El Michels Affair - Enter the 37th Chamber (2009)

El Michels Affair started life as a house band for a small record label Soul Fire Records, before transitioning into a recording 9-piece musical collaboration led by saxophonist and organist Leon Michels. With this, Michels also started his own record label the Brooklyn-based Truth & Soul Records, a record label dedicated to producing and releasing soul and funk material. El Michel’s Affair play only instrumentals, and their style is a fusion of 60s and 70s soul and funk, Afrobeat and jazz, with some coining this mix of styles cinematic soul, something I completely understand as their music does sound very much like the soundtrack to the movie you have never seen. Their sort of loose, raw playing style is very much Meters-inspired, and perhaps also the Roots, something which I guess keeps with their house band origins and suits very much the sorts of instrumentals they play.

This brings me to the album itself, which aside from containing some amazingly good sounds, is also as a concept quite a clever idea and something which definitely caught my eye. This album Enter the 37^th Chamber is quite a unique album, as it’s a cover album of instrumental versions of Wu Tang Clan and Raekwon tracks, with the band putting their own jazz-funk slant on the backing tracks and beats of some of hip hop’s classic tracks. From my perspective, this is such a cool idea and something I have often contemplated when listening to hip hop. Leaving aside the amazing lyrics which you can get with hip hop, the one thing about this style of music which I have always been sucked into is the quality production, and amazing backing tracks and samples you can find on hip hop recordings, beats that I have often thought would sound amazing just on their own. This makes El Michels Affair’s attempt to recreate such tracks on this album even better, as they are recreating them by playing them live within the confines of a soul-jazz ensemble; and boy do the band do a more than adequate job in covering such classic tracks as Wu Tang’s “CREAM” and “Uzi (Pinky Ring)” and Raekwon’s (who incidentally helped oversee the production and recording of this album) “Criminology”.  

This is such a dope album both concept-wise and musically speaking. It’s music to chill out to, to relax to, to entertain with, and enjoy summer with. I am a big fan of artists who play instrumental music across all styles and these guys with their own unique interpretation of Wu Tang certainly hooked me. I look forward in seeing what else they have up their sleeve, and what they might put their funky, jazzy touch to in the future. DOPE. 

A-

- Sam 

Queen - Live at the Rainbow 74 (2014)

Queen Live at the Rainbow 74 is a newly released live album of Queen’s two 1974 shows at the famous Rainbow theatre in London, shows which took place during the bands Queen II tour in March which forms the basis of disc one, and the Sheer Heart Attack tour in November which features on disc two. The recordings capture the band at their hard rocking and theatrical best, when they were really just unknown novices and before they had broken through into the mainstream. The concerts were originally supposed to be released as a live album at the time but instead were put on the backburner with the band deciding to focus instead on the recording of their seminal album A Night at the Opera. Now forty years later, the original tapes have been re-mastered and polished up and boy oh boy do they sound good, with a crystal clear sound and fantastic mix which means you can actually here the individual instruments. This is something you don’t always get with live albums where often the sound is a bit muddled and not always the best. I am sure some pitch correction and other such things have gone on to get the sound up to a modern standard, but this is all in the name of getting a great sounding modern day historical release.

As for the material on this album, well the focus is the band’s first three albums Queen, Queen II, and Sheer Heart Attack, albums which if you know anything about early Queen are very heavy and quite progressive, something which may surprise people who only know Queen through their big late-70s and 80s hits. There are big vocals a-plenty as Mercury flexes is range, theatrics and banter with the crowd, something that occurs between each song and is a pleasure to listen to, heavy guitars, and a thunderous rhythm section courtesy of John Deacon and Roger Taylor, a somewhat underrated pairing. Song-wise, the highlights are for me mostly on disc one, the March concert with the band playing some stellar versions of tracks from their first two albums. There is the anthemic “Father To Son”, the early metal of “Ogre Battle”, the Sabbath-esque sounding “Son And Daughter”, along with two great versions of “Seven Seas Of Rhye”, “Liar” and a fantastic rollicking cover of rock and roll classic “Jailhouse Rock”. Disc two for me is the lesser of the two discs, but still captures great versions of the likes of “Keep Yourself Alive”, “Stone Cold Crazy” and “In The Lap of The Gods Revisited”. What is amazing about the material overall is how heavy Queen sounded in their early years, a sound far removed from what they became most-famous for later on. I would go as far in saying as a new band on the scene in 1974 following in the footsteps of the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Who and Black Sabbath, they certainly were footing it with the big boys of British heavy rock that had come before.

In conclusion, Live at the Rainbow 74 is a fantastic sounding record and offers up a great insight into early-Queen, a period in their career which has not really received much attention, especially in terms of re-releases. People forget Queen started as a hard rock band and this album does a great job in capturing their early sound. For people not familiar with the early part of the bands career, some of the material might fall a bit flat at times just because of their often theatrical and progressive nature both lyrically and musically, but this does not get in the way of what is a great 70s rock and roll show, featuring a band throwing everything they had in their arsenal out there on the stage. Little did they know that this was just the start of something much, much bigger to come, but as this albums shows, the marker was being laid down in a big way. 

