Snark and Reverb

I was in 12th grade AP Physics class, on the second floor of my hometown highschool. I think we had a substitute teacher that day, as we weren’t doing anything important. I had my Sony portable CD player (with ESS!!!), and a CD my friend Lawrence burned me inside it.

It Began in Afrika -ka -ka -ka -ka
It Began in Afrika -ka -ka -ka -ka
It Began in Afrika -ka -ka -ka -ka

I guess it would be more accurate to say it began in Physics Class -ass -ass -ass -ass. As funny as that is to say, the event was no laughing matter. I had my first taste of the Brothers, and my life was forever changed. That iconic disc, of course, was Come With Us. Since that time, we saw the release of Push the Button, and We are the Night. Both good discs, in their own right, but straying form the big beat sound The Chemical Brothers became famous for. This, in my mind, is where compilation albums can come into play. A single like “Saturate” from the We are the Night is a fantastic song, and can bring in new (younger) listeners who have never heard any of their work, and a compilation can let them explore some older work by the same artist.

In comes Brotherhood is the eigth compilation album, as listed by wikipedia, and includes many of their super smash hits. Also included is the new song “Keep my Composure” featuring Spank Rock, and the unreleased track “Midnight Madness”. The Limited second CD on the collector’s version contains the 10 previously unreleased “Electronic Battle Weapon” singles. Many of these evolved into singles which appear on other albums. The Chemical Brothers chose not to releases these songs, but instead play them live as a sort of testing ground for album content. The inclusion of these rare tracks is one of (if not the only) selling point of the album, since a true CB fan will already own most of disc 1.

Since almost all the content here isn’t new, I won’t rehash old singles. Instead, I will comment on the compilation as a whole. Track selection is decent, but the track order could be improved upon. While “Galvanize” is a great song, they already started off Push the Button with it. I think it would be more fun to start with “Hey Boy, Hey Girl”: a slow opening featuring the statement: ‘Hey Girl, Hey Boy. Superstar DJs, here we go!’ which flows into a HUGE, banging beat. Perfect lead-in.
Carry this flow (as CB did in the original track listing) with “Block Rockin Beats”. Using that same flow, in the number three slot: “Leave Home”. While carrying some big beat theme, the harder electronic sound of “Chemical Beats” would then lead right into the melodic “Star Guitar”. Now its time to merge the old and new, with a link of “It Began in Afrika”. Follow this up with some newer favorites: “The Boxer”, “Midnight Madness”, and “Saturate”. Last but not least, merge the old and new with “The Golden Path”, and “Out of Control”.

Appearing in my listing, but not the official Brotherhood list is “It Began in Afrika”. I don’t know how one could possibly put together a sort of Chemical Brothers ‘best of’ and NOT include Afrika. Although included in Battle Weapon 5, the single is a classic, and needs to be represented. I do enjoy seeing some of the newer standouts: “Galvanize”, “Do it Again”, “Saturate” and “Believe”, but three of them didn’t make my list. Don’t get me wrong. They are good songs, but not worthy of a compilation, “Saturate” excluded. I also chose to scratch out “Let Forever Be”, “Keep My Composure”, and “Setting Sun”. Instead I added: “The Boxer”, and the aforementioned “It Began in Afrika”.

Here is my modified tracklisting. The real listing will appear at the bottom of this review.

1. Hey Boy, Hey Girl
2. Block Rockin Beats
3. Leave Home
4. Chemical Beats
5. Star Guitar
6. It Began in Afrika
7. The Boxer
8. Midnight Madness
9. Saturate
10. The Golden Path
11. Out of Control

If you have never been introduced to The Chemical Brothers before, Brotherhood CD1 is a great introduction, and I highly recommend you go buy it NOW. But if you are an avid fan, and already own most of their previous work, the appeal of this album is definitely located in Disc 2. These previously unreleased “Electronic Battle Weapon” tracks are must haves. Its a lot a fun to listen to what Tom and Ed were thinking before the notes became smash singles.

