Graham Parker - Dont Tell Columbus

Genre Contemporary Singer/ Songwriter

review: Depending on which album you get from Graham Parker these days, he's either set on reminding us that he's still capable of serving up the sort of lean and feisty rock & roll that made him a cult hero years ago, or demonstrating that he's matured into a pithy and very gifted singer/songwriter with the passage of time. 2007's Don't Tell Columbus falls into the latter category (and follows his 2005 studio set Songs of No Consequence, which happened to fit into the former scenario), and while there are several examples of his acerbic side on display (most notably "England's Latest Clown," which concerns someone quite a bit like Pete Doherty, and "Stick to the Plan," a witty but poison-penned meditation on George W. Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina), Parker's more gentle side dominates Don't Tell Columbus, and it serves him well on these tunes. The title cut is a cautious celebration of his adopted home in the guise of a road story, "The Other Side of the Reservoir" and "Suspension Bridge" are richly detailed slice-of-life stories, "Love of Delusion" is an intelligent but uncompromising story of a relationship gone sour, and "Somebody Saved Me" is an equally honest story from the other side of the coin. While Parker doesn't rock especially hard here, the arrangements are taut, concise and full-bodied even when the electric guitars fade into the backdrop, and Parker handles the lion's share of the guitar work himself with an easy confidence, while Mike Gent shines on drums and Ryan Barnum adds some well-placed keyboard textures that give the tunes welcome color and balance. If Don't Tell Columbus doesn't sound like it's markedly superior to such recent Graham Parker efforts as Your Country and Songs of No Consequence, those were both strong albums and so is this, and what impresses most at this stage of Parker's career is his consistency -- he's writing first-rate songs and putting them on record with heart, soul and conviction, and he hasn't sounded this reliably inspired since the mid-'80s. It's a fine thing he's still around.

Renaissance - Turn of the Cards

Genre Prog Art Rock

year: 74 - review: The third album by this incarnation of Renaissance was a match for their previous success, Ashes Are Burning, with equally impressive performances and songwriting and a few new musical twists added. The songs here fit more easily into a rock vein, and the prior album's folk influences are gone. Turn of the Cards rocks a bit harder, albeit always in a progressive rock manner, and Jon Camp's bass and Terence Sullivan's drums are both harder and heavier here, the bass (the group's only amplified instrument) in particular much more forward in the mix. This change works in giving the band a harder sound that leaves room for Jimmy Horowitz's orchestral accompaniments, which are somewhat more prominent than those of Richard Hewson on the prior album, with the horns and strings, in particular, more exposed. Annie Haslam is in excellent voice throughout, and finds ideal accompaniment in Michael Dunford's acoustic guitar and John Tout's piano. The writing team of Dunford and Betty Thatcher also adds some new wrinkles to the group's range -- in addition to progressive rock ballads like "I Think of You," they delivered "Black Flame," a great dramatic canvas for Haslam and Tout, in particular; and "Mother Russia" is a surprising (and effective) move into topical songwriting, dealing with the plight of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other victims of Soviet repression (you had to be there in the 1970s to realize what a burning issue this was). And then there were the soaring, pounding group virtuoso numbers like "Things I Don't Understand," which managed to hold audience interest across nine or ten minutes of running time.

Paul Weller - Wild Wood

year: 93 - review: Paul Weller deservedly regained his status as the Modfather with his second solo album, Wild Wood. Actually, the album is only tangentially related to mod, since Weller picks up on the classicism of his debut, adding heavy elements of pastoral British folk and Traffic-styled trippiness. Add to that a yearning introspection and a clean production that nevertheless feels a little rustic, even homemade, and the result is his first true masterwork since ending the Jam. The great irony of the record is that many of the songs -- "Has My Fire Really Gone Out?," "Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)" -- question his motivation and, as is apparent in his spirited performances, he reawakened his music by writing these searching songs. Though this isn't as adventurous as the Style Council, it succeeds on its own terms, and winds up being a great testament from an artist entering middle age. And, it helped kick off the trad rock that dominated British music during the '90s.

