Alex's opinion and documents of music

Kev Carmody – Mirrors (Independent)

Possibly Carmody’s most adventurous and contemporary recording to date, Mirrors wonderfully bridges the country styles he is known for and the electronic forays now more common within his albums.

Every word is sung with earnest and experience as wonderfully displayed in ‘Dirty Dollar’ which questions moneys place in human virtue. It’s Carmody’s collaboration’s with Andy Wilmott that really widen the landscape, ‘Are You Connected’ and ‘Dubya Love Ya’ two examples built around sampled voices beats and percussion, the electronics strong around the social and political queries being cast out.

It’s when Carmody returns to his acoustic guitar and his weathered voice that the songs connect you to a time and place beautiful and aching not to be forgotten. The subject matter present in every Australian’s lives, Mirrors is powerful record, hopefully appreciated by all generations.

Simon Joyner – Lost With The Lights On (Jagjaguwar)

With a voice that never raises above a meandering drawl, sometimes mournful, sometimes just sounding sleepy, it is hard to stay focused over the 50-minutes these eight-tracks encompass.

Accompanied mainly by only acoustic guitar and some sparse pedal steel, everything about this album is subtle and drawn out, so much that the mood is sometimes lost.

Shifting from folk to country, its not until the fifth track, half an hour in that the drumming of The Dirty Three’s Jim White comes in and adds some needed skin to a bare skeleton. While the tempo stays unchanged, the final few songs grow in instrumentation and finally times, places and landscapes start to make themselves known. For those who think Low are now too rock, here lies a comforting alternative.

Alison Brown Quartet – Replay (Compass)

Taking time away from her day job in Alison Krauss’s band Union Station, Brown let’s loose 15 ditties of down-home bluegrass, jazz-fusion

Throughout she seems hell bent on forging her own niche with eyes square on future possibilities, not past traditions. ‘Late On Arrival’ and ‘Daytime TV’ are pure jazz tunes, solos and all. Her picking is faultless and perfectly balanced with piano, bass and drums finishing off the quartet. Chicken Road on the other hand is made for around the campfire.

Everything is so well played there seems a lack of feeling in parts, rollicking along but not conveying to us the stories deep within the songs. For those interested in the banjo and bluegrass’s possible future then this is worth the listen but for the curious, maybe a look into the banjo’s rich musical past might yield more.

Seaman Dan – Perfect Pearl (Hot)

There is an undeniable tropical feel that comes from a Seaman Dan album, possibly due to a lifetime of pearl diving and holding the helm. On this his third album, the 74 years old storyteller tells his tales of life up north in the Torres Strait.

With a lively blend of blues, country, reggae, ska and dare we say it – Hula, the laid back tales are subtle and Dan’s voice deep and soothing. In ‘Perfect Pearl’ he croons, ‘Red Shirt Day’ recalls a rich and smooth Benny Goodman sound and with each song you get drawn more into this wondrous world.

It’s true roots music, drawing on a rich heritage and stories of a life that most of us wish we had.

Ross McLennan – Songs From The Brittle Building (W.Minc)

With a pop sensibility that would make the Beatles proud, McLennan’s first solo outing since his days fronting the often-overlooked Snout, is a massive leap forward. Maybe with not as much outward flare as people such as Beck, McLennan’s genius is just as prevalent but subtler, perfectly demonstrated in the opening track ‘Symphobia’.

Still exercising that unmistakable jangle, but equally electric and acoustic this time round, there are Snout moments (‘I’m The Only Adult…’), introspective moments (‘Winterwonderland’), carefree moments (‘Still Taking Bets’) and shoulders weighed with thought. Backed up by a cast of dozens, every song breaks the previous songs mould, experimenting with his own formula and bettering himself every time.

This some of the most refined and well-crafted pop music that you will find anywhere.

Courtney Love – America’s Sweetheart (Virgin/EMI)

Oh god, why did she have to do this. Sure it has distortion, pitch perfect angst and that trademark snarl but search as you may, you will be hard pressed to find any soul within this 46min Hollywood tour of the last ten years of Love’s life.

Having gone from making impassioned music in the 80’s and early 90’s both solo and with her band Hole, the Hollywood lifestyle has stripped the credibility from her bones leaving this record as evidence. This time round she is backed up by Linda Perry (of 4 Non-Blondes) and with Bernie Taupin contributing lyrics to tracks like ‘Uncool’ and ‘I’ll Do Anything’ see her scream like a spoilt child unhappy with the fact that she has everything. Her rage sounds false at the start and pathetic by the end.

File under: Method Acting.

Lambchop – AwCmon / NoYouCmon (Merge / City Slang / EMI)

Employing a systematic strategy of writing a song a day has brought to fruition two complete albums for Nashville’s classiest behemoth of a country band. Defined as two separate albums with two separate moods the Cmon albums are these __ musicians greatest statement yet.