Brotherhood track listing:

1. “Galvanize” (featuring Q-Tip) (Radio Edit) (from Push the Button) – 4:29
2. “Hey Boy Hey Girl” (from Surrender) – 4:49
3. “Block Rockin’ Beats” (from Dig Your Own Hole) – 5:00
4. “Do It Again” (Edit) (from We Are the Night) – 3:41
5. “Believe” (Edit) (from Push the Button) – 6:07
6. “Star Guitar” (from Come with Us) – 6:10
7. “Let Forever Be” (featuring Noel Gallagher) (from Surrender) – 3:56
8. “Leave Home” (from Exit Planet Dust) – 5:07
9. “Keep My Composure” (featuring Spank Rock) – 5:43
10. “Saturate” (from We Are the Night) – 4:49
11. “Out Of Control” (Radio Edit) (from Surrender) – 3:58
12. “Midnight Madness” - 3:35
13. “The Golden Path” (featuring The Flaming Lips) (from Singles 93-03) – 4:47
14. “Setting Sun” (featuring Noel Gallagher) (Radio Edit) (from Dig Your Own Hole) – 4:00
15. “Chemical Beats” (from Exit Planet Dust) – 4:02

Buy Brotherhood at Amazon.com and Support Snark and Reverb

I knew I was on to something the moment I hit play with this one.  I noticed above-average sound quality, lots of space around the notes and no loss or muffling of the high end.  Three major pitfalls thwarted from the get-go.  And that’s for the 1983 copy of the disc.  I suspect the Original Jazz Classic (OJC) would be equal, if not better.  You can also hear the tape rolling, so it has not been “no-noised”, another popular point of contention for audiophiles.  What we’re left with is a straight-ahead cooker of an album.

Basie starts off the album on with a soft number, “Jaylock”. Basie’s trademark minimalist piano joins the delicate drumming of Jake Hanna.  A slow rise in dynamics introduces the other band members.  This swell continues, and finally Lockjaw makes his presence felt in the song’s dynamic climax.  This encourages everyone else to dig in a little more too.  Even Joe Pass, a player I find normally quite reserved and conservative.

Things pick up with “Exactly Like You”, with a faster tempo and a more straight-ahead vibe.  J.J. Johnson steps out front and belts out a spirited solo, immediately followed by Lockjaw.  Next up is Freddie Hubbard with his high-pitched staccato lines.  Simultaneously Basie starts comes out of the background just a smidge.  Some more chromatic runs are made by Pass, then a little call-and-response session between all the horn members finishes out the bulk of the song, along with occasional embellishments by Hanna, Heard and Basie.  Don’t let their subdued roles fool you; they provide an absolutely smoking rhythm section.

Things back down again a bit with “I’ll Always Be In Love With You.”  The musicians still largely take turns, but its not so much a show piece as it is telling a story.  The improvisation tends to stick fairly close to the main riffs, though it is partially in the shorter nature of the solos.  The biggest difference is the way everyone not soloing handles embellishments.  They tend to either echo the verse’s melodic ideas, or provide some sort of counterpoint to them or the soloist lines.  It makes for a very full sound, despite the track’s laid-back vibe.

“If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight” brings the pace back further still, back to where we were with the opening track.  It also brings a return to the soft-heavy dynamic swells which are so fun to hear Basie lead.  He takes a moment before the final turn-around to display his minimalist style out front.

“Honi Coles” has Pass laying out the first single-note verse lines.  Then he repeats, only this time with chords, with Basie tagging along.  Lockjaw takes an extended lead, with the occasional swelling embellishment by various band mates.  Hubbard and Johnson both get their own extended sessions.  Basie really steps out of the limelight on this one, and is quite sporadic with his activity.  His restraint keeps things from getting too busy,  with all the different things going on.

The album’s closer, “Blues For Norman” again takes a slower approach.  Pass’s lines let us know this is indeed based on the blues.  This number is about two things; tone and feeling.  I’d say Lockjaw wins on feeling, and Hubbard wins on tone.

