MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE KINKS - ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Village Green has been reissued before, with bonus tracks galore and in mono/stereo, but this is the most meticulous version, sure to excite fans of this classic 1968 release. BMG has released it as a huge, 11-piece super-deluxe box, with 5 CD's, LP's and 45's, housed in a monster package with memorabilia and a hard-bound book, at $170 bucks. We'll look at the more affordable 2-disc set however, and you crazed fans (well, me) can decide to upgrade later if you want.

Like The Beach Boys at roughly the same period, The Kinks started making their best albums as their popularity plummeted, their pop audience not making the transition from hit 45's to art rock with them. Such were the vagaries of success, the album wasn't celebrated like other classics of the time. Still in the same month we'll celebrate the 50th anniversary of the White Album, this birthday party will be much more subdued, even though Village Green stands equal if not higher to that set. So be it, it just means more folks may come across this for the first time and be amazed.

The great irony of this album is that we have Ray Davies singing about an England that was fast disappearing, about steam trains and village greens and other institutions, looking back with sadness at boyhood pals and lost girlfriends, going through old photos, and he was all of 24. But we're not quite sure if he's celebrating the old empire days, mocking them or simply catching on to the sea change that was changing his family and all the others. There's lots of winking going on, and by the time the original album closes, with People Take Pictures Of Each Other, he sounds pretty fed up with nostalgia. By the way, that should be the theme song for the selfie generation.

Davies was writing like crazy during this period, and at one point this was going to be a double album. It was also hauled back from the original release, with different tracks added, so there are a ton of bonus cuts to fill up this double CD. There's also the brilliant single Days, surely one of The Kinks' very best, and other associated cuts, with both mono and stereo mixes, so lots to choose from. Although the bulk have come out in the various reissues and box sets, and made up part of the 1973 Great Lost Kinks Album, fans will find some exciting, brand new things here. There's a cut called Time Song which comes from 1973, when Davies was revisiting the Village Green period, with its logical successor, Preservation Act One, which apparently was supposed to have been started right after Village Green but got delayed. At those same sessions, the band recorded brand-new versions of four Village Green numbers, including the title cut, and Picture Book/People Take Pictures Of Each Other in a medley. These are quite different and very fun, with the band now able to afford real horns and stringss and backing singers, and give the songs more of a theatrical approach. This is a real highlight for us well-familiar with the other bonus cuts. For you comers, let in all soak in, and then start saving that 170 bucks.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE SKYLARKS - ON THE BACK OF THE NEW

L.A. veterans The Skylarks have honed their sound over the course of four albums and lineup changes, moving from more of a singer-songwriter project for original member Sam Mellon to the current Americana focus, more of a band approach. With harmonies and occasional lead vocals from Amy Luftig-Viste, there's a solid guy-gal approach right across the album, which helps it stand out from the majority of roots-rock releases. They're also not afraid to have a trumpet do solos on a couple of tracks, trading off with guitar heroics and driving rhythms.

Lyrics still play a big part for the band, especially in helping set the mood of the songs. On The Back Of The New feels unsettled and mysterious, claustrophobic guitar and synth over lines such as "Laughing with a toxic grin," before a dreamy chorus. No Surrender has a Byrds psychedelic feel with that jazz trumpet back.  Songs that start as small life dramas blossom into twangy West Coast productions. In Centipede feels like the band X if they moved out to Joshua Tree. The Skylarks are one of the those bands you love to brag about to like-minded friends.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: KEN TIZZARD - A GOOD DOG IS LOST; A COLLECTION OF RON HYNES SONGS

Lots of musicians can testify to friendship and inspiration from the late Ron Hynes. He was generous with his time and advice, especially for up-and-coming Newfoundland songwriters. Of course, some shared a bit more, including Tizzard who toured with Hynes as his bass player for a time. A member of The Watchmen and Thornley, and now a solo artist, got to know Hynes' songs well, and learn some of what drove their creator.

For the community of musicians, fans, and fellow NL'ers, Hynes' loss is still fresh and keenly felt. It's an album that needed to be made, and heard widely, as Tizzard does Ron right, and does him proud. He's chosen a cross-section of the well-known and lesser-known, but of course they're all gems, every one. He's put his own spin on several of the tracks, nothing too off-kilter, just different arrangements or productions. "Man Of A Thousand Songs" gets a slower take, some are a little more country, and Amelia Curran, another of Hynes' friends, duets on St. John's Waltz. Sonny's Dream is here, how could it not be, and bigger fans will be pleased to hear deep cuts such as 1962 and the title song, as perfect a lyric about the depths of emotion as exists.

Tizzard doesn't overdue anything, nor play it for self-glory. The songs are the stars, he brings the right tone to each one, and lets us sit back and appreciate them once again. The point is to keep the songs in front of audiences, and Tizzard's versions are really worth hearing.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE ARKELLS - RALLY CRY

The Arkells take their jobs seriously, and the group is certainly not resting on their now-solid laurels. With album number five, the band is pushing envelopes both lyrically and musically, yet still sounding catchy and exciting.

