Snark and Reverb

My first thought when checking this album out was, “With a title like that, this album had better deliver!”  Kenny Garrett begins with a free jazz piece, “Countdown”.  Interestingly, my brain first linked this to a similar sound I’ve heard from a Sonny Rollins album, The Solo Album.  Of course there were differences, including drums.  (There is also the track “Like Sonny”, which I’ll go into later on.) But when the second track, “Equinox” started, my brain instantly linked onto The Coltrane Express, and what a smooth ride it was.  The drums, bass and thick guitar are so tight that they seem to act as a defibrillator, pushing and pulling Kenny forward and back in an organic (yet controlled) manner.

Garrett is able to capture from the start, the devices often exploited by Coltrane, in regards to instrument layering, tone, attack and timing.  At times he may actually play in the pocket better than Coltrane did in his studio recordings, in fact.  In “Liberia”, for example, this is seen in the way he holds onto a note just a little to long, and gives it a tremolo with his breath, causing the note to waiver around in the air like a leaf slowly descending, that’s taken too long to reach the ground.  The note goes sharp, and begins to play with dissonance.  Another device used is his choice of riff clusters.  Several times in the same song, Garrett applies a quick triple note section, with a fourth note held out longer, which becomes a call to the band to kick off into its next progression.  As he takes the lead, his playing in the highest octave has a pinch of distortion to the tone, and is echoed by the bass which allows its own distortion to come through slightly, caused by string ricochets and thumb pull-offs.  The cymbals don’t mimic the tone, but rather provide a smoother counterpoint, and are allowed to slowly fade off in the distance, similar to the early sustained notes from Garrett described earlier.  After the progression has made a few rounds, Garrett again makes use of the combination to call everybody back to the verse line of the song.  Its things like that which make this album a veritable clinic in the effect of nuance.

“Dear Lord” has Garrett honing in on the slow, tender wavering notes that were such an integral part of the Coltrane sound.  They find that elusive spot between firm confidence and expressive vulnerability.  The rest of the band follows his example.  The drums take on a softer quality that reminds me of Joe Morello’s playing on Time Out.  The cymbal crashes don’t sound like ricochets, morel like leaves hitting the surface of some remote pond.  Pat Metheny plays off this with soft chord work that is often held just slightly behind the beat with sustained chords and pauses.  The places he doesn’t play really help give Garrett an enhanced airy quality at times, and prevent the mix from becoming too saturated or complicated.  Garrett returns the favor, giving Metheny a solo spot, where the dark, murky guitar lines share the same floating quality.  As the song winds down, the band executes a very satisfying tempo decrease, and Garrett finishes out the piece with the same wavering tremolo quality he started the song with, just before the band returns to share the last sustained bar.

“Lonnie’s Lament” is probably the quintessential rain day sountrack.  The combination of Metheny’s open arpeggios, the sustained cymbal splashes of Brian Blade, and the soft sax tones give the track a beautifully somber atmosphere.  The chief solo spot is given to Metheny, who offers up the album’s only distorted-guitar tones which shift the style over into the progressive genre, sounding like something Al DiMeola would conjure up.  While it offers a change of pace, it may be too big a change for such an album.

Ironically, the next track is titled “After The Rain”.  Continuing with the somber atmosphere, this one plays with the balance of modal, dissonant lines and offsets them with exotic percussion and several different strings.  The track sounds vaguely middle eastern as a result.  The exotic world instruments remind this listener of Dead Can Dance.  Its seven and a half minutes of world-jazz with a kind of troubadour-like quality to the solos.

Next up is six minutes channeling Sonny Rollins.  “Like Sonny” returns to more chord-based rhythm and modal based leads which works quite well juxtaposed off of the free jazz heard just before.  Its a fairly straightforward track, as is “Pursuance”, so there’s not much else to note on those.

While listening to both “Alabama” and Garretts’ cover of “Giant Steps,” Coltrane’s episodic quality really seems to come through, and its a quality shared by Garretts’ peers as well, not limiting itself to saxophone.  This is as good a time as any to briefly touch upon the album’s sonic qualities.  In short, they are excellent.  The album is not overly compressed, bass heavy or treble heavy, etc.  It does justice to Garretts’ great sense of dynamics, which are perhaps the highlight of the album for me.  While he doesn’t have Coltrane’s same instinctive projection, he counters with one of the softest touches in tone I’ve encountered in jazz.  Its a wonderfully intoxicating listen.  Even with the dissonant quality to the closer, “Latifa.”

I for one have every intention of getting Garrett’s entire discography, and would not be surprised to find myself reviewing more of his albums.