This album shows that, even when there is so much raw talent in one small ensemble, the sum can still be stronger than the parts, if teamwork is made paramount.  As good as the solos are, its all the micro details and embellishments that make this record so fun.  They way they vary from soft to loud only serves to draw you in further.  If I had to make a complaint, it would be that the drums and bass weren’t given any real time out front.  It’s a small complaint though, because both were key roles in all  said embellishments.  If you’re looking for a real ‘cooker with great sound quality, pick this one up.

Musicians:
Count Basie - Piano
John Heard - Bass
Jake Hanna - Drums
J.J. Johnson - Trombone
Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet
Joe Pass - Guitar
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis - Tenor Saxophone

Songs:
1. Jaylock
2. Exactly Like You
3. I’ll Always Be In Love With You
4. If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight
5. Honi Coles
6. Blues For Norman

Buy Kansas City 7 from Amazon, and Support S&R

Going Home was recommended to me on a forum I frequent, based on my interest in Ray Brown’s bass playing, and my recent discovery of Laurindo Almeda’s guitar prowess.

To date, Ray Brown is and has been my favorite jazz bassist, since my discovery of him in the genre.  His tone, attack and timing are, for me, impeccable.  He has a way of being able to play a lot of notes, but not sound decadent or excessive, and each note played simply belongs.  He is capable of beautifully intricate lines, while avoiding overtly flashy playing.  Most importantly, he knows when to remain in the background, and let others have their moment to shine.

What makes Going Home so much different than the other Brown material I’ve personally heard is the meshing between his bass and the drums, and the flute material from Bud Shank.  When all three combine, it makes a visceral yet graceful, palpable snappy sound.  Shank’s sax material, by itself, is even stronger than his flute variety.  As a whole, I feel as though everything has been tightened up somewhat, and is best illustrated within the flute passages.  Ray is still able to play in his loose style, but the overall effect is a tight, staccato sound for much of the record.  Factor in the quick Spanish guitar backing chords, and Almeida’s technique of strumming that somehow is quick and decisive, but gives all the notes room to breathe and have their own individuality, and we have quite the interesting jazz record.

Calling it a jazz record may be putting too fine a point on it though.  Almeida is more of a classical player, so there really isn’t any straight-ahead jazz.  A longer, verse-based record is the result, from what I can tell.  There are no long stretches of avant-garde solos; they are shorter and end up being more intertwined with whatever verse or section of the song they originate from.  In short, everyone is kept in check, and bound by the song structure, as opposed to being free to roam about and see where things go.  Luckily, there is no shortage of straight-ahead or free jazz discs out there, so this change ultimately makes for a more interesting counterpoint in Ray’s discography.

The short intro of “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise” would be an exception to that rule, with the exclusion of bass and guitar.  Flute accompanies drums for a stout, kicky little segment, until eventually everyone else joining in.  Its also one area of the album where I feel the full potential is never realized.  The classical and jazz differences don’t usually bring anything down, but Almedia’s playing here seems uninspired in a few places.  He echoes Ray Brown, which seems a bit redundant.  The track does have a bit of an open, airy feel to it (as does much of the record overall), so he probably wanted to avoid bogging it down further, and let the flute remain the dominant instrument, but providing a counterpoint to Ray’s playing throughout would have been a better choice.  He does so in a few places with chord work, but not the individual note material.  Its not wrong per se, it just seems a tad obvious.  That said, if this is the biggest point of contention for me, than I’d feel comfortable saying its still an outstanding album.  Almeda’s strumming chord work playing off the bass and drums goes a long way to blur the line between tight, regimented playing, and maintaining a loose pocket.  This is where the classical and jazz best meet.  The chords are still classically executed, but its when he plays them that makes all the difference.  This interplay is strongest on “Recipe of Love.”

Shelly Manne’s drums are probably most responsible for the album’s snappy sound characteristics.  He attacks very confidently, yet uses a soft touch which often reminds me of Joe Morello’s work with Dave Brubeck.  This similarity is particularly strong in the snare work.  Its nuances like these that allow Bud Shank’s flute to make such a large impact, achieving that airy sound mentioned earlier.  There’s just enough bite in the cymbals to give everything a sharp edge, without becoming overly brittle or harsh.

