Twenty Feet from Stardom - Morgan Neville (2013)

Twenty Feet from Stardom is a documentary film which delves into the life of the backing singer, and represents in some way a long overdue attempt to give backup singers the recognition and attention they so richly deserve. The idea for this Morgan Neville directed film came from the film’s producer Gil Friesen, whose curiosity to find out more about the lives of backing singers within the music industry influenced it’s making. The film focuses mainly on prominent backing singers Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, Jo Lawry and Claudia Lennear among others, combining new interviews with the singers themselves, as well as recent and archival footage, and interviews with some of the acts they have performed with including Sting, Mick Jagger and Stevie Wonder.

Twenty Feet from Stardom offers a fascinating insight into the singing lives of these amazingly talented people in what is a role within music which is seemingly confined to the shadows. These are the people whose names we don’t really know, but whose voices have appeared on hundreds of notable recordings at various times over the last fifty years. Many of the predominantly women in this film have arguably more musical talent than the artists they have performed for, or at least equally so, while they would walk all over some of the pop artists who call themselves singers these days. The purity of some of the voices on display in the film beggars belief, leading me to think as to why many of them could not successfully make the walk out of the shadows and into the spotlight as a solo artist.

The sad undercurrent to these singer’s stories is that many of them had aspirations to make it as solo artists. Some of them did end up at least attempting the move from backup singer to solo artist, moves which they could not, in the end, sustain for long within the cut-throat nature of the music industry. Most of the women featured in this film ended up returning to singing backup, while one in particular Claudia Lennear ended up quitting singing all together to become a Spanish teacher. As a film, I guess it conjures up both a triumphant and heartbreaking story, triumphant in that these women had great success touring and recording with some great musicians, but equally heartbreaking in that they could not carve out their own careers as solo singers.

 

One of the singers whose story is featured in the film and who suffered from both triumph and heartbreak was Darlene Love, who started singing as a backup vocalist on Phil Spector produced recordings in the 1960s. She thought she had made it in 1964 when she sang lead on the Spector record “He’s a Rebel”, but Spector cut her off at the knees in deciding to release “He’s a Rebel” under the Crystals name without crediting Love. The girl group went on to tour and promote the number one hit, miming to the original recording with Love left on the sidelines to ponder what could have been. This shattered her confidence and at one stage she even quit the music industry completely during the 1970s whilst ending up cleaning houses to make ends meet. Love returned to singing in the 1980s and has subsequently had a taste of the success she richly deserved, carving her own successful solo career, whilst also continuing to sing backup for other artists. She also ended up getting recognised by being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Twenty Feet from Stardom is a very intimate look into the lives of some incredible singers who soldiered on through highs and lows to forge successful careers singing backup to some of the biggest names in popular music. It is also an informative look into some of the wider issues within the music industry including issues of gender, appearance, power, and the struggle for singers to make it. This film is really quite a beautiful take on a very much overlooked area in popular music and is a must see for any music fan, those interested in singing or singers, as well as those who like a good documentary.

 

A

 

- Sam

2013 Album's of the year

Well what a year it has been for music. 2013 has thrown up plenty of surprises, controversy, some good things and some bad; there have been some really good albums and the odd good song too, and some amazing tours. It’s also at this time of year where people like the good folks at NME, or Rolling Stone are paid, or in a few cases not paid to give their opinion on what the highlights of the year were musically. You get the annual end of year best albums and best song lists, all of which tend to follow a similar pattern. British magazines and online sites will root for British artists, while their American equivalents will do the same for their own acts. The end result being that these lists really don’t go anywhere in establishing a definitive list of best albums and best songs of the year, and that apart from a select few top rating selections such as Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories”, or Kanye’s “Yeezus” these lists are a matter of opinion and taste on the part of the reviewer, editor, or writer.

Which brings me to my album highlights for 2013. Now I am not going to follow the norm of all the music publications and bore you to death delving into the merits of my twenty favourite albums, but instead I will keep it nice and short in giving you my New Zealand album of the year, international album of the year, and what I like to describe as my two eye-catching surprises of the year on the album front.

New Zealand album of the year

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Blackbird

What a fantastic comeback album this was for the Wellington band. Now initially I hadn’t been too excited at the prospect of listening to their new album as it had been so long since their last, but curiosity in the end got the better of me and boy oh boy am I glad I did decide to give it a whirl. This album was fantastically good, their best in my opinion, with some great songs combining reggae, jazz, R&B, and electronica. The songs on “Blackbird” had more body and soul than a lot of their other work, which I find at times can get a bit too laboured for my liking. Here they got the formula spot on in what turned out to be a super listen and my New Zealand album of the year.

Key Tracks: Blackbird, Mother Mother

International album of the year

David Bowie – The Next Day

When I heard Bowie was coming out of the wilderness and releasing a new album I was shocked, surprised and excited all at once, as the announcement came completely out of the blue. After hearing the first single off the new album “Where Are We Now” I didn’t know what to expect to hear on the album, as I thought the new track was good without being amazing.  Thankfully the album was beyond anything I could have fathomed, as Bowie came back with an album as good as anything he has released in thirty years, and arguably what is now his best album since 1980s “Scary Monsters”. This album had everything from dance pop, rock, keyboard laced new wave, while some tracks even conveyed shades of his wonderful Berlin period, in fact as I listened I was convinced I was listening to a remake of “Heroes” (cover included). For a man who had supposedly been out of music for a decade to come back with such a strong offering, it makes me hope that there is more to come from this music genius,  and that any more material Bowie decides to release will be just as good as this.

Key tracks: Love is Lost, Boss of Me

Surprises of the Year

Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)

The latest release in the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series “Another Self Portrait” is my first candidate for surprise of the year, a release which focussed mainly on Dylan’s ill-fated “Self Portrait” album. This great compilation is made up re-released tracks, demos, new mixes and some unreleased songs and does a brilliant job in conjuring up a new sense of life to a period in Dylan’s career which has its detractors. Many of the tracks are superior to the originals, while some of the unheard tracks are gems highlighting why the late-60s and early-70s period for Dylan was arguably his best despite the initial mixed reaction to “Self Portrait”. A definite candidate for compilation of the year, with plenty of variety on display and heaps of songs to keep you interested across the two discs.

