CD Review: The Woodstock Experience

Jefferson Airplane
The Woodstock Experience
RCA/Legacy

Santana
The Woodstock Experience
Columbia/Legacy
By David Chiu

Santana and Jefferson Airplane were just a few of the main acts who played at the historic Woodstock festival in 1969. In celebration of Woodstock’s 40th anniversary this coming August , Legacy Recordings recently launched the The Woodstock Experience, a series of limited edition double discs which pairs an artists’ full set from the festival with their studio album recorded in that same year.


San Francisco’s Jefferson Airplane weren’t exactly newcomers by the time they played Woodstock—they were already a popular band thanks to the hits “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.” So with that popularity comes clout, which the Airplane had when they recorded Volunteers, a now-classic album that reflected the social and political upheaval at the times. It was controversial not only because of its originally planned album title (Volunteers of Amerika) but for a line in lyrics to the outstanding opener “We Can Be Together”--“Up against the wall, motherfucker.” The anti-war sentiment runs through the record with the haunting track “Wooden Ships,” written by the Airplane’s Paul Kantner with David Crosby and Stephen Stills; and the call-to-arms rocker “Got a Revolution.” There are also some eclectic touches on Volunteers from the country folk on the lovely “Good Shepherd” and “The Farm” to the avant garde stylings of “Meadowlands.”

The intensity of Jefferson Airplane’s live performances also translated onto their rocking set at Woodstock, which is presented here in its entirety along with some previously unreleased tracks. (It should be of note that the band came onstage in the wee hours of the morning). The Airplane played several songs off of Volunteers, including a 21-minute version of “Wooden Ships,” with some earlier material (an explosive version of “Somebody to Love,” “White Rabbit,” and the punkish “3/5 of a Mile in Ten Seconds”)

In contrast to the Airplane, Santana were at the time a new band on the scene. Yet it has been widely written that it was their performance at Woodstock that really elevated the band’s popularity. It is quite evident how smoking the band was (especially Carlos Santana’s piercing guitar) on that August 16 afternoon 40 years ago: standouts include the urgent “Waiting,” the fiery blues of “You Don’t Care.” Most of the numbers from the performance have already been issued but the Woodstock Experience now restores “Evil Ways” to the set. The band’s self-titled debut was released after their career-defining Woodstock performance containing nearly all of the songs from that concert, including “Jingo Lo Ba” and “Persuasion.”

Other artists in The Woodstock Experience series include Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter and Sly and the Family Stone.

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News: New Madonna hits package announced!

Has it been that long ago--25 years of Madonna music? This latest Madonna compilation, Celebration, chronicles a period of hits and memorable songs. Warner Bros. announced in a press release today that the release of the aforementioned 2-CD package will be on Sept. 29 in the U.S. The collection will also feature two new songs, including the title track, co-produced by Madonna and Paul Oakenfold. 

Above is the cover art for Celebration by "Mr. Brainwash."

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CD Review: Whitesnake

Whitesnake
Slide It In (Deluxe Edition)
Slip of the Tongue (Deluxe Edition)
Geffen/UME
By David Chiu

2009 looks to become a banner year for Whitesnake fans because the veteran rock group is celebrating two milestones: the 25th anniversary of Slide It In and the 20th anniversary of Slip of the tongue. While the two albums both display Whitesnake’s specialty of hard rock, they differ significantly in musical approach.


For those who only know David Coverdale and company’s pop metal classics from the self-titled 1987 album, its predecessor Slide It In, might be a shock to the system. Before the big hair, the synths and Tawny Kitaen, Whitensake was a lean British hard rock outfit. Its early sound was more in the vein of ‘70s Foreigner and Thin Lizzy than latter- period Def Leppard and Bon Jovi. That’s what makes Slide It In an actual and enjoyable listen with songs such as the title song, “Gambler,” “Love Ain’t No Stranger” and the catchy “Guilty of Love.” In addition to containing the original U.S. mix of the album, the 25th anniversary edition also features U.K. mixes of several songs and a DVD of performances and videos associated with the album. Except to diehard ‘Snake fans, this is an underrated record.

