a coherent collection of random statements regarding God, words and tunes

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (or some combination thereof)

Between busyness – you HAVE been following the saga lately, right? – the plethora of new music that has suddenly arrived, and the stuff I’ve been playing that won’t go away, suffice to say I now have a backlog.

So I’ll try to both be reasonably quick & try to do everyone justice.

But of course, I won’t. Be quick, that is.

And our title above seemed like a good way to keep it all organized, so here goes….

Ashley Cleveland – Before the Daylight’s Shot (old [2006], and a bit of blue and borrowed) – I’ll confess, there’s really only a handful of female singers who do it for me. Yes, I’m looking at you, Patti; you too, Kate Bush. After that, early Pretenders, early Indigo Girls, early Sinead O’Connor, mid-period Kate B…. er, early Tori Amos, and pretty much anything from Leslie/Sam Phillips between The Turning and Omnipop (c. 1987-2001). And if it makes y'all happy, a scattered handful of Janis songs. And yeah, that’s about it.

And in the CCM realm (and since Ms. Phillips only got interesting after biting said CCM hand that fed her, then running screaming away from it, I won’t count her here) there would’ve be only one: Ashley Cleveland. (OK, Miranda Stone too, if she EVER puts out another CD.) When she’s transcendent… well, suffice to say “There’s a Light” (from Lesson of Love) approached Patti territory (even if it was more Dream of Life than Horses). And even when she’s in default mode: Great smoky voice, and lyrics that tend to be above the norm even while vigorously flexing their orthodoxy. Heck, to follow said “There’s a Light” with a stomping version of the old gospel chestnut “Power in the Blood” (and pulling it off -- heck, I used to use her version when leading worship back in the day) showcases someone who’s real, whether you subscribe to that reality or not. She’s also worked quite a bit with John Hiatt, to help the uninitiated among you get some context here. It’s that kind of music.

Anyway, I finally went back and got this one – those Contemporary Gospel Grammies tend to scare me off, you know – and discovered she’s still in fine voice and sound. The amps are cranked, and there’s no mistaking what side of the fence she’s on. Again, there’s VERY few singer/songwriters who could pull off a song called “I Need Jesus” without it sounding corny or contrived. If the girl says she needs Jesus, she needs JESUS, dang it. Suffice to say, subtlety always isn’t her strong point, but with a voice like this it doesn’t need to be. She pretty much stomps her way through the entire album, and it works just fine. The opener “Queen of Soul” the cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” and especially “Streams of Mercy” (“’Go in peace,’ said to my friend / I’m not the one you were seeking after all / Here’s your release from my anger and my failure / I thought you knew its only hot air after all … In calm waters I am shrinking down to size / Tender hands lift me up and hold me like a prize… Who will let me live, where streams of mercy flow?”) are all highlights. So go poke around her site & figure it out for yrself.

The War on Drugs – Wagonwheel Blues (new, and vaguely blue) – Score another one for eMusic. I’d downloaded the freebie EP Barrel of Batteries, and liked it enough to pay for this one. The Philadelphia band’s myspace site describes them as “Pop / Ambient / Comedy.” I’d kind of only agree with the middle one, and the ambience comes out way more on their new release Wagonwheel Blues (although the interspersed musical snippets on Batteries hinted at it). Anyway, what I hear is c. 1965 Roger McGuinn being raptured away from Crosby, Hillman, et al., and dropped next to a mythical woodshed where Brian Eno’s producing a kinder, gentler Nirvana. But that’s just me.

So: While I like the stripped-down Batteries version of the song better, the cranked-up and still-harmonica-driven version of “Arms Like Boulders” makes a nice single. Not sure how universal or specific the target is, but make what you will of such lyrics as, “And your god is only a catapult / waiting for the right time to let you go / into the unknown, just to watch you / hold your breath .. ‘Cause you’re, yooooooou’re the kind / to hide your eyes from the sun / And in your world, the strong survive… / Yeah, they tell you your arms are like boulders / and your shoulders are cliffs / but your head keeps rolling off….”

