New music

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This article was published 17/03/2022 (1582 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bodega

Broken Equipment (What’s Your Rupture?)

Rhythmic, post-punk art-pop seems to be all the rage these days, given the current success of, say, Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg and the recent popularity of acts such as London’s Dry Cleaning or Brighton’s Porridge Radio.

New York City’s Bodega is another act whose music is rooted in the explosion of intelligent, off-kilter pop and rock music that followed punk’s mid-’70s primal scream. Founded by Ben Hozie (vocals/guitar) and Nikki Belfiglio (vocals, percussion, programming) in the mid-teens, the band’s first album, Endless Scroll, was a catchily energetic squall of staccato guitars, danceable rhythms and sung/shouted lyrics.

Broken Equipment features Hozie and Belfiglio working with a taut new lineup of drummer Tai Lee, bassist Andy See and guitarist Dan Ryan, and the reconstituted quintet takes the Bodega’s sound a step further, rounding out the hyperkinetic Gang of Four-ish sound of songs such as Thrown with punkish pop (Statuette on the Console), deep-grooving, anthemic dance (Doers) and garage rock (All Past Lovers).

Where the group really shines, though, is in the depth of its lyrics. Without sounding overly didactic, Hozie and Belfiglio manage to decry and castigate social media consumption, hyperconsumerism, corporate America, religious iconography and society’s emptiness, name-dropping the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Roman philosopher Seneca and even offering a song-sized précis of how New York was founded.

Album closer After Jane is sonic departure and a showstopper — a scrappy acoustic ballad in which Hozie attempts to come to an emotional reconcilation with his dead mother. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Thrown, NYC (Disambiguation), All Past Lovers

— John Kendle

Brent Cobb

And Now Let’s Turn to Page… (Ol’ Buddy Records)

Brent Cobb’s discography tells a story — and with his first gospel album And Now Let’s Turn to Page… the country singer’s narrative takes a turn toward the spiritual.

It’s quite a lane-change from, say, the barroom hijinks of 2018’s Providence Canyon, but it packs all the heart of 2020’s more mellow Keep ’Em On They Toes.

The latest project is a worthy one, with Cobb sounding right at home in the church pew. His twang and unrushed vocals are perfectly placed there, as he takes on eight traditional gospel songs, including We Shall Rise, Cobb’s funky, honky-tonking rendition of the jubilant Hallelujah! We Shall Rise.

His tender vocals bring earnestness to Just a Closer Walk to Thee — a gospel standard previously covered by the likes of Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson, among others.

There’s an original track, too, co-written by Cobb, his wife Layne, and Mike Harmeier, called When It’s My Time. “It ain’t been easy, going this long / Riding the fine line, between right and wrong,” Cobb sings, in a tussle with his own mortality.

Reflection is nothing new to Cobb’s music, but a serious car wreck in 2020 marked a shift for the singer, and pushed him to finally record the gospel album he’d been keeping on his to-do list. ★★★1/2 out of five

STREAM THESE: When It’s My Time, We Shall Rise

— Melanie Sims, The Associated Press

Tania Gill Quartet

Disappearing Curiosities (Self-Produced)

Pianist/composer Tania Gill has been a major voice of the experimental Toronto jazz scene for many years, collaborating with like-minded musicians at home and internationally. The notes for this album comment that she has worked “extensively in bent jazz outfits…” I’m tempted to say if this is bent, bend on.

Gill’s quartet here features Lina Allemano on trumpet, Rob Clutton on bass and Nico Dann on drums. Eight of the nine tracks are compositions by Gill, the ninth being a cover of the folk song/climate protest tune People Gonna Rise Like the Water. Her compositions range from thoughtfully melodic, like Marsh Music or Apology (which has a terrific bass solo), to wildly edgy tracks like To Montreal or Climate Stalker.

Thoughtful is perhaps an appropriate term for this music. Without in any way implying contrived or simply academic, the term describes collective responses to the music by all members. Each member contributes beautifully and seamlessly captures what the other three are doing. Mainly acoustic, Gill uses synthesizer from time from time to augment the sound that has been described as displaying lyricism and angularity in equal measure.

Allemano’s trumpet reflects that balance beautifully. It is full-voiced while always maintaining a lyrical sense. When the band is really having fun, as in Jaunty Woo, the trumpet leads the charge. Contemporary avant-garde jazz need not be seen as simply note clusters with jarring dissonances. It can be serious while maintaining accessible characteristics.

Gill has not had a release as leader of this quartet for a long time. She has clearly waited until the compositional blend and personnel were just right. As the saying goes, she nailed it. ★★★★1/2 out of five

STREAM THESE: Apology, Marsh Music, Frisbee

— Keith Black