Key Tracks: Bring me a little Water, This Evening So Soon

Wise Up Ghost – Elvis Costello and The Roots

My second choice for surprise of the year goes to “Wise Up Ghost”, the album which came out of the unusual collaboration between Elvis Costello and The Roots. When I first heard about this collaboration occurring I was a bit unsure how it would go and what the results would be like. It would either be a confused train wreck and an example of how often famous collaborations never work, or it would be a genius paring of two completely different artists. Thankfully, and from my own perspective surprisingly the latter came through, with the album being a wonderful concoction of R&B, jazz, pop and experimental, and with both artists equally bringing their own styles and influences to the table on the songs. The end result was a fantastic chill-out groove-laden album, with some tender moments from Elvis thrown in for good measure. If there was a category in all the big awards ceremonies for hipster album of the year, “Wise Up Ghost” would stand a good chance of winning, as this beauty of an album certainly had me pleasantly surprised.

Key Tracks: Walk Us Uptown, Stick Out Your Tongue

 

- Sam

 

 

 

 

Jake Bugg - Shangri La (2013)

19 year old British singer-songwriter Jake Bugg’s rapid rise from obscurity over the last year has surprised many people, most of all the man himself. So quick has his music career gotten up and running he is already releasing his second studio album Shangri La. Bugg had been working in Malibu, California re-recording a song off his self-titled debut album with renowned American producer Rick Rubin when the sessions for Shangri la began. There was no plan to record an album, simply to play around with some songs and record them, something which ultimately developed into the recording of an album.

After the massive success of his self-titled debut which saw him being compared with Bob Dylan, Donovan and others, whilst also being seen as a saviour for music, Shangri La takes the folk sound of his debut but expands it to include other influencesThe Dylanesque folk is still there across the album, but Bugg also delves into punk rock, Brit pop, indie, rockabilly and even folk-jazz. The production on this album is also much greater; something that I guess comes with the territory of working with Rick Rubin, with a much bigger sound overall including a full backing band on most of the tracks. With his move towards a more electric sound, Bugg also had the opportunity to showcase more of his ability on the guitar, proving that he is just as good on the electric as he is on the acoustic. Although his delicate acoustic playing drew plenty of comment on his debut, the guitar remains almost a hidden bow within his repertoire and his playing often appears in the shadow of his vocal performances and song-writing which draws most of the attention. Speaking of his vocals, they continue to standout on this latest offering, if not sounding more mature and complete. Although that folk twang is still there in patches, Bugg also shows off his skills as a ballad singer showing there is a softer side to him as well.

This brings me then to the songs themselves of which many standout. The album begins with the interestingly named “There’s a Beast and We All Feed It”, a song which is similar in style to the more folk-oriented tracks on his debut and has a “Subterranean Homesick Blues” feel to it. This is followed by “Slumville Sunrise”, an electric rockabilly number that contains immense riffage and a pounding rhythm section. Already you can tell after these first two tracks how this album will be quite different from his first album in terms of its greater electric sound. As we head in to the middle part of the album, Bugg begins to change gear and spice things up a bit starting with the sweet indie-folk of “Me and You”. On this track Bugg combines some soothing acoustic playing with a delicate vocal that shows off his softer side, while proving his music isn’t all just built around a hard-edged country twang. This is followed by the anthemic “Messed Up Kids” which is sure to be a live favourite, and the beautiful ballad “A Song About Love” which in my mind could go down as Bugg’s best song to date. This beautiful ballad has a Nick Drake feel to it especially in the verses and sees Bugg show off his vocal range in the chorus proving he can belt out a ballad just as good as a folk rocker. The final part of the album continues the theme across the album where quality overrides filler on most occasions. “Kitchen Table” is a folk-jazz number similar in nature to John Martyn’s Solid Air and combines some great acoustic folk licks with jazzy electric piano flourishes and a great drum track. Then there is the gorgeous “Pine Tree”, an alt-country ballad featuring Bugg on his own singing and playing acoustic guitar in what is one of the more heart felt tender moments on the album. Finally, the album ends with the Neil Young sounding electric folk rocker “Simple Pleasures” and “Storm Passes Away” which sees Bugg end as he started with folk, this time in a similar mould to Woody Guthrie with this very rootsy country number.

Shangri La is a massive step forward for Bugg musically and showcases quite a lot of growth and progression from his first album. It is not a straight out country folk album and contains a lot more musical diversity on it than his debut. The greater role of electric instruments also adds another dimension to proceedings and gives Bugg’s sound that extra maturity, allowing him to play around more with musical ideas and different musical styles. He showcases a greater depth to his vocals, while the added bonus of having an greater electric sound allows him the chance to showcase his guitar playing more than he did on his debut. My only real criticism would be around some of the production which at times I feel Ruben overdoes. This is particularly the case in the adding of a rhythm section and a big drum sound to songs which would have sounded better stripped back with just Bugg playing guitar. However this is just a fussy observation more than anything and the production doesn’t take away from the quality of the song-writing. In conclusion then, I feel Shangri La is a more rounded album and improves on his debut, showing Bugg’s maturity as an artist and offering more versatility musically. All in all a very good album with some really well constructed and nice sounding songs by this great talent, showing that Bugg won’t be a one album flash in the pan.

 

A-

 

- Sam

Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis (1969)

There is no doubting that Dusty Springfield was one of the greatest singers of all time, as well as being one of England’s best vocal exports. And it was on her 1969 release Dusty in Memphis where everything came together harmoniously, in a collection of songs that optimises the amazing vocal abilities of this great singer.

Dusty in Memphis was Dusty’s fifth studio album and came at a time when she needed a career boost in order to get her out of the British club circuit and onto a wider stage. So it was with this that she dived head first into American soul music, signing with prominent R&B/soul label Atlantic Records and inheriting a team of producers that included Jerry Wexler who had worked on albums by Aretha Franklin (one of Dusty’s main inspirations). The result was soul and nothing but soul, and it seemed that Dusty had finally found her calling as a singer, with the combination of some great soul songs and Dusty fitting together perfectly like a glove. Backed by a group of studio musicians called the Memphis Cats who had played with Wilson Pickett and Elvis amongst others, and the prestigious singing group The Sweet Inspirations on backing vocals, Dusty delved into the annuls of the then modern day American songbook, taking on songs by some of the best songwriters of the period. Burt Bacharach, Randy Newman, Goffin/King and Mann/Weill originals would all feature, as Dusty put her stamp on some amazing songs and in many cases made them her own. Dusty’s voice sounds mega on here, in what is surely one of the best vocal performances on record. She nails pretty much every song with amazing technique and delivery, with a voice that also sounds soft and silky and that harnesses incredible range and an amazing control of tone.

