MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: PENNY BLACKS - GOLD STANDARDS

Saint John, NB artist Jason Ogden is Penny Blacks, at least in the leadership role.  The "group" can expand to seven pieces, or just be him solo, and this 5-track EP is a one-man band job, aside from a couple of guest spots.  Recorded in the spare room (I love that), it's higher than low-fi, but pretty much that volume.  Ogden takes us through a few styles in a quick 20 minutes, from country (Your Wedding Ring) to could-be pop or punk or whatever he'd want if it wasn't just him and an acoustic and some harmonies.  Some nasty lines in that one though, "..embalmer's fluid doesn't flow quite like blood".

My fave lyric, and title, belongs to lead cut Chop Yourself Into Little Pieces And Mail Yourself To New Brunswick, Canada For Immediate Reassembly.  He-he.  It's actually a sad little number seemingly set out in B.C. ("the worst coast"), with somebody who would rather be in the titular province, missing his love as the rain comes down, and an angel or devil sitting on his shoulder whispering "come home".  That's the entire lyric actually, almost shorter than the title.  Again, he-he.

WIth this second EP, and an on-going collection of home recordings, Ogden says he's going for catchy songs, less wordy and not so bedroom-isolated.  He does have a bunch of lyrics, but he's an interesting writer, and his acoustic work is confident and enjoyable.  Sigh.  Another punk, maturing into a songwriter.  He even pulls off a very nice, lengthy and ear-sweet opus, called Socorro.  Well played and sung, Penny Blacks.

Catch Ogden in action Wednesday, June 1 at the Vintage Bistro in Hampton, NB, and the full band is going to play at this year's Folly Fest, happening in Gagetown, NB June 29 - July 1.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: FLEET FOXES - HELPLESSNESS BLUES

The inevitable second album backlash greets this one, after the band's debut in 2008 wowed and won many major critics polls, and tons of fans, especially in England where the self-titled disc went platinum.  It almost a pattern for groups with such a distinct sound and killer first album, no matter what is released, it can't possibly match the record so many fell in love with (see Arcade Fire).  There are some differences with this album, but not the kind that lead to new directions, and are subtle enough it really does sound like a continuation of the first album without the surprise this time.

If you haven't got Foxy yet, here's the deal on the group:  It sounds like Crosby, Stills and Nash, but if they had formed in Brian Wilson's living room instead of Cass Elliot's (as legend and stony memory has it).  Wilson, would have of course produced, using all those Pet Sounds and Smile techniques, and given his fondness for choirboy vocals, he would have booted Stills to the back row, and let Nash handle all the leads, and double-track many of the harmonies along with Crosby.  Follow?  Robin Pecknold is that Nashian vocalist here, and the rest of the group contribute to the layered vocals, the most dominate sound in their music.  Every song features harmonies, bathed in echo, giving us the feeling they're not really on the same plain as us, ghosts or angels or just in the next room.  Rock it does not, and you're more likely to hear a flute solo than an electric guitar.

It's the sound that grabs you, and while the words sound pretty good, I think it's the way Pecknold sings them, rather than any great lyrical prowess.  If there's a big message, it doesn't really matter, it could be Beatles covers or Anglican hymns.  Mostly the words are cool, lines such as "I was old news to you then", nothing to worry about.  Occasionally there are some clunkers, including this dumb theme repeated in the longest track, the 8'07" The Shrine/An Argument:  "Green apples hang from the green apple tree/and they belong only to me."  Add its ocean references, and this is sub-Van Dyke Parks stuff.  The squawking horns are dolphins I guess.

For this album, it's even more of a Pecknold disc, his voice now completely prominent from start to finish, instead of a group vocal effort.  If anything, it sounds more like its obvious 60's roots.  It must be pointed out that while it is a great mix of those Beach Boys - CSN styles, nobody has eve sounded like this before, so it is unique.  It just that they boldly show their influences, and obvious ones at that.  So while it will be even easier for people to understand the group, and perhaps broaden their success, they are also going to get the negative reviews.  I find this album just as enjoyable as the first, and sometimes part two isn't a bad thing.  But it does represent a holding pattern, and leaves us wondering if it was a brief love affair, or whether they will rebound and blow our minds again for album 3 (see Arcade Fire).

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SNAILHOUSE - SENTIMENTAL GENTLEMAN

One might be forgiven for assuming Snailhouse, aka Mike Feuerstack is a Maritimer.  He is down our way quite a lot, and he's tied by choice to several of our favourite folk in the alt circuit.  The Montreal man shared a Juno with NB's Julie Doiron as a member of the Wooden Stars, and he's part of the Fredericton collective Forward Music, often seen in the company of such folks as Olympic Symphonium.  In fact, they are on tour together, and you can find future dates below.  In fact, half the Symph form the latest version of the greater Snailhouse band these days, although it will always be the place to find Feuerstack's personal writing, when he's not playing with Bell Orchestre or Angela Desveaux.

Whew!  The guy's a moving target then, now a half-dozen discs in the Snailhouse career.  He's the poet of the alt/low-fi/acoustic scene, whatever the heck that is.  Anyway, all those cool kids love the guy, mostly for his way with words, which are pretty darn admirable.  I'll give him some high-five action for the sounds this time out though, as he lifts his head from gazing at his shoes, sings out big and bright and lets the guitars chime a bit more too.  The title track is a thing of beauty, as poppy as he's going to get, a melody that will make you hug the person closest to you in the room, and Feuerstack admitting "I write the songs that make the grown men cry".  Oh blessed irony, he just quoted Manilow.  If you want those classic S-House lines though, don't fear, they are, as always, found a-plenty, my favourite being "Remember your enemies/They were your friends until they let you down".

Things never get fast here, it's all done no quicker than second gear, but it's not lethargic or sad either, it's a pleasant wash of sound and words, with some beautiful pedal steel that makes you smile, and Feuerstock's best-friend voice exactly the calming influence you want.  I'm feeling good about humanity right now, as the disc comes to an end.

Come see Snailhouse and Olympic Symphonium if you're in my neighbourhood, or later dates with our buddy Shotgun Jimmy:

June 02 - St.Andrews, NB: Sunbury Shores w/ The Olympic Symphonium

June 03 - Parkindale, NB: Parkindale Hall w/ The Olympic Symphonium

June 04 - Hampton, NB: Vintage Bistro w/ The Olympic Symphonium

June 09 - Moncton, NB: PlanB w/ Shotgun Jimmie

June 10 - Fredericton, NB: The Capital w/ Shotgun Jimmie

June 11 - Halifax, NS: The Seahorse w/ Shotgun Jimmie

June 12 - Sackville, NB: Thunder & Lightning w/ Shotgun Jimmie

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: TRAFFIC - JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE DELUXE

This British band has all but left the rock elite status, despite having gold records, famous members, and a legacy as one of the top touring groups in their late 60's-early 70's heyday. Perhaps it's because the unit never had a North American hit single, finding favour on the FM dial instead. So they don't get much classic rock airplay, aside from the occasional airing of the title cut of this collection, now newly remastered with the requisite bonus disc of early versions and a long live set of the time.

Yet Traffic was where Stevie Winwood chose to reside longer than his more famous bands, the Spencer Davis Group and Blind Faith. In fact, he got along so well with his colleagues they put the band back together only a year after an initial break to make this collection. The genesis of Barleycorn was a solo project of Winwood's. Two of the original six on the album were actually recorded with Winwood providing all the instruments, even the drums. Yes, the boy wonder was capable of this with multi-tracking, but in the end he much preferred playing with others, so ex-travelers in Traffic Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood were invited to add parts. Finally it became obvious it might as well be a full-fledged reunion, and Traffic Mark II proved even more successful than the original version, despite Dave Mason being absent for his solo career.

So, it was the above trio that set these songs out, largely written by Winwood and drummer Capaldi. Wood added flute and sax, and together they crafted a unique fusion of R'n'B, psych rock, prog, jazz, and folk. Okay, really, everything could and would go in, whatever felt right, and certainly no other band had that strong British folk influence, at least in the big rock scene. Actually the best-known song here, Barleycorn, stands alone in its complete folk flavour, an old 17th tale about attempts to wipe out corn liquor drinking.  As different as it is from the R'n'B of the rest of the disc, it also overshadows the other material.  It's a very enjoyable track, and as it's folk, still sounds great and undated.

