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The War on Drugs "Wagonwheel Blues" *** ½ It's a tricky thing, making music that bears the influence of Bob Dylan as much as "Wagonwheel Blues" does, while still sounding utterly fresh. The War on Drugs, the Philadelphia band led by singer Adam Granduciel and guitarist Kurt Vile, succeeds so well because it marries mid-'60s Dylan folk-rock wordiness with the gauzy head rush of alt-rock benchmark bands like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. On the ringing, harmonica-saturated opener, "Arms Like Boulders," when Granduciel sings the enigmatic but not impenetrable lyrics "Your spine it is weak, from the weight on your shoulders, and from difference of opinion," he accents each line with an unforced familiar drawl that never is reduced to a sneering caricature. It helps, too, when the gossamer instrumental "Reverse the Charges" provides a shimmering lead into the 10-minute "Show Me the Coast," a song that gathers momentum with an unhurried confidence, arguing that War On Drugs is likely to find whatever it is it's looking for. Tickley Feather "Tickley Feather" (Paw Tracks, 3 stars) The waking dreams heard on the low-fi debut album of West Philadelphian Annie Sachs as Tickley Feather take a few listens to reveal themselves. It's a "Noisy Dingle," as one title describes itself. Sachs' seemingly simple compositions - made using cut-rate electronic equipment, over a period of four years - convey a sense of childlike whimsy (a feeling aided by between-songs interludes such as "There's this magic spell right inside your bones," which are spoken by a child). But Sachs, who's a single mother, makes music that conveys menace and mystery, along with sweetness and innocence. From the wordless "Oooo" to the clanging "Tonite's the Nite," "Tickley Feather" is as unsettling as it is inviting. Amos Lee "Last Days at the Lodge" ** ½ For years now, Amos Lee has been climbing the ranks of the singer-songwriter elite, scoring tours with Bob Dylan and Norah Jones. He was part of Paul Simon's recent residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the sultry folk sound he maintains on his third Blue Note album should appeal to fans of Simon. There's more jazz and soul in Lee's songs, his well-documented voice remaining smoothly expressive. Bill Withers is an easy comparison, but the airy, romantic "Won't Let Me Go" feels like a nod to Marvin Gaye circa "Let's Get It On," while the socially conscious "Jails and Bombs" does the same with "What's Going On." If Lee wears some influences on his sleeve, his records always go down easy. G. Love and Special Sauce "Superhero Brother" *** In his quest to find his place within hip-hop, Garrett Dutton III "G. Love" has alternated between solo crooning as an MC and playing with Special Sauce, the pals he started his career in music with. G. uses his signature mix of rapier raps and drawling vocals to tell tales of babies having babies and other nice vibrations. But while the solo efforts are gently countrified affairs, the Sauce (drummer Jeffrey Clemens, bassist Jimi Prescott) bring out the sass in Dutton. With its stumbling rhythms and honky-tonk piano, "Communication" could be a lost Stones track circa "Exile on Main St." The same goes for the playful "City Livin'," with its jabbering brass and needling guitars. The Special Sauce cooks best as a combination of hastened hip-hop and dirty funk. So, it makes a muddy mess of "Wiggle Worm" and a soulful stew of "Peace, Love and Happiness," complete with chunks of conga in the tasty mix. Special Sauce may have been together for 15-plus years and Dutton may be a 36-year-old dad, but their groove is as young as when they started. Country and roots The Hacienda Brothers "Arizona Motel" *** ½ This is the last Hacienda Brothers album, with good reason - lead singer Chris Gaffney died of cancer in April at 57. It's also the best Haciendas album, as Gaffney and his fellow front man, Dave Gonzalez, continue to explore a hybrid of their own dubbed "Western soul." It's a variation of country-soul, the Southern style pioneered by Dan Penn, who is back to work again with the band, this time as producer of five cuts and cowriter of two. If Gonzalez's generally twangy guitar accounts for a lot of the country element, much of the soul emanates from the singing of Gaffney, who was also a member of Dave Alvin's Guilty Men. With his weathered tenor, he expresses the deep hurt of "Use to the Pain," the steady resolve of "I Still Believe," and the sweet joy of the gospel/R&B-fired "Soul Mountain" in ways that would give George Jones a run for his money - and only heighten the sense of loss. Jeff Healey "Mess of Blues" *** Before he died of cancer in March at 41, Jeff Healey made this return to the blues after several years exploring another passion, jazz of the '20s and '30s. "Mess of Blues" makes for a fine epitaph. The blues-rock that brought Healey fame in the late '80s was often too florid for our taste, despite his six-string prowess (the blind singer played with the instrument flat on his lap). This time, however, Healey focuses on an eclectic set of mostly familiar numbers, from B.B. King, the Band and Hank Williams to the Elvis-covered Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman title song. Healey and his band display a good feel for all the material, freshening it up with roadhouse verve. (That's not to be confused with "Road House," the Patrick Swayze screen stinker in which Healey appeared.) Four of the 10 performances are live, which enhances the set's vitality. Jazz Bill Frisell "History, Mystery" *** ½ Guitarist Bill Frisell does not often make music to please people. Long a prominent guitarist on the Munich-based ECM label and a stalwart of New York's experimental music scene, Frisell