They’re not quite ready for prime-time – for one thing, there’s too much repetition of musical themes here, and I suspect it’s often more padding than deliberation. I mean, really, as pleasant as it is, does “Show Me the Coast” need to be 10 minutes long? ‘Specially given that we already had the three-minute-long “Coast Reprise” to precede its source material, the bouncy/marchy/folky/ambient album highlight “Buenos Aires Beach” (“so let’s speak about the past / in the future-perfect tense” – nice)? And boy, things could benefit from less distortion at times (i.e., you don’t have to use the reverb button, guys – it’s an effect – and again, I’ve heard Batteries, so I know y’r not addicted to it).

That all said, this is an enjoyable first album from a band you hope tightens up and hits stride as they progress. And again, go download Batteries for free on eMusic and see if there’s something to what I’m saying here.

Seventy Sevens – Holy Ghost Building (old, new, borrowed AND blue). Finally. So, two contrasting issues here:

A) I love Mike Roe and the 77s. If there has EVER truly been a “Christian rock” band, this is it. While I can’t quite place them in the same category with the “Only Three Rock and Roll Bands Ever” (i.e., Kinks / Mott the Hoople / Replacements), there’s a realness to their music (and the lyrics) that you can only find in a handful of other musicians/bands, in ANY sector. Plus, the boys can play – I’d love to see Mike and tim in a guitar-off. Plusser, Mike has a voice that can positively drip with emotion.

B) This is primarily an album of blues/gospel covers. And blues/gospel is not a genre I’ve ever really gone for.

I was looking forward to comparing this to Patti’s Twelve album last year. And, despite the year’s separation, the comparison is still relevant: Master of adult angst who gets better with age takes on the classics (albeit a totally different set of classics), to generally pleasant but nonetheless mixed results.

It starts off well enough. “I’m Working on a Building” is a hopping, bouncy number that puts things on the rails and sends them along, and “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” keeps the train a’rollin. “Stranger Won’t You Change Your Sinful Ways” takes things down a notch (or several), although there’s some great guitar work near the end.

“I’ll Remember You, Love, in My Prayers” probably would’ve fit well on Drowning With Land in Sight. Rather Stonesian, with some nice growling vocals by Mike. It’s about here, though, that I start to miss Mike’s lyrics. “You’re Gonna Be Sorry” has a nice Canned Heat kinda feel, but again I’m not compelled here. “What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul” probably would’ve fit well on an early Byrds album (i.e., one of the more rocky ones). And again, all pleasant, but without Mike ripping out my heart with those lyrics, that’s all it is.

Thus, even though it really doesn’t “fit” the album, I find myself coming back more to the one original song, the lovely, sad closer “A Lifetime Without You.” Quickly thrown together as it admittedly was, it still managed to hearken back to one of the two best albums of 2004, Mike & Mark Harmon’s Fun With Sound (and of course, Patti’s Trampin’ was the other). The lyrics are simple but effective: “You were my kingdom / You were my kingdom / But I was on the throne…. Think I’m on my own for once / You can call me an f’in dunce / I cried for you…. You don’t belong to me / I don’t belong, and I / I just don’t fit / I think I’ll quit now…”

Thus, while I’m willing to appreciate Holy Ghost Building as Mike doing the songs HE loves, I’ll take a whole album of THAT next time, thanks. And given the rest of this century’s output so far, I’m pretty sure Mike’s still got that in him.

Additional note: Just to keep me honest, I played this during our 4th of July party for my local Christian rock/blues buddies. Les, who’s WAY more of an aficionado of this kind of music, responded with a resounding "EH." My brother-in-law Kevin, also more of a blues guy, said (at least mentally), "Yeah, huh?" Jim, a big 7s fan but not so much a blues guy (but still more than me) loved it. So I let him borrow it; I'm pretty much done for now.

Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight (new, and blue in its way) – This Scottish band’s second album has been in my rotation for awhile now. And if we’re gonna go ahead and reference Scottish bands anyway, picture The Proclaimers trying to sound like the early Waterboys. Witty, edgy, and decidely more self-flagellating than either of the above bands. While it’s not quite revelatory, it’s danged enjoyable and decidely personal. Scott Hutchison drops the f-bomb way more than he needs to here – and usually as a verb -- but at least it’s not forced. The candor can be disarming, but heck, that’s what candor DOES. :)

Sparks – Exotic Creatures of the Deep (new) – My feelings for the Mael brothers’ previous album, Hello Young Lovers -- and for these guys in general -- are already abundantly clear. And you’ve got to love a band that celebrates the release of its 21st album in almost 40 years with a three-week-long stretch of gigs, each one featuring an entirely different album (3 weeks = 21 days, get it?). Iconoclastic, even toward their own music – consider Ron & Russell have taken on glam-rock, pop, neo-classical, electronica, and even made the ONLY good disco album EVER, with Giorgio Moroder, no less (No. 1 in Heaven) – then consider that nearly 40 years later, our favorite Hollywood Anglophiles are STILL challenging themselves, even while often venturing into lyrical territory that at first glance seems only slightly more serious than Weird Al.

Every so often, these guys manage to find their ways back onto the pop charts. And this might just be the album to get them back. Bully for them if it works. It’s not quite as immediately pushing-the-envelope as Hello Young Lovers or its predecessor Lil’ Beethoven, but it’s decidedly more accessible than either and very arguably as ambitious. And I keep finding new layers of sound and/or more strikingly funny-but-really-not lines each time I hear it. I may actually end up liking this better than HYL when all is said and done. In fact, I think I'm already there. It's a catchy thing of beauty that makes you laugh out loud yet hurts if you stop to think too long about it.

And yes, for the 21st time in their career, the bedrock material is primarily still More Songs About Being Obsessed With, Terrified by, or Just Plain Used Mercilessly by Women, and/or Narcissism (theirs and everyone else’s). One wonders how a pair of musical-genius brothers -- one of which was a former high-school quarterback (in California, for crying out loud) -- have managed to remain single into their early 60s. Then you listen to this and go, “Oh, yeahhhhh…” Which also explains why everyone’s favorite celibate vegetarian neo-glam-rocker, Morrissey, is such a big fan of these guys. But that gets ahead of our story. (By the way, it would also explain why Russell looks scarily similar to Clay Aiken on the cover of this thing. And I’m not going there AT ALL.

And since y’r probably asking yrself the question by now, they insist they’re not.)

Anyway, the album as a whole is appropriately framed by its closer “Likeable” and the line used in the multi-track-vocaled “Intro” and “Intro Reprise”: “I don't care if you love me, just so you like me…” From there -- and to underscore the absurdly pointed hollowness that's all over this -- we veer into the electronic  poppiness of “Good Morning,” detailing the morning after with a woman the singer can't even remember:

Good morning
Who are you?
I woke up and saw you
I'm dreaming, still dreaming
My life is now about to have some meaning

Good morning
I'm thinking
I must have
Been drinking
And said something clever
It must have been the best line from me ever

Thank you, God, for something rare as this
What surely must have been a holy night of bliss....

Good morning
In sorrow
I know that
Tomorrow
You'll be with some winner
Who's richer, younger, maybe even thinner...

Good morning
I need you, I need you
Who are you?

Next comes the Beach-Boys-meets-symphonic-punk “Strange Animal,” which narrates the battle between a musician, an overanalytical (imagined?) fan, and all the characters in the song, ending in the songwriter killing everyone concerned and starting over. Definitely one of your more original songs about the creative process, and for that matter probably the closest thing here to the scary-good “Dick Around” from Hello Young Lovers.

Then, for the first time in years, they revisit their glam years (albeit trading in Queen for T-Rex here) in the funny-as-it-sounds-except-it’s-not “I Can’t Believe You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song.” When Russell sings to a would-be fan and/or lover, “I want you and only you and only you, my love" you both believe him and kinda get creeped out by it. You know, like when Morrissey sings something like that. But again, too early in our story.