AwCmon is brimming with sweetness, string sections lush and subtle, Kurt Wagner’s voice is completly disarming. Never over the top but as if the grand spirit of Gone With The Wind was distilled down to a 45min record, gloriously demonstrated in ‘Steve McQueen’ and ‘Each Time I Bring It Up…’

NoYouCmon on the other hand has more urgency to it, the piano is immediate, soft string sections fall away to distortion pedals and the mood is elevated to more of a rockin’ sound, all still framed within the Lambchop sound. Standout moments include ‘Sunrise’, ‘Nothing Adventurous Please’, ‘Shang A Dang Dang’ and ‘About My Lighter’.

These albums seem to hold a glorious pioneering spirit of the past creating music so many years ahead of their Nashville country peers, it may take them decades to understand it’s worth.

Probot –  (Southern Lord / Shock)

Warning Dave Grohl fans: This sounds nothing like the Foo Fighters.

Not since his days in Scream has Grohl’s made music this heavy, Here he is backing an entire generation of his hero’s, the Metal elite of the 80’s and 90’s. Some names you will know but for most this is the first time that underground overlords will be dragged into the light.

Moterhead’s Lemmy, Sepultura’s Max Cavalera, Napalm Death’s Lee Dorrian, Celtic Frost’s Tom G. Warrior and Venom’s Cronos are but some of the 16 guests. Credit needs to go to Grohl’s ability to take old school metal and update it to sound very relevant and heavier than ever. Again doing what he does best – everything. Each song brings someone new to vocals and their instrument of choice, Grohl playing everything else.

If only they gave this kind of education in schools!

Ani DiFranco – Educated Guess (Righteous Babe / Shock)

The little folk singer is again flying solo, having spent the last 10 years slowly building and developing a band she has shed their skin to again go it alone.

The reasoning for this lies deep within the songs, still as challenging as ever in her career with emotions, politics and life first hand. DiFranco seems to have all but come to terms with her path, her voice and her motives and wishes to boldly hold them out on her own.

There is an intimacy here that is so striking that the songs lock on to you making the experience as much a difficult mirror as enjoyable listening and all the more compelling.

Once proclaiming she was “surrounded by a world’s worth of things that you just can’t excuse”, Educated Guess explicitly outlines the things we all live with in our own way and provides a little much needed solidarity and hope.

Weird War – If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Bite ’Em (Drag City / Spunk)

Conjuring the funk rock of 70’s Detroit, the group formally known as The Scene Creamer have refined and distilled the vibe filled sound of their previous record down to something that hits your hips and ass possibly even before you ears and brain register what’s going on.

Conceived by ex-Make Up vocalist Ian Svenonius, it’s a fuzz wha guitar sound that drives this album. Songs like ‘Grand Fraud’ and the title track are equal parts old school soul, P-Funk jam and rock psych-out. ‘Moment In Time’ is more out of Hendrix’s time than ours.

Always pushing the political and social tip, below the groove is a message that weighs just as heavy as the music. Given the people and sounds this is surprisingly the least overblown record that Svenonius and co have produced yet.

The Coral – Nightfreak And The Sons Of Beaker (Deltasonic / Sony)

Furthering their off kilter sound, for their third album, the Coral have fully developed the paisley pop hinted at on previous efforts.

It’s a strange trip, like a house of mirrors, bending and distorting otherwise pleasant pop tunes into 11 tracks of something a little darker. Partially balladesq in nature, and with no evidence of guitar wankery anywhere, tracks like ‘Sorrow Of The Song’ come across like a more British, less country version of Grandaddy while ‘Migraine’ holds steed with the Hurdy Gurdy Butthole Surfers.

Unlike the psychedelic drugs that may or may not have been involved, this trip only last for 28min and takes quite a bit of effort to unfurl.

Azure Ray – The Drinks We Drank Last Night (Saddle Creek)

This is first single from Azure Ray’s third album with the title-track displaying this female duo at their dreamiest.

The b-sides easily equal the a-side with ‘The Love Of Two’ sounding as though it is transported from some ethereal world down through an old solid-state wireless. ‘We Are Mice’ varies from the album version, sounding more like Sparklehorse, the electronics absent, leaving only piano and strings.

The Mars Volta – Televators (CSL / Universal)

Not too many singles clock in at 49 minutes, but not all bands are like this one. An Australian exclusive limited edition single, Televators is the shortest track at 6:19 as well as the softest.

The four b-sides are all live and vary from seven to 16 minutes in length. If you witnessed the freak-out jam of the Mars Volta live at the Big Day out then these tracks perfectly capture what was displayed there.

Dropkick Murphys – Fields Of Athenry (Hellcat / Epitaph)

With a tour nigh, this souvenir single reminds us of the bag-piped punk anthem fun many are about to experience. It’s kind of cool when bands from far away mention Australia in their songs as is done here.

A bit of cultural history in the b-sides, ‘I’m Shipping up to Boston’ revamped from its original Woody Guthrie version and I am sure Johnny Cash never imagined his song ‘If I Were A Carpenter’ like this.

Avenues – Self Titled (MGM)

Mixing melody and guitar crunch, these four lads from Perth seem to have been studying the You Am I songbook, while learning to mix that with a undeniable British sensibility.