Musicians:

Kenny Garrett - Saxophone
Pat Metheney - Guitar
Brian Blade - Drums
Rodney Whitaker - Bass

Songs:

1. Countdown
2. Equinox
3. Liberia
4. Dear Lord
5. Lonnie’s Lament
6. After The Rain
7. Like Sonny
8. Pursuance
9. Alabama
10. Giant Steps
11. Latifa

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Phil Upchurch’s Darkness, Darkness has quickly become my current favorite electric guitar-based instrumental album I own.  I decided to check out the album on a whim while admiring the cover art, which for me gives off a Houses Of The Holy vibe.  Perhaps I was in more of a rock guitar mood than jazz that day.  Whatever it was, I’m glad my curiosity got the best of me.  Its not an album I can always just dive into, but when the mood strikes, it scratches an itch that straight ahead rock and traditional jazz just don’ t reach.  It also wasn’t a love-at-first-listen for me either.  Whether mood or my comprehension of everything going on in the album played into that, I’m not sure.  All I know is I had a much less neutral reaction the second and third time through.  I will say that some of these compositions are fairly organic in their dynamics and pace.  Its definitely not an instant gratification type of song structure, more often than not counting on a steady building of elements or instruments to finally get to the full-on pace of the music.

The album takes its name from the Youngbloods’ cover, which forgoes the haunting quality of the original in favor of some great minor-key funk comping.  Its a very strong track that has an awful lot going for it, likely the best on the album.  There is a sort of tactile like quality to Upchurch’s playing, almost as if the tone has physical texture.  Its likely encouraged by a bit of grit in his playing that never crosses over into the cliched distorted mess so many albums put on full display, though there is certainly no shortage of wah-wah pedals used.  Credit must be given to Arthur Adams for his rhythm guitar work.  The guitars are so consistent in tone that I mistakenly thought his work was actually multi-tracking work of Upchurch himself.

The album is very organic and natural sounding despite wah-wah use, both in the aforementioned gradual dynamic builds and through various devices utilized by Upchurch for leading the songs along, such as double stops, chord sweeps and staccato stops and starts, almost treating his guitar like a percussion instrument.  One fun surprise was the chord melody intro to Sweet Chariot that seems to channel Joe Pass directly, which also drives home the dynamic, organic pace further still.  At first blush several of the songs give off a brief impression of cheesy lounge music but it is a short-lived first impression that is quite far from accurate when all is said and done.  Its perhaps only on repeated listens where you begin to really appreciate the variety of tone and shades of gray present in the guitar sounds.  Often times with instrumental jazz guitar albums, I find myself ’studying’ the music, enjoying technical capability and/or song structure over most other song aspects.  Not so with this release.  Groove is laid on thick with this album, and I find myself nodding along over time as the songs progress, often unaware of little else.

With my relatively small experience with r&b and soul, and only minor interest in the blues, I really appreciated the album’s lack of bias towards any one musical genre.  There’s quite a lot of variety here, and ultimately makes the album that much more unique and fresh.  Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues was not even on my radar prior to hearing this reworking of the song.  Being an instrumental album, there is probably a bit of a melting pot effect, and I can tell you that Upchurch makes each song his own.  His cover of Fire and Rain (James Taylor), for example, is a completely different journey than the original, while still being true to the original in spirit.  As far as sonics go, I found it to be perfectly acceptable, if a little heavy in the bass.  I’ll note that I’ve only experienced the “SHMCD” version as opposed to the domestic release.  I’ve been told that SHMCDs tend to be overly bright at times, and perhaps compressed further than original releases.  If thats the case here, the brightness is probably for the better to offset the lower register’s prominence.  Though I won’t deny I would prefer less bass, which would give it a more balanced sound.  When listening to an album of cover songs, part of the fun is experiencing the surprises yourself, so I’ll forgo a detailed song by song account of the album so as not to spoil it for you.  Rest assured its a satisfying listen and its highly recommended.  ‘Its a grower’ and ‘YMMV’ both apply here.

Musicians:
Phil Upchurch - Lead Guitar/Main Guitar, Electric Bass
Donny Hathaway - Horn, Keyboard
Harvey Mason - Drums
Arthur Adams - Rhythm Guitar
Ben Sidran - Organ/Keyboards
Don Simmons - Organ/Drums
Bobbye Hall - Percussion
Bobby PorterHall - Conga, Tambourine
Chuck Rainey - Bass
Joe Sample - Piano

Songs:
1. Darkness Darkness
2. Fire And Rain
3. What We Call The Blues
4. Cold Sweat
5. Please Send Me Someone To Love
6. Inner City Blues
7. You’ve Got A Friend
8. Love And Peace
9. Sweet Chariot
10. Sausalito Blues

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Ella Fitzgerald is known as the first lady of song. After hearing any album you can understand why she is given this title. However, after hearing this album, you understand it even more.

THE MUSIC

Most people are accustomed to hearing Ella sing either with Louis Armstrong or solo in her great songbook series. This album finds Ella in top form singing with a small jazz ensemble. This intimate style is a sharp contrast to the large orchestral tracks of her songbook series but it is in no way less impressive or lacking in artistic character.

