MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: EDGAR BREAU - SHADOWS OF ECSTASY

There's no more intriguing story in Canadian rock circles than that of Hamilton's cult classic group Simply Saucer, and it's leader, Edgar Breau. Now it's become even more interesting, with this set, Breau's previously unreleased first solo album, from 1990. The group started out in the '70's as a no-hit wonder, with a failed single to its credit and a smattering of interest in the southern Ontario punk scene. But they had done some demos in the Lanois brothers studio (Bob recorded them, Daniel says he was away for the sessions), and a live show was taped. Over a decade after the band split, a local writer released an album called Cyborgs Revisited, and over time it became an underground favourite, with press raves in North America and Europe. It was a unique, missing link album that fit somewhere into between prog and art rock bands such as The Velvet Underground and Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and later visionary acts Talking Heads and Television. 

Meantime, Breau had reconsidered his place in music and become an acoustic folk performer, albeit a quirky one. He had mad skills on acoustic guitar and admired British players. But here he was in a quandary, with a growing rep for Simply Saucer. By the 2000's, Breau had come to grips with past and present, reformed the group and embarked on a career both solo and with the band, which continues with aplomb.

One part of the story remained unresolved though, those 1990 sessions he recorded. Breau had basically given up on music as a career at that time, and shelved the project. Eventually he reworked some of them over a decade later when he revived his career, but this set remained a full, unheard piece.  

It's a gem, no surprise, and finds Breau at an intriguing crossroads in his writing. While they are acoustic based, the cuts are full-band numbers, with old Saucer bandmate Kevin Christoff on bass, plus drums and electric guitar. Breau's quirky vocals are augmented with harmonies from Compton Roberts, and his acoustic licks weave gently with the electric instruments. It's somewhere between his future solo folk and his previous Saucer psyche, but like all his work, utterly unique. The melodies are dreamy and quite beautiful, a contrast with Breau's warble. The lyrics are equally eclectic, mesmerizing stories that seem like fiction from an unknown country or a parallel world. Nothing bizarre, just nothing we've heard before. 

If you're new to the Saucer world, this isn't a bad place to fall into the rabbit hole. For fans it's a great joy, the best of both worlds Breau solo and Saucer-shaped.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG - DEJA VU (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

The album that made CSNY superstars sounds as great as ever, certainly the pinnacle of the band's many iterations and reformations. It's also the best of the first three letters of the bunch, but not of course Young, who always held back his best for his own albums. While this is the album that gave us "Helpless," one of Young's most famous cuts, there's not much else to speak of from him (I've never thought much of the "Country Girl" suite), and the other three really provide the bulk of the greatness. "Carry On," "Teach Your Children," "Our House," "Almost Cut My Hair," these would have been just as good if it was another CSN album, so credit should go to that trio. I've often wondered if Young's presence hijacked and ultimately destroyed the band, rather than made it better.

The big surprise here is how much alternative material was left in the can to beef up this fine box set. It's now a full four-CD set, which also includes a vinyl pressing of the original album, with sets of demos, outtakes and alternate mixes making up the new CDs. While a few of these tracks have slipped out over the years, on the career-spanning CSN box and Young's many historical releases, the vast bulk, 29 cuts, are new to us. As always, some are diamonds in the rough, some were deservedly rejected, some are cool as historical documents, and some leave you wondering why they didn't release them in the first place. 

The demo disc shows all four writers working on their own on the songs they brought to the album, those that made the cut and others that got rejected. There are two versions of Nash's "Our House," the second the most compelling, as it features Joni Mitchell, the object of the song, trying out some home harmonies on the beloved classic, a moment to treasure. Crosby tries out his controversial "Triad," given to the Jefferson Airplane after the Byrds rejected it, Crosby still itching to do his own version. Stills, dripping with songs, offered several that never made it to the studio sessions, although his embryonic work was hit-and-miss at best, vehicles for licks and jams. The big surprise here is Young trying out a demo of his "Birds" featuring Nash on harmonies. Ultimately he pulled it back for "After The Goldrush," but if it had been included on Deja Vu, it's presence would certainly have made it a better album, as a replacement for "Country Girl."

