Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog

Farthest South, Omens and Talismans

2013-05-17T07:00:00.003-07:00

Something outside and captivating perhaps? What about the latest from the group Farthest South, Omens & Talismans (FSW 001)? It's an Israeli band.

I didn't know about these folks previously. This one stands out, though, so I surely know them now. Apparently it's their first, though they have individually worked in other situations. Barry Berko (35) and Yair Etziony (37) play some combination of guitars and electronics, but I am not sure who is doing what. Yair Yona (32) is the bassist. Albert Beger guests on sax for this set.

The album opens up a cavernous maelstrom of droning machine-like electronics and reverb drenched guitar, bass and sax.

There are some rather wonderfully spaced soundscapes and avant grooves to be had on this one. Recommended.

Thurston Moore & Loren Connors, The Only Way to Go Is Straight Through

2013-05-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

Before I go into describing the music on the album at hand I should first say that this was/is an extremely limited edition release--a vinyl LP available only in physical record stores. From what I understand this was made available to select stores on Record Store Day last month. You may have difficulty finding a copy, in other words. . .

That having been said, what we are talking about is an electric guitar duet between Thurston Moore and Loren Connors. The album is entitled The Only Way to Go Is Straight Through (Northern Spy LP). Moore, most readers will know, was a key founder of Sonic Youth who has since gone on to new projects. Loren Connors is an avant blues and otherwise musician who has been involved in a number of associations and has assumed a kind of legendary status out there.

The two crank it up for two sides of feedback, droning bends, scratchings, etchings, melodic and anti-melodic expression, and general psychedelic mayhem. The two segments were recorded live, side one at The Stone in Manhattan, side two at Public Assembly in Brooklyn.

There is good pacing and variety to be had here, for those accustomed to the more noisy a-temporal sort of avant rock out there. It is a very good set of jams. Good luck finding it. Your favorite cool record store might have a copy left?

Ladyfinger (NE), Errant Forms

2013-05-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Today's post in a way is of a piece with yesterday's. We turn to another rather vital modern rock outfit, Ladyfinger (NE) and their third album to date, Errant Forms (Saddle Creek LBJ-177 LP/Digital). It is to be had as download or as a clear vinyl limited edition LP, the latter including a pair of 3-D glasses to view the cover with!

This is a band realizing a sublime sort of punk-classic rock maturity. The band drives hard with guitars and rhythm dominant, yet the songs, with notable vocals and lyrics both, have a subtlety that puts them in contemporary currency as not the typical rock group.

Like UUVVWWZ's second (reviewed yesterday), this Ladyfinger effort shows a musically drawn series of pictures that have been subject to some care. This grouping of new songs shows a bit more polish than the UUVVWWZ set, but both have power to spare. Both groups have given us some very first-rate songs to like. In both cases also the guitar-bass work has something much stronger and less cliche than some of what we hear these days and it has to do in part with the interesting structures the songs call up. There's a good deal to hear, ponder, grok on Errant Forms. Plenty to like!

And "like" I am doing with this one. Certainly one of the better "real" rock outfits playing today!

UUVVWWZ, The Trusted Language

2013-05-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

OK, then. Here I am at 3:29 AM on a Tuesday morning. So why am I awake? I would like to say it's because The Trusted Language, (Saddle Creek LP/CD LBJ-179) the second album by UUVVWWZ, is so goddog interesting that I couldn't sleep. The reality is somewhat more mundane. It wasn't the band, though I feel strongly about this album. I am just awake, is all.

Since I am though, I could think of nothing that would keep my lids pried open more aptly than this four-tet. They hail from Lincoln, Nebraska, where perhaps the daily round there was such to allow them to devote two years to the songs on the album. In any event the time spent has paid off. The lyrics are off in an involved way and the songs themselves have a punky-skronky asymmetry that makes for provocative listening.

Lead singer Teal Gardner has a way about her, perhaps slightly out-of-control in a deliberate fashion, just a hair, though. I mean a little off of the pitch in a purposeful way, do you get me? There's an in-your-face matter-of-factness going on with her also, along with a cool sort of yodel for a second now and again. It's rough and ready and appealing what she does here. The band--guitar, bass, drums--has worked out some garage-y thrash that has twists and turns far beyond the norm--avant surf, zombie riffing, just off-of-center weirdness in general...

I find myself not tired of this record and I am working on listen number five as I write. Now that says something about the music. It's unexpected and non-cliche, so that I am still getting much out of my earful at this point. If you are going to listen to indie-windy-whatever-wave we-are-on music, then respect yourself and glomm onto this, for one. And whatever else of course. But I do recommend the thrust of UUVVWWZ to rocket you out of boredom and into someplace else better.

The album is pressed in limited quantities and includes a CD copy in the jacket, which is a very good idea. But it wont be available forever so unless you want to go with a download you should grab one soon.

There is no guilty pleasure here. It's a very good go! I hope they keep it up, too. Now would I post this one on my classical or my jazz blog? Duh, no. That doesn't take away from the real and original thing happening with these folks. So hoist one and be of good cheer. Or just listen.

