Sunday, October 29, 2006
CD Review: Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Ta-Dah
Universal Motown
By David Chiu
You kind of know what you are in store for from the ABBA-esque intro to “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” the lead-off track on Scissor Sisters’ newest album: Flamboyant dance-oriented music that pays homage to the glories of ‘70s and ‘80s pop radio.Ta-Dah doesn’t deviate much from the sound (no discofied Pink Floyd cover here, folks) that made the New York City scenesters a sensation, particularly in the U.K. The band is not exactly one-dimensional as the music verges between Tin Pan Alley (“I Can’t Decide,” “Intermission”), Al Green-meets-David Bowie (“Lights”), Prince (the funky “Ooh”) and Giorgio Moroder-inspired electropop (the deliciously-wicked “Kiss You Off”) If you wonder why several of Ta-Dah’s tracks sound like vintage Elton John (i.e. the bouncy “She’s My Man”), it’s probably because John himself is on the album either playing piano or co-writing a song. Ironically, the valentine “Paul McCartney” does not sound Beatlesque but rather an energetic party tune. Aside from the melodic pop sheen, the music is driven by the tandem of Jake Shears’ falsetto and Ana Matronic’s soulful sass. One thing that cannot be said Scissor Sisters are dull; on Tah-Dah, the music continues to be sound decadent and lively party.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 5:20 PM
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Live Review: Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Town Hall
October 10, 2006
By David Chiu
You can tell Lindsey Buckingham is in the moment on stage when he is hunched over furiously picking the strings on his electric guitar. It is an indication that he is delivering a rip-roaring, wailing solo that leaves his audience cheering over the mastery of his instrument. Add in his sometimes dramatic vocals and his songwriting, and he is triple threat.
On his own, sans the trappings of his parent group Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham creates his own music that is art for art’s sake. It is certainly the case with his fourth solo album Under the Skin, an intimate and almost all-acoustic affair with a little bit of the avant-garde feel that has permeated his work since Fleetwood Mac’s 1979 opus Tusk. Given the fact that Buckingham—who has been notorious for spending lengthy periods in the studio—is currently on his first solo tour in 14 years, which makes his recent appearance at Town Hall all the more rare.
The show got off to a subdued start with Buckingham alone on stage performing with his guitar on “Not Too Late,” a reworked slow version of his first solo hit “Trouble” and “Never Going Back Again.” Then with a full band did Buckingham rock out on the familiar Fleetwood Mac hits like “Go Your Own Way,” “Second Hand News,” “World Turning,” and Tusk; the newer and intimate songs such as “Cast Away Dreams,” “Under the Skin,” and “It Was You” augmented the aforementioned numbers.
If you were beginning to think Buckingham had gone a little MOR with the new songs on stage, his blasts of guitar proved otherwise, especially his passionate acoustic rendition of “Big Love” and a bluesy take on “Go Insane,” both of which got standing ovations from the audience. “I’m So Afraid” was such a blistering workout that left one both shaking his or head with amazement and an adrenaline rush. At the same time, however, Buckingham also knew how to avoid sounding over indulgent by keeping his solos compact and melodic.
This serious perfectionist also exuded a good natured humor when he and the band returned for an encore that included the feel-good romp “Holiday Road,” followed by Under the Skin’s current single, “Show You How”, and an impromptu performance of “Save Me a Place” that was earlier suggested by an audience member. It ended the night as it began—on a subdued but satisfying note. He didn’t perform any songs from the brilliant Out of the Cradle (1992) but this nearly two hour show was more than fans of this guitarist’s guitarist could possibly ask for.