The album starts out with a jazz standard more reminiscent of Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie. However, when you hear Ella’s version of “A Night In Tunisia” you’ll wonder why you haven’t heard it this way before.

“Your My Thrill” is a complete vocal stunner. It’s sung in a hauntingly beautiful way and the delicate playing by the musicians just adds gorgeous layers of music on top of Ella’s voice. The song is just a superb performance all around.

“Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie” has a great drum intro as well as some awesome bass playing. This song has some great dynamics as well and definitely qualifies as a treat for the ears.

On “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” you can hear Ella open her mouth before she even starts singing! The rendition of this song is probably among the very best I have ever heard. The delicate piano playing really stands out on this song as well as the light touch on the drums. Musicians often complain that slow songs are among the hardest to play. If this is so, this song makes it sound ever so easy with fantastic playing all around.

I have singled out only a couple of tracks on this 14 track record but rest assured that every single song is a winner - from the first to the very last note. You really must hear it to really appreciate Ella’s phrasing and the skill of all the musicians involved.

THE SOUND

In one word: AMAZING. When I play music recorded like this to people they are often dumbfounded to learn that the music is over 45 years old. This album was recorded and mixed at Radio Recorders and engineered by Val Valentin. The two-track reduction was made on 6/24/61 by Val Valentin. 1961!!! That’s nearly 48 years as of this writing. Nearly 48 years later, here I am listening to this great album and I swear you can hear tons of details. There is so much detail that you can literally hear the room where they are recording. I swear that I can actually hear the room - that’s right - your reading this correctly - THE ROOM! The time and spatial detail is just to die for. There are few albums that I would classify as perfections in music and sound. This is one of those albums.

Why? Well, I have heard many, many albums where they get the EQ right, the soundstage might be great as well, but the thing that always gets me to say “WOW!” is when you feel like you’re there. It takes a special combination of proper microphone placement as well as engineering skills to get an album to sound this good. One outstanding example is on the song “This Years Kisses”. In the intro you can hear the electric guitar on the left speaker, yet if you listen closely, you can hear the guitar strings being plucked on the right speaker. On “Good Morning Heartache” when Ella sings “Might as well get used to you hanging around…” you can hear her voice coming off the walls of the room on both speakers (and not just on this song either!!). The last bass note on “Good Morning Heartache” just floats decays in the air until it turns into tape hiss. This albums sound quality is really just uncanny in my honest opinion.

I expect you to doubt me. In fact, I hope you do doubt me so that you can go out and buy this fantastic album and verify all these claims yourself. You will not be sorry.

CONCLUSION

This is definitely one of Ella’s lesser known works but every song is delicate and her phrasing is light and nuanced in every good way there is. The sound is nothing short of spectacular with great spatial detail and ambiance. In short, this is a killer record and one that every jazz fan, female vocalist fan and audiophile should own. It deserves a place in the heart of any music fan’s collection.

SPECIAL NOTE

There are at least 3 different versions of this album. The version with the best sound quality is the early Verve release mastered by Dennis Drake. It should cost no more than $15.00 new. Avoid all the other versions.

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Before I start the review, let me state the following:
If your a fan of bass players and appreciate well played, FAT sounding bass notes with great swing - look no further and just buy this album now.

Now, onto the review…

I was going to the CD shop! What I bought was expensive yet it was music by someone I had never heard before. This is definately not a well known name in jazz (yet) and my purchase was due more to a mere whim of consumerism rather that knowledge of the people involved in the album. Upon first listen, I was impressed by the music that came from my speakers and at that very instant I knew that my money had been well spent. The music was fantastic, warm yet different. The singer, bass player and composer, Esperanza Spalding, is the golden ticket here. Despite her young age, her bass playing is reminiscent of such greats by the names of Charles Mingues, Israel Lopez and Ray Brown to name a few. Her other trio members, pianist Aruán Ortiz and drummer Francisco Mela, are Cuban musicians who play with great gusto and round out the trio with a firm but swinging foundation. You can definitely feel the joy in the recording studio that day.

What really sets this album apart from the masses is her singing. More specifically - wordless singing. A type of scat if you will. While there are no words, her soft style brings about memories of some of the most suave bossa nova singers from times past. Pair this with her natural sense of rhytm and the charm never fades. This album is lyrical, fresh, hip and energetic from start to finish.

Normally, I would pick out a song and attempt to describe it. This is pointless for this album as every song has a special charm about it. It really is something you must hear on your own.

The mastering on the album is not perfect but it is very far from bad as well. It’s great actually. Not over compressed but a bit on the dark side for my preferences. Regardless this is a very, very minor complaint and admittedly, my only complaint for this album.

While expensive when compared to most jazz releases and re-releases, this album contains music that is worth the admission fee and is an album every jazz fan should own. Highly recommended!

