New Music

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This article was published 24/12/2011 (5352 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JIMI HENDRIX / The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Winterland; Hendrix In The West; Blue Wild Angel — Jimi Hendrix Live at The Isle of Wight 1970; Jimi Hendrix — The Dick Cavett Show (Experience Hendrix)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience-Winterland (CD)

This reviewer’s single disc overview represents only some of the songs from the first and second nights of what is available from a six-show stand at San Francisco’s Winterland ballroom in October 1968. Experience Hendrix has released a four-disc/eight-vinyl LP version, as well, covering the whole shebang. The overview disc is a powerful statement of the original Experience band, and while Hendrix’s voice caves in on a few songs, the single-disc format with only 11 tracks will have you frothing for more. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

Hendrix In The West (CD)

Never released on CD prior to 2011, this personal favourite of live Hendrix bits and bobs has been altered for this release by adding five tracks and deleting a couple in lieu. The original was one of his better live albums, giving anyone who cared a great live overview of Hendrix in full bright flow. The running order changes are negligible, and thankfully, Hendrix’s jaw-dropping version of Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode made the cut. Worth buying if you don’t have the original, or simply want a digital upgrade to replace your worn-to-dust vinyl copy.

‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

Blue Wild Angel — Jimi Hendrix Live at The Isle of Wight 1970 (DVD)

This one is a bit of a bust, unless you crave more multiple camera angles and an extra song that were not included on the original 2002 Experience Hendrix DVD release of this concert. If you missed the original, this is Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox working in a tough situation due to amplifier and sound difficulties. The beauty is, Hendrix works through it and simply kills. This show was in August 1970. Hendrix died that September. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

Jimi Hendrix — The Dick Cavett Show (DVD)

As talk-show host Dick Cavett so eruditely puts it on this interesting compilation, Hendrix was “a smart, curious, sophisticated person” and a pretty laid-back interview. As his U.S. network television debut was on the Cavett program, this set proves to be one for the ages. Not only do you see the luminous guitarist working with Cavett’s own house band, you get an in-depth view from Cavett on how it all felt and reverberated through the zeitgeist at the time. The set includes both of Hendrix’s appearances on the show and a 60-minute documentary. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

— Jeff Monk

POP AND ROCK

VOLBEAT

Live From Beyond Hell/Above Heaven (Universal)

DANISH band Volbeat gets the deluxe two DVD/one CD treatment, showcasing the band’s diverse hook-filled mix of melodic metal, country, rockabilly, post-grunge and classic rock in three different settings in three different countries.

The first DVD captures the band in front of a wild hometown arena crowd in Copenhagen on Nov. 19, 2010 where they are joined by guests such as Mercyful Fate’s Michael Denner, Kreator’s Mille Petrozza and Entombed’s LG Petrov, who help Volbeat drive the audience into a near frenzy during the 19 song set highlighted by the hard-rock anthems Heaven Nor Hell and We, the death metal blast of Evelyn, rockabilly swinger 7 Shots and stripper love song, Maybellene I Hofteholder.

The second DVD includes a seven-song showcase at the House of Blues in Anaheim in April of 2011, where they are joined by members of Anthrax; three songs in front of tens of thousands of people at the Rock Am Ring festival in Germany; and a 14-minute feature about the Copenhagen show.

The band was the highlight at this year’s Rock on the Range festival in Winnipeg and this collection shows why. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Rob Williams

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY LIVE

Made in Stoke 24/7/11 (Armoury/Eagle Rock)

THE cover says Slash featuring Myles Kennedy, but in Winnipeg it should read Slash featuring Brent Fitz.

Winnipegger Fitz is impressive behind the drum kit on this two CD/one DVD live set recorded in Stoke on Trent, England where former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash lived as a child before moving to the United States. The quintet — fronted by Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy — cover Slash’s entire career during the 21 song set, including material from his hit-and-miss 2010 solo debut, Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver and Guns N’ Roses, highlighted by Nightrain, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Mr. Brownstone and Paradise City. Kennedy does an admirable job stepping into the GNR singer’s shoes bringing his own nasally sound to the proceedings and almost making you forget about old Axl Whatshisbraids.

Kennedy also transforms the songs off Slash’s solo album into something bigger, better and more uniform than they appeared on the guest-star driven album. The 47-minute DVD includes five songs and an interview with Slash, but footage from the complete show would have made this even better. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

— RW

BRITNEY SPEARS

Live: The Femme Fatale Tour (RCA)

LIVE is a relative term with Britney Spears since she is one of the most famous lip-syncers in music, but Spears fans should still get a kick out of watching the smiley star strut her stuff in Toronto during this 85-minute show that includes every trick in the concert book and a non-stop barrage of props ranging from oversized speakers to a car to an Egyptian dragon boat. It’s like she went to the giant prop store and took one of everything, including dancing ninjas.

The setlist is heavy on material from her latest album, Femme Fatale, but includes a selection of older hits. The show was filmed in August a month after it stopped in Winnipeg and is almost identical to the spectacle we saw here. The DVD features no extras or documentaries. ‘Ö’Ö1/2

— RW

SCORPIONS

Comeblack (Sony)

THE Scorpions have announced they are calling it quits within the next few years, but before they go, they are sticking it to their fans one more time.

Comeblack features pointless re-recordings of seven of their old hits and six covers by the likes of the Kinks, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and T. Rex. The new versions of songs like Rock You Like a Hurricane, The Zoo and Blackout don’t add much to the originals other than improved production and some additional guitar flourishes by Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs.

The covers are a forgettable collection of some of the band’s influences, with Soft Cell’s Tainted Love and the Small Faces’ Tin Soldier coming across best, while the Beatles’ Across the Universe is almost laugh-out-loud funny as Klaus Meine’s German accent just sounds clumsy singing John Lennon’s meditative mantra, “Jai guru deva om.” ‘Ö’Ö

— RW

NEEDTOBREATHE

The Reckoning (Atlantic/Warner)

THE members of Possum Kingdom, S.C. alternative/Christian rock band Needtobreathe set some lofty goals for their fourth album, proclaiming they wanted to “create a game-changing album like Born to Run, Rumours or Damn the Torpedoes.” Only time will tell if it does that well, but if The Reckoning is “a settling of accounts,” these southern lads have paid their fans in full.

The Reckoning is a lyrically thoughtful and emotionally charged collection buoyed by pounding percussion and driving guitars accented by piano, mandolin and banjo. Combined with anthem-like choruses, Needtobreathe conjures a truly intoxicatingly blend of Kings of Leon, the Fray and Mumford & Sons that will satisfy fans both new and old. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö 1/2

— Bruce Leperre

ELECTRONIC

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Fabric 61: Mixed by Visionquest (Fabric)

THIS was a breakout year for the four DJs/producers who record and perform under the name Visionquest. Since getting together, Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Lee Curtiss and Shaun Reeves have played a pivotal role in reshaping the sound of house and techno, manoeuvring between trippy, late-night sounds, vocal-driven indie pop and sweaty, low-slung grooves with relative ease.

On their first official release as a collective, the Motor City expats string together wormhole synths, drum machine whirls, spaced-out vocals and sublime bass lines into a well-paced mix that highlights their underground pop sensibilities, techno’s need to keep pushing forward and house music’s understanding of what makes people move. Tracks like My Favorite Robot’s Forest Fires, Footprintz’s Heaven Felt Like Night (both are Canadian artists) or Soul Center’s Hal 2010 are the type of attention grabbing cuts the Visionquest crew have been dishing out to dance floors for the last few years. Fabric 61 is the perfect synthesis of their anything-goes after hours vibe and hedonistic tech-house sound. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Anthony Augustine