colonies of course.  You had Lutes (then spelled the German way, Lutz), and Trites, and Stief, which became Steeves, a family that took over Albert County and owns it to this day. They came on Captain Hall's ship, and where they landed, they called that Hall's Creek, and still do.  That's a primer on how Lutes got to Moncton, and why you still find lots of them there.

Including one Jared Lutes.  A great many of you have probably seen Jared in action over the past decade, as he's been one of the most in-demand and active players on the East Coast.  Sometimes he's solo, sometimes he's with his band In Tandem, or with his significant other, and long-time music partner Marie-Josee Poitras.  Lutes does well over a hundred shows a year, which means every weekend, probably twice a weekend.  Ask any Maritime musician, that right there is pretty much of the peak of live performing around here.

So, while he's a veteran player, Lutes hasn't really been that active on the recording scene, although he's long featured originals in his shows, and has been working hard to hone that craft.  He did do an album back in 2007, but describes it as an amateur effort, something to learn from.  However, he did like a lot of the songs he'd written for it.  And those became the foundation of his most recent project.

This time, for his disc Waiting On You, Lutes decided to make it the professional project he'd wanted.  Working with his touring band and Los Angeles producer Howard England, it was decided to concentrate on the best songs they had, all killer, no filler, and use the results as a showcase of his talent.  That means there are just six tracks here, but Lutes is one of many recording artists who have realized the old idea of having 10 or 12 songs isn't necessary anymore in the digital age.  Most people only want to buy the tracks they like now as downloads, so why not just cater to that idea, and keep the price low on the physical CD as well.

Playing for so long, in so many different places, to so many different crowds, Lutes has had to be a musical chameleon.  He's had to learn most popular styles, and be ready to adapt to any crowd he faces, whether they want old rock or new country.  You can hear how that has informed his songwriting, and within six songs he does give us a lot of styles, from ballads to pop would-be hits to East Coast singer-songwriter to modern nashville.  Often Saturday night dance crowds don't want you to be yourself, they want you to be their favourite singers.  It's no surprise to me that All I have To Say would be a perfect Lennie Gallant song, or Waiting On You could be from Blue Rodeo, one of Cuddy's ballads.  That's another way of saying this guy writes and signs very well.  I'd call it adult pop, from somebody who has made it his business to know what you like when you go out.  The trick is to add your own spin on the style.  Lutes' main assets are his voice, determination and professionalism.  And the strongest songs on this disc sound like radio hits waiting to be discovered.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JAY SMITH

JAY SMITH

Geez, it's been almost twenty years since Sloan got going, and spearheaded what became known as the Halifax Pop Explosion. While the semi-Fab Four ready a new disc for this spring, the whole Haligonian hubbub continues unchecked, even though Jay, Chris, Andrew and Patrick blew that pop stand for Toronto back in the '90's. The group's legacy has been a constant flow of power pop, as the boys and girls following in their wake have been inspired by the beauty of the three minute miracle. Without Sloan, we wouldn't have had Thrush Hermit, Plaskett, The Guthries, Matt Mays, Jenn Grant, Wintersleep, I could go on for about 15 paragraphs here. Suffice to say, us Maritimers have been enjoying a lot of beautiful pop for two decades.

Jay Smith is just one of the latest, and he's a hot man in the HMA these days. Ex-Rock Ranger, Kato to May's Green Hornet in El Torpedo, he's even written hits with Gordie Sampson. One of those invaluable sidemen, for the past months he's been slowly moving out on his own, playing lots of gigs and getting his tunes out. Although this self-titled set of ten tracks has been available on-line for a bit, it's now disc-shaped, and ready for consumption as word gets out.