Julie Tippetts - Sunset Glow

Genre * Modern Creative * Progressive Big Band * Fusion * Early Creative * Free Jazz

year: 75 - review: The set begins innocently enough with "Mind of a Child," a fairly straight-ahead Baroque pop song with a lilting piano line accompanying Tippetts' plaintive singing. But even here, with the channel-shifting production and suspended chords, Keith Tippett's harmonium providing a baseboard for everything, and the slightly off-kilter horns winding in and out of the backdrop, this is anything but a pop song. From here on it's almost anything goes, as "Oceans and Sky" brings jazz, free improv, prog rock, and blues to bear in a dynamite soaring wail of a tune that was virtually unlike anything else at the time. She pierces the sky with her improvising, opening her voice up with the heaviness and swallowing it whole. Many have criticized the simple lyric lines Tippetts wrote for these songs, but this is philistinism; her lyrics fit these melodies better than anything else could. They adorn simply, speak plainly, and offer the heart of the matter in each case. In that sense, they are truly poetic. If the production styles sound rooted in the '70s, it's all for the better. It's hard to imagine anyone making a record like this today -- because this is a singular achievement in any era. The set ends with "Behind the Eyes (For a Friend, R)," which listeners can safely assume is about Robert Wyatt, whose accident took place a bit before the album was recorded. Its stark, simple, shimmering glissando piano walks a simple line under the moaning, imploring, almost chant-like voice of Tippetts. It's a moving track that closes as fine a debut as one is likely to hear.

Ottmar Liebert - Nouveau Flamenco

Genre * Ethnic Fusion * Flamenco * Adult Alternative

year: 90 - review: Originally released in 1988, this independently produced album topped Billboard's new age chart and sold a half-million copies. The music, however, lacks the craftsmanship of later releases. In fact, almost all of the short selections end in mediocre fadeouts.

Screaming Trees - Dust

Genre * Hard Rock * Alternative Pop/ Rock * Grunge * Neo-Psychedelia

year: 96 - review: In many ways, the Screaming Trees missed their opportunity. They released Sweet Oblivion just as grunge began to capture national attention and they didn't tour the album extensively, which meant nearly all of their fellow Seattle bands became superstars while they stood to the side. After four years, they returned with Dust, their third major-label album, and by that point, the band's sound was too idiosyncratic for alternative radio. Which is unfortunate, because Dust is the band's strongest album. Sure, the rough edges that fueled albums like Uncle Anesthesia are gone, but in its place is a rustic hard rock, equally informed by heavy metal and folk. The influence of Mark Lanegan's haunting solo albums is apparent in both the sound and emotional tone of the record, but this is hardly a solo project -- the rest of the band has added a gritty weight to Lanegan's spare prose. The Screaming Trees sound tighter than they ever have and their melodies and hooks are stronger, more memorable, making Dust their most consistently impressive record.

10cc - the Original Soundtrack

Genre * Prog-Rock/ Art Rock * Album Rock * Pop/Rock * Soft Rock

year: 75 - review: 10cc's third album, The Original Soundtrack, finally scored them a major hit in the United States, and rightly so; "I'm Not in Love" walked a fine line between self-pity and self-parody with its weepy tale of a boy who isn't in love (really!), and the marvelously lush production and breathy vocals allowed the tune to work beautifully either as a sly joke or at face value. The album's opener, "Une Nuit a Paris," was nearly as marvelous; a sly and often hilarious extended parody of both cinematic stereotypes of life and love in France and overblown European pop. And side one's closer, "Blackmail," was a witty tale of sex and extortion gone wrong, with a superb guitar solo embroidering the ride-out. That's all on side one; side two, however, is a bit spottier, with two undistinguished tunes, "Brand New Day" and Flying Junk," nearly dragging the proceedings to a halt before the band rallied the troops for a happy ending with the hilarious "The Film of Our Love." The Original Soundtrack's best moments rank with the finest work 10cc ever released; however, at the same time it also displayed what was to become their Achilles' heel -- the inability to make an entire album as strong and memorable as those moments.

Mick Harvey - Intoxicated Man

year: 95 - review: Rollicking guitars and a rolling rhythm kick up dust on "Harley Davidson"; "I think less well of life than of my motor bike," snarls guest vocalist Anita Lane. Mock lounge jazz suits the title track's story of descent into drink. Persistent organs give much of the material a similar feel. Elsewhere, elegant string arrangements (courtesy of Bertrand Burgalat) sweep through the songs, vaguely dating them in a past era. Like Gainsbourg's originals, however, Harvey's versions have substance beyond mere kitsch value.
Gainsbourg seems to have had an obsession with American popular culture ("New York U.S.A.," "Harley Davidson," "Ford Mustang," "Bonnie and Clyde") and on Intoxicated Man, it's the fast living of guns, cars, and alcohol that lure him. His direct, dry humor and taste for satire are also evident throughout. "Chatterton" is all punchline, with Harvey reading off a list of suicide casualties -- "How 'bout me?" he asks, "Lately I don't feel good inside." "New York U.S.A." is an ode to the city that gets Gainsbourg "high, oh so high." Harvey tours the Big Apple with his female backup singers in tow, getting his fix from Rockefeller Center and the Pan American Building. Also included are examples of Gainsbourg's dark, erotic leanings on "Sex Shop" and the controversial "Lemon Incest."

Tango Saloon - Tango Saloon

Genre * Tango * Cowboy * Latin Jazz

year: 06 - review: With each new release from Ipecac Records, you never know what you're going to get. And this is proven once more with the self-titled release by Tango Saloon. From the same label that brought you albums by the Melvins, Fantômas, and Isis comes a CD comprised entirely of...tango music? Yes friends, you read it right. Judging from his multitude of projects, Mike Patton is certainly one musically varied gentleman, so it's only natural that this should reflect the releases he puts out via his label. Tango Saloon are led by guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Julian Curwin, who manages to combine two of his biggest influences together -- tango master Astor Piazzolla andEnnio Morricone's spaghetti Western scores. The result is something that is a musical breath of fresh air in the often foul-smelling state of modern popular music. Very few vocals are heard here (the track "Libertango" is an exception), which results in Tango Saloon sounding akin to a movie score at times. But what a movie score it would be, as evidenced by such standouts as "Overture," "Upon a Time," and "March of the Big Shoe." That said, the second half of the disc may lose a few listeners, especially the perhaps too-experimental "Man with the Bongos," while the horns on "The Little Plan That Could" tend to get a bit too "nails on the blackboard." But overall, Tango Saloon is an unexpected (and much needed) break from the musical norm.

Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight

year: 07 - review: This is the kind of music artists make to find out who they'll become next: It reaches toward many influences — notably U2 (some songs invoke the Irish rock group almost note-for-note), but also Tool, Evanescence, Nirvana and Coldplay — without committing to anything.

Happy Mondays Discography

Genre Alternative Pop/ Rock Club/Dance Alternative

bio: Along with the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays were the leaders of the late-'80s/early-'90s dance club-influenced Manchester scene, experiencing a brief moment in the spotlight before collapsing in 1992. While the Stone Roses were based in '60s pop, adding only a slight hint of dance music, Happy Mondays immersed themselves in the club and rave culture, eventually becoming the most recognizable band of that drug-fueled scene. The Mondays' music relied heavily on the sound and rhythm of house music, spiked with '70s soul licks and swirling '60s psychedelia. It was bright, colorful music that had fractured melodies that never quite gelled into cohesive songs.

Bronski Beat - the Age of Consent

Genre New Wave Synth Pop Pop Dance

year: 84 - review: To say The Age of Consent is a great album of dance-oriented synth-pop music is to sell it extremely short; this is simply a great album, period. Jimmy Somerville's soaring tenor may take some getting used to, but the songs, many of them dealing with homophobia and alienation (none more eloquently than "Smalltown Boy"), are compelling vignettes about the vagaries of life as a gay man. Cynics predisposed to dismissing entire genres of music based on trendiness or a limited appeal ("dance music is for dancing, not listening") miss the point in lumping this in with more mindless forays into techno or neo-disco. As the Pet Shop Boys (the world's greatest disco band) proved a few years later, you can have substantive content and wrap it up in a compelling, visceral, dance-oriented package. Few bands understood this better, or earlier, than Bronski Beat.

