Inner Soundtracks--Temple IV by Roy Montgomery--

People who know me well know about my obsession with New Zealand music. It's strange that at this stage I can't really remember how it all started, but it probably was with a Byron Coley article in Spin Magazine. For a while there was the whole Flying Nun Records scene plus the artists on Xpressway. Chills, The Clean, The Bats, Bailter Space, Tall Dwarfs, Alastair Galbraith, Verlaines, Dead C, Look Blue Go Purple, Bill Direen, Cakekitchen, etc....For a place with a very small population, they came up with a lot of fine and diverse music. These days I pick up a record from there once in a while, but not like I the way I used to. But it was a good run while it lasted.

Profound

Roy Montgomery is deep voiced Kiwi guitarist originally known for his Flying Nun band Pin Group and definitely influenced by the Velvet Underground. He later released music as Dadamah and as Dissolve, and collaborated with the band Flying Saucer Attack & Bardo Pond. For a while Roy Montgomery put out records on Drunken Fish Records, a label that really did a great job of putting out innovative music from different parts of the world. He was on the Harmony of Spheres project, where six different artists were given a side to create music. I first heard Montgomery on this record, on the side long Variations On A Theme By Sandy Bull (who incidentally was a great American guitarist/stringed instrument virtuoso), which astounded me.

Temple IV is a hypnotically spiritual and intensely instrumental album that I could not recommend more highly. The album was recorded in NYC on a 4-track cassette recorder over the course of a week with some synthesizer overdubs later. But the genesis of the recordings sprung from his time spent in Tikal, Guatemala, and the night he spent on top of Temple IV in the rain forest. The album was dedicated to a woman he had loved who recently passed on--and this was part of the whole process of coming to terms with the loss. Listening to the album it is hard to believe it was recorded in a room on 13th street. It feels to me like one entire piece in different parts and seems to elapse in real time, rather than the condensed feel we are accustomed to listen to in music. The titles of the songs reflect spirituality and Central America--The Soul Quietens, The Passage of Forms, Jaguar Meets Snake--for some reason it is not that difficult to imagine yourself lying peacefully atop a temple in Guatemala staring up into the dark starry night. Quieter drony pieces are followed by noisier distorted guitar meanderings, but tied together with an underlying rhythm.

Several years later I had the privilege of seeing Roy Montgomery live at a show in New York at The Cooler a meat locker converted into a club on 14th St. I really wanted to get there because I had a strong suspicion that I would not get many opportunities to see him perform. When I heard that the admission was free I thought that I needed to get there super early because I just assumed the place would be swarmed. But I guess that's the way I want to see the world. I had no problem getting in, though eventually the place did get pretty packed. When I got there the venue was still gated up--I wasn't sure I was in the right place, and there was not a lot of foot traffic there. I must have waited about an hour and a half before they let us in. Contrast that with me having to scalp a ticket to see Better Than Ezra at Irving Plaza, a band I tagged along with friends to see who I knew nothing about.

Even more amazing was the fact that the openers on the bill were Godspeed You! Black Emperor from Montreal and the aforementioned Sandy Bull and his first New York gig in 30 years. I will be talking about that part of the show at a future date. Suffice it to say that it was a great show in an odd venue, with the low ceilings, freezers doors, and the metal grids where the meat hooks hung from the ceilings. And there were no shortage of ex-pats in the audience supporting a fellow kiwi, like Hamish Kilgour, drummer from the Clean, and the Bailter Spacers. Aside from that he sounded great, I still can't believe that he actually performed a fantastic duet with a bagpiper!! I wish someone had recorded this gig for posterity.

Aside from the Pin Group and Dadamah, Roy has made a number of solo albums including the similar sounding Scenes From The South Island, And Now The Rains Feels Like Life Is Falling Down Through It, and The Allegory of Hearing. Many of his rare vinyl singles can be heard on the Drunken Fish compilation  324 E13th St and on the more recent Inroads (which contains Dawn Fades Over Ocean, Sister Clean, and the knockout Velvets homage Sterling Morrison Corner 10th and First.) These days he works as a College professor in New Zealand and has not released any new recordings in nearly ten years. Hopefully someday soon he will put out something new in his spare time, even if only a single.

I Hear Your Voice--Its like An Angel Sighing--Astrid Williamson

Cocaine and Chocolate Won't Keep You Alive
But They Might Fill You Up When You Feel Deprived

This review is of the first solo album of ex-Goya Dress singer Astrid Williamson from 1998. I was led to this CD from a rave review in the Big Takeover magazine quite a while ago. I was immediately captivated by this Shetland-born musician's wonderful singing voice. Then I took notice of her keyboard prowess, and the great songs she wrote. Oh, yeah, and she is flat out beautiful too, like a fashion model. You might wonder why she isn't a household name, I mean, how could you market a performer like this?

I think on some level, though all the songs are good, a misfire was made--two things are being done at once here, and the contrast hurts the album. The lyrics are heartfelt, introspective, and the songs are well put together, but I think that someone had the idea that these songs would be a big hit in the clubs. A lot of the arrangements have a dance beat to them, and it doesn't seem to work that well, seems not to gibe with the material. I liked the music so much that I picked up some of the singles to this, and they contained some uncluttered acoustic demos of some of the album tracks and I find them preferable. For example, the song Hozanna's double tracked vocals a little distant and cold on the album, but the demo version has so much more heart, more like a gospel song. Sing For Me & I Am The Boy For You sound so much better as introspective ballads than arrangements, accentuating the strengths of her as a performer and changing the entire vibe of the songs. You can even hear the squeak of the piano bench on some of the demos.

The Sight of You In Rococo Blue--
I Have No Choice,  I Hear Your Voice

But I don't mean to completely detract from the overall  high quality of the album. The music is just too good to be wrecked. The three songs I mentioned previously are excellent. Everyone's Waiting, World At Your Feet, If I Loved You, & Say What You Mean are terrific also. At the end there is an untitled bonus track with just her on piano that sounds like a song from a Broadway musical. I wish that the whole record could have been done in this manner.

She has put out three good album subsequently and Goya Dress' Rooms is definitely due for a reissue.

Quiet But Deadly-- Chappaquiddick Skyline

If you are not familiar with the Pernice Brothers, this is probably the third album you should look into. Northampton Massachusetts' own Joe Pernice is simply one of the best and most eloquent contemporary American songwriters. His first record, the string-laden Overcome By Happiness and dark 60's pop of The World Won't End are two fantastic albums that deserve all the critical accolades.

But this album is a quiet gem, a side project but for all in name a stripped down and sad Pernice Brothers album. On this record the music matches the words. Reflective dark lyrics, beautiful melodies,  vocals subdued but with quiet intensity, this record is mostly perfect introspective chamber pop. Some of the songs on this record are Pernice's very best. Quite accidentally, I stumbled on a review of this record in Pitchfork from about ten years ago, and the critic shreds the album. And I can understand him in a way--if I had written this review after I had heard this album for the first time I would have been underwhelmed. You almost unavoidably find yourself comparing the record to his other body of work. But this album was not created like this accidentally--it was a deliberate departure from Pernice albums. After I heard the album a few times I realized how great the songs are, and that the arrangements are poignant and that the music meshes as a whole.