I'm loving this set of guitar-driven heartbreak. Smith's a classic rocker, with electric and acoustic guitars layered up, pretty chords and changes lined up on each tracks, a great band groove, and everything sounding fresh and bright. All the tracks are built from the ground up, with harmonies and guitar lines fattening up the cheery, feel-great melodies. They are never sappy, 'cause the guitars rock, the drummer rolls, and the energy could make a pasty, overweight music reviewer dance (blush). Nominal single Romantic Fool sets the template, with our man admitting his heart-breaking ways, which in the end only hurt himself, over a wash of ringing chords. Have a listen pop-rock fans, you will happily add Smith to your Halifax favourites playlist.

SHOW DATES:

The Paragon, Halifax NS   Wednesday, March 16th

The Mason Jar, Sussex NB  Friday, March 18th

Hunter's Ale House ,Charlottetown PEI  Saturday, March 19th

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GIANT HAND - STARTING AS PEOPLE

GIANT HAND - STARTING AS PEOPLE

Ottawa's Kirk Ramsey, a/k/a Giant Hand, obviously has never met a chord he didn't like.  He must love them, because when he finds one, he plays it over and over again.  That's not quite fair, because I think his songs have three or four in there, but it's hard to tell since his monotonous voice barely changes pitch at any point.  That's a plus really, since when he does go past his two-note vocal range, the results are pitch-painful.   The repetitive nature of his singing and playing does have a hypnotic drone quality to it, but I found that to be quite dangerous, as I was driving while previewing the disc, and I nearly found myself in a New Brunswick highway ditch full of snow.

Obsessed with death, Ramsey tells us about the man who dug his own grave, and hiding from the monsters as a kid.  Guess what?  That monster at the door?  It was just his Dad coming to tell him to turn off the light and get to sleep!  Awesome.  In the central opus of this mini-disc, Another Step Down, which is a song about death, he's like a child hiding in his bed under the sheets, a familiar theme in the Giant Hand ouevre.  The big statement we are offered here is "...when I die, where will I go?/That's a question that God only knows".  Stunning.

Ramsey's first Giant Hand album came out in 2009, and this is a mini-album, with six tracks.  Well, five actually, since one of them is 40 seconds of someone walking along, finally opening a door with a key.  It's called From The Garden To The Cave.  Rather than feeling ripped off, this is actually my favourite track on the disc.  Look, I get this is indie and outsider, and anti-big production, fun for Ramsey and whatever friends and listeners want to get into it, but Christ it's dumb.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: R.E.M. - COLLAPSE INTO NOW

R.E.M. - COLLAPSE INTO NOW

How long have we been waiting for a truly great R.E.M. record?  Since New Adventures In Hi-Fi perhaps?  Since Bill Berry quit?  As the Monster/Up/Around The Sun releases have blended into each other, the group has seemed almost desperate to recapture the public's interest, trying too hard, putting out too many discs.  Yet with each album of the past couple anyway, it has seemed that something was up, a possible fire in the belly that could or should lead somewhere.

Which leads me to say I've pretty well convinced myself this is a great R.E.M. album.  There's some barn-burners on here that have me thrilled, real rockers that make me happy, as if it's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.  There's also some classic quiet, obscure and quite beautiful numbers, that place where Stipe gets haunting and Buck gets moody, and it all works.  One fine example is Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I, which references Neil Young's Brando tune, Pocahontas.  Buck digs out the old mandolin, and we're in Stipe's dreamland.

There are two cuts that leap out as gems to add to the next Greatest Hits collection.  The wonderfully-named Mine Smell Like Honey is a guitar rocker with a great sing-along chorus.  Then there's Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter, which is much less weird than its name suggests.  It's a big, pounding number, featuring Peaches on harmonies, this album's Shiny Happy People.  Eddie Vedder is featured, and old pal Patti Smith is on board as well, joining Stipe in a poetry slam on the final cut, Blue, giving us pretty much everything you want from an R.E.M. album.

Producer Jacknife Lee will get some of the applause for this comeback, but the band also deserves a lot of credit for sticking it out for the past decade, and enduring a lot of frustration.   Hopefully, there are still enough fans ready to embrace them again.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GEOFF BERNER - VICTORY PARTY

GEOFF BERNER - VICTORY PARTY

Back in the 80's, The Pogues revitalized traditional Irish music by adding the abandon of punk. Now it's hard to imagine modern Irish without a bit of rock in it at least. Much the same has happened to klezmer music, thanks to folks like Vancouver's Geoff Berner. It's not a revival of this Eastern European Jewish music now, it's the way it is.

