New music

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This article was published 01/11/2018 (2771 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POP / ROCK

Elle King

Shake the Spirit (RCA/BMG)

The daughter of actors Rob Schneider and London King burst onto the scene in 2015 — seemingly from nowhere, with a breezy, throwback pop song called Ex’s and Oh’s, a cheeky recounting of her love life to date that earned her a pair of Grammy nominations. But King comes by her musical inclination naturally and her modern girl’s twist on American musical forms is as real as it gets.

So, too, is TMZ-tantalizing ruckus that has been King’s life of the past two-and-a-half years. After a secret, on-again/off-again marriage to a Brit she met in a London hotel lobby and wed just three weeks later, she has made headlines for everything but her music.

Shake the Spirit should change that, because King is a major talent and these 13 tracks both revel in her larger-than-life persona and reveal her sensitivity. The album kicks off with Talk of the Town, an upbeat, fuzz-guitar-fuelled charmer replete with wooh-woohs and handclaps. Second cut Baby Outlaw will please fans of Calexico and/or Ennio Morricone soundtracks, and first single Shame is an alley-cat strut propelled by a monstrous bassline.

And so this record goes… King builds to an Adele-ish crescendo on Man’s Man (a not-so-subtle dig at her ex), vamps poppily on Naturally Pretty Girls and Told You So, then breaks out the big drama and Owen Bradley production on blues-country weeper Runaway. It Girl is a frank and salacious ditty about sex, Ram Jam is a bluesy stomper and Little Bit of Lovin’ is a six-and-a-half-minute rock/soul jam that will stir memories of Janis Joplin. HHHH

STREAM THESE: Shame; Naturally Pretty Girls; Sober

— John Kendle

ROOTS / COUNTRY

Southern Culture on the Skids

Bootlegger’s Choice (Kudzu Records)

For more than 30 years, Chapel Hill, N.C., trio Southern Culture on the Skids has been bringing its good-timey, rockabilly/surf hybrid music to enthusiastic audiences around the globe. The band is ostensibly led by the extremely talented guitarist-singer-songwriter Rick Miller, but without his partners Mary Huff on bass and Dave Hartman on the drum kit, the SCOTS sound would not be the same.

Rather than take the album-reissue path, the band members decided that with “Bootlegger’s Choice,” they would update and re-record some popular tracks from their major-label releases “Dirt Track Date” (1995) and “Plastic Seat Sweat” (1997).

It works. Over the decades the group has only become more seamless in its ability to combine humour with hot licks and groovy beats. While the band’s name pretty much gives away its modus operandi, you really need to hear wildly appealing tracks like “Voodoo Cadillac”, “Banana Pudding” and “Fried Chicken and Gasoline” to fully get the vibe.

Miller sings about greasy food, backwoods ex/erotica and eccentric lifestyle choices like practically nobody else. “40 Miles To Vegas” details a road trip gone sideways (“One-eyed man in a yellow tow truck… the tow truck driver was high on crack”) while the scrumptious taste of a certain kind of fruit dessert is parlayed, as “somethin’s that easy on my gums and teeth…”

Miller’s playing is beyond the pale as he trashes, twangs and thunders on his vintage Danelectro guitar like no one else. Huff deals mightily on the funky “Soul City” and her high and lonesome vocals are a perfect counterpoint to Miller’s at times off the chain whoops and hollers. Bootlegger’s Choice could be better-sounding than the originals — the skid starts here. HHHH

STREAM THESE: Dangerous; Don’t Be Afraid Of Love

— Jeff Monk

 

CLASSICAL

John A. Carollo, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra

Music from the Ethereal Side of Paradise (Navona Records)

This new release features the evocative music of Italian-born, American-raised composer John Carollo, as followup to his 2017 disc “The Transfiguration of Giovanni Baudino.” His latest recording —  described as “a wondrous musical journey through the world of desire” — includes 15 contemporary works that capture the wide sweeps of inner emotional landscapes expressed purely through musical language and form.

One of the most compelling is “Awakenings for String Orchestra,” performed by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra led by Stanislav Vavřínek, teeming with close, shimmering harmonies and atmospheric mystery. Another highlight is Metamorphosis No. 13, which showcases the expressive artistry of solo flutist Lisa Cella, including effective flutter tonguing and pregnant pauses.

Also included are three excerpts from the composer’s “9 Guitar Preludes,” as well as choral works “Crafted Stardust (Improvisations with Narrations)” with their dissonant forces calling for a second listen. This ethos is carried further with three movements from “Romantica Passione Suite,” written for violin and guitar. “Bright Stillness (You are My Desire)” bookends the album with a return to the string orchestra, now grown in ponderous, weighty longing, much like desire itself. HHH1/2

— Holly Harris