Then comes the quasi-classical Ron-piano-driven section. On either side of the “Intro Reprise” comes “Let the Monkey Drive” (“It’s only fair / It’s the monkey’s car / And he hates to share”) and “I’ve Never Been High,” both of which are better than I’m letting on for some semblance of brevity’s sake. “(She Got Me) Pregnant” turns the tables, even while reminding you of its unturned-tabular relevance, “You know how these girls can be  / they treat you all so casually / They wine you and they dine you and expect a little la-dee-dee /And then you learn that though she's several thousand miles away / There is a part of her she's given you and now you have to deal with being / Pregnant  /She got me pregnant / She got me pregNANT….”

Then comes what REALLY oughta be the hit single here (at least in Britain), and if only for its topicality, “Lighten Up, Morrissey.” Veering a bit more gently into glam-land , the protagonist in the song pleads with his hero to give his girlfriend less material to work with (and thus compare him unfavorably to):

She won't have sex with me
No, she won't have sex
Unless it's done with a pseudonym
She won't do sport with me
No, she won't do sport
'Cos it's way, way too masculine, look at him

So lighten up, Morrissey
Lighten up, lighten up…

I got comparisons coming out my ears
And she never can hit the pause
If only Morrissey weren't so Morrissey-esque
She might overlook my flaws…

She won't dine out with me
No, she won't dine out
Since my t-bone steak is at fault
She won't dine out with me
No, she won't dine out
With a murderer -- pass the salt…

Anyone who either loves OR hates the guy should hear this. (And FWIW, the subject matter himself reportedly loves it.)

“This Is the Renaissance” is growing on me big-time, and turns the social observation even wryer. Although the context is different it reminds me a bit of one of my all-time favorite Sparks songs, “It Ain’t 1918” (from Indiscreet), in that it starts out poking fun at the “old ways” then turns the tables to reveal how intolerant and empty the “new ways” are: “Middle ages sucked / Spent all day in prayer / Judgement Day was everyday and / Witches burning everywhere / But now we are in luck / Beauties everywhere / Paintings filled with foxy women / No one's got a cross to bear… If you like to read / Man, you are in luck / Gutenberg is cranking out The Bible with a centerfold… This is the Renaissance / Came upon us all at once….”

It tails off a bit near the end. “The Director Never Yelled ‘Cut’” features the lyrical repetition that figures prominently on the last two albums, but again musically it’s very hard to fault – there are some truly lovely passages here -- and the verses themselves tell the story of yet another guy who doesn't measure up to his girlfriend's/"director's" standards  just fine. “Photoshop” is the most obvious thing here, regarding the protagonist’s plea to “photoshop me out of your life,” but it’s a’ight.

Then finally to “Likeable,” a six-minute classical-rock-waltz-a capella paean to… well, being liked… and the ultimate hollowness therein,

Wonder what it feels like to be in love
How would you describe it -- like a push or shove?
Guess I keep pretending this is all I need
Wanting more than what I have might appear as greed

Cause I'm likeable, they all say
Wouldn't have it any other way
And there's no other reason things go my way
I'm just likeable, night and day.

When the album’s opening line finally reprises here, “I don't care if you love me, just so you like me / Like me, like me, like me, like me…” it's actually rather heartbreaking. (Again, not unlike my all-time favorite Sparks song, “Dance Godammit,” in which the phrase “Do you want to dance?” grows from casual come-on to a desperate plea for ANY kind genuine human connection whatsoever.)

Bottom line: Once you get past the decidedly funny surface of Exotic Creatures and into the "Deep" of the music and the emotional disconnect portrayed throughout.... well anyway, if you still think it's a joke, then it's clearly a joke you're not getting. If THIS one comes out #1 this year, too, I won't be apologizing for it.

And then there's....