Berner teams up with hip-hop/klezmer artist Socalled for his latest, which is also his most radical. With Socalled as producer, the pair are loudly saying this music isn't a novelty, it's representative of a strong voice in Jewish culture. It's in-your-face, not with old school Fiddler On The Roof-isms, but today's young, loud and snotty crowd. The music is for drinkers, the stories are rowdy and sometimes violent, even controversial. Laughing Jackie The Pimp is a thug, who gets paid back for his violence to women by the Russian mob. And in Daloy Polizei, well, wait until the NYPD get ahold of these lyrics. Remember the big stink about NWA's 1988 song Fuck Tha Police? Geez, they even turned against Springsteen for his American Skin (41 Shots). I wonder how they'll feel about "Out of your house, Into the streets/Everybody say, Fuck The Police"?

Accordian, violin, and clarinet meets sampled beats, electric guitar and shouting. Yet it remains distinctive, there's no hint of Berner's music being pushed into today for some trendy world music fans. Nor does seem old fashioned. A few more artists and albums like this, and you're going to be starting up a klezmer playlist on your iPod.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MARIE-JO THERIO - CHASING LYDIE

MARIE-JO THERIO - CHASING LYDIE

She's one of the biggest female stars in francophone Canada, and has made pretty good inroads into the market in France.  The Moncton artist has recorded and performed a lot in English, but for the French market.  As a bilingual New Brunswicker, sometimes the songs have called for it, and she's even sung in Chiac, that unique blend of French and English that is particular to the Moncton area.  But now, we get her first full-length album sung in English.

The first edition of the set came out a week before the download and CD, as a two-L.P. set.  That was part of the whole concept.  It's an album about a person from the early to mid-20th century, so that's the appropriate medium.  Chasing Lydie is about a relation of Therio's, a great-aunt named Lydia Leblanc, who lived in Massachusetts and was also a singer, back in the 1930's and 1940's.  Therio had always heard lots of stories about her, but never met her.  Lydie was apparently quite the brave person, to choose this career in the States, at a time when Al Jolson and Ruby Keelor and the like were the models.  Therio wanted to know more about her, so she bought a van, and headed to Massachusetts to, in fact, chase after Lydie.  At least she could find the stories, and get a feeling for what it must have been like. 

Lots of Acadians moves to New England for work in those days, and there were lots of relatives there she had never met.  She got some real stories, but also did a little crafting, embellished a bit because, as she says, she is a story-teller.  This didn't turn out to be complete biography, it's more about the art than the person.

You're not going to find another English album like this, and really, not many in any language.  Chasing Lydie is meant to be listened to in one sitting, straight through, as you would watch a movie.  It is a story, it is a performance, it is a sound collage.  It's full of sound effects, captured conversations, refurbished 78 rpm records, the scratching and popping of old vinyl.  The first sound you hear is wiper blades, no doubt the start of the journey to chase Lydie, from the front seat of Therio's batttered-up van.  Characters come and go, and it's not something you're going to get in one listen.  It's like a Robert Altman film, with it's layered dialogue and sounds.

Why English, since she's an Acadian, singing about another Acadian, and largely for her regular Francophone audience?  Therio says she didn't set out to make an English album, it's that English imposed itself on the project.  She was dealing with family members who no longer spoke French in Massachusetts.  As most of the events she heard about were in English, it because the working language of the project, and therefore she wrote the songs that way.

Look, this is no pop album, it's very theatrical, very much a Francophone style of performance and recording, so it won't be an easy transition for Anglophones, even though it's in English.  But, it's really interesting and fun, and you'll have to get your head around the idea you're watching this as much as you're listening, as use your imagination.  Then you can have a lot of fun with it.