"I hate my life" begins Everyone Else is Evolving a sad song, lyrics for someone stuck in a loop. Solitary Swedish Houses sounds like a standard, makes me visualize a cold cold cloudless blue sky in winter, one of Pernice's great works. But there are many highlights, Courage Up, Hundred Dollar Pocket both reminiscent of Pernice's early countryish group Scud Mountain Boys. Breakneck Speed is another little gem, with touching falsetto emphasizing the futility and helplessness of a relationship.

Do You Think We Might Have Made It Up Somehow?

Two of You Sleep is very much an Everly Brothers homage, contrasted by dark lyrics of betrayal, disappointment and sad resignation. The one non original song is a slightly slowed up Leave Me Alone by New Order which is works well here, done for the most part in the style of the original. Pernice has threatened to release a sequel to Chappaquiddick but at this point has not gotten around to it. Some of his best songs are on this album, so I could understand that he might want to keep songs of this calibre with his main project. He is an artist that doesn't seem to like staying in one place--you could argue that his albums are genre exercises that could have existed in different decades or at least that he has a questing spirit who wants to keep developing stylistically. Certainly he has a penchant for melding bright AM Radio ready melodies to dark lyrics. On his third album, His Mine and Ours he explores songs in the style of the 80's a la The Smiths and New Order. But really whatever arrangement the songs come in, they are at their essence melodious and articulate.

Pointed Sticks--Waiting For The Real Thing--Don't wait--buy this now!!!!

Canada---home of Bryan Adams, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Celine Dion, Lawrence Welk, Stompin' Tom Connors. With the exception of Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Rush, Americans didn't show a lot of respect for Canadian musical artists. That is at least until recently with the success of New Pornographers, Sloan, Arcade Fire, Metric, Stars, The Dears, etc.. Turns out that there were quite a few cool bands back in the 80's, Modernettes, D.O.A, Young Canadians, The Nils to name a few.

Out Of Luck Again

Pointed Sticks are probably the biggest example of punk greatness that I was clueless about. It's unbelievable that I learned about these guys so recently. This music was not easily available until Sudden Death Records reissued this compilation and also their Perfect Youth Album. Maybe this band is only cool to like if you live in Japan, where they apparently have a loyal following. The Waiting For The Real Thing compilation is by far my favorite Canadian album. If the Undertones were the Irish Buzzcocks, then the Pointed Sticks are Canada's Undertones (albeit with more keyboard).

Waiting for the Real Thing is an odds and sods collection of singles, performance from the landmark Vancouver Complication comp, unreleased songs and live performances.So what do you want me to do? Listen to the same titled first song. A nice driving  classic punk pop song. The B side to that single follows, Someone Else's Mom. Some great vocals by singer Nick Jones plus a kinetic solo by Bill Napier-Hemy on guitar. After this single Gord Nicholl played spirited keyboards on all the other tunes except  the great You Must Be Crazy from Vancouver Complication. Real Thing is a slower more new wave tune-pretty good, though I prefer the uptempo numbers.

Out of Luck is definitely one of my favorite songs ever--a soundtrack to romantic frustration, a blur of tuneful energy that almost seems to end before it starts. And there is one great tune after the next on this collection, each a near equal to Out Of Luck. Lies, I'm Numb, It's Ok, all revved up smashes. All I Could Take is a speeded up Country tune. How Could You is another terrific tune in the vein of Shelley & Diggle.

Another standout on this record is Marching Song, an infectiously poppy 100 words a minute winner. They also notably cover the 60's garage tune The Witch by Seattle's own Sonics. Apologies is another high water mark on this bountiful anthology. The Pointed Sticks were not around for that long at all, so one thing you see is that the unreleased track are all pretty worthy songs. They were not songs that were unreleased due to quality control, but because they never got around to formally recording them. Care Less, Worse, Middle Age Teenagers/No More Love, are all worthy additions to the canon. Additionally, the rave up Automatic You has 2 more songs appended to it, Dion's (I Was) Born To Cry and Del Shannon's Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow The Sun). So actually 26 songs crammed on one disc!

Canadian Punk Pop Masters

In 2006 the band began working together again after many years. They put out a 7" My Japanese Fan and also released on the Internet two pretty nifty Christmas songs, Power Pop Santa and Xmastime Again. That was just a teaser for their long overdue 2nd album Three Lefts Make A Right, which is pretty good, not on the level of this disc, but a very welcome addition. In fact they just toured Japan briefly again in July, so who knows maybe one of these days we may see them do a gig in New York. But for the time being, do yourself a favor and get this CD without delay.

On Fingers That Dance to Invisible Sound--Up On The Sun-Meat Puppets Dreamtime Opus

Phoenix is in the desert. I've been there a few times and no matter how far the Phoenix metropolitan area expands, no matter how many Starbucks or Sushi bars get built, it's still desert. The Valley of The Sun. Definitely very different from the Northeastern US I am used to. So very brown--brown dirt, brown houses. Deserts seem to be places for reflection--so many religious creeds came from such an environment. And of course Alice Cooper and Stevie Nicks.

Not Too Much More--Too Much More

Back in 1984, a bunch of notable American "post-punk" albums were released on indie labels. Husker Du's concept album Zen Arcade (SST), The Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime (SST), The Replacement's Let It Be (Twin/Tone). Another great one from the SST label that is less remembered today is Phoenix's Meat Puppets' II album, a refreshing caterwauling burst of stoner country punk that at the time garnered impressive reviews. Plus a nice cave painting of an album cover.The Kirkwood brothers seemingly arrived out of nowhere, to college radio airplay and critical notoriety. Reminds me of a car drive out to nowhere, blindly finding your way through the eighties, without really a road map. Life was going off in a lot of directions, and even to this day it is a pretty ill defined period as compared to the three prior decades. Songs like Lost, Climbing, Split Myself In Two, and Plateau, are great songs that are perfect time capsules of that era, like an existential odyssey. But I think what was even more amazing and unique was their follow up album.

Up On the Sun is just such an odd unusual album. It is quite a departure from II, a stoned psychedelic sun damaged piece of jerky twitchy virtuosity, with mumbled croony vocals. I don't think there is anything out there quite like this. Musically it is really tight, not rough and lo-fi sounding like its predecessor. Not exactly a punk album like the prior, but punk in the fact that went out and created something really out there and weren't concerned about what was fashionable. I think that the unusual clipped chiming  guitar sound was created by Curt Kirkwood using a dime instead of a pick.

Up On The Sun is a drawling psychedelic drone shuffle--when I hear this I keep imagining desert gods dancing on top of mesas, stepping out of an air conditioned car and walking out into the heat blast of the Southwest. Maiden's Milk is a musical workout of an instrumental, with matching guitar and bass runs and insane whistling. Away is a twitchy slightly funky tune with more mumbly drones on vocals. Animal Kingdom is another highlight--what the song is about, I just don't know, but when I hear it they might be making a statement about the unity and wonder of the universe.

