MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: RON SEXSMITH - CAROUSEL ONE

I have never thought of Ron Sexsmith as particularly glum, just thoughtful and sentimental, bittersweet at times. If you're going to write accurate slices of life, well, a little rain must fall (it's April after all). And there are lots of poppy numbers in his many albums, yet he's saddled with a sad sack reputation, at least in the blogosphere.


So Carousel One has already become known as his attempt to lighten the mood. He even tries a smile on the cover, and it does look painful for him. There's no arguing that the mood is bright throughout, and Sexsmith's somewhat silly sense of humour is even on display. Lead single Saint Bernard is Sexsmith's tribute to what he imagines would be his ideal pet, right down to his famous hangdog expression: "Who else is going to rescue me when I''m face down in the snow/No other dog looks more like me and could fill in when I'm ill and unable to make the show."


Ron rocks! It's true! He's done it before, but check out Getaway Car, where he channels his long-standing McCartney/Wings-era side. And several of the tracks have an easy-going, breezy feel, such as Lucky Penny. What do you know, the sun is shining in that song, and a couple of others. Maybe spring has sprung for Sexsmith, as this does feel like the perfect album to get us out of the winter of our discontent.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE SPECIALS - SPECIALS (2 CD Special Edition)

The three original Specials albums have received the double-deluxe treatment, each with an added disc of bonus material. The classic debut from 1979, produced by Elvis Costello, was the high point, full of excitement and before tensions ripped apart the members.


Leading the Two-Tone movement, the Specials did more than front a ska revival; they actually took the music into the Top Ten in England, and found a sound that could unite black and white audiences. The multi-racial group was also overtly political, targeting racism, poverty and oppression. All that, while making this dynamic, thrilling and highly danceable set of songs.


Specials includes a great mix of originals and updates of classic Jamaican numbers. They do a mean version of Toots & the Maytals' Monkey Man, with more energy than the original, borrowing the frenetic approach of punk and New Wave. They proved strong lyricists as well, with Concrete Jungle set inside Britain's oppressive class system, and Too Much Too Young about teen pregnancy.


The bonuses include the Gangsters single, not on the original album. Also pleasing is the inclusion of the full-length, six-plus minute version of Too Much Too Young, as Canada was long stuck with a two-minute edit. The second disc is all live, including the three-track Too Much Too Young E.P. tracks, and a 1979 BBC In Concert recording, which shows that the group could match any original Jamaican group on stage.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MARTIN SEXTON - MIXTAPE OF THE OPEN ROAD

Sexton's always been known for his ability to jump from style to style, and here he puts that to good use. He's collected a group of his songs that exemplify that, and put them together much the same way you'd make a mixtape of different artists. The musical gumbo that is the road in America is the theme, and he proves a fine travel guide and DJ for the trip.


Remember That Ride rocks the best, a big groove and catchy chorus about the best-ever amusement part ride, "This ain't your grandmother's tilt-a-whirl." Shut Up And Sing channels The Grateful Dead, with lots of rolling guitar licks. I Believe In You is a warm, sentimental number, real-life touches, a love story that brings up..hey, a mixtape full of Dead songs, what do you know. Sexton's soulful voice fits well in all these roots styles, and like John Hiatt, he knows how to write and sing them all, making this a hell of a ride.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: EMILE HAYNIE - WE FALL

Producer Haynie has made hits for everyone from Eminem to Lana Del Rey to Bruno Mars, but here he launches his own career in the spotlight. Except, he's no great singer, so most of the vocal duties are handed over to his many connections. It's a celebration of L.A. pop styles, past and present, recorded at the infamous Chateau Marmont, Guest singers include 60's heroes Brian Wilson, Randy Newman and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, and from today he calls on Del Rey, Andrew Wyatt, Rufus Wainwright, Lykke Li, Father John Misty, Nate Ruess of fun. and others.


This cast of characters helps turn the album into a song arc, with voices cast in various styles. Newman brings his jovial charm to the uplifting (in music anyway), Who To Blame. Wainwright's theatrical singing takes us into some of the sadness, while Wyatt and Ruess are along for the dream pop that permeates most of the collection. The backing vocals are equally rich, as secondary voices such as Wilson and Julie Holter take rich parts of counterpoint to the leads. Moody and lush, this reminds me of an Eels album, only more lovely and less cranky and depressed

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: BRANDI CARLILE - THE FIREWATCHER'S DAUGHTER

Brandi Carlile is hard to pin down stylistically. There's roots-Americana at the core, but she easily moves back and forth from folk to country to rock to noisy and somewhat experimental. That's more the case than ever on this, her fourth, and most powerful to date. It's an album bursting at the seems, lots of ideas and paths to go down.


There's a reason for this. Carlile is the voice, but this is really a band. When she started ten years back, it was with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth. They came out of Seattle, with an agreement that they would all write, equally share the publishing (like Lennon-McCartney, U2, etc.) but Carlile would take the front role and all the lead singing. Good plan, as she has an amazing voice, haunting and timeless on The Stranger At My Door, a Western film noir number, rockin' and fun on Alibi, sad and hurt on Heroes And Songs. They are all her, but we don't know which pen or part did what, and that's fine, we don't need to. It's a group effort, that's all.


