New Music

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2011 (5472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TIM HOOVER / More Napkins (Woven/Dub Ditch Picnic)

If you are a regular at DJ Co-op’s genre-bending dance parties, the annual Funk Boat excursion, the debauchery of his monthly hip-hop night, Grippin’ Grain, or have attended any arts and culture event in the city where the ubiquitous former Portage la Prairie resident has spun records, you may be a bit shocked after your first listen to More Napkins. Not only has Co-op dropped his well-known alias (to avoid any confusion with Toronto based techno producers), he has crafted a beautifully melancholic instrumental album that references early Mo Wax memories, ’90s chill-out rooms, post-rock minimalism, ’70s soundtracks and is filled with slow-burning melodies, carefully programmed percussion, repurposed samples from both well known and obscure sources and shifting, late night textures throughout the five part album.

Not afraid to step outside his comfort zone, Hoover has managed to pull off a thoughtful, densely layered album that draws from a number of genres, without diluting his cohesive sonic vision.

This easily could have been a forgettable headphone album, but that is anything but the case. Four stars

— Anthony Augustine

 

POP AND ROCK

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Listen to Me Buddy Holly (eOne)

On Wednesday Buddy Holly received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on what would have been his 75th birthday, during a week when his life and music were celebrated in Los Angeles.

One of the projects unveiled was a new star-studded compilation album, Listen to Me Buddy Holly, the second tribute comp released this year. The first one, Rave On Buddy Holly, featured a hipper collection of artists, but the new album includes just as many choice cuts, although it’s not the newcomers who make the biggest impression.

This time it’s Brian Wilson’s playful harmony-filled version of Listen to Me, Ringo Starr’s doo-wop inspired take on Think it Over and Jeff Lynne’s retro-pop offering, Words of Love, that serve as the album’s highlights, alongside Imelda May’s (a relatively young 37) raucous rockabilly version of I’m Looking For Someone to Love.

Holly’s songs are quintessentially perfect rock SSRqn’ roll nuggets, so even limp versions of Maybe Baby by Pat Monahan and Take Your Time by the Fray can’t spoil this celebration. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö

— Rob Williams

 

RY COODER

Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch)

American musicologist/composer/stringed instrument god Ry Cooder’s last few albums have been slightly hard to wade through concept albums fit for consumption by only the hardiest of his fans. With Pull Up Some Dust the respected Californian revisits the song-based album method and track for track this one is a classic.

The twist here is that these songs are alive with political commentary that puts Ry front and centre in modern protest music. Opening with the slippery and trenchant No Banker Left Behind, Cooder, and his estimable crew of support musicians, lay into what is wrong with the United States today. Whether he’s describing tattered and torn Iraq war veterans (Christmas Time This Year) or a man whose wife left him for a junk bond salesman (Simple Tools), Cooder nails every note with the kind of finesse, charm and varied palette that made his SSRq70s-era albums so enjoyable. He channels both John Lee Hooker (John Lee Hooker For President) and Freddie Fender (the lovely Dreamer) with equal assurance.

At over four decades doing this stuff it’s almost unbelievable that he can still sound so relevant. Five stars

— Jeff Monk

 

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Red Hot + Rio 2 (eOne)

For the unaware, the Red Hot Organization compiles, creates and sells albums to raise money for AIDS awareness and prevention programs and their latest offering, a two-disc tribute of sorts to Brazilian Tropicalia music, is a saucy treat. The set wades in at a full 33 tracks and is pretty much as groovealicious as our late summer days are long and hot.