Hot Pink is an odd chant of a song, like a children's rhyme or like an arid version of The Banana Boat song. Swimming Ground is a warm nostalgic paean to childhood fun. Buckethead is also a fairly poppy trippy tune with some nice big hooks. Too Real is more of a conventional rocking song, with a ZZ-Top esque riff to it, which was later more fully explored on the Huevos album. Enchanted Pork Fist is another driving psychedelic headscratcher. Seal Whales is a shambling spaghetti western instrumental two-step. Two Rivers reminds me of an REM song melted in the heat. The finale Creator sounds a bit like an outtake from Meat Puppets II with the instrumentation from the current album. The overall feel is a little rougher with a little more wild off kilter energy---a great ending to the album. The Rykodisc reissue tacks on mainly dubbed out slower versions of some of the albums songs--recommended only if you are too wasted to change discs.

People often contrast this album to Meat Puppets II unfavorably, but I think that this album is an idiosyncratic gem--People were expecting a Meat Puppets III, but were served a change-up. The musical craftsmanship is impeccable and the songs are so creatively put together. A knock on the album is the vocals; no one would ever say that they are exceptional vocalists. But somehow everything fits on this so well, that I don't pay a lot of attention to the off key mumbling vocals. Another example of musicians following their own path, and coming up with something extraordinary.

Mardi Gras in Worcester--My Professor Longhair Epiphany

Grace Descends Slowly On Our Unconscious Sleepy Heads-
David McComb

I was in college back in my youth, standing in Al Bum's records, looking through the bins for something interesting, maybe the Lynch Mob 7",  maybe Velvet Underground, or some at least some good used punk. I didn't have a lot of money on me that day, so I had to choose wisely. Quite accidentally I stumbled upon this record--- Crawfish Fiesta?? An elderly African American man in a jean jacket with a bunch of cartoon crayfish? What the heck could this be? For some crazy reason I had to own this, even though the $6 price seemed a little steep for a record that was completely unknown to me. Honestly, I bought it for laughs, because of the zany cover, thinking it was some sort of wacky novelty record.

I had no idea what I was getting into. Turns out the laugh was on me. It was a very lucky day for me because I was introduced to someone who would quickly become one of my musical heroes-Mr. Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd aka Professor Longhair. The "Bach of Rock".

Now I've been playing the piano for a long time, and for me, this record was something of a revelation. I loved music, but most rock and roll keyboard players I didn't get excited about. I always liked the guitar. But this was like the best stuff imaginable, music that never failed to cheer me up when I was down in the dumps. This piano music was an entirely different story. And the Professor was a great piano player, with his own special style, which I think has been imitated but not quite duplicated. I guess one of the distinctive things about his style is the left hand Caribbean rumba cadence that he plays in juxtaposition with the rock and roll, R n B of his right. And he was one of the great originators, who set an example and was a mentor for pianists like Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, James Booker, and Dr. John. And though he was no longer a young man when this album was recorded, he was in fine form here, giving spirited rendition of classic songs with a crack band behind him, including Mac Rebannack (Dr John) on guitar. And I'm still fruitlessly trying to play like him.

Unfortunately he died the same year as this was released. Though his career revived it was short lived, and apparently he had a tough life. After releasing a number of hit single in the late 40's, early 50's he basically disappeared, though he still played around town for the tourists, house parties for the locals. When people were attempting to market the Mardi Gras celebrations in the 70's, apparently one of the promoters happened to hear "Go to the Mardi Gras" on a juke box. His first impression of the song was that this needed to be the theme song of the whole festival. He was even  more excited to find out that Professor Longhair was alive, and was someone who did odd jobs around town. They set out to find him. It took a while, but they finally met him when he came into a record store at the end of the day to sweep the floor. It's a real shame that he had been living hand to mouth for some time, suffering from physical infirmity and possibly malnutrition.

Listening to this album, nothing could be less evident. This is really an energetic, uptempo, fun party album, played in Longhair's unique style. A top notch New Orleans scorcher that has a real live feel to it. Crawfish Fiesta starts out with the amazing "Big Chief" which has my favorite piano riff of all time running through it, with a horn line contrasting, and of course his trademark whistling. Next song is the funky Her Mind is Gone with some spirited piano solos.

On the third song he switches things up with the melancholy poignant ballad Something On Your Mind, another highlight. Another winning ballad on this disc is the superb Cry To Me with a nice sax solo. He also has two piano instrumentals, the elegant Wille Fugal's Blues, and the closer, Crawfish Fiesta, which sounds like an old traditional New Orleans song. This is an album full of delightful songs. You're Driving Me Crazy, Red Beans, In the Wee Wee Hours, the hilarious Bald Head, Whole Lotta Loving---all dynamite versions here.

The album does not have Tipitina or Mardi Gras in New Orleans on it, so if you like this you will probably need to seek out more of his music. There was the Rhino anthology "Fess" out, plus there are discs of his precomeback recordings like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and include some good saxophone work from Lee Allen. Of note also is the Rock n Roll Gumbo album which he recorded with guitarist Charles "Gatemouth" Brown.

Taking Us To School

But Crawfish Fiesta is one of my favorite records of all time, and with this album in your collection, you can make every day Mardi Gras.

Playland--Don't Believe All The Hype--We Need Our Heritage

Playland Amusement Park has been an institution in Westchester County for more than 80 years. Today governments at all levels are facing budget shortfalls are confronted with tough spending decisions. Apparently the fate of Playland is one of those decisions. For years the park has been operating at a deficit, and the new County Executive Rob Astorino is taking a hard look at the scope and organization of County Government. Recently he was claiming that Westchester was operating at a deficit of $166 million dollars, (not sure how you can come up with such a precise number, worst case scenario, possibly?). So what is the solution to these budgetary woes?

When Astorino was running for election last year, he was running on a campaign to reduce the size of government and lower taxes. Government had overstretched its reach and was involving itself in things that was beyond its role. Critics of the Spano Administration pointed out that property taxes were the highest in America. This was very effective politically, as we see in this upcoming election year, when politicians in an astonishing exercise in amnesia or subterfuge are trying to blame government spending for the recession and massive unemployment. After the failure of the market system, the same old saws are coming out of the woodshed again. Another issue that helped Astorino get elected was the affordable housing settlement that the county made, where certain affluent towns would have to build affordable housing for minorities, i.e. never in my back yard. A lot of people seemed to think that County government was unnecessary and that it could be just completely eliminated, without any of the services that County Government does being  transferred to another tier of government. In any event Astorino wound up winning in a landslide, so his message had a lot of resonance with the populace.

And because of campaign promises, one of the solutions off the table is tax increases, even a very moderate one. No one likes taxes obviously, but things like balanced budget amendments and laws restricting deficit spending make things difficult for government to operate by restricting options. In a crisis, government needs to spend sometimes, as it has over the last 2 years. It seems that deficit spending is was alright prior to President Obama--I wonder where all these penny pinching mavens of fiscal responsibility in the Republican party were during the deficit spending in the Bush years and tax cuts while we were fighting two wars! And unfortunately, like any candidate running against an incumbent for this job, one of things that he also chose to ignore was that 75% to 80% of the County budget is mandated by the state, so there is not that much proportionally to cut. And suddenly cuts were characterized as being "symbolic", because government does not have the authority to not fund mandates and results are suddenly not as important. Another part of the tax problem is that the majority of the taxes that the old administration was criticized for were taxes calculated and levied by local governments, not the County. I guess hard and fast campaign promises can get you elected, but in the final analysis, maybe in the long run painting yourself into an ideological corner is not prudent or practical. The flip side of the argument is that tax cuts can't be made at the expense of having bad government, where nothing can get done, and residents are harmed in the process.

