Eight Reviews in Eight Hundred Words: November 2011

Reviews by Bill Kopp

Quite a few worthy CDs have piled up on my desk in recent days. Since Musoscribe is a one-person operation, it’s simply not practical to provide in-depth coverage of everything that I find deserving of it. So every now and then I do a collection of capsule reviews. My self-imposed limit for this particular exercise is 100 words on each release.

Miles Zuniga – These Ghosts Have Bones
If the artist’s name strikes you as familiar, you’re right: Zuniga is a member of Fastball, the band that gave us the great hit “The Way” and the shoulda-been-hit “You’re An Ocean.” Fastball’s still around, but this side project finds Zuniga in a more pop-oriented mood, occasionally (though not always) less rocking but equally compelling. “Rock Paper Scissors” sounds like a more melodic Cake. One suspects that these songs were selected because they didn’t fit as well within the band format; that’s what a solo album should be. Influences from all over are distilled into Zuniga’s intimate style. Good stuff.

Slowtrain – Bound to Find You Out
This piano-based rock-pop from Austin TX shows some healthy influences. A Dr. John-meets-Randy Newman sensibility is crossed with dramatic flourishes of grandiose pop (think: Queen or Jellyfish) to create something that sounds oddly familiar while being fresh and new. On some songs, lead singer Adoniram Lipton’s blues-shouting approach is wedded to story songs from the John Hiatt/Nick Lowe school of songwriting. On others, a breezy, this-side-of-country approach is used, but it’s delightfully free of that genre’s overused tropes. Uptempo rockers, contemplative ballads: they’re all here. In a just world this sort of music would catch on in a big way.

John Illsley – Streets of Heaven
Here’s another name that might strike a chord with liner-note readers. Illsley was a guitarist in Dire Straits; and even if you didn’t recognize the name, you’d almost certainly pick up on the tone when you spin the disc. (And you thought that sound was all Mark Knopfler!) For whatever reason, this record is the guitarist’s first solo album since his old band folded in 1995. In places the record sounds very much like Dire Straits. In other spots – take “Tell Me,” with its south-of-the-border horn arrangements and gypsy fiddling, for example – Illsley charts territory that is more his own.

Grand Atlantic – Constellations
Soaring, big guitars of the anthemic variety are juxtaposed with airy arrangements that show the band knows when to back off to allow the songs to breathe. A hallmark of this record is chiming guitars with just enough distortion. Grand Atlantic play and sing as if they’ve already made the big time — think U2 – and maybe, just maybe, that “conceive it so you can achieve it” approach will work for them. Constellations is filled with catchy, rocking, memorable songs. The band bursts out of the gate with “Searchlights,” but album as whole shows they’re not one-trick ponies. Highly recommended.

Dodd Ferrelle – Hide the World
I favorably reviewed Dodd Ferrelle’s Lonely Parades about a year and a half ago, and of course that led to my being on the list for a promo of this, his followup. I’m glad. While he’s generally classified into the Americana genre – generally enough to cause me to pass something by – he rocks a good bit harder. Some very tasty horn charts on “Control” are supported by some insistent rhythm section work. Damn it, this isn’t Americana at all, unless one thinks of Steve Earle, John Mellencamp (at his best) and Bruce Springsteen as belonging in that category as well.

Fallon Cush – Fallon Cush
If your idea of musical bliss includes Crowded House, this is a record you need to hear. Not really sounding all that much like Neil Finn and company, Fallon Cush – an Australian studio aggregation – crafts warm and intimate songs that are strong on harmonies and subtle-yet-catchy melodies. Crystalline production (one band member is an in-demand producer) and expressive playing supports the hooky songs. The disc is littered with reflective, contemplative tunes that have just the right amount of energy, but rarely rock out in a big way. This is an album that will stay with you for a long while.

Shawn Pittman – Edge of the World
When one thinks of loping, swaggering Texas blues (SRV-style), there’s often an assumption made: the ideal recording situation is one as close as possible to a live setting. The idea being that such an approach is the only way to capture the right “feel.” Well, Shawn Pittman has – by design or necessity; probably a bit of both - -thrown this idea out the window here. On his homemade album, Pittman plays everything (guitars, piano, bass, drums) except the horns. The results are pretty organic-sounding. Nearly all the songs are self-penned or co-written with a friend. For fans of the style.

Lunatic Soul – Impressions
Mariusz Duda again steps away from his band Riverside – and from that band’s style – on his third album under the name Lunatic Soul. While the first two Lunatic Soul albums explored a concept from opposite sides, this makes it a trilogy. Foregoing lyrics (though not necessarily eliminating vocals), this disc is more ambient in nature. But don’t assume it’s an easy-listening record: “Impression V” sounds and feels more like Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” than anything Eno or Cluster ever did. Some tasty acoustic guitar gives an organic feel to what otherwise might be a lopsidedly electronic outing.

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