In terms of the overall sound of the album and on the production side of things, Wexler and co go for a heavily produced sound on here with a full backing band complete with string and horn sections, as well as the prominent use of backing vocalists, not that Dusty needed them of course. This leads to quite a dense layer of sound across the album similar to Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, as well as the great recordings of Motown. The extensive nature of the production means that at times it feels like Dusty is having to compete with the massively extravagant instrumental arrangements in order to let her voice shine through. This appears to especially be the case during the choruses. Sometimes I feel they tend to overdo the production side of things rather than just letting Dusty’s voice take centre stage, and that some of the songs would have sounded even better if the instrumental arrangements were stripped right back. However this is just more of an overall observation rather than a criticism, while the heavy production on these songs is no real surprise and was immensely popular on records by soul singers and singing groups during that time.

There are many highlights for me on this album starting with opening track “Just a Little Lovin” which is quite a sexy number with a great vocal and nice arrangement, and the gorgeous “So Much Love” which captures the essence of Dusty so well in what is also one of the more soulful tracks on the record. Then there’s “Son of a Preacher Man” which goes without saying really, and the up-tempo “Don’t Forget About Me” which is more of an R&B-like number that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Stax record. Finally, “The Windmills of Your Mind” is very different from everything else on the record and has an overall eerie mystery to it, whilst also featuring an almost bossa nova styled acoustic guitar accompaniment, and the brilliant album closer “I Can’t Make It Alone”, a track which appears almost like a soul anthem and one that Dusty puts everything she has into.

Time has been kind to Dusty in Memphis, although it was not a great commercial success at the time despite garnering a good response from the critics. It has since gone on to become considered a great album, of which Rolling Stone magazine listed as the eighty-ninth best album of all time, and the third best album in a poll titled “women in Rock: 50 essential albums”. The praise heaped on this album comes as no real surprise when you consider the quality on here and the amazing vocal performance from Dusty herself. Dusty in Memphis was the moment that turned Dusty from a really good singer into a great singer, whilst helping to turn her career around completely. This would arguably become her defining statement as a singer and is also one of the things she will be best remembered for as an artist. Dusty in Memphis is one of the great soul records and contains in my opinion one of the greatest vocal performances. It is truly a great listen and a must for music fans.

A-

- Sam

The Jam - Sound Affects (1980)

Sound Affects was the fifth studio album by British mod-revival group The Jam. Released during 1980 at the height of the band’s career, a career that would include a run of eighteen consecutive top 40 singles in the UK charts, many deem Sound Affects to be The Jam’s best album and at the very least their most musically interesting. With an overall sound that stuck to their traditional 60s beat influences, but that also branched out to include splashes of R&B and psychedelic rock, this is probably an accurate assessment of one of the 80s most underrated albums but best surprises.

Paul Weller, the band’s front man described Sound Affects as a cross between Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall and The Beatles Revolver, a description that certainly holds true on listening. The sound on the album combines a strong emphasis on rhythm and a prominent rhythm section with pop melodies and the occasional punk rage. The Off the Wall influence comes in the form of the excellent rhythm playing of Bruce Foxton on bass and Rick Buckler on drums, whose pounding bass and drum lines dominates across the album. Their playing is very much a Motown-inspired style and both the drums and bass sound so good on here (a very clean sound) to the point that they often take centre stage as lead instruments, whilst also being an essential part of the overall Jam sound. Paul Weller’s guitar playing, vocals and compositional skills bring in the 60s Beatles influences, punk, as well as a hint of psychedelia. His vocals flow between punk aggression and a mellower pop style similar to mid-60s Beatles, while his guitar playing is a mix of jangly chimes and a heavy distorted drive. On some of the tracks Weller also experiments both with guitar distortion and feedback, as well as the odd sound affect here and there, including a fly buzzing at the beginning of “Music for the Last Couple” and some French audio on the outro of “Scrape Away”.

The tracks on Sound Affects are generally of a high standard all and all, and despite a couple of somewhat lesser tracks most of the material is interesting and diverse. There is melody driven Beatles-like pop in the form of “Monday” and “Man in the Corner Shop”, while “That’s Entertainment”, probably the band’s most well known song is an acoustic mod anthem that forms the basis of a commentary on the drudgery and dreariness of English working class life. The Beatles influence becomes remarkably close on “Start” which includes an exact copy of the bass line and guitar riff from classic Revolver track “Taxman”, while also incorporating subtle R&B influences with a great rhythm track and a backing horn section. Then there are the more up-tempo ferocious punk anthems such as opening track “Pretty Green” with its pounding bass line and “But I’m Different Now with its heavily charged punk guitar. Experimental psychedelic rock also appears with the anthemic distortion driven “Set the House Ablaze” and album closer “Scrape Away”. On this note I would say that psychedelia was just a slight influence on the material here and was more used in an experimental capacity without playing a central role. With this in mind the influence of psychedelic rock and in particular The Beatles Revolver came mainly in the use of studio affects and heavy guitar distortion and echo. Finally, there are also hints at The Jam’s and Weller’s future direction with subtle splashes of R&B here and there. This is evident especially in the rhythm playing right across the album as I have already mentioned, but also on particular songs such as “Boy About Town” and “Start”, of which both contain horn parts and heavy funk-inspired bass and drum fills.

Overall, Sound Affects is a fantastic collection of infectious early-80s pop songs that are dotted with little bits and pieces from all sorts of different musical areas, which although feature do not compromise The Jam’s 60’s pop sound and overall punk ethos. Apart from the general catchiness of the songs and their cleverly crafted pop nature, as well as the interesting experimentation with different sounds and textures, the definite standout of Sound Affects is the rhythm section of Buckler and Foxton, who’s playing make these songs that extra special. Their playing to me is made even more remarkable considering the 80s would become dominated by drum machines and synths, and how also technology often came to overshadow the musical abilities of the people making the music. On listening to this album it is just nice to hear a proper rhythm section made up of proper players playing an essential part to the overall sound on display, of which without whose input the music would be half as good. Weller’s song-writing craft, aggressive vocals, and lead rhythm playing is simply the icing on the cake in what is overall a great 80s album, all be it an overlooked and underrated one at that.