After all, while he may want to do things to prune down government, his job is in fact to run government and provide services, not just to cut expenditures. If cutting and burning means inadequate and ineffective government he is not doing his job. If something is not working right, fix it. In most cases, there are reasons why programs exist. These days we constantly hear opinions on what government should not do--I am not too certain about what Astorino feels the job of government actually is. All of this can wind up being a very divisive thing, because budget cuts can force sacrifices from people who can least afford it. Some people don't have a problem with sacrifice, as long as it does not directly affect their interests. But cutbacks can often have unintended consequences that do wind up affecting the whole community.

One of opinions we hear about Playland is that we are the only government that runs an amusement park. I say so what? I'm proud of the fact that Westchester is unique. And I firmly believe that there are ways to make the park more profitable. While I agree that huge deficits are a problem, I don't know whether the goal of the park is necessarily profitability, but rather to provide a recreational service. Are the other County Parks running in the black? Another thing that I've been hearing is that the people who are patronizing the park are "not residents". So exception is taken to County funds subsidizing other communities. But if Playland was made $5 million would anyone be making such an argument? Then NYC could argue that they were subsidizing us!! Maybe its a testament to the attractiveness of the venue that people would travel from other places to go there. And the close proximity to so many people should be considered a major contributory asset to the long term success of the park. I would hope that the argument is not a sort of coded message, that the park is attracting "undesirables". But judging the overreaction of people to affordable housing in some areas in Westchester, you have to wonder whether it is playing to an ugly political base.

I would not argue that some modernization is necessary for the park, and that perhaps government may not have the sort of funds to enable such improvements. Perhaps better marketing is in order, or maybe more special events with a residual effect of attracting bigger crowds and ultimately attracting first time visitors who become regular customers. One of the assets of the park but also to an extent a developmental drawback is that there is a certain traditional character to the park that should be respected and maintained. It would be a disaster to have a private company come in and tear the whole place down and make it into a Six Flags. Another idea would be to create or lease activities and destinations that could be utilized year round, such as restaurants or indoor recreation, in addition to the Ice Rink.

When I think of possible solutions, I find that Rye Playland reminds me of Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. It has that same old time charm, and a family atmosphere and would seem to me, at least on a very basic level a good template for what Playland can be. People young and old go there, if only wander around, grab a bight to eat, or sit on a bench and relax. Tivoli, like Playland has been around a long time and is a part of the history of the area. I can't imagine that there are many people there who are interested in shutting the place down. I understand that it is not a government enterprise, that it was created by beer barons in the mid 19th century. But if what they have is successful, I think that an analysis of what they are doing over there would be a boon. I know that something as great as what we have in Westchester can work, and that  losing Playland would be an irreplaceable loss for Westchester. And I think that we all know from experience that once you tear something down, its difficult perhaps economically impossible to bring it back. And sometimes, the question is not what is necessary, but what sort of society and life do we want to have, a fundamental role of government.

A lot of conservatives think that government always is bad, that private enterprise is the answer to everything (funny how that mantra is still being chanted after the events of the last two years?) It used to be that if something didn't work, you would try to fix it. And these same people keep running for office, so if they fail I guess it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. How completely cynical of them. I guess they run for office because of the gratitude that awaits them after they retire from politics. And after all the nightmares that came from deregulation and defunding of government agencies, to keep maintaining that big government has created the mess we are in is actually duplicitous. There are no ideas except cut taxes from this crowd, and ten years of tax cuts have done what?? Well, true, we have an even greater chasm between the wealthy and the vast majority of us. It seems unbelievable to me that so many relevant and crucial issues are being addressed since Obama has come to office and people don't remember nearly a decade of government inaction. Is that what everyone wants? Government has a big role to play for us--the job of business has nothing to do with the public weal, only making profits. Government is the agency that can help our country to be the place we want it to be, to live up to its great ideals, to be a real egalitarian democracy. So let's keep our public places, maintain our heritage, and support places like Playland continuing. Without them we would not be Westchester.

Chimurenga Singles--Thomas Mapfumo--The Lion of Zimbabwe

Our Country is Becoming A Desert

This collection of singles was created in the 70's when during the Zimbabwean independence movement in what was then Rhodesia. The Chimurenga movement gave a voice to this movement, though a lot of what was sung had to be expressed indirectly, in couched terms, in an attempt to avoid being silenced by the authorities. The songs on this disc were both with the Acid Band, and with Blacks Unlimited. As the independence movement grew, his music was banned and he was harassed and eventually jailed by the government for a time. He is one of the most famous musicians in his country. Due to the unfortunate situation the country is in today, apparently he is currently in exile in the United States.

Even though I don't speak the language, it is definitely some of the nicest sounding political music you could find. It seems to be a difficult tightrope to do, right about relevant things without coming off as too preachy or affected. From the translated lyrics in the liner notes, you can see that a lot of the music is about  the struggles for freedom, the hardships and frustrations of life. And these theme resonated with the Zimbabwean people, young and old.

For instance in Pfumvu Pa Ruzevha (Hardships in the Rural Areas):

Have you seen the hardships in the rural areas? The hardships at home?
Ah, hey, that's why I am a pauper.

or in Munhu Mutema (Black People):

What bother you grandmas--you always cry everyday?
What are the snags, brothers--to make you cry all the time?

In Chauya Chirizevha (Rural Life is Back)

The Chief was really saddened
seeing all his people come back--to Rural Life.

Some lost their legs
Some died there (in the bush)
Some died in their homes
Some fled their homes because of the war.

There is a nice shambling dance rhythm to the music in general, and sunny guitar riffing and in some songs some good horn work. Though the lyrics are no doubt the most important component of the songs, you can also simply enjoy the music. Overall I think that this disc is an essential component of any African music collection.

You Can't Kill Stupid By Conventional Means--Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

Hall of Fame Here We Come

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments was great little band from Columbus, Ohio. When I listen to Bait And Switch, I think about what a great live act they must have been. The album is a wild rocking, bluesy absurdist punk recording. Ron House is singing right on the edge, a guy at the crossroads with a hell hound on his back, pursuing his own distinct path through the blues, kind of like a lower register Jello Biafra. This album got some traction upon its release but like most things I can't imagine a lot of people are into this today. Too bad.

There is a lot of energy and attitude here, the guitar work is kinetic, and the rhythm section is driving. This is an album that is not perfect--Monk said that if you don't get the song in a few takes forget it--, and it is better for that. If you hate the early Replacements albums because Paul Westerberg sang out of tune, you are a nitpicker, and this record is not for you. But Ron House definitely has his own original voice here and he makes this record such an eccentrically interesting album.

