New music

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2020 (2147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POP / ROCK

Bahamas
Sad Hunk (Brushfire Records)

Who among us hasn’t reflected upon life and thought: “Am I wasting my time?”

For Toronto singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, this question is the crux of his fifth album as Bahamas. Sad Hunk (the title is a teasing nickname given him by his wife; the cover art is meant to be ironic) is largely about taking stock and realizing that, while time’s ceaseless march may leave us full of doubts and fears, things aren’t bad if you’re wise enough to realize what’s important.

Over the course of 10 songs, Jurvanen takes listeners on a gently swinging journey from self-doubt (opening tune Trick to Happy, from which the opening query is taken) through open-hearted self-assessment (Less Than Love) to nearly-middle-aged reckoning (Not Cool Anymore) and, ultimately, acceptance and revelation (Wisdom of the World).

It sounds like heavy stuff but, remember, this is a Bahamas record, so Jurvanen sets these songs to a breezily fluid, ’70s-inflected soundtrack, creating an intimacy that sounds deceptively effortless. Jurvanen and his ace band of guitarists Christine Bougie and Sam Weber, bassist Mike O’Brien and drummer Don Kerr offer up delicately understated guitar wizardry (Can’t Complain), rootsy soulfulness (Half My Love) and even such overtly old-school pop motifs as finger-snapping (on Done Did Me No Good and Wisdom of the World) and handclaps (on the sweetly anti-consumerist song Up With the Jones).

While it may take a couple of listens for all this to settle in, the payoff is well worth the investment of time — which is kind of the point. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Trick to Happy, Not Cool Anymore, Can’t Complain

— John Kendle

 

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POP/ROCK

Laura Jane Grace
Stay Alive (Polyvinyl Record Co.)

Between life and death in these strange days comes the welcome voice of Laura Jane Grace.

The Against Me! singer and guitarist has taken a break from both her superb punk band and her side project, Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers. She’s alone in a Chicago studio for the pandemic-inspired Stay Alive, except for producer Steve Albini.

“This only feels like the death of everything,” she sings in the first song. It concludes 13 songs later with the raw-sung plea: “Please stay alive/please survive!”

The album is somewhat of a mixed bag, but always fascinating, lifted by lyrics that are equal parts opaque, raw and funny. “I am a haunted swimming pool/I am emptied out and drained,” she sings on the opener, The Swimming Pool Song.

Grace misses travelling — and, in particular Portugal — in The Calendar Song, but is ambivalent about travel on Shelter in Place, where she notes: “There’s always someone dying to leave/Where you’re dying to get to.” The album also includes what can only be described as an anti-Trump scream in Hanging Tree, with the line: “You can’t trust a man with hair like that.”

Some songs are reminiscent of the Ramones and some are almost just fragments. Some tunes are insanely heavy for just an acoustic guitar and a voice (the way she snarls the word “croissant” in one song is pure punk). Many feel like diary entries, filled with regret.

The cover image of an ashtray filled with old joints may lull you into thinking it’s a soft collection. It’s not.

Whatever you do, don’t call it an acoustic set. Grace has vowed that if you do so, “my six-string strumming ghost will haunt 10 generations of your family every night of their lives with bedroom busking.”

Standouts include the Joan Jett-like SuperNatural Possession and the Celtic-flavoured The Magic Point. Of all the music composed and inspired by COVID-19, Stay Alive is worthy of a listen. While wearing a mask, mind you. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: The Magic Point, Shelter in Place

— Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

 

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JAZZ

François Houle 4
Recoder (Songlines)

François Houle is one of the mainstays of the vibrant Vancouver jazz scene. He plays clarinet, is an accomplished electroacoustic clarinet music performer and composes extraordinary music. While he has made many contributions in the classical, new age and world categories, his jazz oeuvre is extensive, and is avant-garde within the scrupulous demands of his compositions. The notes for this new album say that it is the result of a “rigorous compositional process” specifically geared to the virtuosity and range of influences of the quartet; fellow Vancouverite Gordon Grdina on guitar, and New Yorkers Mark Helias (bass and clarinet), and Gerry Hemingway (drums). Houle’s own musical influences range from classical clarinet to jazz’s Jimmy Giuffre.

The music here is experimental and serious, frequently dissonant without deviating from rhythm and underlying melody. Houle’s clarinet sound is simply beautiful, whether softly exploring a duet session or the powerful title track. Grdina hails from the Vancouver avant-garde scene, and his guitar offers a neat foil to many of Houle’s solos and compositional demands. There are a number of brief interludes throughout the album that feature single takes of Houle and Helias both freely improvising on clarinet. These improvisations are wonderful and frequently include a strong sense of fun.

Morning Song 1 (For Ted Byrne) is a meditative tone poem, while the quirky rhythms of Big Time Felter are driven solidly by all four participants. This is modern, dissonant jazz that never sounds harsh or competitive. Grdina and Houle have played together for years, and their interaction demonstrates that. The wide variety of moods and obvious chemistry of the quartet is a delight to listen to, but ultimately it is the sound and dancing style of Houle’s clarinet that provide the glue. This is contemporary small-group jazz at its best. Highly recommended. ★★★★1/2 out of five

STREAM THESE: Recoder, Canyamel

— Keith Black

 

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CLASSICAL

Les Ombres
Boccherini Une nuit à Madrid (Mirare)

On this new release, French baroque ensemble Les Ombres pays homage to Italian composer Luigi Boccherini, the 18th-century composer hailed as the father of the string quartet who is increasingly garnering recognition for his border-crossing music.

The album features five quintets displaying the Spanish influences of the famously well-travelled musician — who died in Madrid in 1805 — as well as the scope of his imaginative creativity. Highlights include a trio of works showcasing the flute: Quintet no. 2 in G minor, (G 426), Quintet no. 4 in D major, (G428) and Quintet No. 5 in B major, (G429), brought to life on period instruments by the seven-member ensemble.

Quintet No. 7 in E minor, (G451), featuring Romaric Martin’s fine guitar playing, brings greater dramatic intensity, with its finale, Allegretto, that begins deceptively in a major tonality before bursting into its darker minor key underscoring the often whipsaw volatility of Spanish music.

But any pieces incorporating elements of fiery Spanish dance are nearly impossible to resist, with Quintet No. 4 in D major, (G448) showing different facets of the style. A more genteel, opening Pastorale, leads eventually to the four-movement work’s rousing finale Fandango, infused with the sounds of clacking castanets and idiomatic guitar slides and strums, while brimming with Mediterranean-inspired rhythmic vitality and a zest that knows no bounds. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THIS: Quintet No. 4 in D major, (G448), Fandango

— Holly Harris