MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT 45th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION

An expanded, two-disc version of The Velvet's second album, but don't think it's a quick cash-in on Lou Reed's death.  It was planned well in advance, as the work on the V.'s catalogue has been on-going.   There's even a recent interview with Reed in the booklet regarding the work, as well as quotes from the others.  Not as beloved as their seminal debut, the "Banana Peel" album with Nico, it's more in line with what the band was about, especially as a live act.  There's lots of distortion and noise, droning and drawn-out numbers, spoken word and individual assaults on the equipment.  Reed called it the first punk album, and has nothing but praise for it, mostly for its brash intensity. 

That confrontational feel will either turn you on or leave you upset.  These are not tight songs, and even the single, title cut is more about the amp noise than the bouncy rock, which Bowie played up on his famous live versions.  At just six tracks, there are some long, long passages, explorations of sound and repetition.  Sister Ray is a Reed rant;  The Gift a university short story written by Reed, recited by Cale with his Welsh accent, accompanied by the band.  When there are more concise songs (Here She Comes Now, I Heard Her Call My Name), again the volume level overshadows the structure and melody.  With its free jazz influences and street punk attitude, it was far ahead of its time, and still manages to be confrontational.

The bonuses are plentiful, with disc one filled out with seven cuts down post-album, the last recording sessions will Cale, familiar to major fans but placed in context here.  They include an alternate take of I Heard Her Call My Name, and the first take of Stephanie Says.  Disc two contains the full show from  April 1967 at New York's Gymnasium, which was sampled on the box set Peel Slowly And See.  A bit above bootleg quality, this is the best indicator of what the original band was about, with Cale's keyboards and viola getting workouts, the droning passages extended on stage, long instrumentals, tension and probably about 10 people in the audience getting it.  Such was the birth of something very important, although still after all these years, not entirely understood and certainly only for those who get it.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ERIC CLAPTON - GIVE ME STRENGTH: THE 74/75 SESSIONS

Eric Clapton is still God.  At least, when it comes to boxed sets.  The whole idea of the big, four-disc, career-spanning compilation started with E.C. back in 1988 with the release of Crossroads, which sold several million copies, and proved that there was a huge appetite for bonus tracks, booklets, and best-of cuts.  Since then, the Clapton vaults have regularly put forward deluxe editions, several live compilations, and remasters.  Unplugged just got that treatment in the fall, and now is followed by this forensic look at Clapton in '74-'75.

This was the return of Clapton from three years of mostly sitting on the sidelines.  Derek & the Dominoes had imploded, and he had developed a heroin habit that kept him from recording.  Finally clean, he headed to Florida to record with Tom Dowd, but didn't have a lot of ideas.  Luckily, he still had a few pals.  A band was assembled featuring a bunch of Tulsa players, and their laid-back groove perfectly fitted where Clapton wanted to be, far away from guitar heroics.  The result was 461 Ocean Boulevard, and the huge hit, I Shot The Sheriff.  It remains a strong album, filled with tracks fueled by the groove, whether the reggae feel of the hit, the chunky update of Willie & the Hand Jive, or the blues funk of Motherless Children and Get Ready.  It also includes one of his loveliest ballads, Let It Grow, showing his increasing interest in vocals and song craft over jamming.

It was so big, the cast reunited months later for the follow-up, There's One In Every Crowd, but unfortunately there were even less ideas going in, and precious little came out of the sessions.  Instead, the group tried to do much of the same again, with reggae, gospel and blues, even trying to reclaim a track originally scheduled for a second Dominoes album.  Clapton even felt the need to write a sequel to Marley's Sheriff, and Don't Blame Me picks up the story about the deputy.  It's actually pretty good, but shows that inspiration wasn't readily available.  The public picked up on it, and the album was a failure, not even making the Top 20.  The comeback was in jeopardy.

Luckily things were better on the road, where the band had been loving doing the 461 numbers, plus Clapton classics and blues jams.  A live album followed in '75, E.C. Was Here, restoring him to higher honour.  There are so many Clapton live albums (and natch, boxed sets of all-live), that it's hard to keep track, but this one is a good one, made better with an entire bonus disc of tracks on this collection.  Expanding the set with lots of favourites not on the original, 40 minutes has now blossomed to over 2 hours, and where the LP version included mostly lengthy blues numbers, this now has Sheriff, Hand Jive, Badge, Little Wing and lots more.  It's the highlight of this multi-disc set.

The rest of the bonuses aren't that interesting.  The sessions for 461 and ..Every Crowd really didn't include much of note, even though there's lots of out-takes.  The best addition is Clapton's one-off single release, a reggae-fied version of Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door.  A final discs features 30-plus minutes of cuts done with bluesman Freddie King at the same time, with Clapton and his band, but again, it's not noteworthy stuff, more for completion's sake.  The final tally here:  Six discs, the first 461 and it's bonuses, the second There's One... with its extras, three and four offering up tons of concert material, disc five the Freddie King sessions, and the sixth some audiophile mixes, the 5.1 and quad versions of 461, for those who dig the big sound.  The package is cool, an off-sized box, like a thin photo album, the essay passable, the music hit-and-miss.  Possibly worth it to fans for the grand live stuff, and the improved sound for 461.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE ROLLINGS STONES - SWEET SUMMER SUN (DVD)

One of the nice things about having a birthday at Christmas time (two days before) is that I get to start opening gifts before the rest of you.  I don't get the most extravagant presents, as close family members usually figure they are going to be spending on me twice, so they give the little one for the birthday, but that's okay by me.  Because often, the little one is music.

This time, among other things, I picked up the new Stones concert flick, Sweet Summer Sun, Hyde Park Live from this year's 50th reunion shows.  After playing select North American dates, the Stones brought it all back home, returning not only to London, but to the site of their famous 1969 show.  That one had a lot of meaning, being the first for new guitarist Mick Taylor, the first since the death of founder Brian Jones, and pretty much the British Woodstock too.  There were lots of highs and lows that day, and supposedly the sound stunk and the band wasn't much better.  No matter, it's a piece of music history now, and this set meant lots to both the audience and the band.  Who would have thought the Rolling Stones could have a sentimental side?

The two-plus hour show pretty much boils the Stones down to what they've been the last 20 years or so.  The set concentrates on the middle, glory years with the big songs, Street Fighting Man, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Sympathy For The Devil, Brown Sugar, You Can't Always Get What You Want.  Start Me Up is the opener, Satisfaction ends it, there are a couple of nods to earlier days with Paint It Black and Ruby Tuesday, and not much past 1980, aside from an obligatory stab at a new cut, this time Doom And Gloom.  Keith gets his mini-set, including Happy.  And that's what everybody is with that safe setlist.  So the only real questions left are whether this time they can still do it, and what shape are they in?

Mick looks great, a poster boy for geriatric health.  He's not lost a step, perhaps only his leaping ability is lessened.  His voice still sounds great, but it's a bit thinner now.  He leads by example and charisma more so than vocal strength.  Keith, well, he never was the picture of health, but it's quite amusing to see his facial features starting to sag, his nose puffy, and his ears sticking out.  And he's put on some stomach weight as well.  I'm not trying to be catty here, it's a DVD you know, and the visual is a big part of it.  Ronnie could pass for a 1975 version of himself under the right light, and Charlie's kinda seemed like a senior citizen since the 80's anyway.  The stage set, and the entire setting are quite attractive, a woodland space filled with over a hundred thousand, and a matching creation, with its own forest motif for Mick to frolic in.

There's not a great load of drama passed on in this film, and for the big 50th shows, perhaps it's even a bit of a let-down, because there were several of them, and the group certainly hasn't called it quits.  So really the only theme present is the return to Hyde Park, isn't that cool?  As for guest stars, thankfully none of the young divas that Mick likes to invite were present, only Mick Taylor got to share the limelight, fittingly so.  The concert had been a kind of rote affair until then, and his presence did seem to goose everybody a bit mid-show.  They should have let him stay on for more than two numbers. 

It's well-shot, the sound mix is excellent, the scenery great, there's some really good montage work with Stones fans showing off their t-shirts and tattoos.  It's not the group's greatest performance of course, and it could have done with a couple more surprise song selections, but not a bad way to wind down after a birthday feast.  Maybe you'll get this in your stocking.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ERIC BIBB - JERICHO ROAD

Eric Bibb is one of the best modern interpreters of classic blues, so to hear him advancing the genre is even more thrilling.  Always a fan of everything from world music to soul and gospel, Bibb mixes and matches, fearlessly adding what might be considered non-blues instruments and arrangements, proving it's all blues, if that's where you're coming from.  Horns, strings, African instruments, something called a Turkish saz played by a Scandinavian, this ain't another Robert Johnson songbook, thank goodness.

The cut Now is a pretty soul ballad, piano-based and a trumpet solo, something Phillip Wynne or Luther Vandross might have cut.  They Know is bare bones acoustic, delicate, with wind-swept strings joining in.  But Can't Please Everybody is pure Staples Singers, with a horn arrangement straight out of Allan Toussaint's and The Band's Rock Of Ages.  Freedom Train takes Richie Havens to Africa, while Death Row Blues is a reminder that not only can he do acoustic blues, he knows how to write a new one that matches the old classics.

There's a message here too, which is shared through each track.  Most of the music is about freedom and hope, the old message kept alive.  He writes, "Did you ever ride the Freedom Train?  It broke down for awhile, but it's back again".  Bibb's grabbed a hold of it, despite all the tough times of late, and is telling us not to let go, freedom will win out:  "Every bird in the sky knows a change is going to come, by and by."  It's an album full of every kind of optimism for a blues fan.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: VARIOUS ARTISTS - SONGS FOR SLIM

Hey, why not do something nice with your CD money this Christmas, and order a disc that's going to help a fine musician?  Of course, buying any CD helps an artist, but here's one in rough shape who could use a hand, and you get some excellent music as well.  I know, these benefit collections can be a little weak sometimes, but not this one.  Slim is Slim Dunlop, lead guitarist for The Replacements, beloved by more than a few for their late 80's to early 90's sloppy but poppy, aggressive albums.  Dunlop suffered a serious stroke in 2012 that has left him in need of 24-hour care for the rest of his life, an extremely expensive proposition.

Enter his musical friends.  At the start of 2013, a series of singles started appearing, one a month, in extremely limited quantities.  Each came with unique artwork on the sleeve by Replacement Chris Mars, and were only available by auction.  Stars and pals lined each side, starting with The Replacements, Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson and a couple of ringers (Mars didn't want to get back into music).  The 45's brought in huge bucks, as fans and collectors leaped at the offerings.  Now that the run has ended, you can buy all the songs on this CD, as well as get a second disc of unreleased cuts also considered for the 45's.

Almost all the songs were written by Dunlop.  He had his own solo career going, and despite being in Westerburg's shadow all these years, was a fine writer in much the same vein.  In other words, if you like The 'Mats, dig in, and dig some of these folks.  There's Lucinda Williams, sounding like she would have been right at home in The Replacements.  Steve Earle gets in the spirit, coming pretty close to his old wicked ways.  Jakob Dylan is a revelation on Ain't No Fair (In A Rock 'N' Roll Love Affair), growing growly and seedy.  And check out Jeff Tweedy, with his son Spencer on drums, doing the best song on the set, Dunlop's The Ballad Of The Opening Band, a tear-jerker about the guys who never make it past the club scene.