My Mysterious Death (Turn It Up) is a hard hitting start to the record, the lyrics clever and funny and serious at the same time. Is She Shy? is a follow up in the same vein a song probably about a girl he knew. Most of the songs are pretty cool with interesting lyrics, ruminations on the foibles of people, and complaining about the frustrations of life. Quarrel with the World is a great confrontational rave up. Cheater's Heaven is about flying under the radar to a place where nobody knows you and no one cares. "I would just like to enter my home and feel justified" begins You Can't Kill Stupid another reflection on modern life. Negative Guest list is a Pistoly workout. Cyclotron reminds me a lot of the New York Dolls--("You're mouth is a vast wasteland"). Wrongheaded sounds like an outtake from Husker Du's Flip Your Lid.

I guess judging by their song RNR Hall of Fame, they are not too down with the Hall of Fame in Cleveland. I guess as punks they feel that all the pomp and circumstance is pretty absurd, since punk rock took rock and roll back from the taxidermists. Blow it up before Johnny Rotten gets in, before Steve Albini makes a speech!!! Not wanting to see Kurt Cobain's shotgun is a great line, a rejection of the veneration of saint's relics.

If you like Husker Du, Replacements, New York Dolls, Gun Club, you will like this record, which is readily available at a really cheap price.

Darling, This Must Be Paradise---Alex Chilton--Feudalist Tarts--Tip On In--

Whenever the sun don't shine, you throw out a lifeline

Very saddened by the shocking premature loss of one of my favorite musicians this year. Probably Alex Chilton is best known to the general public for his stint in the Box Tops as a teenager and the huge hit "The Letter". Critically his band Big Star is one of the great American bands, though only recently popularized. Most people are familiar with Cheap Trick's version of In The Street, which is the theme song to "That Seventies Show". Of course, contrarian that I am, I first knew of him from this mini-ep Feudalist Tarts, his comeback record. Robert Christgau gave it an A- and it sounded interesting. And people who ascribe to the argument that after Big Star, he began doing unimportant things should listen to this.

At the time, I had never heard of Big Star, and it would have been nothing but an unlikely stroke of luck if I accidentally picked one of their albums up at the time. It was difficult enough for me to find Velvet Underground albums, much less Big Star. But this is a very warm, charming little album with a lot of heart, that I played to death.

The ep mixes covers and originals together and though some of the songs sounded a little familiar, I could not really differentiate between them. The vibe is very loose--I bet there weren't a lot of takes on these tracks. The horns are really nice--it's a real Memphis type sound. First up was Tee Ne Nee Ne Noo/Tip On In, just a fun soulful exercise. Second is Alex's Stuff, which is a decent track.The third song is Isaac Hayes' B.A.B.Y. which is just killer. Thank You John by Willie Turbington is another top notch workout. Alex's Lost My Job is an ok blues number with harmonica. Paradise, another original, is a short bouncy love ballad that ends the ep on an upbeat note.

You could argue that this is all a waste of time. After the greatness of Big Star, what was he doing with himself? I say sit back and enjoy the ride. People forget that while the band was critically acclaimed, during their existence they only saw commercial failure, and were pretty much unknown except to music critics and Southern musicians looking for a Southern band that didn't sound like the Allman Brothers (R.E.M., dB's). He was from Memphis and he had a great appreciation of the music traditions of Memphis in addition to the British Invasion bands. He was an iconoclast, a working musician, a man who traveled his own path. Besides, it's pretty remarkable for a band to have even one great album, much less three. How many masterpieces can one person make? I'm happy for the records that do exist, not what might have been. And if music is what you do, why would think he should ever stop doing it?

Its like the Michael Jackson thing but with quality--if Thriller sells 9 millions, the next one has to sell 11. Maybe the Clash should have kept making their first album over & over again and stayed "punk", but unfortunately for some, they weren't that boring. I'll take Sandanista any time. I remember when the great avant-prog punks from Boston Mission of Burma reunited after about 20 years. I was pretty happy for that, and I finally got a chance to see them perform for the first time in New Haven. They put a reunion album out On Off On, and I read a review where the critic said, ehh, maybe doing this wasn't really necessary. True, the album was not Vs., and there was no Academy Fight Song, or That's When I Reach For Revolver, but it was a pretty damn good comeback, pretty ferocious for a bunch of old guys. But the point is, a decent album by them is still better than 90% of the pile of product being made today.

So maybe by liking some things by Alex, I am going with a brand, not using a critical ear. I guess it is a case of branding for me. Every once and a while I like to listen to his standards album Cliches which sounds like he did the whole thing in an afternoon on one take. Rod Stewart spends millions on his extravaganzas and Alex's must have cost $800. Just him and an acoustic guitar. Not as good as the demos on the Big Star box set. But its like having him playing for you live in your living room. Funny (But I Still Love You) by Ray Charles is a particular standout. And on some of his other albums I enjoy hearing him sing in Italian (Il Ribello, Volare), or about the Dalai Lama, or when he sings a cheesy song like "What's Your Sign?". But then again, I picked up the 2 cd Ardent compilation, and right at the end you have a brief snippet of Alex singing the Beach Boys' Don't Worry Baby and when I hear this, the hairs stand up on the back of my neck and I feel simultaneously warm and sad at the same time. And then I also start to wonder about just what he was capable of doing....

Everything Turned Blue--Adam Schmitt--World So Bright--

American Idol in A Better World

Listen to this album and contemplate how this music could not have succeeded. When I was in Champaign, I remember seeing this guy around town performing, but I couldn't remember where. I was pretty sure I saw him when he was in the Farm Boys, and then in Pop The Balloon. I thought that maybe I saw him doing a cover of  "color me impressed" somewhere. But I could be wrong. I thought that he was somebody who had a lot of talent though. Later on he landed a major label deal and put out a two albums and he put out a third album on Parasol, Demolition, more recently. World So Bright was his first, and in the rock tradition of McCartney and Emmit Rhodes, most of the music was performed himself, save the drumming. This is a terrific album that somehow fell through the cracks. People who are familiar with it know what I mean--in the power pop guide by John Borack, Shake Some Action this was ranked #9 of all time. And he even looks like a rock star.

Power pop is an odd sort of genre, in that a lot of ways it is not a genre at all, and can encompass a lot of different bands, though most would agree The Butthole Surfers are not power pop. It is like yuppie, a pejorative term that somehow gained positive traction by some. Originally I think it referred to bands that sounded like the Beatles, but lacked the substance and songwriting chops, imitators. Later on people picked up on the term, saying "what's wrong with well-executed songs with big hooks and beautiful harmonies"? Cheap Trick, Big Star, The Posies, The Knack are all considered to fall under this aegis, but their styles are not all that similar. And as far as I can see, this World So Bright is more accurately a classic 80's rock album, in the vein of The Replacements/Paul Westerberg, or Tommy Keene. And as much I like the Knack, there is nothing on here like My Sharona. The songs have great chops and depth--I don't know why I didn't see him on MTV or hear him any hits on the radio.