has been an insider lionized more by fellow musicians and critics than the public. Yet this double CD is different. Much of it came from a 2002 multimedia collaboration with artist and comic book author Jim Woodring, and a lot was recorded on tour, which can make a difference connecting with folks. Frisell is clever at appropriating parts of genres and never getting stuck in one. These 30 cuts convey dollops of country, blues, jazz and rock along with tango and other world elements in a largely seamless conglomeration. The sound is different partly because Frisell imports violinist Jenny Scheinman, whose plaintive strings hold up throughout. A strong back line, with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, anchors this freewheeling, almost cinematic outfit. Reed man Greg Tardy and cornetist Ron Miles are the simpatico horns. The originals can be twitchy and too artful at times. Frisell, who was born in Baltimore, takes an oddly modernist view of The Wire's burg on "Waltz for Baltimore." But you have to love the mournful lines of "Struggle" or how Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" is done in a soulful country blues. The Michael Pedicin Quintet "Everything Starts Now" *** Tenor saxophonist Michael Pedicin joins with another Philadelphian, guitarist Johnny Valentino, to make a reasonably mysterious quintet outing. Pedicin, whose father was an eminent early rock 'n' roller, did a long stint as a studio musician with Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records and played on tour with pianist Dave Brubeck. Pedicin also held forth at Atlantic City's Tropicana Casino for much of the 1980s and 1990s, and he's back there again. The CD is a tribute to the late saxophonist Michael Brecker. There are some pop influences, such as the prettified "One of Us" by the Hooters' Eric Bazilian. But there's also a deeper aesthetic, exemplified by the quintet's telepathic interplay at the end of "This Way Out." Valentino wrote nine cuts, and they mostly accentuate Pedicin's jazz chops. "Concatenation" has a quasi-Monk feel, while "Another Day" is all liquid ballad, giving Pedicin a solid base to blow from. Classical Janacek "From the House of the Dead" Olaf Bar, John Mark Ainsley and others; Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Pierre Boulez conducting. Staged by Patrice Chereau **** Having revolutionized opera staging with their updated, 1970s "Ring Cycle" at Bayreuth, conductor Boulez and director Chereau have turned their penetrating gazes on Janacek's greatest and most uncompromising opera, the Dostoyevsky-inspired "From the House of the Dead." Yes, it's a Russian prison opera, and though Chereau's past heavy-handedness could be fatal to its slender dramaturgy, he probes the piece with minimum surface novelty and remarkable dramatic truth. The prison is a series of towering walls and the prisoners are in vaguely modern dress - though with an intriguing sense of class structure, owing to what they once were outside and what favors they've procured inside. Though the opera is ostensibly a series of confessions ordered into three acts that begin and end with naturalistic abruptness, Chereau invents all manner of intrapersonal subtext, from acts of kindness to violence, that prompt a richness of character details in the vocal performances. Nobody sings prettily - they aren't supposed to - and Boulez's taste for maximum orchestral clarity accentuates the score's frenetic, claustrophobic grittiness. Beethoven "Piano Concerto Nos. 1 and 5" Francois-Frederic Guy; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philippe Jordan conducting *** "Piano Concerto No. 3 and Triple Concerto" Camerata Ireland, Barry Douglas piano and conducting **** "Piano Concerto No. 3 and Violin Concerto (version for piano) Tapiola Sinfonietta, Olli Mustonen, piano and conducting *** ½ "Piano Concertos No. 1 and 3" Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Ronald Brautigam piano, Andrew Parrott conducting **** "Piano Concerto No. 1 and Bagatelles Op. 126" Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Piotr Anderszewski conducting **** Great Beethoven concertos arrive here from unexpected sources, often with pianists conducting from the keyboard and with smallish, historically informed orchestras. Best of all is Irish pianist Barry Douglas, who had a big international recording career years ago and now returns, far more articulate than before and teeming with crisp, smart ideas both as pianist and conductor. In fact, his recording of the Triple Concerto with violinist Chee-Yun and cellist Andres Diaz is perhaps the best out there. The only frustration with Anderszewski's outing is that there's just one concerto - the first - played and conducted with so much style and charm that you're sure the pianist sees the piece as a direct extension of Mozart, as opposed to a break from him. Brautigam's superb disc also looks backward with a smallish, unostentatious, but ultra-clear piano sound, somewhat like the fortepiano, but with a wisdom and insight that makes itself felt even in the small sound frame. Mustonen has long been a pianist for iconoclasts only - his eccentricities make Glenn Gould look as normal as Walter Cronkite - though his alternative phrase readings here render the only convincing performance I've ever heard of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in the composer's ill-advised piano transcription. Guy suffers only by comparison with the others: He has given great Beethoven performances before, and though these have some intellectually penetrating moments, he seems a tad intimidated by it all. Jordan's conducting is actually the most interesting aspect (which isn't what you buy a Beethoven concerto disc for). |
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