 

A-

 

- Sam

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions (1973)

When one attempts to come up with a list of great 70s albums, Innervisions by Stevie Wonder is one of the first that always comes to mind. Released in 1973, Innervisions was Wonder’s 16^th studio album and formed part of an amazing run of great albums for him during the 70s.

The amazing thing about Innervisions is the fact that not only did he produce the album, whilst also compose and play on every track, relying only slightly on the odd helping hand from a session player, but he was also only 23 when it was recorded. The recording of this album was pretty much a one man band, with Wonder playing drums, piano, bass and about fifty thousand different synths and keyboards, or at least that’s how it seemed. This album also represented quite a landmark recording for an African American in popular music, as Wonder became the first black artist to experiment with the newly evolving synthesizer technology and in particular the ARP Synth which he used to compose all the tracks on the album.

The lyrics on Innervisions play an important role and in fact you could make a case for this album being a concept album, with the songs often socio-political themes offering a commentary on early-70s American society. Just some of the things Wonder talks about in his songs include drug abuse in “Too High”, social anger and the poison of city life in “Living for the City”, and political ethics in “He’s Misstra Know-It-All” which in itself was a subtle dig at Richard Nixon. Wonder also has time for optimism and positivity despite the bleak outlook of American society he portrays. Love is a common theme on “Golden Lady” and “All in Love Is Fair”, while focussing on the good things in life and continuing to look upwards are championed in “Higher Ground” and “Don’t You Worry Bout a Thing”.

From a musical perspective Innervisions sticks largely to the soul, funk, R&B hybrid which Wonder had begun to develop successfully during the early 70s, but there are also hints of other influences in particular Latin in “Don’t You Worry” and even reggae in “Higher Ground”. As I mentioned earlier this album was quite revolutionary in its use of synths and keyboards which dominate all the songs across the album. Wonder experimented significantly with keyboards during the recording of this album and the results of this are seen throughout. This is particularly the case in his use of different keyboard sounds to achieve an overall layered and often heavily textured sound that ends up driving many of these songs, songs that are built entirely around piano and keyboard motifs. Wonder’s reliance on keyboards can also be seen in how he chose different sounding keyboards for different songs. On the more funk oriented up-tempo numbers such as “Too High” he tends to utilise more the Fender Rhodes electric piano, clavinet, and Moog synths, while on the soulful ballads such as “Golden Lady” he goes back to the more traditional piano. What this shows is that he knew what he wanted out of the keyboards and was able to match the right keyboard up with the right song, which is probably why the overall keyboard sound of this album sounds as good as it does, while working so well in the process.

In terms of the standout tracks on this album, well there is quality right through Innervisions and it is actually quite hard to find a dud song. Innervisions is definitely one of those albums that is almost completely perfect from start to finish, from the synth grooves of “Too High” to the story book masterpiece “Living for the City” and the amazing one-two album closer “Don’t You Worry” and He’s Mistra Know-It-All”. This is definitely a case of there being no real standout tracks but simply one complete standout album.

Innervisions has developed a strong legacy in the forty years since its release and is now widely considered as one of Wonder’s best albums, if not his best, as well as being one of the great albums in popular music. Rolling Stone magazine even ranked it as high as 23 in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The praise around this album is no real surprise to me as Innervisions is an amazingly good album of melody, soul, funk and musical experimentation. In my opinion it is in the top five greatest soul/R&B albums of all time and helped to set the bar for future releases within the soul/R&B genre, not to mention its influence on studio production and recording full stop. But what probably makes this album that extra special is how Wonder used all his musical and creative talents to produce a social commentary on early 70s American society like nothing else at the time. He had a definite sense of what was going on and was able to translate it into music in such a vivid way, painting a picture through song of what it really was like in America at the time. Innervisions was the final result of an artist going out on his own musically, breaking away from his Motown routs to take a step into unchartered territory of which the results were nothing short of outstanding.

 

A

 

- Sam

 

 

Jazz

 

This year I finally rediscovered my love of jazz. This comes after jazz as a genre spent many years in the wilderness in terms of my musical muse. I first heard jazz as a child and remember listening to the Bossa nova of Stan Getz and the gypsy jazz of Stephanne Grappelli and just how amazing that music sounded to me then. But as I entered my teenage years jazz largely disappeared out of my life, as I gravitated towards blues, rock, indie and other styles. In fact I completely went off jazz and remember feeling quite bored by it.

Well that has all changed now and I have fallen back in love with the mastery and mystery that comes with great jazz music and the players who make it. In the last twelve months or so three great jazz musicians in particular have enthralled me and represent some of the best music I have ever heard. Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis have captivated me significantly and in particular the albums Time Out (Brubeck), Blue Train (Coltrane), and Kind of Blue (Davis), all of them jazz classics and some of the best albums of all time. Davis is arguably the most influential and important jazz musician of all time and was at the forefront of key developments in jazz from the 1950s to the 80s, helping especially in the development of bebop, cool jazz and jazz fusion. Coltrane was a key player in the development of free jazz and helped to pioneer the use of modes in jazz music, while Brubeck was the pioneer of cool jazz and experimented significantly with unusual time signatures, as well as using contrasting rhythms and tonalities in his music.

To me these people and their compositional abilities, not to mention their abilities on their instruments are the jazz equivalents of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. Much like those composers were geniuses in their time, the likes of Davis and Coltrane are the musical geniuses of the 20^th century and had they been around alongside the greats of classical music they would have been right up there with those greats. In many ways jazz is very similar to classical music in that it can be highly sophisticated musically, structurally complex, while the emphasis on composition is at the centre of the jazz process. Not just anyone can compose and play jazz, while the great jazz players are set apart from their peers because of their un-matched genius musically much like the Bach’s of this world.