Set List
Not Too Late
Trouble
Never Going Back Again
Second Hand News
Cast Away Dreams
Red Rover
It Was You
Big Love
Go Insane
Under the Skin
World Turning
I’m So Afraid
I Know I’m Not Wrong
Tusk
Go Your Own Way
Encore:
Holiday Road
Show You How
Save Me a Place
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# posted by NewBeats @ 7:08 AM
Saturday, October 07, 2006
CD Review: Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Face the Promise
Capitol
By David Chiu
Bob Seger may be renowned as an arena rocker proud of his Michigan roots, but he is arguably one of the greatest songwriters around. His hard-bitten, philosophical bittersweet tunes of loss and regret resonates, while his ballads speak of redemption and hope. Whose life story hasn’t been told in a Bob Seger song? That has always been the themes of his songs and albums in his nearly 40-year career, and it hasn’t changed with Face the Promise, his first new album of original material in 11 years. Brighter-sounding and reflective than previous efforts, and with a hint of country (the album was recorded in Nashville), Face the Promise shows Seger hasn’t lost his gritty and soulful voice or touch from that long hiatus. There are some of those punchy rockers such as his redneck duet with fellow Michiganite Kid Rock on Vince Gill’s “Real Mean Bottle” and the head-bobbing “Wreck this Heart”; and some gorgeous ballads like “Wait for Me” and wisdom-waltz of “The Answer’s in the Question,” a duet with Patty Loveless. The bluesy slow burner “Won’t Stop” recalls the mood and tempo of one of his earlier songs “Turn the Page.” “No Matter Who You Are” is one of the songs to be played on the car radio way loud. Face the Promise shows that time isn’t catching up with Bob Seger; he’ll still be running against the wind.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 5:50 PM
CD Review: Chicago
Chicago
Chicago 16
Chicago 17
Rhino
By David Chiu
By 1980, Chicago’s career was flagging. The hits ran dry and the band was dropped by its label of over a decade, Columbia Records. But it wasn’t the end—it was the beginning of a second era of hits that eclipsed the previous ones commercially.
Two important additions made that possible: singer and songwriter Bill Champlin, whose gritty soulful vocals augmented really well with the voice of bassist Peter Cetera; and uber-producer David Foster, who drew a punchier, if glossy, sound from the band complete with pyrotechnic session guitarists and electronic drums. In essence it was a retooled Chicago ready to take another stab at chart success.
And the band succeeded. Chicago 16, originally released in 1982, sets the formula for the rest of the band’s career to follow: synth-driven rockers (“What You’re Missing,” “Chains”) and, most importantly, power ballads (the band’s second Number One hit Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away, Love Me Tomorrow) Only tracks such as “Sonny Think Twice” and “What Can I Say” recall the old Chicago sound even if the trademark horns and Robert Lamm’s singing and songwriting contributions seemed diminished. “Daddy’s Favorite Fool,” 16’s bonus selection, is typical Bill Champlin with its blue-eyed, jazzy soul sound.
It would set the stage for the band’s biggest-selling album Chicago 17, released two years later. It may not have gotten a lot of great reviews in the album guides, but 17 is a pure perfect pop album, a few steps better than its predecessor. For those who accuse Cetera as the guy who can only handle ballads, they should listen to the rockers Stay the Night, “Prima Donna” and the brilliant feel-good “Along Comes a Woman.” “We Can’t Stop the Hurtin’” is a return to the socially-conscious songs Robert Penn used to pen in the ‘70s. Chicago 17 best-known songs have since become Chicago classics: the power Hard Habit to Break (the vocals between Cetera and Champlin are killer) and “You’re The Inspiration.” Chicago 17 is a great album even if old fans didn’t like the direction the band was taking its music into by this time. (The bonus track is a lovely Robert Lamm ballad “Where We Began”).