World So Bright starts out with a should-have-been hit Dead End, a tough melodic (ultimately ironic) song.
The title track follows with its expressively orchestrated balladry--really nice. Can't get you on my mind is another nice tune, featuring guest guitar work from the late Jay Bennett of Wilco. River Black is a driving dramatic rock tune--the sort of song that Jon BonGiovi still uses to fill stadiums with. The more I listen to this, the more of a head scratcher this is. Every song on this album is very good to great--not one duff track, and this is definitely an album of its era, not decades ahead of its time.

Garden of Love, My Killer, Everything Turned Blue, all great tracks. My favorite song by a hair is Elizabeth Einstein, a nice Beatley ballad a perfect song for a movie soundtrack. Scarlet Street is another melodic album highlight. The album satisfyingly ends on a reflective At Season's End. In the final analysis, one of the best unknown albums of the 80's, and you can purchase it for pennies. They must have pressed a million of them and then changed their mind. After the his second album,  the much louder but still good Illiterature, he was dropped by his label, and is still involved in the music business but more in the area of recording bands/producing albums. Sometime in the near future a long overdue album is forthcoming, hopefully. But check this record out and see what you have been missing out on!!!

Salmonella Dub--Killervision--Ambient Psychedelic Reggae Synth Dub from New Zealand

This is a band whose name intrigued me, which is not really a good reason to go and purchase music. But they seemed to be held in some esteem in New Zealand so I took a shot. Developed a deep appreciation for this from the very beginning. Haven't listened to this much lately--but it is a well done record, sort of like a very eccentric version of the UK reggae band UB40, but with much more instrumental diversity and more interesting percussion.

I really like the loping reggae of the second song on the album For The Love Of It. The first song Dragon is pretty good, with a lot of tempo changes, but the second song is the first one that stands out for me. Dubby, a little psychedelic, with jazz interludes, Drifting is a good chill out of a song. What I found about this record is that for a type of music that can at times be repetitive, they do a good job of switching things up during songs, or at least introducing different instruments, so the songs stay interesting--like a good detective novel, you aren't always sure where things are going, and you look forward to seeing what they are going to do next. Ambience is also an important aspect of this record--I think that they must be sampling a lot of diverse sounds and putting them in the mix but I can only really hear how the whole mix comes together.

Crazy 80's is another dubby exercise, as you might expect of a band with the word dub in their name, and is a mostly trippy track with a driving synth bassline. Peyote Dub is another druggy vision quest of a track with effective use of flute. Deep into the song chanting voices come drifting in like a breeze wafting through the song. The record really is one of those where the sound makes my ears tingle. And like Wilco does with their music, I could see them taking a basic reggae song, demoing it, and then ripping it all apart, slicing and dicing, until you have a very different song. But underneath all the sonic experimentation and improvising, there is a really good song. No Worries 2000 sounds like London Calling meets Two Sevens Clash, apocalypse and steel drums. Savage is very nice, with kind of a funkier New Order vibe. Justice is a tense corker with snapshot percussion and funereal horns weaving in and out. The song Johnny sounds to me like a 2.0 update of Bob Marley's Johnny Was, but probably is so only in my own imagination.

Overall there is a spiritual feel to the whole album where you wonder whether the vocalists are chanting prayers or singing. A good album to relax to, to reflect a little--you don't have to be tripping or into crystals to enjoy this. It ends with Kaikoura Rim, an ambient tune which is basically the recording of waves crashing into the beach, which for this album seems to be an apt way to end the record. Definitely an interesting and creatively constructed record.

Chip N' Tony Said---Rank and File--Long Gone Dead

If it's a Joke, why aren't we Laughing??

This is another short but good album from the 80's. Rank and File are classified as country-punk, but it sounds more to me like punks shedding their skins and playing country music, with a lot of love and reverence. Probably a lot of their fans had problems with their metamorphosis from The Dils, but I don't doubt that their intentions were good and that Chip and Tony Kinman were not selling out their musical integrity. This album is simply a lot of toe tapping fun and it is evidently clear that these guys enjoyed playing this music. Long Gone Dead is deemed by many to be inferior to the first Rank and File disc Sundown, probably because this record is a bit slicker and the first record had Alejandro Escovedo. And I'm sure that people will find some of this music to be a little retro and corny. Nonetheless, the Kinman brothers put together an album of pretty catchy songs here that is worth listening to.

"Try to get up, they'll only knock you down" starts the first song, the Everlyish Long Gone Dead, a great upbeat tune whose dark lyrics belie the cheerful music, something that always warms my heart. The harmonies are something special, brothers harmonizing, sort of like Dave Alvin and Jonathan Richman dueting. Song two is the high octane I'm an Old Old Man, a Gram Parsons tribute with revved up pedal steel. Song three is a rehash of a Dils classic, the thoughtful Sound of the Rain, and this slight reinvention works well, probably my favorite song on this album.

Hot wind feature Tony Kinman's deep voice and a guitar riff reminiscent of a spaghetti western. Tell Her I Love Her is an unabashed pop song with Chip's vocals, another highlight on the record. When the next song, Saddest Girl in the World starts up, I always think its going to be a Motown song, but then changes over to a straight country song with banjo. Timeless Love is a really nice ballad and John Brown, their historical foray on this album is pretty good also. "Last night I dreamed I died and went to Hell" begins Last Night I Dreamed, another happy song with unhappy lyrics. After all it is a country song. The song ends with an old timey country tune with fiddle, It Don't Matter, where they sing about getting their van towed while on tour in Hoboken, New Jersey.

If you like Gram Parsons, Country Music, O Brother Where Art Thou's Soggy Bottom Boys, you're gonna like this one. Sundown is also a really good record too, but I thought I would put my two cents in about an album that seems to be unfairly maligned.

Popty Ping!!! The Hunt For Meaning--MC Mabon--Welsh Scene to Set to Rule

Mad Mad Brilliance

Back in the day, there was  a certain conceit about musical territories or scenes. Maybe it was earlier, but when Cobain & Co became superstars, labels began signing indie bands left and right, hoping to find the next big sensation. A corollary to this was the idea, that where there was one great band, there must be some good fishing. And maybe the easiest way for an industry person to make his mark was to find a scene like purportedly in Seattle. I thought it was funny how people were so enamored about the Seattle grunge dress code, because a t-shirt and a flannel shirt was a dress code for many of the kids I went to High School with. But what could be easier if you could find this new undiscovered scene somewhere, like a Shangri-La that you could almost take credit for yourself, and once you got there, signing bands would be like trick-or-treating in a condominium development.

First of all, a place like Seattle had a music scene that was a lot more diverse than is represented on the Singles soundtrack. Sure you had Mudhoney, Soundgarden, The Melvins, Pearl Jam but you also had the Fastbacks and The Posies. They tried to develop the North Carolina scene--but I don't think there were too many blockbusters there. Another scene that for a brief while was pushed was New Zealand, but with the exception of a few groups, there was never a tremendous amount of popularity (though my record collection would dispute that). I remember I was at a record fair in NYC a number of years ago and a rock critic there told me that he spoke to someone from Slash Records and he said "oh, yeah, that scenes is over with". It seemed a bit weird to me, as it was a whole country, and many of the groups touted here like The Chills, The Bats, The Verlaines, The Chills, Tall Dwarfs, were still making music.