So what is it about this music and in particular these albums that makes it so amazing. Well for me this music has beauty, beauty in the way the pieces are carefully crafted and constructed with great attention to the smallest details like most great art is. This music is calming and has the ability to relax you completely after a few seconds, helping also to eliminate the stresses of life in one listen. This music has mystery and intrigue in that when you listen to a great Miles Davis track such as “So What”, or Coltrane’s version of “I’m Old Fashioned” you don’t know where it is going to go next and what direction it will head in. Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk” starts as a fast paced Middle-Eastern styled piano flourish before developing into a downbeat cool jazz number. It’s this intrigue which makes you want to listen and helps to draw you in even if the piece itself is seventeen minutes long. Finally, for me what makes this music amazing is the strong emphasis placed on improvisation and how jazz players are encouraged to play up a storm and showcase their skill and mastery of their instrument. Players like Coltrane in particular have this incredible ability to freestyle, an ability that is based on intuition, feeling and skill of which the results are incredible and make listening to jazz just that more interesting.

I’m glad I came back to jazz all these years later and I am now probably more into jazz than I ever have been. The great thing about jazz is that anybody can listen to it and get some appreciation out of what they hear. It transcends all ages and all musical tastes, while the enjoyment one can get out of jazz music shouldn’t be restricted by misguided views that its music for old people, or high brow in nature. Jazz is one of the best musical styles and can be enjoyed at all times irrespective of the mood, whether one is feeling down or up. It draws you in and once you’re hooked it becomes very difficult to escape its hold. I tried to but failed and I have a feeling now that that hold will not relinquish any time soon.

 

- Sam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul McCartney - Save Us (2013)

Paul McCartney - NEW (2013)

Paul McCartney’s new album “NEW” is his sixteenth solo studio release and his first album of new material in six years. This release sees McCartney trying different things and experimenting a lot more than he has done in recent years both in terms of the recording of the album, as well as the overall sound. What is different about this album is that McCartney used four different producers to help him produce this record, after he initially set out to trial his favourite producers before eventually deciding to use them all. Giles Martin (son of George), Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, and Paul Epworth all appear on this record helping Paul behind the mixing desk, with their presence being highly noticeable and having a significant impact in the creation of the overall feel and sound of the album.

“NEW” musically speaking is very varied and probably represents McCartney’s most diverse release in years. Although many of the tracks retain a pop/rock feel to them, some of the recordings are not typical of the traditional pop/rock style that has served McCartney well as a solo artist over the years, a style which instead has largely been replaced with a noticeably strong electronic pop sound and some unusual arrangements as well. The presence of four of the best producers in the business has also ensured that all the material whatever the style has a contemporary slickness to it and a heavily produced feel.

As for the material itself, well the album begins with a full on pop-rocker called “Save Us" which contains some Queen-inspired backing vocals in the chorus in what is a highly charged ferocious start to the album. This is followed by the alternative pop of “Alligator” and “On My Way to Work”, both of which are largely in the traditional McCartney mould all be it with a bit of contemporary pop production to spice things up. “Queenie Eye” is another stomping pop-rocker with a very catchy chorus, while “Early Days” an acoustic folk number is one of Paul’s best songs in recent years and captures him in a tender reflective mood as he sings about the pre-Beatle days and in particular his friendship with John Lennon. This is followed by title track “New” which is probably the most Beatles-sounding song on the album, with its psychedelic pop feel resembling “Got to Get You into My Life” and “Penny Lane”. This is definitely one of the standout songs on the album and captures Paul having fun musically with a brilliant acapella doo wop vocal outro. At the latter end of the record Paul returns to the guitar pop/rock which he is most familiar with in the form of “Everybody Out There” and “I Can Bet”, before he really begins to experiment with a more electronic pop sound. Songs such as “Appreciate”, “Road”, and “Looking at Her” are very adventurous in terms of their arrangements and overly produced electronic sound, but unfortunately it is here where this album falls down and begins to lag. I am sure he had the right intent and I applaud him for experimenting and trying new things, but these songs to me represent a bit of a bore considering some of the quality that appears on the first half of the album.

In conclusion then, overall I would say that this album represents a pretty ambitious offering from Paul and I compliment him for mixing it up stylistically when other established acts of a similar ilk would be more likely to stick with a tried and tested formula at this stage of their career. Although the injection of electronic and contemporary pop influences offer mixed results, there are definitely a few songs on here that show Paul at his strongest musically and represent some of his best work in years. Considering he is still recording and touring at age 71, as well as the fact that his last record was an indifferent collection of old standards this album is a pretty good effort. Paul’s attempt on “NEW” to rework his sound to suit a more modern audience, while also his decision to experiment with some more modern influences shows he at least still has plenty of musical ideas to play with, not to mention the energy and desire to turn those ideas into a reality, something that I applaud and marvel at.

B

- Sam

 

 

 

 

Bob Dylan - Pretty Saro (2013)

Bob Dylan - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (2013)

Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) is the tenth release in the long running Bob Dylan bootleg series, focussing this time on Dylan’s transitional period between 1969 and 1971 and in particular the albums Self Portrait and New Morning. This two disc compilation has plenty of variety and is made up of a mixture of unreleased recordings, demos, alternative takes, as well as a couple of live performances from Dylan’s 1969 performance at the Isle of White Festival.

What is interesting about this latest bootleg release was the decision to focus on the material recorded around the release of Self Portrait, an album which has garnered its fair shear of critics, and at the time of its release left fans and reviewers confused to say the least. The original album was made up mostly of covers of pop standards and traditional folk songs of varying quality, and contained hardly any new original material from Dylan. The reaction to this was poor despite the album still selling in the millions, with many expecting yet another Dylan masterpiece after his return post his serious motorcycle accident saw him release two of his finest albums John Wesley Harding in 1968 and Nashville Skyline in 1969. The story behind this inconsistent and confusing release is that Dylan had had enough of being in the spotlight and wanted to escape in order to live a normal life. To achieve this he thought that by releasing a sub-standard album people would go off him and his celebrity would die down allowing him to raise his family in peace. In the end this decision ultimately failed and the album still sold well despite receiving a lot of negative press. This album seemingly didn’t do Dylan any favours and simply had the effect of increasing the spotlight around him as people became more expectant for the real Dylan to stand up. So it seems in focussing on the period around Self Portrait on this latest compilation, Columbia Records who produces these official bootleg releases is partaking in an act of music revisionism, going back to an album and period which was initially panned (mostly by critics) and seeing if was actually as bad as made out. In response I can say that after having listened to this compilation, this period of Dylan’s career was not as bad as has been made out and in fact I think that many of these new recordings and alternative takes have done justice to the music Dylan was making at the time.