There's a great deal of empathy across the album, with songs about mental health challenges, people struggling with the crap stuck on them as kids, and friends who are hurting. But there's some new-found anger too, as they found they couldn't hold back from taking aim at what they're witnessing in the U.S. The cut American Screams is like witnessing a nightmare out of the tour bus window: "You keep repeating that wicked catch phrase, painted on the Interstate/All the billboards, they get me lonely/I can't sleep off these American Screams tonight." Later, in People's Champ, they call out Trump for his vanity and worse, and point out we know this ain't going to end well: "I already know how the history books will react."

Even with the heavier topics, the group doesn't let the energy flag, and tries a few new tricks as well. While there's still lots of rock guitar, the beats are bigger this time, and an afro-pop sample drives the single Relentless. Until the final track, the gentle plea to friends who are hurting, the calm Don't Be A Stranger, this is basically a dance party. There's a whole lot of creative confidence going on with Rally Cry, yet it's so fan-friendly, their audience should grow right along with them.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MATT MAYS - TWICE UPON A HELL OF A TIME...

This is a good move for Mays, giving us a different way to appreciate him. He's taken his entire album from 2017 ("Once Upon...") and remade it as an acoustic record. Best known for rocking out, Mays the singer-songwriter sometimes gets lost in the electricity. He'll never be mistaken for Leonard Cohen, but there's lots to appreciate in his plainspoken lyrics, much of it self-examining, and wise through experience.

This is pretty bare bones, although not just acoustic or demo-level. Mays is joined by Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel for a few cuts, Anthony Carone on piano for a couple more, and backing vocalists on most of them, plus hand-and-foot-made percussion. The songs, some of his career best, lose none of the tunefulness, and Mays has a compelling voice that draws us in for a closer listen. Now with the emphasis on the words, we can appreciate a track like Sentimental Sins more, trying to capture love's intensity he tells us "You gotta chase that teenage feeling back to how it used to be." Songs that sound like a party on the electric album are revealed as more conflicted, like Howl At The Night: "I’m at this party they’re all talking too much/I should be home with the wife and two kids in my clutches." The only thing wrong with this idea is that it will now be a struggle to decide which version to play.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE EASLEY QUARTET - THE STARTING POINT VS. THE STEEP DECLINE

Easley first came to acclaim with the East Coast roots/blues group Hot Toddy, earning Maple Blues and ECMA trophies. He also developed a parallel career in jazz that now has his emphasis, most notably in a Halifax trio with Geoff Arsenault and Bill Stevenson, and as the go-to guy when acoustic bass is needed. Now he has this new project with some of the stalwarts of Halifax jazz, in a two-guitar, drums and bass quartet. Mark Adam is the percussionist, while Geordie Haley and Kevin Brunkhorst cover the six strings.

These are all Easley compositions, and mirroring his background, the all-instrumental album certainly falls under a jazz heading, but has lots of elements from other genres peaking through. There are atmospheric moments, including the first couple of minutes of opening track The Dreaming, bowed bass over soft waves before cymbals help find a meditative theme. Thicker grooves and rich guitar tones can be found on other tracks, yet there's certainly a contemplative feel across the album, not ambient but definitely dreamy.

There's lots of fine interplay between the guitars, bass and drums, very controlled, not in a scripted way, but collaboratively, plenty of rises and falls. The guitars are for the most part pretty sweet, but every so often things get a little dirty, a hint of noise and intensity to set a top bar of intensity. All in all, it's really ear-friendly and melodic, and probably great to enjoy live.  That's handy, as there are album launch shows happening in N.S. and N.B. over the next while:

Friday, Oct. 26 - Halifax - 1313 Hollis Street

Saturday, Oct. 27 - Glen Haven, N.S. - Paul's Hall

Friday, Nov. 23 -Saint John, N.B. - BMO Studio Theatre

Saturday, Nov. 24 - St. Andrews, NB - Sunbury Shores (1 pm)

Saturday, Nov. 24 - Fredericton - Wilser's Room (8 pm)

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JOHN AKAPO - PARADISE BLUES

Is there Hawaiian blues? Well sure, blues is about what you're feeling, not where you're from. John Akapo lives in Hawaii, his heritage is American Samoan, but actually picked up on the blues when he was growing up in Alaska. He's developed his own idea of the music while working as everything from a luau musician to hip-hop producer so this is definitely his own take on the genre.

Akapo takes his cue from the acoustic Delta blues, with a small group that features lots of slide, a couple of guitars, bass and harmonica. Yes, you can feel the campfire/luau connection in the small group vibe and the laid-back, good-time approach. He has a warm, welcoming voice, lots of character, and reminds me a little of Keb'Mo', a bigger version. He does well on the three covers here, toe-tapping versions of the familiar I Can't Be Satisfied and Ramblin' On My Mind. It's the originals that stand out though, Maui Drive takes us on an Island tour, and describes a fine Hawaiian day. Hindsight (Missionary Blues) is the standout, a solo piece with just ukulele, a too-late warning to about the colonials arriving: "Can you hear them calling? Don't show them how you eat/They don't want what grows there, just the ground beneath." It turns out there is a Hawaiian blues after all.