Not that I'm on top of what the music industry does, but I do know that at one point they were also touting the new Welsh scene, which included bands singing in their native tongue. Though maybe a lot of these bands have not found a big following here, there are some terrific bands to be found. As the old saying goes, Y Ddraig Goch ddyry gychwyn. At that time we were hearing about Gorkys Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals, 60 Foot Dolls, Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers. I liked all these bands and tried to look further to see what other artists were there. Unfortunately, it seemed that as imports, a lot of records by lesser known artist were prohibitively expensive. So I found the Ankst records site and started ordering directly from them at a more reasonable price, getting some nice samplers, and wound up investigating the dub rap of Llwybr Llaethog, Datblygu (characterised by some as the Welsh version of the Fall), the stentorian cabaret of Rheinallt H Rowlands among others. But one of the most interesting artists for me was Gruff Meredith, MC Mabon.

I heard about the album in a glowing review from Uncut Magazine, and more than likely that was my original impetus to start ordering music from Ankst. Originally a member of the rap group Tystion, he began making solo albums Nia Non, and Mr. Blaidd in Welsh, both well worth checking out. The first album I heard however was The Hunt for Meaning, an English Language record/rap odyssey. Its more of a collaborative effort than his prior records, with guest rappers and help from Rocket Gold Star. The album is sonically diverse, and the rapping is not just rote copying of American groups. I like that what they do has a real local flavor, sometimes sort of slackerish, in other cases fierce. All in all, an ambitious concept album that I'm surprised has never been released in the US.

Even though I don't speak a lick of Welsh, I really think it has a great sound to it, as I also appreciate hearing people sing Brazilian Portuguese & Icelandic. I think I get a kick out of all the consonants strung together and all the Y's. And in this case even though this album is in English it has a Welsh flavor to it. There seems to be a great pride and also a sort of madness to what they do over there. Even after years of attempts at English assimilation and domination, the culture is still there and the language is being taught to all, which is a very great thing. Get it out yo system is the opening song and its a corker, driven along with electric piano. I especially like the 3rd track Route with the dual rapping, first by the excellent Rhian Green segueing back to Mabon. Spirit Level is a nice almost dancey tune, and the anthemic People Are So Stupid is another high point. The energetic hip-hop of Cilboy Emcees is another high point. Fuck U If U Think You're Cool is another highlight, and the title basically says it all (you know who you are). Fire Within is a really nice ballad/manifesto. That leads into the final 8 minute ending song hunt, which is a bit of a crazy mess, with dialogue, barking dogs, brass bands.



From the website: In simple terms the album follows Iago Prydderch as he rejects irony and western metaphysics as he goes on the hunt for life's meaning. Along the way he encounters aliens, disco divas, the Devil, a rap relay team, the aristocracy, Chinese folk musicians, and even singing pigs before discovering the mysterious "Fire Within". By no means your run of the mill album by that description. I think if you are fan of Beck, you would really enjoy this. I just went on the Ankst site and the records are so cheap right now--this album is going for 7 pounds and you can get both Welsh language samplers (3 discs in all) for 14 pounds.

I don't know about the whole scene question, but there are good bands there. Even in the worst of times, somebody is doing something interesting somewhere. A lot of the New Zealand classic albums are currently out of print, even in New Zealand, and I am puzzled why bands like the Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preacher are not huge successes in the US like they are in Europe. And people are getting into to bands today who are inspired by bands who were inspired by a prior generation of bands who they may or may not be familiar with. Not long ago Nick Drake and Big Star were relative unknowns (myself included), but some people had a way of finding out about them, maybe mostly musicians. Maybe the idea of scenes is about belonging, about camaraderie, maybe things that are eluding us in an increasingly isolated society where common public areas are decreasing as I prattle on. Maybe at this point in time it has become more of an attractive idea than a bona fide reality. While it is great to support local, as that's where you are, remember there is a whole world of creativity out there for you to explore.

Note: Popty Ping is Welsh Slang for Microwave Oven.

VIBRATING COSMIC WAVES--Bad Brains and I vs I

I remember when I heard Bad Brains for the first time--they were on the Rat Music for Rat People comp. vol 1. I was amazed by the power and velocity of their live performance. Also when I heard the shrieking of lead singer H.R., initially I thought maybe it was Herve Villechaize from Fantasy Island singing. And that visual for some reason has stuck with me for a long time. So of course had to hear more things by this group.

I had heard some good reviews about their most recent lp I vs I. Also I saw on the back cover that it was recorded in Worcester, Mass, where I went to college. I put the record on and it was a bit different than I had anticipated and my first impressions were not that good. Fortunately, I gave it another shot and found that I liked the album on its own terms. Sometimes if I listen to a record to carefully, too intensely, its essence can elude me. In my humble opinion this album is a pretty perfect melding of metal, punk & reggae. The riffs are huge and ferocious, the lyrics psychedelically weird.

I know that the Bad Brains first album is the one that has the most notoriety, but this album deserves its due.
These guys are true bad asses, and they were the fastest most technically accomplished hardcore punks that I know of, and the first album is an absolute mile a minute adrenalin rush (interspersed with Reggae) that is worthy of all the accolades it has received. But I keep coming back to I vs I. That album shows so much variety and other aspects of their musical gifts.

I starts with a big metallic intro that segues right in to the fast and furious I vs I. House of Suffering is the equally intense follow up. ReIgnition is a slowed down riff based spacy tune. HR does some serious crooning in Secret 77 and the band makes good use of dynamics on this number. Let Me Help is basically a revved up metal song, sounds great. She's Calling You is a funky pop tune with a metallic sounding chorus. Sacred Love is a song much in the vein of ReIgnition, sort of a creepy love ballad. Apparently HR sang this song over the telephone when he was in jail on a narcotics bust. Hired Gun is basically a revved up reggae song with big metallic shards of guitar. Return to Heaven starts out with HR crooning over a  monstrous crushing dubby riff from Doctor Know, and switches over to a metal rap spiel before there was really such a subgenre. The album is kind of short, but you are definitely receiving quality time.

Gotta Let Some Joy In!!! Hr,DrKnow,Earl,Daryl rule

HR definitely sings with a real spiritual zeal on this album. What he is singing about, I'm not entirely sure, though there seems to be a lot about self-affirmation and finding inner peace in a tumultuous world. There is a real air of esoteric mysteriousness on many of the cuts which I think is pretty cool. Probably the thing you notice most about this album is the outstanding guitar work--Dr Know is a real master here. But without HR's unique singing, this album would not be as noteworthy as it is. Darryl and Earl are (as always) a great rhythm section on this. Musically this is a sonic masterpiece and HRs vocals really bring the whole thing together. By all means look into their First Album and their Rock for Light album, but give this disc a try. If there was a Mount Rushmore for Hardcore Punk, those 4 guys should be memorialized there.