The recordings on this compilation are very simplistic with minimal production that conveys a very warm homely feel. Most of the tracks on here which are performed in a country and folk style are just Dylan singing and playing acoustic guitar and piano, accompanied only by David Bromberg on lead acoustic. Bromberg is one of the highlights of this compilation with his delicate folk touches and country flourishes really contributing nicely to the recordings and acting as a nice counter to Dylan’s strumming and rhythm playing. In listening to this material although they are all old recordings from 1969 and 1970, many of them sound fresh and new as if they could have been recorded yesterday, while at the same time despite the fact that the majority of this material in its varying forms has not been released until now it feels as if you could have been listening to these recordings for years as they portray a comforting familiarity which feeds the soul. Much of this I put down to how Dylan sounded at this time, with his voice in my opinion sounding at its best during the years between 1968 and 1970. A lot of people were put off by his country croon that he put on at times especially on Nashville Skyline, but I feel this added another dimension to his voice which suited tremendously the music he was beginning to record giving it a richly soft country feel as opposed to his early work where his voice could often could come across as a bit jagged and hard-edged.

Coming in at thirty-five tracks I don’t have enough room to focus on all the material on here, but I will mention some of my favourites from the two discs. “Pretty Saro” is a traditional English folk ballad from the 1700s which was recorded by Dylan for Self Portrait and has until now remained unreleased. It is done in a beautifully simplistic folk style and features one of Dylan’s best vocal performances, a definite highlight on this compilation. “Spanish is the Loving Tongue” is a song which was based on a poem from the early 1900s and was set to music in the 1920s. Here, Dylan’s recording is just him on piano delivering yet again another brilliant vocal performance, showing also that at times he had a mellower vulnerable side to his voice and could sing a love song just as well as a protest anthem. “Time Passes Slowly” is a Dylan original which was originally released on New Morning. This recording is an alternative take that features George Harrison on guitar and backing vocals (one of two tracks that Harrison appears on) and comes across as vastly superior to the original album version of this track. “This Evening So Soon” is another traditional folk song that Dylan makes his own and one where he is accompanied by Broomberg on guitar and Al Kooper on piano. Finally, “Bring Me a Little Water” is another unreleased recording this time from the New Morning sessions which sees Dylan mix it up a bit with something I like to call folk gospel. On this recording Dylan plays piano and sings with a soulful edge to his voice, while being accompanied by some female backing singers in what is one of the best songs on this compilation.  Why this recording was passed over for the original album I don’t know, but I sure am glad we get to hear it now forty-odd years later.

All in all this is a pretty good release and for me does well to somewhat destroy the myth about the Self Portrait period being a dud for Dylan. There is some occasional filler and the odd recording that could have been passed over such as an unreleased Basement Tapes recording which sounds almost inaudible, as well as a version of “All the Tired Horses” from Self Portrait which sounded as bad now as it did then, but if you sift through this there is definitely plenty of worthy material and stuff to capture your interest. I would also not that much like most compilations this is not a coherent consistent release and as a listener you should be prepared to go full circle from one style to the next, with Dylan taking you from folk to country to Americana and back again. This however does not take away from what is an overall highly satisfying and magical compilation which does a great job in highlighting just how wonderful this period was for Dylan musically.

A-

- Sam

 

 

 

 

Led Zeppelin - No Quarter (1973)

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (1973)

Released in 1973, Houses of the Holy was the fifth studio release by Led Zeppelin and in many ways was quite a significant moment in the history of the band. It was on this album when Led Zeppelin began to branch out musically and explore other musical sounds, as up until that point they had pretty much stuck within the confines of blues, hard rock and a bit of folk thrown in for good measure. On Houses of the Holy there is still hard rock and there is still folk, but there is also funk, reggae, progressive rock and even an eastern inspired song, with the band spreading their wings stylistically and experimenting with whatever they thought sounded good. Along with this somewhat change of direction musically, the band were also beginning to incorporate new production techniques into their recording which helped to evolve their sound more. Jimmy Page’s guitar playing for one on this album is more layered and less bluesy, while in keeping with the technological advances of the early-70s, keyboards and a mellotron also make an appearance. This combination of new styles and new sounds helped to make Houses of the Holy a completely different beast from the bands previous release, the classic Led Zeppelin IV. But despite this change in direction the results were just as good, all be it in a different way.

The album starts with fast-paced rocker “The Song Remains the Same”, a song which sounds more progressive than their previous work and contains heavy layers of multi-tracked guitar. This is followed by “The Rain Song” which is a progressive folk ballad that features a mellotron providing the orchestral baroque effects. This song was probably the furthest removed from Led Zeppelin’s traditional sound up until that point and was definitely a radical departure for the band at the time.  “Over the Hills and Far Away” is a folk rock track which starts with an acoustic folk section before transforming into a heavy guitar track much like one of their earlier songs “Ramble On”. This song highlights well how much the band was developing as songwriters, with many of their songs now beginning to feature different sounding sections as well as multiple genres.  

The middle of the album is where they really begin to mix it up stylistically, starting with “The Crunge”, a funk rock track that is a play on James Brown’s style of funk. As a track it is more a studio experiment rather than a complete song, and contains no bridge or chorus, something which Robert Plant is keen to point out in a tongue and cheek way at the end of the song. For me this is the weakest track on the album and I’m not sure whether their foray into funk was a good idea. They have better success in their stylistic experimentation on the next two tracks, firstly on “Dancing Days” which has a Middle Eastern feel to it, especially in the exotic guitar riff that makes the song sound so good. “Dancing Days” was actually inspired by an Indian tune which Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had heard in Bombay, an inspiration which can clearly be heard throughout the song and that gives it what I would describe as quite a hypnotic-like feel. They take their stylistic experimentation further on “D’yer Mak’er”, a reggae influenced track with a reggae drum beat and guitar riff. The title of the song is even a play on the word Jamaica leaving no doubt as to where the influence for this song came from.

The album concludes in explosive fashion with two of the better tracks on the album.
No Quarter” is a mellow progressive rock track which features John Paul Jones talent on the keyboards, something which in most unlike Led Zeppelin fashion dominates this song. This song more than any also highlights the changes the band was making in terms of song production, with studio effects and trickery featuring strongly. Things such as a compressed guitar track, as well as the use of the theremin and a moog synthesizer gives this track a magical quality and ensures it is one of the album’s standouts, as well as being one of the bands best songs. Finally, the album closes with heavy rocker “The Ocean”; a track which works well as an album closer with its heavy guitar and drum sound. This track also has the effect of reassuring the listener that the band still had the ability to rock out when they wanted to.

Although Houses of the Holy was a huge success commercially on its release, its critical reception was mixed, which leads me to believe that maybe the music press didn’t really know what to make of a traditional rock band playing reggae and funk. However, as time has passed it has generally held up quite well and has been acknowledged as a pivotal release in the bands career. In summing up I firmly believe Houses of the Holy is one of Led Zeppelin’s greatest albums and certainly is one of their most diverse musically. What this album showed was that this band was full of great musical ideas and that they were not just one trick blues rockers, while highlighting also their prowess as songwriters especially in their ability to mix up songs with different sections, tempos and rhythms. If you want to see how Led Zeppelin developed musically in the mid-70s Houses of the Holy would be the place to start, while if you ever thought that they were just a plain and simple hard rock band then this album I am sure will help to change your mind. Houses of the Holy for me is experimental and eclectic; it is full of magic, surprise and intrigue and captures strongly everything good about Led Zeppelin.

A

- Sam

 

 

The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection (1989)

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (1989)

If there was ever one album that came to single-handedly define a band it was this one, the self-titled debut album by Manchester quartet the Stone Roses. Released in 1989, not only would this album define the band’s sound, as well as enshrine their legacy, but it would also help to kick start indie guitar rock in the UK and go on to influence an entire generation of bands in the process.

Coming out of the popular Madchester scene, a scene which led to the growth of a style of music which mixed together elements of psychedelic rock, alternative rock and dance music, The Stone Roses album was based on a template of The Byrds meets rave culture, with the sound of this album an eclectic combination of 60s melodies and harmony, 80s jangly guitar and dance music. This album is arguably the best representation of Madchester as a style of music, with the individual talents of the band members and their abilities as players ensuring that the mixture of indie rock and dance worked well together. Guitarist John Squire is amazing at what he does and can change his style of playing between a more classic Hendrix rock sound to a more feel-based percussive-like playing. His jangly guitar contributes in a big way to the bands overall sound, while his use of phasing and echo helps to give a lot of the material on this album that dance-like feel. Bass player Mani has groove to burn, with his R&B and soul influences helping give the material a dance feel and an overall grove that holds everything together, while drummer Reni has an amazing feel for rhythm and timing to the point that at times his precision-like playing even sounds like a dance sample. Quite simply it is these three guys which make singer Ian Brown’s job so much easier, so much that he only really needs to serve the needs of the song without stretching too much vocally, with his backing band doing enough as it is in helping create what is almost a sonic-sphere of melody, harmony and rhythm.

The Stone Roses is one of those albums where it is quite hard to find a dud song, and as an album it is pretty much perfect from track one all the way through. Album opener “I Wanna Be Adored” is an enchanting atmospheric psychedelic number highlighted by a Middle Eastern styled pentatonic riff by John Squire. This is followed by “She Bangs the Drums” an indie anthem like no other, and “Waterfall” with that instantly recognisable guitar riff that chimes along throughout the song. If I was going to be picky, a couple of tracks in the middle of the album such as anti-monarchy folk pastiche “Elizabeth My Dear” and a backwards recording of Waterfall “Don’t Stop” don’t add anything to the album and could have been overlooked for something else, but what they do, do is set up nicely the run home in what surely represents one of the greatest run of songs to end an album ever.

The ending sequence starts with “Made of Stone”, a guitar heavy psychedelic indie swirl which features an electrifying solo from Squire and moves on to “Shoot You Down”, a slower number with a prominent bass line, bright guitar flourishes, and some of the most amazing harmony singing that sucks you in completely whilst giving a new definition to the phrase music to my ears. This then leads into the final two tracks, the jangle guitar infused “This is the One” and the epic finale “I Am the Resurrection”. “I Am the Resurrection” is the bands masterpiece and probably their most definitive musical statement, while as a track it is a perfect example of what the Madchester sound is all about stylistically. At eight minutes in length, the song starts as a straightforward indie rock song before at around the four minute mark transforming into a dance-rock track complete with a dance drum beat and funky bass riff. The rhythm section combines brilliantly with Squires infectious guitar licks to create one of the more original songs on the album and one of the best ever album outro’s in rock history. In marking a point where indie rock meets acid house, “I Am the Resurrection” is nothing short of being a truly brilliant ending to a fantastic album.

This album to me represents the perfect album. It is one of those albums which stand out from the really good albums and one which deserves a place under the category of amazing albums. This is also seen in how it seems not a year goes by where this album does not appear in a list of the greatest albums of all time in a music magazine or on a music web page. Its eclectic mix of indie rock, psychedelia, Beatles harmonies and dance music works so well together, while the songs themselves just ooze melody and rhythm. The band got it so spot on with this first release that they really needn’t have made another album, as it is this album and its melodically rhythmic nature which has come to define The Stone Roses and their sound. The Stone Roses is the perfect album for summer and is a great album to chill out to with a beer in the sun. I couldn’t recommend it anymore strongly, especially for those into indie rock, acid house, and classic 60s guitar rock. It will not disappoint, and I am pretty sure that after several listens you will become hooked just like me and millions of others have been.

A+

- Sam

The Zombies - Care of Cell 44 (1968)

The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle (1968)

Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies is a gem of an album, and is quite simply a baroque/psychedelic pop masterpiece, as well as being one of the greatest albums of the 1960s. Released in 1968 at a time when the band where in the process of splitting up, this album was simply intended to be one last musical effort by them before going their separate ways, although little did they know that they were creating a masterpiece which would still endure decades on.

The sound of this album is a combination of baroque pop and psychedelic pop, with the band combining elements of both to create some of the most beautiful melodies and harmony singing. The album has a Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds feel to it, while The Beatles can also be heard, but one thing is for sure that when you listen to this album you can tell instantly that The Zombies have their own distinctive sound. Key aspects of the overall sound of this album include choral harmony singing, singing that is also often double tracked to create an amazing densely layered sound much like a church choir, the heavy use of classical piano and harpsichord, and a mellotron which creates the effect of baroque strings. Combine these elements with the singing of Colin Blunstone who projects a calmness in his delivery and you get what sounds like it should be a classical album, but what is actually instead a psychedelic pop record with an underlying baroque feel.