Its worth noting that the sixth track, “Romance de Armor” is a solo guitar piece.  It is an exquisite one at that.  The second half of the album is where much of the pyrotechnics kick in, and that track could be thought of as a sort of bookend to it all. 

Don’t hesitate picking it up.  Look for import versions in the usual places. Several different versions are available.  Fans of Laurindo Almeda are encouraged to check out the Concord release Brazilian Soul, co-lead by Charlie Byrd.  Ray Brown fans are encouraged to check out This One’s For Blanton, a duet with Duke Ellington.

Musicians:
Bud Shank - Alto Saxophone, Flute
Laurindo Almeida - Guitar
Ray Brown - Bass
Shelly Manne - Drums

Songs:
1. Going Home
2. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
3. Greensleeves
4. Things Ain’t What They Used To Be
5. Recipe of Love
6. Romance de Amor
7. Django

Buy Going Home from Amazon, and support S&R

On the album’s title track, slow, pummeling drums, thick heavy bass and a grungy guitar power through a sludgey veiled soundscape while barely understandable raspy rubbing alcohol vocals tell of a dead god resurrected
through the power of arcane human sacrifice.

If this sounds enticing, take a few minutes and check out the album opener “Fury Whip”. Its really all you need to determine if High on Fire’s blend of power trio stoner whiskey metal and medieval black magick war imagery is for you.

Actually, taking into account the band’s prefered historical setting for its lyrics (apparently sometime in the first 1000 years CE), I should maybe call it stoner mead metal.  I drank mead once.  A friend of mine bought it from a liquor store in Atlanta.  It tastes the way an old hospital smells.

On a preliminary listen, High on Fire’s music encompasses elements from the metal sub-genres of doom and stoner rock, but just when I try to pin down their sound they throw me a progressive curveball, like the middle eastern/Arabic overtones of the instrumental “Khonrad’s Wall”, courtesy of guest musicians on a tambour and 12-string.  Or the random and unrelated instrumental bit at the end of their perfect pounding metal pummeller “Cyclopian Scope” (a song, by the way, which is about the Annunaki, a race of alien lizard people who supposedly came to our planet thousands of years ago to enslave apes to mine gold, because they needed gold to repair their destroyed atmosphere on their home planet.  Then, if I recall correctly [which can be difficult, a friend of mine and I were obsessed with a conspiracy theory having to do with the Annunaki, but this was several years ago during a particularly hazy time in college], the lizards had sex with the apes and made people.  Now the Annunaki run international banking).

While the album’s dark fantasy world is gorgeous, rich, and filled with doom,  Black One it ain’t, because High on Fire still brings the fast metal, as evidenced by straight up bangers like “Turk”, a more traditional metal song with more traditional metal subject matter of violence, drugs, and dark sexual deviancy. Even when they aren’t kicking out the faster songs, High on Fire has a knack for bringing a high energy and intensity to a veiled soundscape.

Then there is the album’s masterpiece, a three piece song suite which starts with “Headhunter”, simply a war drum solo that builds into the suite’s meat, “Rumours of War”, a raw, focused, and totally gnarly all out metal battle. “Rumours” strength is in its focused simplicity.  If one just heard the verses it could be mistaken for hardcore punk, which means it makes for a hell of a great headbanger.  Ending the suite is the album’s most beautiful piece, “DII”, another steady paced song driven on warm bass, thick drums, and lead guitar that does all the storytelling the song needs, against the backdrop of a quiet but gorgeous Mellotron riff, which gets a deserved solo spotlight to close out the suite.

The album concludes fittingly with “Return to Nod”, a hero story in the Beowulf archetype, in which a warrior spills blood and kicks major monster ass, his story thereon being told all across High on Fire’s black fantasy land.  Its a fitting ending to an album that I keep wanting to call “brutal”, but there is an unavoidable grace to the whole thing that prevents me from doing so.  While the music’s power and subject matter makes me feel like this violent demon train could fly off the tracks at any point, the musicians’ confidence and precision consistently thrill me without devolving into disappointing sloppiness.