Grandpaboy/Paul Westerberg – Mono/Stereo (old [2002], and blue in its way too) —I’ve already gone on quite a while, so ironically I’ll cut to the chase here: For those who’ve missed The Replacements even before they broke up (sorry to likely offend some, but as far as I’m concerned the uneven Pleased to Meet Me was the last real Replacements album, Don’t Tell a Soul and semi-commercial success be damned – although All Shook Down holds up way better than suspected, in retrospect)... anyway, it’s not quite Tim or Let It Be, but if what's followed since this is any indication, I don’t think he’ll ever get this close again.

Conveniently broken into two equally homemade disks – the rocking pseudonymous Grandpaboy Mono CD and the more introspective Paul Stereo disk – you have the best of both worlds here. Whether the amps are cranked or it’s just Paul and an acoustic, what comes out is engaged and impassioned. It’s the sound of a man with a heart on his sleeve and the humor and intelligence to express what’s in it. Just like you remember it.

Mono, being the rockier of the two, is also the more lyrically cut-and-run/wiseass of the two. And thus it’s great to hear some choice Westerbergian epithets here. Among the gems: “You oughta be a silent film star / Keep your pretty little trap shut”; “Baby, stay away from me / With your eyes like sparks / And my heart like gasoline”; “Need a leap of faith, or a jump of stupid / Either way, don't know what I'm doing… Well, it's heads, I win / Tails, we flip again”; “You’ve got 2 days ‘til tomorrow / You're still the one I want / 2 days ‘til tomorrow / You say I didn't count.”

On the other hand, when Grandaboy Paul closes Mono with the alliterative title chorus to “AAA” – “I ain't got anything -- to say to anyone – anymore” – you believe it. And that’s all you can ever ask for. And yet see so seldom ANYWHERE in rock and roll.

For me, though, Stereo is the real keeper. It closes with a couple rockers, “Call That Gone” and the hidden track “Postcards From Paradise,” but by then the damage has already been done. Rip my heart out, old man, again and again. An older (and wiser? at least deeper) Paul Westerberg reflects on aging and both what he’s gained and what he’s lost, starting right from the opening lyrics, “baby learns to crawl / watching daddy's skin / learns to fall / get up again / baby learns to cry / watching mama's smile / in the mirror / can you hear her.”

“Only Lie Worth Telling” is arguably the most devastating thing here, as Paul basically tells a would-be lover that he’d rather live a lie than have her walk away: “Call me when you're full of pretty lies / Call me when your eyes are empty / And open all night…. The only lie worth telling / Is I'm in love with you.”

In terms of gain and loss, though, “Boring Enormous” is the centerpiece:

The coffee laughs at us every morning
We always laugh at the choices we've made
And ask ourselves, "How did it get so early?"…

No longer in a hurry to get anywhere
Still don't care for your destination
No longer lead, you just let things happen….

Faucet's been dripping for a year and a half
Both of us tripping outside to play
One thing I love I can no longer stand
Boring enormous
Please just ignore us
'Cause up close we're still far away...
Boring enormous
It isn't for us to say.

“We May Be the Ones” throws another poignantly dismissive observation on the fire: “We may well be the ones / To set this world on its ear / We may well get it done / Why the hell else are we here?”

And then there’s the cover of the old folk chestnut “Mr. Rabbit.” Just the antidote to the sadness throughout here, wherein our favorite misfit revels in his… well, aging misfittiness: “Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit / your coat is mighty grey / yes, bless God it's made that way / every little soul must shine / every little soul must shine.”

Not that we stay there for long. In a disk filled with sad moments, “Let the Bad Times Roll” may well be the saddest thing here: “Just add water / I'm disappointed / The good times hide / So will I / Watch the world roll by / From my hole / I'm gonna let the bad times roll…” Vintage Westerberg. Again, it won’t make you forget “Here Comes a Regular.” But it WILL make you remember, and compared to what almost anyone else out there has to offer, that’s almost more than good enough.

There’s even more new stuff coming – hopefully next week, and if I can get excited about it (so far it's probably 1 for 3 -- and all I'll add for now is that it's between Beck, Elvis Costello and Alejandro Escovedo) – but this is enough to get you started, right? :)

Posted by: burninglight at 17:48 | link | comments (15)

Comments:

#1  03 July 2008 - 19:30

 

The Ashley Cleveland sounds interesting, as does the artist herself; and thanks for reminding me that Roger McGuinn is still alive, because I wouldn't have had a clue.