The outtakes group of songs is dominated by Stilla, with a few more of his works-in-progress that sound pretty good but don't really take off. He was tinkering with a couple of songs that would show up on his later albums, including the fine "Change Partners" and "Bluebird Revisited" but they weren't ready. There are some great CSN moments, featuring the classic vocal mix that still amazes, especially on one called "Ivory Tower." The best is "Horses Through A Rainstorm" which came out on the CSN box, and if you don't know it, you should. It's another cut. lead by Nash, that could have fit nicely on the original album, a good closer instead of "Everybody I Love You," the other weak track on the disc.

The alternates disc is another fun set, with some significant differences to the well-known originals. It's quite surprising to hear the changes in arrangements in "Woodstock," for instance, in the vocals and timing. Crosby's "Almost Cut My Hair" features completely different singing, and you can hear him striving to get the right attitude into the song. This one is too cocky, and wisely they chose the other take. Clearly, as heard on "Carry On," "Deja Vu" and "Teach Your Children," the key to this album is the famous vocal blend, and that they worked hard to get just the right take.

The big takeaway from the box set is that Stills really was doing all the heavy lifting. He brought the most songs and was the musical and recording leader. He wasn't holding anything back, and neither were Crosby and Nash. All their best songs were considered, and a fine, equal blend of them made up the bulk of the album. Young's addition probably put them over the top, getting them more press and public interest, but his focus remained as a solo artist. As for a listening experience, it's fun. These are such iconic songs that demos and different takes are surprising to hear. The outtakes and rejects pile isn't that interesting, with a couple too many similar Stills songs, but there are more than enough moments to make this a great start-to-finish listen

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: COLIN FOWLIE - EAST OF NOWHERE

Fredericton troubadour Fowlie has been patiently trying to launch his latest album with a live show, having already been through a Covid-caused postponement. But things are looking good for June 19 now at the Playhouse. Tickets are available now, and the opening act is N.B. blues songwriter Kendra Gale.

East Of Nowhere is Fowlie's second full album, after 2019's Party Music, and a series of EP's. Produced by Winnipeg's rising roots star Ariel Posen, the songs have a warm and subtle feel, the focus on Fowlie's story-teller vocals. Over 12 tracks, he takes us on a tour from town to town, in private homes, a couple of bars, behind the wheel, and down familiar streets. These are normal folks, in good times and bad, dealing with all the crap life throws at us.

That means Fowlie drops a bunch of emotional bombshells on us, about premature deaths in families, small towns drying up, bigotry handed down through generations, times changing faster than we'd like and not fast enough. There are some personal moments here too, including the single "To Mend," for his daughter. Rather than hearts and flowers, he's there for strength:  "When it hurts you can't help but feel like you're broken/but I know just how far you can bend in the wind." We also get a glimpse of life on the road, which is all about travelling in bad weather, coffee at the same gas station stops, and being on stage: "I've weathered the storm and I can't wait to see my family/But up here tonight I'm singing someone's favourite song." For more on the launch show and new album, visit www.colinfowlie.com.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE 456 - SIMPLE SONGS

Most partnerships seem obvious and meant to be, between people with lots in common. This one seems odd on paper, but produced real magic. Natasha Alexandra is from Hamilton, ON, and usually goes by the nom-de-song NLX. David Wolfert is from NYC, and is an accomplished writer and producer, having composed hits for the likes of Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton and Dusty Springfield. Wolfert's career goes back to the '70's, while Alexandra's been at it, well, in the 2000's anyway. Her albums, favourites in these pages, move between R'n'B, electronica and rich piano ballads, while his credits are found on diverse mainstream records by everyone from Peter Criss to Lynn Anderson to Paul Anka. As I said, it's kind of a head-scratcher.

Until you listen, that is. The pair came together at a New York songwriting circle. NLX has been living much of the time in that city for the past decade, going back and forth to Ontario. 456 is the number of miles between Hamilton and New York. NLX didn't know Wolfert's credits at the time, but when the idea of writing together came up, she was pleased, and the partnership eventually evolved into a band, centered on her vocals and keys and his multi-instrumental talents and production.

Simple Songs is both a descriptive title, and a feint. These are pure, emotional ballads, focused on Alexandra's heart-tugging vocals and the glorious melodies of each track. The lyrics are straightforward and direct, but behind that simplicity is a great strength, the ability to sing of love and loss, empathy and understanding. In the song "Little Victories," recycled from a previous NLX album, Alexandra compares all our struggles to our first steps: "First you learn to crawl, then you stand up tall/And even if you fall, start again." 