The All Purpose Blues Band, Cornbread and Cadillacs

2013-05-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Direct from New Orleans we have today the contemporary urban blues stylings of the All Purpose Blues Band and their album Cornbread and Cadillacs (Catbone MVD5430A).

It's a band that no doubt gets people going live, and they manage to translate that effectively in the studio. They have a soul-blues sound, the main lead singer with a kind of Dr. John/Tom Waits growl to his voice that is attractive.

Billy Gregory plays a pretty wailin' lead guitar that has a touch of Michael Bloomfield, Buddy Guy and BB King, and he puts it all together well.

They play originals that have heft, spiced with a few classics like the Wolf's "Killing Floor" and Sam Cook's "A Change is Gonna Come."

This is one to hear. It deserves your attention if you are looking for some new blues. Vocally and instrumentally they are on it. So go ahead and go for it.

H3, Heinz-Hirshfield-Holtzman

2013-05-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

The unexpected, when you are not quite sure what you are getting, is a nice treat when it all turns out well. I felt that way as I got into the album H3 (Composers Concordance COMCON 0012). It's a prog-fuse-electric avant outing by Roland Heinz (electric and acoustic guitar), Adam Holzman (keys, synth) and Jeff Hirshfield (drums). Heinz put together five compositions for the album; another four are collective improvisations by the three.

All of it is a kind of "thinking man's fusion" in that what is played can be driving but it also is quite well-thought out. Heinz is a guitarist that has something to say, the chops to say it with, and his own approach to line weaving.

Holzman and Hirshfield have good places to go on this set as well, and they go there. Both are excellent partners for Heinz in their far-from-cliche ideas and executions.

It's a very rewarding set!

Kurt Vile, Wakin On A Pretty Daze

2013-05-09T06:57:00.001-07:00

An artist who has some greatness in him (or her) manages to recreate his creative self over time, from project to project. At this point I feel comfortable saying that about Kurt Vile. His new one, Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Matador CD or special 2-LP version available at physical record stores only), has a re-creative quality. Kurt is back with a strong set of songs, well played, plenty of looseness when he wants it but hard hitting, one good thing after another.

The thing about Kurt Vile is he sounds like himself and his songs have definite twists that are all his. The vocals are deceptively laconic, guitar work excellent, and he writes songs that hang together as songs.

Wakin On A Pretty Daze takes it another step for the songs--they are strong. The lyrics have something to say and he can get some creative rock jamming going, which he does, especially on the 2-LP version.

He's become a real-deal rocker of this millennium, and this album clinches it for me. Should I say more? Listen to this one closely and it bears all the rewards such music was meant to convey!

9 Volt, Open Circuit, Parker/Maoz/Halevy & Berne

2013-05-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

In today's shifting constellations of associations, groups, projects and albums in improvisational music, it's sometimes hard to keep track of who is with who. But when something is exceptional you forget all about the befores and afters and get into the moment.

That's what's happening to me as I listen to 9 Volt and their Open Circuit (OutNow 010) album. Rick Parker, his trombone and electronic enhancement, and Eyal Maoz, guitarist who does not eschew effects, form the core of the band, joined by Yonadav Halevy on drums and the everybody-knows-him Tim Berne on alto.

Parker and Maoz share the writing duties here and there is one collective composition-improvisation. The music is compositionally-conceptually strong to start with. It's an avant electric storm of well-conceived sound. Both Parker and Maoz make outstanding use of their electronic bag to create thoughtful storms and baroque-like walls of sound. Halevy drums with the perfect feel, gutsy and blown out or soundcoloratura as needed. Tim Berne sounds wonderful as always.

Eyal Maoz has blown me away for some time as a guitarist that has direction. Parker is right there too. Put them together here with the wonderful Maestro Berne and the suprising, inventive Maestro Halevy and you've got a tough-aced album. It's way out there in the very best electric fashion!

Movement Soul, Volume 2

2013-05-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Movement Soul, Volume 2 (ESP 4034) takes up where Volume One left off. That first documentary disk came out in the '60s. This one was compiled just now. Like the first volume it intersperses gospel, protest, soul, and other roots music of the time with aural documentary segments on the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Renaissance and the general coming alive of the era.

So there's something by Ralph Ellison on his work, and documentary appearances of key figures like Thurgood Marshall and other well or lesser-known figures in the struggle.

Not having heard the first volume I can only assume the conspicuous absences of certain iconic figures are explained by their previous coverage in the initial volume.

It is an absorbing listen.

Jerry Moore, Life is a Constant Journey Home

2013-05-08T06:03:00.000-07:00

I missed this one by a mile when it first came out. So I am glad to be catching up with it now: Jerry Moore's Life is a Constant Journey Home (ESP 1061). It appeared in stores for a time in the late '60s, I am assuming, and it has a kind of folk-rock-commitment lyric ambiance that sounds nothing like the music of the late Richie Havens (RIP) but has a similar thrust.

It has a rock band loosely weaving in and out of the Moore vocals in the manner of a mid-period Tim Buckley or early Van Morrison. A young Eric Gale has some very good moments on guitar.

It has relevance to the era and is a very interesting listen. It may not be a masterpiece, but will certainly appeal to students of the era, as lived or discovered years later.