Jim

LDVoyager

#2  03 July 2008 - 22:14

 

I'm thinking you'd like her. Her music's fairly mainstream without most of the negative connotations that go with that. And she can belt it out.

burninglight

#3  07 July 2008 - 11:59

 

is she still married to mr greenberg? he's one of my favorite guitar slingers.....

her voice has always been amazing... hard to not like her.

larryl

#4  09 July 2008 - 22:16

 

hey carl... talk to me about the patti smith/kevin shields album.

larryl

#5  10 July 2008 - 01:13

 

I've checked out a bootleg version of it, and it didn't do it for me personally. It's basically a two-CD-long poem about Robert Mapplethorpe, with, um, aural accompaniment.

burninglight

#6  10 July 2008 - 03:15

 

Sounds like a bunch of bullwhip to me. ba-doom-ksshhhhh!!!!

Jim

LDVoyager

#7  10 July 2008 - 12:23

 

thanks for the info. the combination sounded interesting... the actual album, less so; now anyway.

larryl

#8  10 July 2008 - 13:50

 

I'll probably check out the official/cleaned-up samples on eMusic just to be sure I'm not making a mistake. It IS Patti, after all. But suffice to say I didn't even both burning what I had to CD.

And that said, I wouldn't be at all shocked if tim loved it. Say "Radio Ethiopia" and you'll get two very different reactions from us. :D

burninglight

#9  10 July 2008 - 23:11

 

Tim's the only guy who didn't join the masses to return Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" to the record store way back when; so you never know what he'll like. :-b

Jim

LDVoyager

#10  11 July 2008 - 13:01

 

Well, I didn't either, but admittedly you only need to play it once.

And FWIW, I read Finnegan's Wake cover-to-cover, too. :D

And my issues with Radio Ethiopia are detailed elsewhere. Short version: One man's poetic heights are another man's pretentious b.s. "*** Radio Ethiopia, man, I'm Radio Loveland." :P

burninglight

#11  11 July 2008 - 20:06

 

i must be growing more and more out of touch with reality......
the only one of those i've heard is the 77's...
and that rocks!

beatmenace

#12  13 July 2008 - 02:34

 

"This is primarily an album of blues/gospel covers. And blues/gospel is not a genre I’ve ever really gone for."
--------------------

This sounds like Russ Taff's "Under Their Influence".

He was riding really high with some real blockbuster albums ("Medals", self-titled, "The Way Home"); and then he threw a couple real curves at everybody before he basically faded into oblivion:

- Put out "Under Their Influence" which is also perfectly described as "blues/gospel" covers. I thought it fit his voice perfect, and the songs are totally timeless. I remember my weightlifting buddy at the time lamenting that it sounded so "primitive". My attitude was who cares, because the songs themselves are big enough. He promoted that album with the "Joyfest" tour co-headlining with Mylon Lefevre and Broken Heart. I thought the songs were excellent in concert.


- Then, he put out his Christmas album "A Christmas Song" which grates my wife, but I think is totally fantastic, with its jazzy takes on the Christmas tunes. I think its probably easily my favorite Christmas album.

I know from 88 that that the 77s are pretty comfortable with the bluesy genre, so I can't imagine the CD being too bad. I'll probably wind up hearing it sooner or later.

Jim

LDVoyager

#13  13 July 2008 - 16:33

 

And it's not bad. It's just not a 7s/Mike album. I distinctly don't remember my heart being ripped out my chest here. :D

burninglight

#14  14 July 2008 - 14:44

 

jim... stop judging the 77s by 88.

and fun with sound isn't representative either.

get a real, studio, 77s record, and then we'll talk.

larryl

#15  14 July 2008 - 16:17

 

Alright, I'll have to get me a real 7s sometime.

Jim

LDVoyager

Comments: