New music

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This article was published 14/07/2016 (3714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POP / ROCK

Adam Baldwin

No Telling When (Precisely 1985) (Sonic Records)

Track for track, the new album from Nova Scotia’s Adam Baldwin could be the most enjoyable Canadian pop-rock albums you will hear this year.  NTW mines a deep shaft of memorable hooks and cleverly concocted lyrics of the sort that get trapped inside your brain and have a tough time finding their way out.

On the surface, the album seems like a tribute to big-hearted radio rock from, you guessed it, 1985. Springsteen-isms abound, but not in any truly explicit way. Baldwin’s voice has its Bossy tattered edges and his hefty telecaster strumming, tinkling piano motifs and charged-up saxophone breaks are directly linked to a time when this kind of music was still being played on a thing called radio. Love on the Rocks (not the Neil Diamond soft rocker) delivers a charismatic, bouncy vibe that would be a perfect fit for a voice like Cyndi Lauper’s.

Lyrically, Baldwin covers a lot of ground, but mostly he is looking back at his youth; he has come to realize adulthood hits hard and fast and that “after winter when you find no spring / we’ll be leaving on a whim” (Leaving on a Whim). Mid-tempo charmer Anytime is destined to be a wedding song for some forward-thinking couples, and the album closes in perfect ‘80s style with a thoughtful ballad (Living Proof).

Baldwin’s 2016 may become the 1985 of his dreams. ★★★★

DOWNLOAD: Love on the Rocks, Daylight

— Jeff Monk

 

ROOTS

Case/Lang/Veirs

case/lang/veirs (Anti-)

Beware the supergroup. When strong-willed solo artists join forces, end results often do not equal, let alone exceed, the sum of their parts.

There’s no working at cross purposes in evidence, however, on this impressively cohesive three-way teamup of Americana-leaning vocalist and songwriters Neko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs. The unexpected grouping was instigated by lang, the still sumptuous-voiced chanteuse whose career-highlight collaborations include her early Alberta cowgirl years with producer/multi-instrumentalist Ben Mink, plus pairings with Roy Orbison and Tony Bennett.

This ego-free set opens with Atomic Number, with each singer taking a verse, and from there the song’s principal songwriter takes the lead. Veirs, the least-known and most underrated of the trio (whose husband, Tucker Martine, handles the pleasantly understated production) sings the snappy single Best Kept Secret. Case, a seasoned collaborator known for her gale-force vocals with Vancouver’s the New Pornographers, as well as her genre-melding solo work, leads the way on discursive story songs such as Behind the Armory.

All told, not quite the equal of any of the artists’ best work, but better than anyone would have a right to expect from a one-off collaboration. Case/Lang/Veirs plays Interstellar Rodeo at The Forks in Winnipeg Aug. 14. ★★★1/2

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

 

JAZZ

Paul Novotny & Robi Botos

Look Ahead (Triplet)

Bassist Paul Novotny and pianist Robi Botos have both performed with a number of small and large ensembles in the Canadian jazz world. Hungarian-born Canadian Botos is fresh off his Juno Award from last year, and Novotny is always sought after and regularly anchors bands in Toronto.

This album is a fine example of the fact that not all contemporary jazz needs to be loud and/or dissonant. The music here is melodic, often swinging, but mainly very gentle and substantial. The playlist has tunes both familiar (My Favourite Things) and new (such as A Gentle Day In December).

The interplay between the duo’s members is a treat to the ear as they give each other room within a supportive framework. Given the huge range of styles within the current jazz scene, there is still a place for music that simply delights with warmth, beauty and quiet strength. This is an album to play for your friends who say they don’t like jazz. ★★★★

Download: Praise, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

— Keith Black

 

CLASSICAL

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Shostakovich: Piano Trios 1 & 2 — Viola Sonata (Decca Classics)

Renowned pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy performs three retrospective works by Dmitri Shostakovich, including his masterfulPiano Trio No. 2, Op. 67, dating from 1944, which bristles with the savage butchery of war.

Remarkably, the Decca Classics release also marks the first recording of these works by the Russian-born musician, 79, who notably once performed the trio in the composer’s own living room during the early 1960s.

Pacing is everything, and Ashkenazy — joined by violinist Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay and cellist Mats Lidström — effectively create a slow burn during its first three sections that finally erupts into its explosive, heart-stopping Dance of Death finale.

In Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, (1975), Norwegian violist Ada Meinich sensitively renders its two outer movement’s plaintive themes, which bookend the central section’s acerbic syncopation.

The album’s oldest work, Trio No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 8 (1923), unfolds as a fascinating journey through romantic, chromatically derived themes. The ensemble members balance their sound despite the one-movement work’s shifting hills and valleys, showing restraint where needed and not afraid to yield to the passion that is a hallmark of this powerhouse composer’s style. ★★★★1/2

— Holly Harris