This road-tested group has been growing stronger, and building a loyal following, plus learning from some good ones. In the past they've had Rick Rubin and T Bone Burnett guiding them, and streamlining the overall package into something more easily identifiable. The diversity found here may mean Carlile and crew have to sacrifice some sales and fame, but it's going to be a more fulfilling ride for them and the fans.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: PATRICK BALLANTYNE - DAYS OF RAIN

There are household names, and then there are secret weapons. Ballantyne has so far been the latter, but that should change some day. After all, audiences country-wide have been screaming along to his co-written hits for a decade, whether it's The Trews' Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me, or Big Sugar's If I Had My Way and All Hell For A Basement. A gifted writer, he has made just two albums in that time, including this, which was released first last summer, and now upgraded with a new cut for larger distribution.


This collection is more introspective than those fist-pumpers he's helped write for others. Days Of Rain has a theme of dealing with loss and moving on, delivered with a lot of depth and an ambitious palette of styles. Rich and moody acoustic tracks such as Roll With It sit alongside big pop numbers, opener King Of The Road the most infectious. The harmony-rich I Follow You adds a Neil Young harmonica break to its campfire singalong feel. Throughout it all, Ballantyne proves himself a master of melody and the turn of a phrase. New track Try Love Instead adds a bit more crunch to the disc, a bluesy turn that would go well for his buddies in Big Sugar.


Ballantyne has lately been working with PEI's Tim Chaisson, no doubt a good move for that rising star. If he can save enough time for his own solo work, Ballantyne certainly deserves a wide audience.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: RON HAWKINS and the DO GOOD ASSASSINS - GARDEN SONGS

Ron Hawkins has a bit of a disclaimer for folks.  Even though the veteran Canadian singer-songwriter's latest album features more acoustic and calmer versions of his songs than normal, he is not mellowing.  "I've read some reviews of the album, and that's what people have picked up on, because I turned 50 in November, and they think I'm calming down with this album," explains Hawkins from home in Toronto.

In fact, the situation leading to the recording of Garden Songs by Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins was anything but an excess of calmness.  Hawkins has been exploding with songs with this new band, ever since the recording of the 2012 double-CD debut, Rome.  In his mind, the next album was going to be more of the same.  "It was a bit of a left turn, we had another record ready to make, another double album of raucous rock and roll, cinematic pop,  all set to go," says Hawkins.  "But this is my manager's idea, we had these four extra songs that didn't fit, more introspective.  I thought, maybe we'll make a four or five track EP, bid farewell to the country-soul aspect of the band right now.  But he said, 'Why don't you do this as a one-off, instead of making the next album a triple?'"

Next, manager William "Skinny" Tenn suggested going back to older material, and finding songs that might lend themselves to more laid-back arrangements, in new interpretations.  That meant Hawkins and the band tried out material from his previous solo work, as well as albums from his groups Lowest of the Low and The Rusty Nails.  Even Rome, recorded the most recently, saw two of its songs re-worked in this fashion.  "There's a song Propellors that was on the last album, and I never thought we got that quite right sonically," he admits.  "So this is more like I'd envisioned it I think."

Ironically, and happily, after releasing thirteen different albums in his 20-plus year career, Garden Songs is gaining him some of the best attention he's had since the Canadian classic debut from Lowest of the Low, Shakespeare My Butt.  Single Peace and Quiet (originally from 2007's Chemical Sounds) has made the CBC Radio 2 Top Ten.  It's quite a change for a guy who has faithfully toiled away while others have described him as one of the country's hidden gems.  "It's been a great thing," he says of the disc's acceptance.  "I come across this a lot, and it's hard for me to feel under-appreciated, I feel quite blessed in fact to be doing this for twenty years, I'm pretty damned pleased with how it came out.  But I've definitely seen a bump in album sales and audience attendance, with CBC playing a couple of singles.  People are calling me that I had to chase around before.  Incremental things, but I can notice the change."

Part of the attraction is the stripped-down delivery of the songs.  Hawkins' long-standing ability to spin a tale is now upfront in the mix, with his voice and lyrics gaining most of the attention.  He writes most of these in the first person, slices of life, mostly not his own, but full of moments with which we can relate.  "It's just the writer's thing," he says.  "You develop your ear to find the universal in all the little details.  You look at it a little different than other people.  I just look at the world, and think, what's to be learned from this story.  Some of them are a bit closer to me though.  There's a song on there called Saskia Begins, about a friend of mine, Mick Thomas from the Australian band Weddings Parties Anything.  He and his wife Jen had a baby but three months early.  The baby, Saskia, was in an incubator, and when I heard about it, I just had to sit down and write, I felt like I had to help, it was almost like fight or flight to me.  And later Jen told me they used to listen to it when they drove to see Saskia in the incubator."

It's also one of the songs that would have been out of place on that proposed raucous double-album.  It's still in the cards, of course, ready for the next go-round.  For now, Hawkins has the enjoyable problem of having to play more shows and work this collection, an album that wasn't even in the cards.  Ron Hawkins will be at The Carleton in Halifax Friday, March 27.