A

- Sam 

T Rex - The Slider (1972)

The Slider was the seventh studio album released by 70s UK glam rockers T Rex. Released in 1972, it was the second of their releases which showcased their new found glam sound, after releasing their first few albums as a folk outfit in the late-60s. The timing was perfect for the band to completely change their image and sound, with Britain in the midst of a glam rock revolution in the early-70s with artists such as David Bowie, Slade, and Roxy Music tearing up the charts. But aside from Bowie, it would was Marc Bolan and his merry men who would blow all others out of the water with their often hard-edged and incredibly catchy pop/rock style.

Sound-wise, well The Slider tends to follow on from the bands previous effort, the very successful Electric Warrior album in what is a mixture of anthemic bubble-gum rock, downer folk, and glam ballads. Vocally there is plenty of high-pitched falsettos, while lyrically the songs move from sort of mystical folk themes to often overtly sexual lyrics. The songs are held down by a very sturdy rhythm section of Steve Currie on bass, Mickey Finn on percussion, and Bill Legend on drums, but it is clear from the outset that Bolan is the star attraction out front and centre with his vocals, guitar playing, and overall theatrical take on pretty much everything. It is also pretty clear throughout the album that Bolan loves a good groove as there are plenty on here, with the guitar and bass providing the impetus on many of the tracks with some great rock and roll riffs.

As for the tracks themselves, well the album kicks off with the Bowie-esque glam anthem “Metal Guru”, the albums single which ended up topping the charts in the UK at the time. Although it’s a nice rousing sing-a-long start to the album, musically speaking it is nothing special and tends to be a wee bit repetitive, but hell, at least it gets you in the mood for what’s to come. “Mystic Lady” is next, a slow folk ballad which again fails to capture my imagination, while “Rock On” ends what is a very slow and un-exciting start to the record. However, thankfully things being to pick up from here starting with the slow riff rocker “The Slider” and the catchy bubble gum rock and roller “Baby Boomerang” with its 50s guitar and falsetto-laden vocals. After another blip on the radar with “Spaceball Ricochet” the band turn things up a notch again with heavy rocker “Buick Mackane”, a stomping guitar track which would notably be covered by Guns n’ Roses years later. Then there is perhaps the album standout “Telegram Sam”, a song that epitomises glam rock with its riffs, falsettos, elicit lyrics and even some cheeky sax thrown in for good measure. “Rabbit Fighter” is another ballad, but this time the band do a better job with a song that also showcases Bolan’s rough and ready guitar playing, proving that he was also a pretty good guitarist in his own right despite being not technically great. Things move along with more riffage on “Baby Strange” with its somewhat playful and explicit lyrics “I want to call you, I want to ball you”, I guess it is glam after all? And the album finally winds down with the best of the folk ballads on the album “Ballrooms of Mars”, “Chariot Choogle” and the double-tracked falsetto album closer “Main Man”.

In conclusion, The Slider is probably T Rex’s most complete album considering they were on the most part a singles band, with there being plenty of standout tracks mixed in with some lesser moments to. It’s the folk ballads where the album tends to fall a bit on the way side, with these tracks not really living up to the more up-tempo rockers in intensity and what I would describe as overall zing. Despite containing mixed results there is still plenty of good material on here to remind that Bolan was a star lyricist, vocalist and overall showman, and as an album certainly The Slider ranks well within the glam rock canon. Definitely worth a listen if anything as an example of early-70s glam rock in the UK, and also in hearing how T Rex could marry the folk of their early career with the glam rock which they became more well known for. 

B 

- Sam 

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Naturally (2005)

Naturally is the second studio album by soul-revival combo Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, a band whose style is a nod to classic 60s and 70s soul, funk and R&B. The band formed in 1996 and are spearheads of a revivalist movement which aims to bring the classic soul sound of that period to a more modern audience, and my word do they succeed at this mission.

I discovered Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings quite by accident when I was listening to student radio here in Auckland and one of their tracks came on. My immediate reaction to put it simply was wow! Who is this amazing singer, what is this sound?  This prompted me to do some research, leading me to dive into their back catalogue, a move that ultimately led me to this album Naturally. There’s swing, there’s swagger, there’s plenty of soul, while R&B and funk make their presence felt in many of the arrangements, arrangements that often include a full horn section just like it was at the likes of Stax records and FAME studios. The Dap Kings rock as a band and are clearly pros at what they do, with their sound and obviously their name taking influence from the classic soul bands of the period whose music they play, think the Booker T & the MGs, think the Funk Brothers, think the Mar-Keys. And then there’s the women herself, Sharon Jones, the face of the band, the leader of the group and the amazing singer and front woman that steers the ship and holds everything together. Her voice is quite simply stunning on all of the tracks on here and my word she does justice to a style that is fifty years old. Aside from the great playing by the Dap Kings, Jones is the reason anyone into soul music, or even just good singing should pick up this album and take a listen. It is also briefly worth noting how the band in recording this album decided to shun modern day digital recording technology and instead decided to use more traditional analog recording equipment. The result is a real earthy, lo-fi sounding record, something which I feel is highly appropriate for the music they are playing and it really comes across nicely on the record.