Buy Death is this Communion from Amazon, and support S&R

Ms. Adele Adkins, an english born 20 (19 at the release of the album) year old singer-singwriter, made quite a stir with her quick rise to fame. Being hailed as the ‘next Amy Winehouse’, (along with Duffy) Adele dropped her album 19 in January of this year to critical acclaim. It didn’t make it way to the US until late June. However, Adele enjoyed mild success in New York City, where she was featured in TV spots, bilboard ads, and a headlining show at Webster Hall. (Incidentally, Webster Hall is a TERRIBLE venue. I had the displeasure of seeing Tiesto there, where not only was the building terrible for such a big show, but the staff was down right incompetent.)

I don’t really remember how I stumbled upon her album. I know I was browsing Amazon, likely on Duffy’s Rockferry, or one of Katie Melua’s albums . I frequently take a look at the section “Customers who bought this item also bought…” and I visit the pages of other highly rated albums. After clicking my way to the page for 19, I’m sure I observed the high rating she was receiving. Like all my new musical interests, she made her way into my special private wish list, “CD’s to try”. Seeing that I have about 150 discs in there, she was forgotten about until about two weeks later. I was in NYC, visiting my girlfriend, when on a lazy sunday morning we made our way to the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. I walked inside and not three or four racks away, was a whole mess of Adele’s debut. After a bit of smoke and grinding away, I remembered where I had seen that cover before. I immediately grabbed it, and put it into my basket (along with $130 worth of other various discs…) A couple days later, after I had time to rip the CD and load it onto my iPod touch, I gave the album a listen.

I was blown away.

The album opens with gentile plucks of guitar strings on the song “Daydreamer”. This song really gives a great summary of how the rest of the album will flow. Some parts are a bit on the slower side, others make the hair on your back stand up, and still others are just demonstrations of this girl’s voice. Just a hint of her accent shines through, which I love to hear. I am a big fan of songs featuring just the woman’s voice, and her guitar. Slow. Sensual. Exciting. I should say, that Adele has mentioned Ella Fitzgerald as one of her idols, and a song like “Daydreamer” really demonstrates this. Her voice really is quite soulful, but this is best demonstrated on the second song: “Best for Last”. She starts with the guitar, but brings in some drums and backing singers for the chorus. Just a great production, all around. It’s easy for these singers to get on my nerves when they focus on showing off their scales, and think we should all buy their stuff because of their raw talent. Sorry, it takes a good all around game, which Adele demonstrates and implements.

#3, the first released single, “Chasing Pavements” starts slowly, building to a wonderfully catchy chorus. This is an obvious stand out on the album.

The album takes a break for a while, with a few songs that aren’t major standouts: “Cold Shoulder”, an acoustic “Crazy for You”, and the up-tempo “Melt My Heart to Stone”.

“First Love”, featuring ringing bells, is a nice dreamy pick-up, and a lead into a fantastic up-tempo jazz ballad: “Right as Rain”. The last four songs on the album are all good listeners. There’s a Bob Dylan cover: “Make You Feel My Love”, followed by “My Same”, which is a fun lead into the second half stand out: “Tired”. Using a synth to add some air, “Tired” includes a piano for a mid song buildup which is an exciting listen. The album finishes off with a piano clad slowdown: “Howmetown Glory”. While the first three tracks an the album are striking winners, the second half is more well-rounded, and keeps the listener’s interest.

All in all, the album doesn’t have any ‘bad’ songs. The weak parts are definitely located in tracks 4,5, and 6, but this could also be attributed more to the placement right after “Chasing Pavement”, than the weakness of the actual songs. The second half is strong, and even keeps this ADD listener happily tapping my feet.

Adele is compared to Amy Winehouse too often by the critics. She needs to be judged on her own merit, not on the following Winehouse created. I never ‘got’ Amy, but I thoroughly enjoy Adele, and look forward to what she has to offer in the future.

Buy 19 and Support Snark and Reverb