the Cliks - Snakehouse

Genre Rock

year: 07 - review: A thoroughly exciting debut, the Cliks' Snakehouse kicks like the White Stripes, bellows carbaret-rock style like Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and has a press release that goes "thud" when it hits the desk. Their bold, strong, and extremely talented leader Lucas Silveira is a transgendered FTM (female-to-male) leading an all-female, androgynous band. That's news, and so is their gutsy take on Justin Timberlake's previously slick "Cry Me a River," a quirky choice that pulls new meaning out of a hit (see Tori Amos, Type O Negative, Ted Leo, etc.). Both of these bullet points are of some importance since "he" and "she" are used willy-nilly on this gender indifferent album and the powers that be decided that "Cry Me a River" should be in the coveted track number two slot. That's the "this is the defining single" slot on most albums, which is even more important if it's your debut. While the band put its broken heart into the Timberlake cover and twists it in a way that's well above being clever, the track is topped repeatedly by Silveira's own songs, and a handful of them are near-perfect constructions that trump Timberlake, transgender, packaging, and hype. With its "Peter Gunn Theme" shuffle and early-Divinyls blast, "Oh Yeah" is heartbreak at its worst and at its loudest in an earth-shaking performance that demands attention. more...>

Todd Rundgren - The Very Best Of

Genre rock

review: Instead, the very best of TODD RUNDGREN focuses on the early days of the Philadelphia native's career, when he was effortlessly turning out soul-tinged pop classics like "We Gotta Get You a Woman," the impossibly wistful "Hello It's Me," and his two dead-perfect, impossible-to-improve-upon AM radio classics, the slinky "I Saw the Light" and the power-pop archetype "Couldn't I Just Tell You." In the context of these gems, even quirky later cuts like "The Want of a Nail" and "Bang the Drum All Day" sound stronger than before.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry

Genre Blues Rock Noise pop Punk

year: 96 - review: Where Orange had some awkward attempts at funk, Now I Got Worry is a raw bloozy workout, full of harsh guitars and barked vocals. The sound of the Blues Explosion is so fiery and alive that it overshadows Spencer's habit for campy posturing, and that's what keeps Now I Got Worry afloat. Once it's finished, it becomes hard not to second-guess Spencer's intentions, but the album is the closest the Blues Explosion have come to capturing their wild, intense live show on record.

Devo - Freedom Of Choice

Genre Synth Pop Dance Rock New Wave

year: 80 - review: With Freedom of Choice, Devo completed their transition into a full-fledged synth-pop group, producing arguably their most musically cohesive effort in the process. Synthesizers are now fully integrated into the band's sound, frequently dominating the arrangements and at least sharing equal time with the guitars. Everything is played with a cool, polished precision that mirrors the stylized uniformity of the band's visuals; the dissonance is more subdued than in the past, and the uptight rhythms are no longer jarring, instead locking the band into a rigidly even keel. Oddly, even though the music is the least human-sounding Devo had yet produced, their social observations were growing less insular and more sympathetic. Several tunes -- like the oft-covered "Girl U Want" -- have a geeky (but pragmatic) romantic angst that was new to Devo albums, although the band's view of relationships is occasionally colored by their cultural themes of competition and domination. more..>

The The - Mind Bomb

Genre * Dance-Rock * College Rock

year: 89 - review: With the addition of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, The The attempted their most ambitious album yet with Mind Bomb. Instead of the darkly polished dance-pop stylings of Infected, Mind Bomb opens up the music to reveal a slow, winding textured world of sound that celebrates its rough edges instead of hiding them. It's serious, dance-influenced rock of the highest order.

Lucinda Williams - West

Genre Folk Alternative Folk

year: 07 - review: The title of West reflects the change in Lucinda Williams' life as she moved to Los Angeles. It also reflects what had been left behind. Williams is nothing if not a purely confessional songwriter. She continually walks in the shadowlands to bring out what is both most personal yet universal in her work, to communicate to listeners directly and without compromise. If Essence and World Without Tears took chances and stated different sides of the songwriter and her world, West jumps off the ledge into the sky of freedom, where anything can be said without worry of consequence and where anything can be said in any way she wishes. It's entirely appropriate that West was released on the day before Valentine's Day 2007, for it's a record about the heart, about its volumes of brokenness, about its acceptance of its state, and how, with the scars still visible to the bearer, it opens wider and becomes the font of love itself. But the journey is a dark one. First there's the music and the production. Williams chose Hal Willner to produce West. Williams, who'd been writing a lot, demoed some songs before she brought in Willner. He stripped down the demos but kept the scratch vocals. From there, the pair created the rest of the album together, never re-recording Williams' initial vocals. more...>