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I understand the need for ebb and flow in music.  I understand the need for variation, changes of scenery, mood and emotional releases.  But for all of that, I still don’t understand this album.  What happened to the Killers?

Hot Fuss was a fantastic pop rock album with the perfect amount of 80s nostalgia, without becoming a throwback.  Solid tracks with a great sense of melody, crunchy guitar hooks with the occasional synth peppered throughout.  Fun, bombastic bass without sounding like a fraternity house.

Then came Sam’s Town.  They kept those elements more or less, but they just failed to meld together the same way.  The songs were just not of the same caliber either.  The album just didn’t garner repeat listens in any way.  Not worthy.

Enter Day and Age.  Again, the songs simply are not of the same caliber.  Only this time they ditch the nice guitar tones and go straight to ….how do I put this…a sound of a band playing music written for keyboards.  There is just no life in these songs.  There is no sense of urgency or any real apparent passion of any sort.  By the time you reach “This Is Your Life”, with the cheesy backing vocals that seem to try to channel Peter Gabriel, this becomes quite apparent.

The Killers need to figure out what works for them and just get back to the basics.  It worked pretty well for AC/DC.

I don’t know who started this whole idea that bands worth their salt reinvent themselves, but I do know that it’s a ridiculous, unrealistic expectation.  And I know The Killers are no better off because of it.  Whoever did start that idea can enjoy The Killers with arbitrary saxophone backings.  I’ll refrain, myself.

There is no good reason The Killers can’t keep dishing out solid albums like Hot Fuss.  None.  Bring back the great guitar tones, the passion and songwriting. Ditch the stupid, lifeless arbitrary saxophone backings.

I’m beginning to wonder if “Bling (Confession Of A King)” from Sam’s Town was their subconscious way of foreshadowing this upset:

Left a trail of excuses,
Like a stone on the water,
The elements decide my fate,
Watch it go…

I guess this is ‘The World That We Live In’.

Songs:

1. Losing Touch
2. Human
3. Spaceman
4. Joy Ride
5. A Dustland Fairytale
6. This Is Your Life
7. I Can’t Stay
8. Neon Tiger
9. The World We Live In
10. Goodnight, Travel Well

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I will fully admit up front that I am a big fan of Kanye West’s work. He knows how to make catchy beats, and his rap delivery is very complimentary to them. Maybe not one of the strongest lyricists in the game, he demonstrates that it takes more than superior rapping ability to produce a hit record (pay attention: Nas). Coming off of Graduation, Kanye was at the top of his game, and then it happened: his mother passed away as a result of complications due to (plastic) surgery. Not long after that, Kanye separated from his long time fiancee Alexis Phifer. West’s internal conflict came to light on a stop of his “Glow in the Dark Tour”, when he broke down in the middle of a performance of “Hey Mama”. When the buzz around his new album started, the initial rumors titled it “A Good Ass Job”, continuing his album theme: Late Registration, The College Dropout, and Graduation. These rumors were put to rest, with the performance of “Love Lockdown” live at the MTV VMA’s. As stated on his blog: the album called 808’s and Heartbreak would be released on November 25th, EARLIER than the expected December 16th release. The album serves as a release for him. He’s not making this album for the fans. He is making this for himself.

Frankly, I’ve had enough of the Auto-Tune crap. T-Pain, the main auto-tune ambassador, started this whole fad and even he is saying its over (in my opinion so is his career, but that remains to be seen). When I read that Kanye was releasing an entire Auto-Tune’d album, my heart dropped. I was really looking forward to his new album, and I dismissed it right away. Then I heard the revamped Love Lockdown.

Kanye used the auto tune tastefully, in the majority of the album. For poor implementations, please see Ron Brown’s latest work, exception of Busta’s “Arab Money”.  Busta can do no wrong in my eyes, but is neither here nor there. The way I see Kanye’s use of auto-tune: it allows him to make music that he would LIKE to, but physically cannot. Have you ever heard Kanye sing? Track down some of his old work: Peace, Half Price, Wow, Drop Dead Gorgeous, or I Need to Know. Strong tracks in my eyes, but they are not complimented by his attempt at singing. Sure the use of computer-aided vocal enhancers could be viewed as ‘cheating’, but good vocals on a bad track does not a hit make. Just ask Mariah in the Butterfly portion of her career.

After hearing the v2 of Love Lockdown, I decided to change my mind, and give the album a chance. Kanye knows what he is doing. Therefore, I’m walking into the album with an open mind, and I suggest you do the same.

The whole album has a dark sound to it, which I think plays perfectly into the theme. Starting right with the first track, a solemn, sad theme is instilled. There is a good 3 minute instrumental interlude at the end of the song, creating dramatic tension, and pulling you into the second song: Welcome to Heartbreak. The thing I love about the entire album is although he sings, the feel is still very hip-hop, not that of an RnB release. Albeit darker and more dramatic, the beats are still 100% Kanye. They have a unique feel though, likely from the tone of each drum hit. Kanye supposedly required each beat be programmed using the Roland TR-808 drum machine. This gives the now infamous tribal drum feel, which I think works wonderfully.