The ones who didn't make the singles turned in fine work too.  A Woodstock bunch called The West Saugerties Ale & Quail Club get their neighbour, The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian, to join them on harmonica on one of Slim's favourite songs, an old James Burton instrumental called Love Lost.  Mars shows up, paying tribute to his pal with a number he wrote in response to Dunlop's stroke, called When i Fall Down.  And there's a second version of The Ballad Of The Opening Band, by an outfit called LP.ORG.  Don't be fooled, because when you open the credits, you find out it's pretty much The Jayhawks, Minneapolis brethren of Dunlop's, doing another stand-out job, almost the equal of Tweedy's.  This has been a huge success as a fundraiser so far, and the musical results are just as good.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ED HENDERSON - WINTER CHILD & MIKE JANZEN - CAROLS

I have been bombarded, no, assaulted with version after version of every known Christmas tune the past three weeks, from White Christmas to Let It Snow, by such giants as Lady Gaga, Carly Rae Jepsen and Kelly Clarkson.  I don't want to hear another version of Santa Baby, be it Bieber, Blige or Buble.  So here I am, ready to trim the tree, but what to play?  I want the Christmas mood, but I nee to chill out from all that bombast of the latest pop-Xmas albums.

Here's the perfect antidote.  The tree is in the stand (that's the hard part, get that over with before the music), now it's time to turn on the Fireplace Channel, and slap one of these two new gifts from the Magi into the player.  Both are instrumental, elegant and relaxing.  Ed Henderson is a B.C. classical guitar whiz, known for his supple playing, and orchestrations and scores for theatre, film, the Olympics, etc.  He's also brother to Bill, of Chilliwack fame.  On Winter Child, he gives us what we want:  Christmas carols, beautifully performed and arranged, just Ed and guitar, no overdubs.  There are the ones we know, such as O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, played gently in the normal key, and then a lovely surprise near the end as he raises the song an octave.  His own compositions are in the same mood, sometimes as stand-alone pieces, and others as new beginnings or endings to well-known songs, such as his whistful new opening to Good King Wenceslas.

The tree is looking good, time to change the pace, settle back, enjoy it and a cup of eggnog, too.  Enter jazz pianist Mike Janzen, much admired for his trio and orchestral work out of Toronto, but here solo.  As with Henderson, he's looked well back for inspiration for his Carols album, choosing sacred work, mostly familiar, some obscure.  Here he finds wonderful ways to put a fresh face on each, retaining the melody, but adding new excitement.  Angels We Have Heard On High starts off with the verse as we all know it, but after the first chorus, gets a small addition, connecting to the verse again.  But the second time through, this new part is expanded on, and the third time even more so.  It's a brisk, pulsing interlude, his right hand notes flying like fiddlers'.  The new arrangements seldom deviate far from the original, but enough to make them, and the whole disc unique.  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, recast as a New Orleans saloon number is just a lot of fun, and Little Drummer Boy gets a bit of boogie.  Best tree-trimming party ever.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GREGORY HOSKINS & GARY CRAIG - THE MAP OF ABOVE THE MAP OF BELOW

Sweet-voiced vet Hoskins teams up with go-to drummer Craig for this sublime disc, full of radiant, laid-back numbers.  Each highlights Hoskins' writing and singing, with simple but rich backing.  Craig sets the groove, Hoskins drops in evocative guitar lines with rich harmonies, and then we get carried along in the words and voice.

Sorry for the obvious comparison, but there's a bounty here for fans of Paul Simon.  Images rush at us, as we're placed inside conversations and observations, scenes of life laid out for us in first person:  "I am crippled by doubt in this house that is not my home."  Hoskins' high-pitched voice adds drama the further up the scale he goes.  The interplay between guitar and vocals will make you think about Jeff Buckley too. Craig meanwhile is all subtlety on the kit, putting just as much mood into each song.  The percussion is right up front in the mix, but surprisingly quiet too, and full of sound personality.  He's recorded so well here, the kind of mastery found on the several discs he's done with Colin Linden (who drops by for a guest appearance on slide on one cut).  Two big Canadian talents at the top of their games here.