The latest reissue is the classic second album from The Band. Recorded in Frank Sinatra's house, "The Band" speaks to their success and their frustration with creating music that is as compelling as their vision of it.
A cursory glimpse at the titles is Americana. With Robbie Robertson as their ringmaster (which will later likely destroy The Band,) this is the legendary group straddling that all important line between loose ("Rag Mama Rag") and elegant ("Across The Great Divide.") The continued vocal trade-offs from Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm give the whole album its eternal spin.
While these are indeed mournful songs about times long passed, their campfire harmonies and roughhewn genuineness still make this album one to study, emulate and celebrate.
THE BAND
The Band
(LP/CD)(Capitol)
FLEETWOOD MAC
Before the Beginning: 1968-1970
(CD/LP)(Blue Horizon/Legacy)
No matter how much you may love Classic Fleetwood Mac, their nascent years are of great importance to where they will lead the world in the Seventies.
As players fresh from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the seasoned rhythm section of bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood sound like one person on their early records.
Their take on standards ("Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman") crackle and open up a giant stage for masterful guitarist Peter Green.
The heir apparent to Eric Clapton, Green is criminally underrated as both guitarist and singer (B.B.King was just one of many bluesmen to sing his praises.)
Green furiously races through "Rattlesnake Shake" (live here from the last show he ever played with the band in 1970,) riffs maddeningly on "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)" (later nicked by Judas Priest) and beautifully solos on the soothing "Albatross."
Green's pyrotechnics were never enough and the Mac is suitably augmented by guitarists Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan. "Before The Beginning" is a fantastic starting point for the legendary band and for you to hear just why they still wear that fabled moniker today.
DAVID BYRNE
American Utopia
(CD)(Nonesuch)
Currently on Broadway, the polymath Byrne has expanded his most recent album to drums, dances and enough grey-suited cast members to transcend even the performance art that has long influenced his shows.
Since being in Talking Heads, Byrne has exclusively cornered the market on making the minutiae of everyday life into events that seems more operatic. "American Utopia" is the complete realization of that dream. 20 songs that pull from his solo catalog and the years with Talking Heads are given new life.
As the whole performance is one of movement and minimalism, "American Utopia" on CD is likely as much fun as it is on stage.
SPARKS
Past Tense: The Best of Sparks
(CD/LP)(BMG Artist Mgmt)
The brothers Mael were the classic "bridge band" if you will for Los Angeles Rock. As the L.A. Rock moves from Folk and Psychedelia in the hazy Sixties, these two native sons dragged it into Glam Rock before taking their music on a lengthy journey through a myriad of Pop stylings.
These 58 tracks tell the story from 1967 until today (as they prepare for their life story to be translated into a documentary by Edgar
Wright.) Their scathing rock in the beginning ('Girl From Germany") is scaled down in London into a pair of should-be-classic albums ("Kimono My House" and "Propaganda") before they leap into Synth-led Disco with Giorgio Moroder ("No.1 in Heaven") and heavenly Pop with Go-Go Jane Wiedlin ("Cool Places" - their only US chart hit.)
Even with extragavant and clever videos making MTV rotation, Sparks remained larger stars in England where their most recent album the operatic "Hippopotamus" debuted in the Top 10.
Juggling the tracks of their career is a tricky proposition. However, "Past Tense" plays well to their strengths (should've-been-hits "This Town Isn't Big Even For The Both of Us, " "When I'm With You," "Amateur Hour") while sampling the best of the largely unfamiliar. Russell Mael's vocal swoops remain unmatched and their unmistakable verve and panache led them through Disco, New Wave, SynthPop and Electronic music without losing their identity.
And some untested, unproven
With all of us passing into Daylight Savings Time and feeling like the world suddenly shifted like sand beneath our feet, this is a great time to examine several artists from overseas that are just getting their first releases off - and may or may not come to our shores sometime in 2020.
THE TWANG
If Confronted Just Go Mad
(Jump The Cut/The Orchard)
While the scrappy band had a few UK hits in 2007, its been a period of rediscovery for this Birmingham band. "If Confronted Just Go Mad" is a reminder of the late 80's C86 craze and how it layered reverberating vocals and jangle over everything.
After losing longtime singer Martin Reynolds, they have reshuffled the deck and come back with a Smiths-ian plus synths immediacy. "Went Walking" pitches a lot of attitude, but evens it out with a slow, dreamy chorus.
The drum-machine driven "Nothing Gets Better" feels like early Nineties radio and even features an off-kilter rap from Polarbear.
Who's singing seems to be up in the air, so the band shift into funk with the help of Cat McTigue on "Everytime" and "Million Miles" has the whole band vocalizing. While it is largely a transitional record, The Twang take enough chances to perhaps merit a single and a trip across the pond.
OLIVER SPALDING
Novemberism
(LP/CD)(Monotreme/The Orchard)
MATT MALTESE
Krystal
(LP)(Sevenfoursevensix)
There has been a post-Bon Iver glut of male singer/songwriters content with singing falsetto over gurgling synths. This 23-year old UK native is on to something different.
The sequencer-driven loop of the title cut times out perfectly as Spalding goes for the soaring Sam Smith-ian highs over surging synths. The ballad "Xanax" breaks the James Blake-ian open with arpeggiated guitars and subtle toms proving to be an even better showcase for his high range.
"Bow Creek" really tips the Eighties scales, but one could hear this cut earning him a feature or maybe even a surprise cut on a film soundtrack. "Novemberism" is a great debut from Spalding showcasing his voice and future potential.
Maltese is a reaction to the other glut - the dulcet voiced threadbare slightly dour Pop confessor.
In Elliott Smith-ian terms, Maltese could be seen as sad, but "Krystal" places a far nicer (not happier, though) McCartney-esque spin on his songs. Multi-tracking his own voice over the barest of band-size instrumentation, Maltese's songs about largely about arousing emotion from traveling (the spritely "Tokyo") or streams of questions (the breezy "I Wish You'd Ask.")
His very Seventies slow jam "Jupiter" poses the most potential capturing that all-too-common Mac DeMarco lazy groove but overlaying it with truly soulful vocals and a sharp, original chorus.
GUERRILLA TOSS
What Would The Odd Do?
(LP/CD)(NNA)
Blisteringly noncommercial, Guerilla Toss return with an album that shows a lot of growth. Beginning with the shocking left turn from the booming, anthemic title cut into the Disco-y raveup "Plants," this is a record about unpredictability.
Like mid-period B-52's blown up to giant-size proportions, Guerilla Toss are at their best when they find what is danceable about Rock music and put you on the floor.
The Prog workout "Future Doesn't Know" leap around imaginative production. When they slow down to a pulsating beat on the closer "Land Where Money's Nightmare Lives," you will cool down before diving back into the 15 minute EP again.