The third track is Heartless, which has been released as the second single. Featuring a whistle and vocal production in Auto-Tune, the songs expresses his emotional pain caused from heartbreak. Kanye himself stated the Auto-Tune processing (robotic puberty) is to represent the effect of being heartbroken. I think that’s a load of crap, but fortunately for him, he uses the effect sparingly.

The other standouts for me are: Love Lockdown, Paranoid, RoboCop, and Streetlights. Paranoid has an absolutely infectious beat, that practically holds a 44Mag to your head and forces you to shake your booty. That may have been imagery from my dream, but the effect is still the same.

RoboCop is very experimental, and may not appeal to many, but I think the electronic additions to his music are pure genius. Then again, I am a big fan of electronic music. Streetlights is more laid back, but just as experimental. Heavy vocal distortion in front a piano with a distinct drum pattern. A synth rounds out the sound scape with the help of choral singers. This complex arrangement works, to my ears. Its a very compelling and captivating song, demonstrating his discontent with his current stage of life.

I was not overly impressed with Bad News, or See you in my Nightmares. Not bad songs, but they are overshadowed by the standouts on the album.

All in all Kanye breaks new ground artistically, through a body of inspired work. As good as it is, let’s hope that one recovery album is all he needs so we can have the rapping ‘Ye back quick.

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I swear to God I thought it would be cock rock.

I really, really did.  Last week sometime a fellow rock snob friend of mine sends me a text along the lines of “r u gettin new gnr”, to which I replied “yes, but it will be cock rock”, to which he replied “lol”.  This is definitely one of those albums I had completely figured out years ago, actually a decade or more ago, which makes it the longest time I’ve ever had an album figured out before its release.   Surely it would be an over produced throw away joke, rife with cheesy lyrics, awful vocals, and brick walled compression that makes Death Magnetic look like a 1980s Barry Diament master?  Right?  I mean, we know that Buckethead and Robin Fincke are taking on guitar duties, which on any other album would be the greatness, but here we have Axl Rose at the helm: crazy, insane, and crazy Axl Rose.  Of course he will find a way to ruin it!

Nope.  Chinese Democracy rocks, and I can’t stop listening to it.

I grew up on metal when I was in grade school.  I thankfully made the progression that southern adolescents with a penchant for rocking are bound to make, from the poppy story driven country of No Fences-era Garth Brooks to the waiting arms of the two godheads of early 90s metal: Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.  I sat in awe of the pure rebellious testosterone of Appetite, and continued to sit in awe as I was turned on to Lies, wherein Axl croons to a girl about not having sex and still manages to be a total badass.  But where GNR really enriched my musical upbringing was on the Use Your Illusion I & II.  I spent countless days after school watching the “November Rain” video, picking apart the beautiful but insane lyrics, comparing them to the imagery, rocking my pre-teen air guitar skills, drooling over Stephanie Seymour, and wondering why the hell that guy jumps over the cake when it started raining? Also how did she die?  Did she get struck by lightning?  What was going on there?  I also spent Saturday nights staying up for the Headbanger’s Ball, so I could marvel with my hero Riki Rachtman at the strangeness, awesomeness, and sheer bigness of UYI’s underappreciated epic, “Estranged”.  Of course there was also snickering in the back of the minivan as someone’s mom was aghast when “Back Off Bitch” or “Get in the Ring” came on.  And pointing out over and over that “Live and Let Die” was actually a Paul McCartney song, and he was a Beatle, and The Beatles aren’t metal, so what the hell.   And “Don’t Cry”, with the line “don’t you cry tonight / there’s a heaven above you baby”.  Jesus!  Even writing this now I’m realizing it’s amazing that Axl was able to pull off those lines with total earnestness, never even skating the lines of cheesiness.  But could I really be expected to think he’d be able to do the same 17 years later?  Just shy of two decades?

And don’t forget there is no Slash!  Slash is gone!  Where will Axl be without Slash, smoking in the shower and falling off the wagon every two years?  Remember that picture where he is smoking in the shower?  How can it be Guns N’ Roses without that?  And what about Duff McStradlin?  Wait, nevermind, only Axl and Slash matter.

The truly great things about Chinese Democracy can be summed up in the three things I forgot about Axl Rose:

1. I forgot that Axl can write a hell of a melody.  Composition and performance wise, the vocals on Chinese Democracy are simply outstanding.  Sure, there is some serious pro-tooling effects going on with some of the vocal tracks.  However, while sometimes this is to their detriment, on the majority of songs it works and sounds great.  See “Better”, “Catcher in the Rye”, “Street of Dreams” for good examples.  While we are on the subject, critics are already poopooing “Street of Dreams” as the cheeseball track, but I’ll put myself out there and say the only thing cheesey about it is the name.  The song works on every level, from the instrumentation to the true emotion in the vocals.  I would say 51% of the joy I’m getting out of this record is just listening to Axl wail, whether he is singing or just humming along with the melody, and I don’t care if some of the vocals were cut ten years ago or last week.  The point is they are here now, immortalized on record, and they are amazing.