Chicago’s second wave of hits convinced Cetera (who dominated on those two albums with his songwriting and singing) to go solo. Chicago 16 and 17 may be worlds away from the avant garde glories of 1969’s Chicago Transit Authority, but those two albums were important barometers of Chicago’s continued popularity and a willingness to change with the times.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 5:47 PM
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
CD Review: Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
The Definitive Collection
Geffen/UME
By David Chiu
Joe Walsh is like that eccentric uncle who is the probably coolest in the family. He is an everyman with a populist charm who also just happens to be one of rock’s great guitarists. His ‘aw shucks’ self-effacing persona (he even wrote a song called “Ordinary Average Guy”) is endearing, but it is his axe work that makes it known that he is all business. This collection draws on his early work with the James Gang as typified in the classics “Funk #49” and “Walk Away” through his best-known tracks on the trippy “Rocky Mountain Way” and the sardonic “Life Is Good.” Darting guitar work and somewhat distinctive singing aside, Walsh is also capable of handling a slow song as on 1975’s “Help Me Through the Night,” featuring backing vocals from the members of the Eagles, the band he would eventually join (Unfortunately this collection does not have one of his best songs he recorded with the Eagles, “In the City”). If you like your music with grit, humor and guitars, then vote Joe Walsh for President.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 8:22 PM
Sunday, October 01, 2006
CD Review: The Nice Boys
The Nice Boys
The Nice Boys
Birdman
By David Chiu
Who said nice guys finish last? Apparently not these rockers. The Nice Boys’ music is a pleasurable throwback to the glam and punk days of T.Rex, Gary Glitter and the Stooges augmented with the hooks of Badfinger, Cheap Trick and many other ‘70s power pop groups. In a time in rock where over bloated dinosaur bands ruled the arenas, these aforementioned acts gave rock both a shot in the arm in terms of attitude. The Nice Boys have adopted that philosophy very well in their own music. “Johnny Guitar” is deservedly the key track with its punchy drumming, washes of heavy guitar winning hooks, and me-and-my gang harmony singing; “Avenue 29” sounds if the Beatles and the Kinks got together; and “Cheryl Ann (Carry On)” closes the album starting out reflective and power-balladish before briefly morphing into a ripping Stones-like climax. The Nice Boys has a raw and bright sound that makes you feel like you were in 1976 all over again.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 1:10 PM
CD Review: Corrina Repp
Corrina Repp
The Absent and the Distant
Caldo Verde
By David Chiu
This album lives up to its name: There is a lot of space in this hauntingly beautiful music, almost evoking an out-of-body experience. To start off an album with an instrumental, and a very intimate and ethereal one, sets the tone for the rest of Repp’s album: gentle piano, Repp’s quiet, jazzy vocals and somber melodies (Repp slightly reminds one of Nico without too much of the gloom and doom). Tracks like “All” and “Afloat” sound like the heart is actually breaking and yet feel strangely cathartic at the same time. The music is deliberately slow as if to savor every note. The Absent and the Distant is a lush and ethereal album; this chanteuse’s voice is disarming.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 6:09 AM
Pete Townshend
Empty Glass
White City: A Novel
Hip-O/UME
By David Chiu
Just as the Who is about to release its first new studio album in nearly 25 years, two excellent Pete Townshend solo records from 1979 and 1986 were recently reissued.
Empty Glass (1979) has been regarded as Townshend’s best solo work—it was rock’s elder statesman answer to the angry young punks who saw the Who as dinosaurs. In an ironic way, punk music seem to have freed Townshend creatively as rockers like Jools and Jim and the title track seem to indicate. Right off the bat Townshend’s goes swinging with the highly-charged “Rough Boys”; that track and the atmospheric “And I Moved” contain lyrics that seem to hint at homosexuality (“Tough boys/Come over here/I wanna bite and kiss you,” on the former, and “And I moved/And his hands felt like ice exciting” on the latter—sort of revolutionary for its time in retrospect. “Empty Glass” also contains Townshend’s most popular solo tune, the ditty “Let My Love Open My Door.” Empty Glass showed that Townshend and the Who as a whole were not finished in the era of punk. The album’s bonus tracks include alternate versions of “I Am an Animal,” “Keep On Working” and “And I Moved.”
White City: A Novel (1986), based on a concept from a film, is a varied but tuneful album. Being that it is a concept record, one would imagine pointless interludes, inscrutable filler and arty ambitions gone awry, but White City is cohesive and packs a wollop. It’s a lean and direct rock album with some choice cuts: the jump blues of the catchy and excellent “Face to Face”; the driving numbers “Secondhand Love” and “Give Blood”; and a little reggae-like funk in “Hiding Out.” White City is an underrated gem that deserves another listen. The bonus tracks on this reissue include an acoustic version of the English Beat’s “Save It For Later.”
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# posted by NewBeats @ 6:06 AM
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