‘Company’ and ‘Bury Me Standing’ hold a very immediate pop rock sound while ‘Everybody’ shows a softer more jangly side.

If history is anything to go by, the avenues are sure to soon be all over the airwaves.

Capital City – Versus The Bangkok Lady Boys (MGM)

The second release for this duo sees them lose some of the blues and swamp of their last effort instead delivering a more highly charged straightforward rock n roll.

With only six tracks to play with, they hit the ground running with ‘The Working Class Is After Us’, ‘When I Die’ has a undeniable country flavour to it, that is until it goes into double time.

Throughout it all there is a particular groove and guitar sound, the kind we have heard throughout Kim Salmon’s career

Closing off with a fine rendition of Rocky Erickson’s tune ‘Your Gonna Miss Me’, it is almost impossible not to recognise that the next generation of Australian rock n roll are out there and ready to take over.

Rollerball – Highly Likely (Rhythm Ace)

The opening harmonica gives way to their trademark ball-busting guitar sound and gutsy vocals, a perfect slice of true Australian rock – not pretty boy city rock. ‘Highly Likely’ is backed up by the older ‘Lowly Sublime’ and ‘Commodity’, both cut live on JJJ and sounding just as fierce. Two videos are included, ‘Lost in Space and Lowly Sublime’ to show just how visually appealing the band really are.

The Eagle Of Death Metal – Peace Love Death Metal

Forget the name, it’s a joke. This band is the pairing of two high school pals who kicked it off in 98’, one of them becoming famous with their other band, the other becoming a journalist. Now their back and focused on delivering to the world their boogie-woogie garage-rock.

J. Devil Huge brings a messy chainsaw guitar and mostly silly falsetto while Carlo Von Sexron (actually Josh Homme) bashes away at the drums. The Queens comparison in undeniable with the rock out rhythms full of the groove that made Songs For The Deaf so great.

Less like Sabbath metal, this is more like full-blown T-Rex rock, throw in a cover of the Stealers Wheel 73’classic ‘Stuck In the Middle (Metal) with you’ and the scene is complete.

Flippant, silly and all ‘n’ all fun, this is rock made for your ass, the dance-floor and the mirror-ball.

The Opus – Breathing Lessons (Mush / Stomp)

Downtempo, moody, cinematic and creating a depth of field not through rhymes but a wider range of sounds. The duo of Opus (Mr. Echoes and Isle Of Weight) broaden their vision for their second album.

Laying down hip-hop beats in some songs and scattered breaks in others, it is still a mellow affair, the album taking on an otherworldly sound upon reaching ‘Life’s Endless Cycle Pt.3’ with vocals of an unknown language (if any at all) playing off swept, echoed effects.

With out cliché raps – the sound stays lush and the album never looses its curious and creative feel, as if hip-hop has a comfy pair of jazz shoes on. With folk like these pushing the left field of the genre – they’ll just about be reaching orbit anytime now.

Thavius Beck – Decomposition (Mush / Stomp)

Braking down the building blocks of song, throwing away any and all instruction manuals and then putting it all back together to create something dark and not so easily decipherable.

The debut album by Beck straddles electronica and hip-hop, using beats, found sounds, samples and programming, Decomposition flails as it tries to go several directions at once, ‘What Lurks In The Darkness’ even using several languages at once. With samples showing an obvious interest in human psychology, the mind-bending is helped by Cedric Bixler (The Mars Volta) who dubs the sound down a bit but is unable to bring it any focus.

What could have been a refined but accomplished album of greater length is but here a cluttered and confusing jumble of impressive ideas.

Meat Puppets – Classic Puppets (Ryko)

The Ultimate Meat Puppets best of? No. The Best songs of their career? Yes

Focusing on the original line up of the Kirkwood brothers and Derrick Bostrom, the 24 songs (three previously unreleased) cover the first eight years and six albums of their career.

The first few songs show their unadulterated punk roots, the band clearly unable to construct songs beyond their enthusiasm. That all falls away as the rough uncut country-punk sound that they pioneered shines through. While not having their most popular singles included, it has multiple examples of their creative peaks and a great booklet written by the band.

Punk beyond their years, it’s impossible to imagine a band like this coming out of the desert today to take the world by storm, the A&R department just wouldn’t stand for it. Kurt Cobain was right, there has never been any other band like them, and just listen to ‘Lake Of Fire’,under those rudimentary recordings was absolute genius.

Trinkets – Choose Your Own Adventure (Independent)

A million different descriptions of these ten songs could be used and all of them would be right and none of them would be the same for any two people.

Using guitar, cello, violin, bass and drums as the melting pot, what makes this second album so worthwhile is it’s ability to make you feel, think, remember and dream. Rousing emotions and memories that are unique to moments of your own life.

This is not music primarily music to tell you what is going on outside in the world, it is much more intimate and more likely to tell you what lies in the forgotten places of your heart and head. With the wildlife of Woodford as the backdrop the Trinkets have created a wonderfully organic and engaging album that is worth giving yourself over to.