I sometimes think that people malign this album for all the big metally riffs, but the songs sound great and Dr Know is a one of a kind guitarist. People really need to get over this. If you have ever heard Time's Up by Living Color you will have a good idea of the Bad Brains sound, albeit inferior to the originators. My beliefs about music seem to be generated from punk or at least the idea of it. You have to be inclusive and sometimes at times an iconoclast. Otherwise you lose out and you don't grow as a person. There are always people who try to put things down or analyze things in a narrow way and in doing so, they are no better than the same people who in the past attacked punk rock, long hairs, free jazz, prejudging anything a little different from the status quo. So maybe check this out, if you don't like it, its not the end of the world-- but eventually if you open yourself up a bit, you will definitely find something great to listen to from a most unlikely source.

Dama & D'gary--The Long Way Home

This is a nice collection of Malagasy acoustic folksy music with sweet harmonies from 1994. Nearly 20 years ago, the guitarists Henry Kaiser and David Lindley took a trip to Madagascar to learn about the musical traditions and musicians of the island. I believe that they wound up putting out 3 compilation CDs of a variety of Malagasy musicians. One of the most noteworthy musical groups they found was Dama and D'Gary.

Apparently, according to the liner notes of the CD, Dama Mahaleo is a legendary performer in Madagascar, a "Bob Dylan & John Lennon rolled into one". That would mean popular and inspirational. D'Gary was at that time a younger, upcoming talented guitarist. Apparently, the American expatriates liked them well enough to think that they merited their own album. And for me, this is a very enjoyable album to listen, mellow with a chanson like cadence that can be found on Nick Drakes recordings. The song Sahara Toy actually has a bit of the Velvet Underground swagger to it. That is a rough approximation of course, as D'Gary has his own fairly distinct style. According to the notes, many of the songs herein deal with everyday life in Madagascar, or about love, or simply about enjoying and celebrating life. Some songs have  more of a political bent to them. But all in all, great music to kick back and relax to after a hard stressful day of work.

While the album has a stripped down quality to it, Kaiser and guitarist Sonny Landreth also perform on some of the songs, and Michael Doucet of Beausoleil plays fiddle. For the most part, they perform tastefully in the background on the recording: the main focus is Dama & D'Gary. I don't pretend to be an expert on this type of music, but I do believe that the type of music on this album would be quite approachable for someone who is looking to find out about other musical traditions from around the world, but still unique enough that you can hear something coming from a completely different perspective. If you are interested in African Music already or folk music you should definitely get this. And the feathery sinuous guitar work by D'Gary is something very special. It is truly a great thing that we have an opportunity to be able to hear wonderful music like this. At least in the US, a lot of exceptional music was unavailable to most people until about 20 years ago. Maybe a lot of people are not hearing it, but at least interested people can now investigate.

Exploding Hearts--Guitar Romantic---Tragic Pop-Punk from Portland

I don't know how I heard about these guys, but I picked up this album and loved it. After I listened to the CD a lot, I had to find out more about these guys. When I went to their website, I saw a wreath on the web page. Turned out that not too long before I checked this, the band was returning to Portland, Oregon from a gig in Seattle and 3 of the 4 band members were killed. I couldn't believe it. They just put out their first record, a punky pop gem.

Adam Cox, the lead singers sounds just like Mick Jones. And he sounds like he's being backed by the Undertones. But that was it. All over for them. What a sad sad circumstance. It seems to happen all too much in the music world. A band with a lot of unfulfilled potential.

This was a Dirtnap records release, and it seems to fit into the style of  music they release, infectious, high energy punk. Even the artwork of the CD emulates the style of the early punk days. Opening up, Modern Kicks is a great song with chiming guitar. Thorns in Roses is the 3rd track and is probably my favorite song on the album. Sleeping Aides and Razor Blades is another winner. The album is full of winners. Rumors In Town, I'm a Pretender, Still Crazy, Boulevard Trash, Throwaway Style are all worthy. Some are revved up 50's tunes like Jailbird, and others are reminiscent of the New York Dolls, like Boulevard Trash.

To sum up, probably one of the better pop-punk albums of the last decade. Is it one of the great seminal punk rock albums? No, it's quite derivative. But if you like that style its well worth picking up--they are a terrific band that should not be forgotten about.

The Road to Midgard--Sigur Ros homecoming DVD Heima

I've probably been a fan of things Norse ever since I got a copy of D'Aulaire's Norse Myths from the library as a child, reading about Odin, Thor, Loki, and the Frost Giants. And my heritage is at least in part Finnish/Swedish. I read later on about the Vikings and the Norse settlement westward. I was completely awed by the cover of Echo & the Bunnymen's album Porcupine.

My fascination with Iceland really took off with the Sugarcubes, when I saw the video "Cold Sweat". Went down to Tower Records on a mission. I've been to Iceland twice, but I'll reserve that discussion for another time. Just wanted to make a few comments about the great band Sigur Ros and their Dvd Heima. I think they are one of the more creative bands around, and the Dvd is a lot bigger than merely a music Dvd. The band had completed a world tour and returned back to Iceland. Most of the people in the country reside in Reykyavik, the capital, and most of the country is remote and sparsely populated. The middle of the country is mostly uninhabited. As a gesture of gratitude, they decided to do free concerts all over the island, from small halls, churches, to big outdoor venues. Sometimes they played in front of a handful of people in a remote area, and in other cases they played to thousands.

I picked up the album Agaetis Byrgun by the band a few years earlier and was really taken by it. I had heard that Radiohead were fans of there music and actually had them headline their European Tour. Mellow and spiritual, sometime deafeningly noisy, in some ways like a minimalist classical album, and album I like to listen to on a Sunday morning. The singer Jonssi's voice was otherworldly but beautiful, singing in his self created version of Icelandic. I still am surprised that a band like this has found such a great  amount of popularity worldwide. But I think that it is a good thing.The band was augmented by the string quartet Amiina to good affect. I saw them play in New York shortly after the World Trade Center attacks, and it was a very moving concert for me. They are an excellent live band, and I had no idea that Jonssi got sounds out of his guitar at times by using a violin bow on the strings---and during the concert there were moments when the music was filling-rattlingly loud. Due to the recent shocking events, I didn't really feel like even going to the show, but I persevered and went south. I think the emotional nature of the music combining with the visual effects that were used as a backdrop toward the end of the show made the evening into a cathartic experience that will remain with me.

Heima is an excellent movie. The cinematography and sound is pristine, and the musical performances are varied. If you have an interest in Iceland and its people, you can get a real insight into the culture by seeing the film. And the countryside is absolutely gorgeous and strange. In many places it seemed that everyone in town came to see the shows, from infants to seniors. And it is interesting to hear what the band has to say, including their takes on dealing with the business end of the music industry. They really seem to be genuine artists who are making music because that is who they are, and are more interested in doing what they think is great, rather than pandering to the whims of the public.The documentary was definitely well thought out and not just thrown together. There are great scenes when a local marching band parades down the street and finally ends up joining the band on stage. They play at a once populated area where there was a canning factory which in now abandoned. They perform outdoors while children fly red kites in a bright blue sky. And a second disk is included that has straight filmed versions of musical performances.As much as I like concert Dvds "the last waltz" by the Band, or X's "Live at the Whiskey", I think that there is welcome place for music Dvds of this nature. If you are a fan of the band, it is definitely a movie you need to see.