It may be difficult to believe by listening to these delicious, danceable tunes but the original Tropicalia movement was ardently political and some of its originators are still performing and found in good form on this set. Tracks featuring Brazilian music legends Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze and psychedelic funsters Os Mutantes are top notch and they have a tonne of creative fun working with their worldwide hipster contemporaries. Aloe Blacc, Seu Jorge, John Legend, David Byrne, Forro In The Dark, Money Mark, Devendra Banhart — the list is endless and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more exquisite set of tunes that will make a difference anytime soon. Four stars

— Monk

 

BLUES

WYNTON MARSALIS & ERIC CLAPTON

Play the Blues, Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center (Rhino)

At first blush, this pairing of rock/blues guitarist Eric Clapton with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and a hand-picked band from the ranks of Jazz at Lincoln Center seems a mismatch. But it grows on you quickly; the musicianship of all involved overcomes any awkward moments between the New Orleans-inspired blues of the band and the Delta-transplanted-to-Chicago guitar sound of Clapton.

The choice of tunes harks back to the ’20s, with exceptions such as Howling Wolf’s 1954 version of Forty-Four, on which Clapton wails, and the guitarist’s own Layla, which Marsalis arranges like a New Orleans funeral march. In fact, it’s not until Clapton sings, “What’ll you do when you get lonely/And nobody’s waiting by your side?” that the audience twigs. It’s a great version, nonetheless.

And who would have thought we’d ever hear a recording featuring Clapton on which the clarinet, played by Victor Goines, played such a key role. Four stars

— Chris Smith

 

COUNTRY AND ROOTS

GEORGE STRAIT

Here for a Good Time (Universal)

At 59, George Strait is releasing his 39th studio album. The title track is his 89th single and second-highest Billboard debut.

Not bad for a guy who keeps releasing the same album!

Strait is akin to that relentless terrier who welcomes you home daily with the wag of a tail. Dependable and trustworthy, he knows it’s the Strait-up country that’s sold 69 million records and earned more number ones than Elvis. There are surprises but unlike those from Rover, Straits’ are good coming in the form of Drinkin’ Man and Poison, both refreshingly sober takes on different forms of addiction.

Strait co-wrote seven of 11 cuts here with son Bubba (really) and longtime collaborator Dean Dillon. It was Jesse Winchester’s pen however, behind the road song A Showman’s Life, featuring Faith Hill on background vocals. Strait’s cover is commanding and an album highlight.

Strait may claim he “ain’t here for a long time,” but don’t worry, on I’ll Always Remember You, he claims he’s “not through by any means.” Three stars

— Bruce Leperre

 

GLEN CAMPBELL

Ghost on the Canvas (Surfdog)

It was bound to be a poignant farewell from Campbell, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but the wonderful miracle of this album is that you can love it without reservations or any need to make allowances for its sad circumstances. It’s full of life, joy and strength: just check out the positively filthy axe work by Dick Dale and Brian Setzer on In My Arms, or how the stately Lennonesque closer There’s No Me … Without You builds up over its six-plus minutes to Abbey Road guitar-workout glory.

Paul Westerberg, one of the fans who helped, contributes two songs that evoke the Jimmy Webb classics — which is fitting, since this music is up there with the finest work of Campbell’s hit-making days. Five stars

— Bernard Perusse, Postmedia News

 

CLASSICAL

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 (EuroArts DVD)

Shostakovich’s signature symphony was also one of Leonard Bernstein’s signature works as a conductor. Shostakovich greatly admired Bernstein’s conducting and at a 1959 Bernstein performance of the Fifth Symphony, the composer was reportedly moved to tears. This DVD comes from a BBC telecast of a December 1966 live performance and is vivid proof the famed American maestro was at one with the Mahler-inspired Fifth. It’s a searing adrenaline-laced reading of overwhelming intensity, superbly played and in good mono sound. It’s also a master lesson on how to conduct the piece since the camera is on Bernstein most of the time.

The story here was also about the rehearsals. Bernstein had been in a nasty mood, terrorizing the players during the preparation and nagging them to no end. Captured on film, a two-hour rehearsal documentary was so compelling that the BBC bumped a popular talk show to air it. A sanitized six-minute clip is included here. Add a star had it been complete. Four stars

— James Manishen