Fans will want to upgrade for this deluxe edition. There are 3 fully-finished, different versions of album tracks from the initial Winwood-solo version of the album, very different and quite worthy as well.  That includes version one of Barleycorn, an even more traditional version, perhaps a bit busier, but a good effort.  The rest is a Fillmore East concert, with the band expanded to a four-piece, using ex-Blind Faith bassist Ric Grech, who would join as a full member after the tour.  Since it's Winwood, his famous voice makes everything that much better live, and it's nice to have a concert from the smaller line-up of the band.  By the next year, they'd expand to be a six-piece, and release the live Welcome To The Canteen album.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SPRINGSTEEN - THE PROMISE DVD

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - THE PROMISE:  THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (DVD)

Well, it was inevitable that the centerpiece film from last year's expensive boxed set examining the Darkness album and outtakes would be hived off and sold separately at some point.  It's a bit of an annoyance for fans, as they shell out for these exclusives, and then they ain't so exclusive anymore.  Plus, they stick bonus features on this separate version, so even if you have the big $150 box, you don't have everything.   Springsteen is the master of this tactic, and has been making his hard-core fans shell out twice and three times for cut variations on discs since the Born In The U.S.A. splurge of seven singles and their many b-sides.  Okay, gripe over.

So what you're getting here is the highly-praised feature film that debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last year, a 90-minute documentary on the making of Springsteen's beloved 1978 album.  If you're not familiar with the back story, Springsteen had become a huge star in 1975 with Born To Run, but there was a problem backstage.  He'd fallen out with his manager and producer, Mike Appel, and planned on continuing his new partnership with Jon Landau, who had done most of Born To Run.  But Appel had him locked into a tough contract, giving him say over who produced him, and half of his music publishing.  Springsteen was barred from the studio while a major lawsuit unfolded for close to two years.  Finally it ended much in Springsteen's favour, and now he had two years of ideas and frustrations to get on tape, plus a career to get back on track.

Luckily, when they did get back in the studio, cameras were there on some days, enough to give us the great base of a behind-the-scenes film.  All the principals were interviewed, including Appel, recently reconciled with Springsteen, putting aside decades of bitterness.  What we find out is that the band went from one nightmare to another once they entered the studio.  It took months, as the group, obsessed by individual sounds, couldn't find the right ambience, reverb, echo, whatever.  In hindsight, the group admits it was a fiasco, and Springsteen takes the blame for spending day after day chasing elusive, impossible big sounds.

Gradually, the songs started to take shape, and more and more joined the pile, literally dozens of different numbers.  Now Springsteen had to decide what would go and what would stay.  He was looking for a theme, a leaner and darker album than Born To Run, with songs about small towns and broken hearts.  He would scrap finished songs, pull out a line, and stick it in another.  There's a marvelous scene where the filmmaker shows how an early song, Come On Let's Go Out Tonight gets scavenged for the released cut Factory.

There's lots of fun, laid-back moments caught on tape, the band mugging for the camera, but not really caring about what gets captured.  There are great moments with Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt, playing versions of wonderful, potential hits that got tossed away.  We see them as real friends, boys being boys, but also there are lots of moments of frustration, Springsteen appearing as a control freak.  And we understand why he is this way, as driven an artist as any writer or painter, having to lead this talented gang in a tough but loving way, heading toward a goal only he can here.

Other famous Springsteen moments are touched on, including how Bruce teamed up with Patti Smith (interviewed here) to write Because The Night.  We find out why Fire was rejected because it was an obvious hit he didn't want to be represented by, and given to The Pointer Sisters.  All great stuff.  The film starts to drag in the second half as Springsteen explains his philosophy, what he wanted to say about family, America, fear and sin.  It's impressive he works that hard on these final versions, but as Miami Steve would think, the throwaway pop songs were just as good.  The album finally came out, after years of frustration, and although it became loved over time, at first it was a bit of a disappointment, without an obvious hit.  But they hit the road, won over the crowds, and now we recognize Racing In The Streets, Prove It All Night,  The Promised Land and the rest as classics.

So, get this DVD, it's a great look at a pivotal moment in Springsteen's career, and an excellent film, a ton of resources went into it from Springsteen's camp.  You'll never get a critical look this way, it's ultimately controlled by Bruce Inc., but who gives a crap, it's just rock music.  For everybody who ever wanted to know what it was like to hang with Bruce and the band, you'll know a lot more after this.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: AMOS JOANNIDES - KEEP WRITING SONGS

Good advice, that title, and Montreal's Joannides has been working on it hard for a decade, even though he'll be a new name for most of us. He actually started out on a musical path by hitting the road to see the world, playing his way from Europe to the Far East to Florida, actually recording and then scrapping an album in process in the States. When the world traveler got back to Montreal, he had experience, and obviously a work ethic to keep him pushing. An earlier album called My Name Is Amos built the Montreal base, but now he's heading out to the wider world with this one.