2. I forgot that Axl knows a rocking guitar solo when he hears one, and Chinese Democracy is rife with them.  Sure, the guitars may be different from Slash outside a chapel in the desert tearing a mournful riff to the godless hot summer air, which to this day might be the most badass rock imagery of all time, but they are perfect in their own way.  Far from somehow squelching the talents of his lead guitar players, he really lets them rip into the stratosphere with their notes, soaring into secret genius heights the likes of which Michael Houser spent his tragically too short career exploring.

3. I forgot that Axl writes enigmatic sociopathic lyrics that I just can’t get enough of.  Its like I’m a kid again, back on the floor in front of the TV singing every single line to “November Rain”.  I love Axl’s insane lyrics, and songs like “Catcher in the Rye” prove that he’s still got enough crazy to make my brain hurt trying to figure them out: “When all is said and done / we’re not the only ones / who look at life this way / that’s what the old folks say / but everytime I see them / makes me wish I had a gun / if I thought that I was crazy / well I guess I’d have more fun”.  There is so much awesome in that line it makes me want to shriek like a little girl.  Who is looking at life this way with Axl?  I mean who is “we”?  What way are we looking at life?  Who are these old folks?  Wait though, wait, its not crazy enough, not quite yet, wait for it… wait for it… YES!  When you see “them” it makes you wish you had a gun, yes!  Thats what Axl needs is a gun, and in fact multiple times on Chinese Democracy he expresses his desire for a firearm.  Honestly, he had me at “I’ve got an itchy finger and there’ll be hell to pay / I’m gunna pull the trigger and blow them all away” from the album’s second track “Shackler’s Revenge”.

Since I don’t find the album to be negatively heavy handed as some other critics do, I can only find one aspect that could be called a fault: it’s busy as all hell.  Axl had a great deal of time on his hands to tweak, polish, and edit every single track over and over, the end result of which is a layered wall of sound so congested and complex that unfortunately some instruments can get lost in the mix.  Sometimes Axl’s vocals, or one of the ripping guitar solos lose their dynamics against a massive background of strings, trip hop beats, or industro glitch effects.  This effect is present on both the CD and the vinyl LP, both of which, by the way, are excellently mastered despite the density of the mix (I haven’t done a straight comparison between the two, but feel free to contact me in the coming weeks, as I’m sure by then I’ll have had the opportunity to do so).

Having made this criticism, I’ll counter myself and say the album simply wouldn’t be what it is if it wasn’t so busy.  All the simultaneous sound is what contributes to the album’s superb richness: it is the complexity that makes Chinese Democracy a true cohesive whole, as opposed to just fourteen very good songs, and this is what pushes Chinese Democracy from very good territory into greatness.  Every fan of music should own this album, and in listening marvel not just at it’s history, but also its musical excellence.

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I really enjoyed the self titled debut album by Seattle’s Fleet Foxes.  Basically a giant B12 shot for pop music, it came in like a breath of fresh air.  At a time when the majority of introspective pop artists feature a whining quality, it was nice to hear pure, unadulterated singing.  Vocal harmonies, panning, counterpoint and substance; the whole bit.  This prequel has the band doing more of the same, thankfully, still with an abundance of clean guitar and instrument tracks, frequently juxtaposed against interesting miscellaneous acoustic instruments, which has garnered the group classification as “Baroque Pop“, further exasperating the freshness of this band, ironically.  Comparisons can and are drawn to such acts as CSNY, Neil Young, and others from years past.

The title track starts the album off with an a capella intro that has an almost chant quality to it, except put to actual words.  A soft mandolin plays as the track fades away rather quickly.

“Drops in the River” offers up the full band, and offers a more straightforward sound, but still with mandolin, and a few other surprises.  There are some nice jangly electric guitar sounds, which share the stage with the softer acoustic parts as well.  One of the strengths of the band is exhibited nicely here; their ability to start songs off with one or two instruments and slowly build intensity by adding other parts in gradually.  This makes for some really nice atmospheric moments, including the little sitar part on this song.  Far too many pop bands these days seem to overlook this type of dynamic, which is almost like missing a food group, really.