The tracks are deceptively calm, never cluttered, two or three lovely instruments, stringed ones at their sweetest, acoustic guitar beside piano, mandolin dropping in for a verse, acoustic bass appearing on the next, the gentlest drums joining for a chorus. A  dobro joins one song, banjo another. There's not a harsh tone in the set, a collection of late-night beauty.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DAVID BOWIE - THE WIDTH OF A CIRCLE, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD (picture disc)

The Bowie estate has left no stone unturned digging up every conceivable track he made during the early part of his career. There's been a constant flow of product from the Space Oddity and now The Man Who Sold The World eras, in pretty much every conceivable format. There have been 45 RPM boxed sets of demos, a 45 box looking at just the "Space Oddity" single, CD boxes, LP boxes, picture discs, new mixes, you name it. Yes, there's repetition galore, but each project does offer fascinating twists and turns in his career, even in his choices for mixes, instruments and vocals in individual songs. You can also go broke gathering up all the various releases. And that's just for 1969 and 1970.

Wisely the powers have backed off a little on the expensive variations for this latest effort. They've wrapped up all the loose bits and live efforts from The Man Who Sold The World album in this relatively simple and cost-efficient two-disc set. It's a nice, hard-cover mini-book set, with 52 glossy pages of notes and memorabilia photos, and several different audio sources. Disc one is completely made up of a hour-long BBC radio show hosted by John Peel in February of 1970, while disc two has some alternate single mixes, a couple of different shows, and some brand-new and quite different mixes of stray tracks by original producer Tony Visconti.

The BBC Sunday Show is quite important in Bowie lore, as it features the first appearance of Mick Ronson in his band, having joined just two days before. Along with Visconti on bass and John Cambridge on drums, this became The Hype, the forerunner to the Spiders From Mars. While occasionally a bit sloppy, it was a strong live performance, and a great overview of early fame Bowie. Shockingly they didn't do his only hit, "Space Oddity," but instead jumped from Jacques Brel and Biff Rose covers ("Amsterdam," "Buzz The Fuzz"), album cuts like "Janine" and "Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud," and brand-new and unreleased future favourites like "The Width Of A Circle," where you hear Ronson stretch out. 

Disc two is a mixed bag of curiosities and revelations. In February of 1970, Bowie's old mime teacher Lindsay Kemp asked him to reprise his role in the performance Pierrot In Turquoise for a Scottish TV taping. It ended up quite altered from its 1967 version, and Bowie now supplied five songs with vocals and slim accompaniment, trifles really, based on the plot. "Threepenny Pierrot" is notable as it is a rewritten version of "London Bye. Ta-Ta," but that about it for excitement. Much better is a March 1970 return appearance of The Hype on BBC, this time recording four tracks in their studio showcasing the tough new band. There's a scorching, Ronson-led version of Bowie's favourite Velvet Underground cover, "Waiting For The Man," two cuts from the not-yet recorded Man Who Sold The World LP, "The Supermen" and another "The Width Of  A Circle," and one already-released song, "Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud," Sadly the performances are marred by John Cambridge's drumming style, not a fit for the band, and Ronson would have him sacked in favour of future Spider Woody Woodmansey within days. 

Much second-guessing and trial and error went into attempts to find a follow-up hit for Bowie to "Space Oddity", with new mixes, new parts and completely new recordings going into several tracks, none of them working out. These alternates are pretty cool, including "London Bye, Ta-Ta." Originally it was more like his mid-60's, Anthony Newley-styled British numbers, but in a proposed 45 mix, it earned cool back-up soul singers and a new, funky arrangement. "Memory Of A Free Festival" was split into two parts, for the A- and B-sides, and "Prettiest Star" was recorded and released as a huge failure, less than a thousand copies sold, despite featuring Marc Bolan on lead guitar. It would again appear in a new recording three years later as an album track on "Aladdin Sane."