Of course the fortunes of the band’s dramatically changed following the mammoth success of the Whitesnake album (1987). So not surprisingly the follow-up, Slip of the Tongue, wasn’t a big departure from the radio friendly and bombastic arena sound that was typical of the hair metal era. What made this particular Whitensake album interesting was the addition of guitar god Steve Vai, who definitely made his presence known with some dazzling, out of the world solos. Though it didn’t yield hits as memorable as “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love,” there are some good songs on off of Slip such as the title track, Fool for Your Loving (a remake of a song from Whitensake’s 1982 album Ready an' Willing), the power ballad “The Deeper The Love,” and the Zeppelin-like “Judgement Day.” Slip of the Tongue is proof that topping a previously successful album can be very hard. This deluxe edition of the album also contains bonus tracks and a DVD of Slip’s videos and acoustic (!) performances of “Sailing Ships” and “The Deeper The Love.”

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CD Review: Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac
Tusk
Warner Bros.
By David Chiu

Tusk, Fleetwood Mac’s double album, turns exactly 30 this year. Dwarfed by the massive popularity and sales of its famous predecessor Rumours, Tusk could be Fleetwood Mac’s version of the Beatles’ White Album: it’s not so much a band album but a collection of unique and diverse songs, each closely associated with its songwriter and singer. In this case, it's Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. The most distinguishable songs on this record are Buckingham's. Rather than rehashing the slick and sunny pop of the previous Mac albums, Buckingham does a 180 with punk and New Wave-inspired minimalist rock songs from "The Ledge" through "That’s Enough For Me"; his most strangest contribution to the record is the pseudo Afro-influenced title track, which features the USC Trojan Marching Band. (Buckingham’s imprint is all over Tusk that he is even given a special thanks credit from the band). Nicks and McVie’s songs are not as avant garde as their colleague but they are certainly not inferior: Nicks’ own touching ode "Sara" went Top Ten, and she contributes some wonderful ballads such as "Beautiful Child" and the mystical "Sisters of the Moon." McVie delivers her usual brand of upbeat melodic tunes such as on the insanely catchy "Think About Me" and "Never Forget." Tusk sold 2 million copies, according to the RIAA, which for any artist is an impressive feat. But it seemed like a failure compared to the mammoth Rumours, which has sold 19 million. However, for the ambition of this record and its stylistic range, Tusk is a much more satisfying piece of work and maybe even better than Rumours. It certainly deserves more recognition and acceptance now than it did upon its initial release.

Fleetwood Mac performing “Think About Me”:


Fleetwood Mac’s video for “Tusk”:


Fleetwood Mac performing “Sara”:

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Live Review: Those Darlins

Those Darlins
Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY
July 10, 2009
Review by David Chiu

There has been some recent buzz for this trio whose members have the same last name. And that attention is deservedly warranted when you see them perform live with their spirited crossover music—sort of like country meets punk.

These women from Murfreesboro, Tennessee—ukelele player Nikki Darlin, guitarist/bassist Jessi Darlin and bassist/guitarist Kelley Darlin—are really talented singers (each took turns on the lead vocals) and musicians who evoke charisma and feisty attiutde through their stage presence. Right from the get-go, their musicianship and singing were just dynamic and straight-ahead. One can feel the energy from their spirited music, whose songs were from their recently-released self-titled debut such as “222,” “DUI or Die” and “Mama’s Heart.”

It wasn’t also your average rock show too. During the performance, a dude in a chicken suit emerged and strutted onstage on one song. And close to the finale, the group showed a cute animated video of “Red Light Love” that was illustrated by Jessi Darlin. The only thing that kind of slowed down the momentum of the concert was when several audience members got up to shimmy with Nikki—especially this one curly-haired woman who was up there a few more times. That may work for Dan Deacon and Girl Talk, but it was a little bit distracting and kind of reminiscent of a scene from Coyote Ugly.

That aside, Those Darlins really put up a really good rock and roll show. It won’t be surprising that in a year from now, these artists will be playing on an even bigger stage and garnering more attention and raves. Catch them early when you can.