“English House” starts off in a similar fashion, but is a little quicker to the point, which keeps the band from exploiting this talent.  However, there is still a very mature sense of restraint, most notably from the drummer.  Great care is taken to avoid excessive use of cymbals.  In fact there are barely any at all.  I suspect it is to allow the softer ‘baroque’ instruments to shine through.  The drums really don’t overpower the band at all, and it probably goes a long way to giving Fleet Foxes their ethereal, airy quality I enjoy so much.  The thick reverb is here in full force, which seems to be a trademark of the band.  I’d prefer a bit less, personally.  It would sound just a bit more natural that way.  But it does give the vocals an impression of being chanted in a church-like setting, which can be interesting at times.  I think this effect would be stronger if used sparingly, such as during periods of silence from the band, interludes, etc.  So dynamics do suffer a bit, but its certainly not a deal-breaker.  The guitars that fade the track away have a great jangly quality.

“Mykonos” is perhaps the best track on Sun Giant.  The main melody line is rather catchy and conducive to bouts of humming from the listener, perhaps unconsciously.  The vocal panning and harmonies give this song a real epic, classical quality that recalls the best moments in Queen’s vocal styling in “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the intro to “Fat Bottom Girls”, et all. Juxtaposed against an abrupt tempo change, the voices really lift off into space, guiding the band along on a riveting pace, but the band remembers not to fill the space completely, giving proper focus to the vocals.  This is pop music after all.  Its all about the vocals.

Sun Giant closes out with “Innocent Son”, a humorous play on the word.  It’s a minimalist, straight-forward track, with only a strummed acoustic guitar anchoring the singing, which is also kept to just one singer who sounds weary, tired and lays the album down to sleep.

Sun Giant offers up a solid collection of melodically rich, well-crafted pop songs that take a page from CSNY and Neil Young, while offering up originality and individualism as well.  The material here would be at home on their full length album; it would be a mistake to label it weaker based on its E.P. setting.

Songs:
1. Sun Giant
2. Drops in the River
3. English House
4. Mykonos
5. Innocent Son

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Upon the very first trumpet note, “Back To The Land” oozes tone.  Syncopation, varying durational patterns, texture and of course turn-arounds are some of the devices used throughout.  Gillespie often uses muted and/or distorted notes to set against the rinforzando notes he interjects quite frequently, which themselves set to material held back, or ritenuto.  This is some heavy manipulation, and goes a long way to interject unadulterated emotion into the music.  This is one of the more emotional jazz albums I’ve heard, but not in an overtly exaggerated way.  There is never a sense the musicians are trying to explain how they feel to you; this feels more like an experience that the listener is made part of, right along with the band.  Put simply, when listening to this album, you will forget the world around you.  Gillespie is by no means the only one with deft use of such mechanisms.  Ray Brown makes frequent use of triple-note runs to help accent a point being driven home by the band.  He’ll continue with this throughout much of the album, in a telepathic-like tandem with Mickey Roker.  He’ll occasionally step down from his high-reaching bass notes to some guttural material, set against Basie’s high-octave playing.

“Constantinople” starts out simple enough.  Basie plays a little intro riff, with plenty of empty space, ripe for the picking.  The band mates start playing off the riff, as if they were offering up new pieces of an abstract puzzle.  There’s a lot of play with the space, and great care is taken to leave it partially empty, despite the flurry of activity.  This keeps the dark, murky vibe Basie has created to keep going strong.  There are no unnecessary notes; every note is utilized to its full extent, with no waste left over.  The band dials back, while Brown lets loose a flurry of bass activity, itself held back in volume in keeping with the dynamics of the song.  How one plays this fast quietly, I’ll never now.  As things pick up, Gillespie offers up some of the best muted trumpet tone’s I’ve ever heard.  The high octave is exploited, but there are no piercing notes, as often the case with muted trumpet.  There simply isn’t an offensive or harsh note to be found anywhere.

“You Got It” takes the album into Basie’s trademark happy and peppy territory with a soft piano transition.  After completing the first verse, he doesn’t simply launch into his solo; he slips into it like an old man into a pool of water.  Only here its not to get acclimated; its to let the listener get acclimated, just like he did with the transition.  Brown covers most of the territory; something which starts to verge on redundant, but as soon as Basie returns, it no longer sounds so.  Is this his way of pushing the envelope, or merely working with what he’s got (given the sparse nature of this ensemble).  Gillespie fires off some quick rounds for his lead, the way you’d expect a bopper to do.  Not that it’s a bad thing, mind you.  Gillespie can coax some pretty incredible wails out of his instrument, and hold his own with the best of them.  When he launches into the final few bars, it sure seems like it worked.  Brown and Basie fill the end of the song like two people attaching the last few pieces of a puzzle, and everything just sort of slides into place.

“St. James Infirmary” exposes itself as the star of the album.  Gillespie’s palpable tone, with the perfect bite and tinge to it, is given plenty of wiggle room, complimented with very dynamic snare wraps that give a feeling of tension.  Basie’s minimalism as spot-on and dynamic as ever.  Brown’s woody bass tones come through with all their muted, plucked glory.  Staccato trumpet lines bring the focus back to Gillespie again for round two.  Followed by the opposite; long drawn-out lines, juxtaposed beautifully.  The entire song is just dripping with emotion, and feeling.  After a few Gillespie phrases out front, Brown comes back in louder, with a rhythmic change, building up the tension further, then brings it back down to its final resting place.