Which brings me to the songs themselves. The album kicks off with a killer track “How do I let a Good Man Down?”, a song that is very Motown-esque sounding with a stellar vocal from Jones, some sizzling guitar and some popping horns. A standout track straight off the bat and a great way to kick things off. Things follow on nicely with “Natural Born Lover”, a song that has more of a contemporary R&B flavour and is quite laid back, while “Stranded in Your Love” is a slower track that has an Otis Redding feel to it and includes a little spoken word section with Jones and guest vocalist Lee Fields to start it off. Things get back in the groove with “My Man Is a Mean Man”, a track which showcases some pretty groovy bass playing in the James Jamerson style, while “You’re Gonna Get It” is a slow ballad, which although contains some nice singing tends to labour a bit. “How Long Do I Have to Wait for You” is a breezy soul number which on first listen drew comparisons with some of New Zealand’s very own modern soul songstresses namely Aradhna and Ladi6. I feel now having listened to the album a couple of times that it is on these more up-tempo soul numbers where Jones is at her best vocally and really shines. As we get into the back end of the album, Jones attempts the one and only cover on the record, a version of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, all be it a soul take on this folk classic. Her version is completely unalike the original and you wouldn’t even know it was a cover, which is a good thing as it clearly shows she has made it her own and is not simply imitating what is a very recognisable song in its own right. The album finally wind down with the funky Stax-sounding “Your Thing is a Drag”, the bizarrely titled blues number “Fish in the Dish”, and album closer “All Over Again” which is a soothing soulful way to go out on.

Overall, this is a fine record with the only real gripe I have being in some of the song-writing which can go astray at times. Sharon and the band do a fantastic job in paying homage to what is one of the greatest styles of music in history from one of the greatest periods in music, and are uncompromising in applying their own contemporary but retro take on soul, funk and R&B. Having listened to a couple of their other records now, I feel you could pick any one of them and enjoy it, no one album really stands out from the rest.  At times some of the material does come across as a bit repetitive or laborious, but this does not by any stretch take away from the amazing music of this group, a group who I definitely recommend you check out. 

B+

- Sam 

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - CSNY 1974 (2014)

CSNY 1974 is the newly-released, retrospective live album of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s infamous 1974 stadium tour, a tour which many rock historians consider to be the first major stadium rock tour. This live retrospective is being released in several formats, something which is pretty standard these days for nostalgia releases like this one. I managed to get my hands on the cheaper single disc release, although you can upgrade to the more expensive deluxe and super deluxe editions which contain multiple discs of the entire set-list, as well as god knows what else. What’s the point I say unless you are a collector, or like to look at photocopies of old tickets. For me anyway a standard one disc version does the trick just nicely.

The tracks on this album were recorded at various concerts across the tour and according to Graham Nash who supervised and helped produce this release, some cutting and pasting of songs took place, although you wouldn’t know from listening as the production and sound quality is pretty good I must say. This comes as a relief as there is nothing worse than a live album with poor sound quality, something which is often the case with live albums, especially from decades gone by where the technology was not as good.

So what is the music like? I for one was quite intrigued when I heard this album was coming out as I have always thought about how CSNY would sound live, given how good they sound on record. Thankfully there is plenty on here to satisfy and interest the listener and there are little moments which do make the listener take notice. For example, one thing I did like was hearing Young’s backing vocals on tracks he did not originally appear on. So obviously I am talking CSN tracks here and some of the solo material from the other three. Likewise, it was great hearing Crosby, Stills & Nash sing in harmony together on Young’s solo stuff, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and “Old Man” were two particular standouts. The ending to “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” provided one of the high points of the album when the four of them sang the final verse a cappella in what can only be described as a spine tingling moment. The version on here of “Teach Your Children” was also another great moment, with the voices moulding so well together, something which in itself amazes me considering the noise that would come from playing in front of fifty-plus thousand people. Album closer “Ohio” was the icing on the cake. A stellar version which included some amazing guitar dulling between Stills and Young, two six-string maestros going at full tilt in what really was a moment of 70s rock ecstasy and the perfect way to end on.

All in all a very interesting retrospective look into CSNY live as they were in 1974, and as they could have continued to be if they actually liked each other. As a live recording it’s not going to blow any of the great live albums out of the water, but there were some nice moments amidst some lesser ones as well, something which maybe comes down to song quality and the difference between Stills and Young, who are frankly better song-writers, and the other two. In the end definitely worthwhile as an historical exercise and worth a release, all be it forty years later. 

B 

- Sam