What to call it, a re-debut? Anyway, Keep Writing Songs is an E.P., five cuts mostly to showcase his new single, Even Though.  That's where the focus is, on a song that will break him, and it is a winner.  Joannides has a strong, mellow, attractive voice, sweet enough to put him in the radio-friendly league.  He also has that acoustic-jam thing going, an obvious attraction for the Jack Johnson fan base, and he's certainly got that potential.  Even Though shows he can come up with a catchy sound, based on what he calls beach rhythm, an acoustic guitar groove with a reggae flavour you can imagine the gang enjoying down at the dunes, beer in one hand, something else smoking in the other.  It's good times, infectious, smells like a hit.

The rest of the mini-disc shows a few more sides, including some pretty good jazz chops on Hiding In A Shell.  Horns on that track and Even Though suggest there's lots of potential for stretching on a full album.  The single is out now, the EP comes out in June, and Amos hits the road now, playing Toronto at Free Times Cafe Thursday June 2nd, and booking dates for the summer exposure season.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: BABETTE HAYWARD - YOU MIGHT BE SOMEBODY

I first heard Babette Hayward a year or so back, opening for another singer-songwriter I was friends with, and very excited to see. I didn't know a thing about this young Saint John, NB performer, other than I had seen her name a couple of times listed for venues, and since it's an uncommon first name, it stuck in my mind. But really, I wasn't expecting much, I saw she was just a kid, something like 19 at the time, and I was there to see the other performer.

Um, not many other people were. There were perhaps 10 or so the whole night, and even less when Babette, our opening act, took the stage. We'd shaken hands and said hi by this point, the other people there were the next band, and the bartender, and one of my musical colleagues, so the show started pretty informally, Babette saying, "Well, I guess I should play," leaving the table, walking five feet and stepping up to the mic.

Sometimes you just can't believe your ears. This was one of them. As soon as she started singing, I knew this was a confident young woman with talent. And I knew she could sing, I'd never heard a voice quite like hers. Sure she was young, lacking experience, shakey at times, but it was all stuff that would come would practice and more stage work. Ooo, time for a sports metaphor! It's like one of those raw baseball draft picks, the kid they say has all the tools, speed, strength, throwing, it's just a matter of teaching them the game. In Babette's case, those tools are singing, songwriting, melody, spark. In her short set, she played mostly originals, including a couple that made me shake my head. I can distinctly remember being bewildered about how someone so young could write so well, had accomplished something so difficult already. How a couple of her first songs were better than those many 40 and 50-year old pros had written or would ever write.

Go forward a few months, and my next Babette sighting was as part of a tour of the province in Fall 2010, called the New Brunswick Emerging Artists, with three other up-and-comers. By this time, she had her first recordings, a 6-track EP, some unpolished numbers, hand-packaged in a paper bag of all things, pretty cool. And she was, as predicted, sounding more confident, the songs more fleshed out, and she was now able to appear pretty relaxed on the stages of our bigger theatres in the province, enjoying herself, and belonging there. All was going good.

Then, last month at the East Coast Music Awards, Babette was shining again, getting her name out, showcasing, and had a special treat to hand over. Her first full-length, fully produced album, all her own songs, with a band and strong arrangements behind her. It's a winner for sure, called You Might Be Somebody. I'm really pleased with the results, the producers and Babette didn't drop the ball or overdo the material. It still has the basis of what she's about, an acoustic guitar player with a strong voice and even stronger lyrics. The melodies are allowed to come out, there's no tricks, but lots of good accompaniment. I'd describe it as subtle and sweet backing, not showy. You get to pay attention to that voice.

It's the voice that sounded a lot older and wiser to me a year back, and I'm still bothered and bewildered by her ability to write like this. Now I know she's a big music fan, especially of the greats, and works at a record store, so she hears lots, maybe that's part of it. Anyway, see for yourself live, that's the best introduction to her music. Babette's playing Friday night, May 27th at the Red Herring in St. Andrews, and Saturday night the 28th at the Capitol Complex in Fredericton.

The new collection, You Might Be Somebody, actually isn't being released for sale until July, but there are some early copies available at her website, babettehayward.com.