New music

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This article was published 01/08/2019 (2582 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

POP & ROCK

Fontaines D.C.
Dogrel (Partisan)

The short list for the U.K.’s Mercury Prize came out last week, and among the nominees was Dublin’s Fontaines D.C., whose 11-song, 40-minute debut was released in April. The acronym stands for Dublin City, to differentiate this quintet from defunct L.A. outfit the Fontaines, but the Irish Fontaines soon won’t need the suffix.

Dogrel (it’s a deliberate bastardization) is one of those albums, like the first Ramones or Strokes records, that sees a band emerge as a fully formed shot in the arm, an audio jolt to the system that will cause casual listeners to sit up a little straighter and pay close attention.

Yes, the band’s lineup is rather traditional — singer, two guitars, bass and drums — but the single-minded intensity of the Fontaines’ Strokes-meets-Velvets-meets-the-Fall sound makes for a revitalizing sonic balm. Singer Grian Chatten isn’t a crooner as much as he is a MacGowan-and-Behan, Chevron-infused poet who recites in a Guinness-thick Dublin accent over razor-sharp rock ’n’ roll soundtracks, and the passion of these lyrics — derived from pride of place and the confusing jumble of past regrets and future possibilities — will demand repeated listenings.

As Chatten rails against the pricks, romanticizes Dublin and passes pithy judgement on the modern world’s lack of values, his bandmates are churning out 4/4 post-punk rave-ups (Big, Boys in the Better Land) or thoughtful, bass-fuelled grooves (Television Screens, Roy’s Tune, Dublin City Sky) marked by jagged, post-punk guitars and propulsive, insistent percussion.

★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Big; Boys in the Better Land; Too Real

— John Kendle

 

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ROOTS

Eilen Jewell
Gypsy (Signature Sounds)

Boise, Idaho, singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell hasn’t offered newly recorded music since 2015 and her latest dozen-tracker Gypsy has the kind of wit and wail that places her squarely in the realm of her Americana contemporaries, and then some. She creates a stylistic mixed bag here and is fearless in tackling various genres.

Opening track Crawl revels in its Texas-informed swamp boogie, while the lowdown blues of Hard Times sounds like it could have been ripped from a Mississippi Delta songbook from ages ago. Steel guitar and fiddle, along with Jewell’s own understated guitar work and supple, yet powerful, vocals, work in union to create honky-tonk country bliss on the finger-poppin’ You Cared Enough To Lie and These Blues. The singer-songwriter side of Jewell is in full flower on the delicate Miles To Go and the plaintive love song Who Else But You. On a lighter note, there is a left-of-centre protest song, 79 Cents (The Meow Song), which details in part the gender inequality in America with pithy lyrics such as, “Whether she’s rich, or toilin’ in a ditch, no matter the colour of her collar, the heart of your home works her fingers to the bone, for 79 cents to your dollar…” The point of the song is ultimately driven home with a lyric about “grabbing us straight in the meow,” and this song in particular should be blasted from rooftops south of the border every day until the next election. Jewell achieves much on this album and sets herself apart from the more everyday blues and folk music artists of any gender. The list of recognized songwriters from Idaho isn’t very long but with this album, Jewell sets herself on a path that could lead to much broader appeal. Eilen Jewell, get thee to Winnipeg.

★★★½ out of five

Stream these: 79 Cents (The Meow Song); Beat The Drum

— Jeff Monk

 

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CLASSICAL

Antoine Tamestit & Masato Suzuki
J.S. Bach: Sonatas for Viola Da Gamba and Harpsichord (Harmonia Mundi)

Japanese violist Antoine Tamestit, joined by Masato Suzuki, harpsichordist and principal conductor of the Bach Collegium Japan, perform a trio of Bach’s rarely heard viola da gamba sonatas, with the soloist’s Stradivari viola dating to 1672 offering an opportunity for listeners to appreciate these works with fresh ears.

Arguably the best known, Sonata in G minor BWV 1029 provides the first taste of the duo’s simpatico artistry, with this sole offering composed in a minor tonality also creating greater dramatic thrust for its three movements evoking Bach’s Sonata for flute and harpsichord BWV 1030.

Sonata in D Major, BWV 1028, unfolds as an expanded four movements, including its introspective Adagio opening section that leads to a sprightly albeit understated Allegro. The players infuse the following Andante with pensive reflection before bursting into a jubilant Allegro finale.

Sonata in G major, BWV 1027 further highlights Suzuki’s crisp, clean attack that underpins Tamestit’s florid solo lines, including gossamer-light ornamentation tossed off by both players during the penultimate movement of four, Allegro ma non tanto.

The album rounds out with Bach’s sublime aria, Ergieße dich reichlich from his Church Cantata BWV 5, performed by Tamestit with fluid grace and artful dynamic shading. It also proves once again the chameleonic ability of the baroque composer’s music, able to transform itself using different instruments that reveal new rainbows of tonal colours and textures in his masterful works.

★★★★ out of five

Stream this:  J. S. Bach’s Sonata in G minor BWV 1029

— Holly Harris

 

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JAZZ

Jim Doxas
Homebound (Independent)

This album is Montreal-based drummer Jim Doxas’ initial release with a new quartet made up of Lex French on trumpet, Al McLean on saxes and Adrian Vedady on bass. Jim’s well-known brother Chet sits in from time to time on clarinet.

The music here is grounded in a compositional framework that both defines boundaries and allows explosive moments if called for. Having said that, there are melodic tracks, such as Home or For Bill, that are lyrical without being merely pleasant listening. Interspersed between longer tracks are periodic improvisations that are little gems.

In a Canadian jazz scene that offers quite a few stellar small groups, this new quartet makes a strong statement to be part of that list. There is a maturity here that shows in the collective sound, with solos all around that are sensitive to the whole. Trumpet and sax work extremely well together throughout, and brother Chet gives periodic seamless support. Dissonance in contemporary jazz is virtually a given, and that is certainly the case in many of the tracks here. The trick is to infuse the dissonance with rhythm and movement that engages the listeners and pulls us along with it. This album meets that challenge fully. Those of us who love jazz always look for the music that meets those criteria. There is much to like here. The more one listens, the more one appreciates the gift. Highly recommended.

★★★★ out of five

Stream these: Home; Hymn For The 51

— Keith Black