“Follow The Leader” returns yet again to the faster, happier material.  Mickey Rocker cycles through well placed cymbal splashes, gradually building, in tandem with Ray’s swelling bass lines.  Its like they have the volume button, letting Gillespie know when to dig in, when to withdraw, giving an organic sound, as if the music was breathing. During Gillespie’s solo, Roker does this thing with cymbal tapping and snare tapping simultaneously that just knocks me on my ass.  You’d miss it if you weren’t paying attention, but that’s the strength of this album; it commands your full attention.  Ray gets a little time out front on this one, and everyone does a good job becoming the anchor’s anchor, and stepping back.

I found “Ow!” to be the most straight-forward track of the bunch.  The musicians keep to the same devices explained above.  Roker is the only element worth isolating; he uses this track to cycle through several different styles, but its done in a subtle way, with the absence of cymbals being the key difference with the more held-back style that gets exhibited several times.  Like the rest of the album, the listener is made to feel like part of the band, and becomes unaware of anything else going on, being drawn in to the music exclusively and completely.  The device that most responsible for this, and the one found universally across the entire album, is the deliberate yet intoxicating manipulations of empty space from Basie and Co.  The silent pauses and playing ‘in the pocket’ and related durational elements are superlative.  This is mandatory listening for all you jazz cats.

Musicians:
Count Basie - Piano
Dizzy Gillespie - Trumpet
Ray Brown - Bass
Mickey Roker - Drums

Songs:
1. Back To The Land
2. Constantinople
3. You Got It
4. St. James Infirmary
5. Follow The Leader
6. Ow!

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Sometimes an album becomes a time in the listener’s life.  Its notes, its tone, and its lyrics become indistinguishable from that time’s hopes, fears, and epiphanies.  The National’s Boxer and the Fall of 2007 are such an album and time for me.  So as the temperature begins to drop and cool scented breezes begin to stir in the sweet sunny South, I thought it appropriate to revisit with a (somewhat) critical eye this album that inhabits the memories of a wonderful time in my life.

In short, I see Boxer as a late night album concerning the early evening.  The songs, cosmetically identifiable as mellow or calm, immediately lend themselves to quiet late night listening, but they also hold an urgency and subtle excitement , embodied in various forms from a nervous piano riff to post punky guitar crunching.  The characters in the lyrics are often in the midst of preparation to leave for some unknown but happy event, portrayed for example in “Apartment Story” in which a partner is implored, “can you hold my drink I’ve got everything else / I can tie my tie all by myself.”  Not all the songs have early evening settings, however.  In one of my favorite tracks on the album, “Slow Show”, the main character actually seems to be trying to extricate himself from a social outing of some sort, so he can rush home to his partner and enjoy the kind of relaxing intimacy the couples in the early evening songs enjoy (I want to hurry home to you / put on a slow, dumb show for you / and crack you up).

Stylistically instrument-wise, The National has a post-Nick Cave sleepy alt-country thing going on.  Sufjan Stevens sits in on the piano, bringing an incredible levity, and the bass and drums do their part to keep the low end full and the listener’s emotions a flutter.  Earlier I described the guitars as post-punky, and of course that means you are going to find some reviewer somewhere who says at least one of their songs “sounds like Joy Division!” In this case the song is “Mistaken for Strangers”, and the review came from my beloved allmusic.com.  Well “Mistaken For Strangers” doesn’t sound anything like Joy Division.  And neither does Interpol! In fact Interpol sounds more like awful. We can’t talk about The National without mentioning singer Matt Berninger’s vocals.  They impart a rich, smokey grace, like your cousin’s laughing cigar smoke coming from the other side of the porch on a chilly Thanksgiving evening.  His baritone becomes all the more attention grabbing when it does decide to hit a slightly higher register, like in “Apartment Story” when he sings a line that has firmly cemented itself amongst my favorites: “Tired and wired we ruin to easy.”

That lyric, which so absolutely perfectly and simply embodies the human condition, brings me to what I feel is an overriding theme in Boxer, whether it be the artist’s intent or my own head’s creation: each song imparts a serious longing for a time in the past that maybe in reality wasn’t as sweet as we remember it, yet we long anyway. And this longing is strongly mated with an uncharacteristic ferocity of passionate desire for action in the here and now.  Unfortunately, this desire for action often leads to disappointment, like when we are trying to recreate this happy time in our lives, beating our heads against the walls to again feel a (perhaps) never felt feeling that has been distorted by the passage of time. Which makes it all the more funny that I cherish this album for the happy place it has in my memory.

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