The baroque influence is what makes Odessey and Oracle so good, with the choral singing and classical piano giving the material quite an historical feel which would otherwise not have been there, as well as an overall Englishness to the album. Opening track “Care of Cell 44” has a Penny Lane-like sound to it with some of the most exquisite harmony singing in pop, as well as some great harpsichord lines from keyboard wiz and band songwriter Rod Argent. Other tracks in the baroque mould include “A Rose for Emily” and “Changes”, both of which are classic examples of the choral harmony singing throughout this album of which when listened to you can almost picture being in a church listening to a choir, the sound is that amazing.

Melody is also a key component of the sound on this album and is something The Zombies do brilliantly on here. There infectious psychedelic pop as seen on tracks such as “Friends of Mine”, “Brief Candles”, and “I Want Her, She Wants Me” takes the listener to another place, and for me conjured up images of autumn (strange as that may seem), in particular the certain calmness and beauty that autumn brings. The combination of piano/keyboards, mellotron and harmony vocals combines so well and creates a beautiful pop feel which is like nothing else from the late-60s period, making this album standout in a unique way from the more experimental British psychedelia, as well as the drug-fuelled electric psychedelia of America.

Ironically enough, the one track on the album which is stylistically quite different to the rest of the album is also the bands most famous song. “Time of the Season” is a 60s classic but it is not a baroque pop song, and in fact it has more of a Stax soul sound to it complete with a Hammond organ keyboard solo, marking a slight departure from the melodic pop of the rest of the album. This aside it is still to this day a fantastic track, while it is also quite a nice way to close out the album on a slightly different note for variety’s sake if not anything.

At the time of its release Odessey and Oracle was overlooked completely in England and was viewed indifferently in music circles. But over time its reputation has grown significantly to the point that it is now considered a 60s classic and recognised as one of the great albums. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the eightieth greatest album of all time, while its popularity is also seen in that due to popular demand The Zombies play it in its entirety every year (yes they got back together). Odessey and Oracle represents the perfect pop album full of melody and harmony, and in my opinion even tops that overrated supposed masterpiece Sgt. Pepper in quality. I cannot recommend it enough as a 60s pop album and suggest you give it a spin, as it is might just be one of the most melodically beautiful albums you will ever hear.

A

- Sam

 

 

Elvis Costello & The Roots - "Walk Us Uptown" (2013)

Elvis Costello and The Roots - Wise Up Ghost (2013)

When I first heard that Elvis Costello and The Roots were going to collaborate together and record an album of new material I was a number of things. Surprised, curious, sceptical just to name a few, but for one sure thing I was very intrigued to find out how these two completely different artists would sound together and what they would ultimately come up with on record. The result was Wise Up Ghost, which has just been released in the past week or so.

I would describe the sound of Wise Up Ghost as being a mixture of styles. It seems to have a bit of everything from funk to R&B, dub to straight out pop, and even jazz influences. Some of the more Roots-influenced tracks on the album also have a similar groove based feel to them to the 1970s experimental funk of Parliament/Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. That’s just what I think, Costello himself however is more descriptive in describing the sound of the album stating that it is a “cauldron full of powders and potions, frogs and fingers, and that’s what I call rock and roll”. With this unusual description I kind of guess where he is coming from in that he is basically saying that it is everything and anything, and doesn’t necessarily need to be labelled in anyway. The songs themselves were written from scratch in the studio and started as skeletons before gradually being built up into actual compositions. Considering that the album was initially made with no record label, or indeed deadline attached, there was no pressure on them during the recording process letting them focus entirely on the music and experimenting with sounds.

The Roots themselves as a standalone act are a huge standout on this album and contribute significantly to the overall feel of the album. Just their presence alone transforms Costello’s sound completely, taking it into the realm of funk and R&B to the point where it’s unrecognisable for Costello. Listening to this album you become even more amazed at the musical talents and abilities of The Roots as a band and as musicians, and just how revolutionary they were as a predominantly hip-hop act that played their own instruments. Their ability to adapt their style of playing to suit different artists and styles is simply incredible, and it shows on here as they fit so well with Costello. This might have been a surprise to me at first, but then you realise that a lot of Costello’s early 80s work with the Attractions was influenced by R&B and soul, therefore the fact they work so well together on this release should probably not be entirely surprising in the end.

I’ve talked a bit about the actual collaboration between the two artists, but what about the songs themselves, what actually stands out? Well the songs are an eclectic mix overall, but do not stray too far from the R&B/funk area. “Walk Us Uptown” is a groovy R&B styled track complete with horns and a funky rhythm section, while “Refused to Be Saved” and “Wake Me Up” are both funk influenced with some nice Herbie Hancock like keyboard playing. “Trip Wire”, one of the standout tracks on the album is a beautifully sweet pop ballad and offers a nice counter to the more groove based tracks, while “Cinco Minutos Con Vos” has a slow trip hop feel to it. In fact if Costello wasn’t singing you could be forgiven for thinking this song was a lost Massive Attack track. Finally, album closer “If I Could Believe” is a track which is reminiscent of the work Costello did in the late 90s with Burt Bacharach, and has a sort of slow piano based pop-jazz sound to it. This track is one the standouts on the album and is also a nice tender way to close the album when you consider the albums overall complexity and the immense detail of some of the tracks.

So far Wise Up Ghost has had a positive response from music critics and has been well received for its imaginative nature and detail, while Costello’s chameleon knack of going from style to style across releases has also gotten a favourable mention. Some criticisms I would have of the album would be that there are a couple of lesser tracks which didn’t really appeal to me, most notably “She Might Be a Grenade” and title track “Wise Up Ghost”, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Some of the tracks are also a bit labour-intensive to listen to and tend to go on too long without doing much of interest to the listener. Such criticisms however do not take away from the overall feel of the album and the depth of quality on display. In conclusion I would say this collaboration was a success, and I applaud both The Roots and Elvis Costello for attempting something that initially to me seemed quite radical. This album took quite an effort to listen to at first as the material is quite complex in places and at times can tend to waver a bit from any particular formula or song structure, but it does get better with each listen and with this comes even greater appreciation. So overall an interesting and probably worthwhile collaborative experiment by these two artists and in the end all I can say is that if you give this album a fair go it is definitely a grower.

A-

- Sam