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CD Review: The Wallflowers and Tonic

The Wallflowers
Collected 1996-2005
Interscope/UME

Tonic
A Casual Affair: The Best of Tonic
Universal Records/Polydor/UME

Reviews by David Chiu

The Wallflowers and Tonic emerged in the ‘90s with their earnest and melodic AOR music. These two new compilations spotlighting each band’s catalog will surely put you in a flashback to the decade when there was once an abundance of radio-friendly rock bands: matchbox 20, Counting Crows, Vertical Horizon and Sister Hazel to name a few.

Of the two, the Wallflowers, led by Jakob Dylan, had the most success and recognition thanks to their breakthrough 1996 album Bringing Down the Horse and massive hit “One Headlight.” Collected focuses on the band’s output for Interscope, thus songs from their Virgin debut are not here. For the many listeners who only bought Bringing Down the Horse, Collected packages some noteworthy songs from subsequent albums Breach and Red Letter Day and Rebel Sweetheart: standouts include the poppy and soulful “I’ve Been Delievered” the wonderful “Closer To You” and “How Good Can It Get.” Of course including songs from Bringing Down… is a no-brainer with “One Headlight,” “6th Avenue Heartache” and the lovely “Three Marlenas.” Collected makes a strong case the band was more than just that one hit album.

Something similar can be said for the group Tonic on their best-of collection: their best known for the hits “If You Can Only See” and “Open Up Your Eyes” but there’s also some plenty of good songs from their previous albums that may deserve some reconsideration. A Casual Affair showcases both the band’s driving hard melodic hard rock in “Take Me As I Am,” “Irish” and “You Wanted More”; and their knack for the power ballad in Mean to Me and the great Lemon Parade. If this band is guilty of anything in the eyes of the critics, it’s perhaps that their music is just too catchy.

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Live Pictures: Conor Oberst and Jenny Lewis from Battery Park, July 4, 2009

Read the review here.

Photos by David Chiu.

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CD Reviews: Columbia Jazz Titles from 1959

Miles Davis: Sketches of Spain (Legacy Edition)
The David Brubeck Quartet: Take Five (Legacy Edition)
Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um (Legacy Edition)
Columbia/Legacy
By David Chiu

1959 was definitely a landmark year for jazz, one that brought out important titles that have since been part of the genre’s canon: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, and Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz To Come to name just a few. In addition to Kind of Blue, Columbia Records have also issued Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain, Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, and Charles Mingus Ah Um—three different jazz albums stylistically but nevertheless important and in some cases groundbreaking. Each marking a 50th anniversary this year, these albums were recently reissued with a second disc of bonus material.

Big band orchestras have certainly existed in history, but the idea of fusing jazz and a classical orchestra, especially when both produce music that is indicative of a foreign musical style, seems unconventional. But that’s what happened with Miles Davis on Sketches of Spain, which marks one of the trumpeter’s legendary collaborations with arranger Gil Evans. Davis and the orchestra’s music pays homage to the traditional music of Spain from the epic “Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)” to the heroic and memorable “Saeta.” Even in this setting Davis’ horn playing evokes both fire and beauty. There is no question that this record played an important part in future fusion projects involving jazz and classical such as in the recent works of Wayne Shorter, for example.

With the exception of Davis’s Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Take Five may be one of the most recognizable and popular jazz albums . It’s easy to understand why on this record because each composition is so engaging and accessible. Yet this album, fronted by Brubeck’s piano playing and Paul Desmond’s sax, is also pioneering for its unusual adaptation of different time signatures—evident on the album’s two most popular songs, “Blue Rondo a la Turk” and the title track. This lavish package also contains live performances by the legendary quartet and a DVD featuring a recent interview with Brubeck on the making of the record

For jazz purists, Charles Mingus’ Ah Um satisfies both mind and soul. Compared to the aforementioned reissues, this sounds like a more traditional jazz release with a little bit of R&B, especially on the blazing “Better Git It In Your Soul.” Several of the tracks such as “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” “Jelly Roll,” and “Pedal Point Blues” really swing, while other tunes convey an understated beauty such as “Self-Portrait In Three Colors” and “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” a tribute to the great Lester Young. In addition to the original album, the Legacy Edition also contains the original album’s follow-up, Mingus Dynasty.

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