Five years is a long time between records. So much has changed. However, when Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney walked back in the studio, you can tell from listening to the singles from "Let's Rock" that the groove never left. With no chosen producer, the pair kept everything between the two of them (each are very talented on their own). "Eagle Birds" oozes Blues like the days of yore. "Lo/Hi" sounds more modern but gives you a crunchy "Spirit in the Sky" chorus to hang on to, while "Go" sums up the band circa 2019 best – simple, straightforward and ready to go.
Various Artists
Echo in the Canyon (Soundtrack)
(LP/CD)(BMG Rights Mgmt.)
While Jakob Dylan has never been the best singer, he makes a great catalyst to bring new life into the shimmering Sixties Pop that emanated from his home in Laurel Canyon. Now growing to mythic proportions, thanks to Andrew Slater's documentary of the same name, "Echo" gives great attention to the best songs to emerge from that musically-mythic destination.
Dylan and Beck twirl their voices around each other beautifully on the Byrdsian cuts, while he brings out the crooner in Josh Homme ("She"). However, he is at his very best when the band goes after the Pop singles like The Association's "Never My Love" (with Norah Jones) and The Beach Boys' classic "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" (with Neil Young).
JADe JACKSON
Wilderness
(LP/CD)(Anti)
The female singer/songwriters are starting to split their wares. The challenging ones (Weyes Blood, Jessica Pratt, Faye Webster, and Stella Donnelly, for those keeping score for 2019) are great at inserting enough witty lyrics and production ingenuity to stand out. However, what is to be said for those who just want to write unabashed genre-specific songs (the overrated Jade Bird and the underrated Lauren Jenkins for example) that are also clever, well-written and produced to become hits?
"Wilderness" clearly hopes to fit into the latter territory. Jangling guitars, bigger beats and Jackson's husky drawl drive this one straight toward Americana/Pop. "Secrets" boasts a wallop of a chorus and "Bottle It Up" is a locomotive single just waiting to hit. While you cannot say you have not heard it before, "Wilderness" definitely makes Jackson the next to swing for crossover success.
Abdullah Ibrahim
The Balance
(CD)(Gearbox)
Formerly known as Dollar Brand, this South African-pianist has returned with his first album in five years. His lifetime of music is reflected in the tracks here as he revives some brilliant Duke-like horn charts (the celebratory "Jabula"), slows down some beautiful Fats Waller-esque melodic piano and adds flutes and an effective harmonica to the lush title cut. Joining him are an electric new band. Drummer Will Ferrill contributes some kinetic brushwork and double bassist Alec Dankworth provides a perfect bridge between helping Ferrill rhythmically and accentuating Ibrahim.
REISSUE OF THE WEEK
WOODSTOCK: BACK
TO THE GARDEN
(3CD)(Atlantic)
Get ready for a summer-long celebration of those three halcyon days in 1969. Peace, love, and music come alive again for their 50th anniversary in this specially-edited and well-constructed collection of songs from the festival. The set starts off Folky (Richie Havens' immovable classic "Freedom," Joan Baez singing Gram Parsons, and Country Joe teaching everyone to spell) before exposing the full blast of rock the show was truly all about. Santana burns through "Jingo" before the Dead unveil "Dark Star" and Janis comes to wring the soul out of everyone. However, that is just the stuff you know. Creedence, a very angry Who, which then inspired Jefferson Airplane to new heights, and The Band are also along for the ride back to Yasgur's Farm. (I humbly decline to say anything about Sha Na Na).
IGGY POP
Zombie Birdhouse
(LP/CD)(Culture Factory)
Iggy's solo career is one of violent highs and crashing lows. His first two albums (1977's "The Idiot" and "Lust For Life") are indispensable. After gaining a foothold in the new Punk-driven world of Rock, Iggy made three albums for Arista that quickly exposed his ability to write alarmingly simple crushers ("Five Foot One" and "I'm Bored"), whose ham-fisted chording could wear out its welcome.
Contract expired, in 1982 Iggy joined Blondie's Chris Stein for an album that was largely about traveling off the map. Given the keyboards and drum programming, "Zombie Birdhouse" sounds like nothing Iggy had done before.
"The Villagers" is close to New Wave while "Run Like a Villain" is dated but a dark portrait of the coming wave of commercialism. Based on a 1981 visit to Haiti, "Zombie Birdhouse" is largely about pushing guitars to sound less like guitars and allowing Iggy to let his Id take the lead.
For example, "Watching The News" is a bizarre pan-African sample-laden exploration of sheer paranoia. As Iggy prances less and howls more, this less high-art,"My Life In The Bush of Ghosts," pushed him off the Earth for a couple of years.