Last year, Visconti presented a brand-new mix of The Man Who Sold The World album, which he retitled The Metrobolist, an early title for the set. To finish up on this time period, he's done new mixes for the non-LP tracks, including "Prettiest Star," "London Bye, Ta-Ta," and "Holy Holy." The nice thing about Visconti's new mixes is that he's willing to throw in some radical differences, including an extended extro on "Prettiest Star," and a much more playful arrangement on "London By, Ta-Ta." 

Finally, they couldn't quite let The Man Who Sold The World rest without one final vinyl for those with too much disposable income. Back to basics, you can buy the original album, with the original mix, in the way most North Americans saw it, the reissue with the leg-kick cover from 1972, post-Ziggy. Anyway, I'm already looking forward to the forensic digging they must be doing for the next album, the beloved Hunky Dory, and I certainly hope there are this many fun extra tracks to hear.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: BILL WOOD & THE WOODIES - RADIOLA

Veteran Toronto roots-rocker Bill Wood (Eye Eye) is sounding exactly like a long-haul musician should. At it since the '80's, he's seen his share of ups and downs, lots of time in the trenches and some years away too. All that experience has turned Wood and the Woodies into an adept band, able to rock like kids when needed, and offer up some fine slices of three-chords-and-the-truth songwriting as well. In short, they can make you dance and think, sometimes in the same tune.

Best of all, Wood is able to describe a place in life where many of us are, past the blush of youth, acknowledging we're not going to set the world on fire but that there's nothing wrong with that. He props up the truly important times, when love and friendship and family meen everything. In "Alice Was Dancing," it's just a night at the bar with the right people, the right music, the right hockey team on the TV. In "The Shitt," he acknowledges he might have been it at some point, he's not anymore, but he's okay with that. Meanwhile, The Woodies follow him where he needs, from Western swing to reformed punk. It's modest, high-quality craftsmanship.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: KEN TIZZARD & FRIENDS - ALL TOGETHER NOW

Nothing like a world-wide pandemic to change all the rules. With an anything goes attitude and time to experiment, musicians have been pushing the envelope with all sorts of projects, cleaning their closets and doing work they'd never imagined they'd release. Newfoundland/Ontario troubadour Ken Tizzard (The Watchmen/Thornley) has always had a hankering for cover versions in his solo shows, and figured now was as good a time as ever to get to that album. But it quickly became a whole new beast when his many music friends heard about it. Asking around who wanted in, some 44 guest musicians took part over 13 cuts.

Tizzard asked each participant, who ranged from seasoned pros to talented amateurs, to pick one of the songs on his list, and say what part and instrument they'd like to add. Then he sent the demo to folks all over North America, and got them to record their part. But here's the kicker; they didn't know what the other guests would be playing, and didn't hear Tizzard's works-in-progress. The magic would be created in the mixing.

It's surprising how well the experiment went. Everybody has an idea of what famous songs should sound like, but this process saw each well-known cut take on a life of its own. "Working Class Hero," John Lennon's tear-down of Western society, is stark and scary, but here it becomes a dark rock ballad, with shared lead vocals from an all-star cast of Matt Mays, Ron Hawkins (Lowest Of The Low), Daniel Greaves (Watchmen), Chris Broadbeck (See Spot Run) and Tizzard. With its echoed harmonica (Peter Boag) it's like a gunfighter scene from a Sergio Leone western. Sandy Morris brings the country flavour out of Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad" with his banjo and dobro work. A couple of friends from a North Carolina bluegrass group called Unspoken Tradition punched up the trad element of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" way up, especially with Ty Gilpin's deft mandolin solo.

The setlist is heavy on Tizzard's '70's and '80's alt-rock favourites, including Tears For Fears ("Mad World"), REM ("Driver 8) and "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats. He veers off-script for a couple of fun surprises, especially the 1988 George Jones hit, "Ya Ba Da Ba Do" (a/k/a "The King Is Gone"), a deft piece of writing that references Fred Flintstone and Elvis. With the cast featured mostly rock and folk rock folks, such as Daniel Adair of Nickelback, Tommy MacDonald of Hedley and Grayden James and Laura Spink of The Young Novelists, its surprising how many of the songs took on a country flavour, but then again, but there ain't anything wrong with that. It almost never drops to mere cover band level (the version of "Brown Eyed Girl" is probably the only case of that), and instead is more like a music laboratory experiment which went very well. .