M'Lumbo, Popular Science

2013-05-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

The past never disappears from the horizon. Sure, some aspects are cloaked, forgotten, still exercising indirect influence. Others are part of the present and future in the active sense....transformed in various ways, part of the discourse and common property of peoples in the course of their lives.

The group M'Lumbo makes excellent creative use of the past in their mid-sized outfit. Their latest, Popular Science (Pursuance 05) is a double CD, one disk made in the studio, one live at Joe's Pub in NYC. The studio disk presents Space Age remakes of popular culture masterpieces like "Beat It," "Theme from Hawaii Five-O," "The Peter Gunn Theme," "Rock Around the Clock," and so forth. M'Lumbo combine a small big-band-ish jazz-rock unit that is tight and driving with a wall of psychedelia--crazily mixed samples of pop-culture past--cartoon dialog, training films, commercials, radio broadcasts, anything and everything to put in the mix with an eye to incongruity and the sense of the unfamiliar-familiar as past, the transformation of the deadpan and the comic to one great oriental rug of meaningless meaning.

And the total matrix ends up being a comment on how the past invades the present, seemingly alien yet also familiar. It's in the end a noir psychedelia contrasting with hard hitting jazz rock. The title Popular Science is apt, referencing a magazine of the '50s-'60s that disseminated a street-level fascination with the technical aspects of modernity. And this is all about how modernity as lived inside in the '50s through today has taken on impossibly archaic qualities, of nostalgia, yes, but as a promised future that has passed, that has left us with a future-in-the-past.

So you get wall-of-sound collages, as in previous albums, and you get some serious music too. Saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and guitarist Gary Lucas are the special guests for both the studio and live sets, and Page Hamilton of Helmet on guitar for the studio set, and they all emerge from the mix from time-to-time with brilliance.

The live set, hard as it no doubt was, manages to replicate in person the complex sample and band tapestry. Robert Jordan Ray Flateau, a driving force behind the band's approach, keyboardist and sample master, divides his duties in the live setting, giving some of the sample manipulation to another auxiliary member. And it works. Understandably the live set returns to some of the music from the previous two albums with a new matrix or immediacy and some new material as well.

This is sometimes hilarious in its juxtapositions, always evocative in the end totality, and a very new take on how a band can blend freedom with tight arrangements, anarchy of means, and some excellent soloing. Page Hamilton, Gary Lucas and Jane Ira Bloom get to shine with brilliance, but the total gestalt is entirely M'Lumbo's and they are one-of-a-kind.

M'Lumbo have done it again. You may hate it, you may love it, but it is not recommended that you ignore it--or them. They are sound arteests of the impossible combinations, avant behinds that jump ahead by making past pastiche a new futurism. And they are funny-serious, good god are they funny-serious!

Eric Revis' II:II, Parallax

2013-05-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

Bassist Eric Revis and his II:II group sure stepped in something good when they got into the studio and recorded the album Parallax (Clean Feed 266). Maybe there's almost no going wrong with a band that includes Revis, Nasheet Waits, Jason Moran and Ken Vandermark! But they do more than just get a session together here; they make a statement! There are a bunch of Revis originals that have historical depth yet are staunchly avant; there are some collective numbers; there are numbers by Vandermark and Attias; and a couple of classics: by Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton.

It all has real clout--the masters are in the house and they are playing like they mean it. Revis writes things you don't forget. Everybody plays their butts off. The couple of classics get a new wardrobe. Everything goes right!

Get this one. Don't hesitate.

Michael Schenker Temple of Rock, Live in Europe, DVD

2013-05-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

If you dig the Flying V metal pyrotechnics of guitarist Michael Schenker and his heavily claden band, Michael Schenker Temple of Rock Live in Europe (inakustic 6187 DVD) will give you plenty of it. There's one long concert live in Tilburg and a shorter segment live at the High Voltage Festival, in the Netherlands and London, respectively, 2012.

The sound is mostly great, the music full-out, the visuals make you want to go out and buy a Flying V or at least prance around your living room. Schenker has some hammering-on chops and a great sound; he and the band get some good riffs going too, as you'd expect. It was a tour supporting the Temple of Rock album, and they get heavily into the rocking-out presupposed for such a venture.

There's a 2-CD set of the music available as well, so it's your choice. Metal guitarists may well find this a must, if only to watch Schenker's fingers at work. Any metal head with aspirations to collect will cherish the disk(s) too. Nuff said!

JJ Grey & Mofro, Brighter Days, The Live Concert Film, DVD

2013-04-29T06:55:00.001-07:00

JJ Grey is genuine. He takes pride in his days growing up in rural Florida. His music reflects the roots and soul of the swampland world he came from. And he's translated it all into music that has the real ring of truth.

That's what I get out of digging on his live DVD Brighter Days (MVD 5729). The main part of the film is vivid concert footage of him and his band Mofro live in Atlanta, 2011. He is on top and the band is a solid killer. It convinced me that his kind of swamp soul is the real deal.

Otherwise there are nice segments where Grey explains his upbringing and his music and how they relate, plays some acoustic tunes and shows you around his Florida stomping grounds.

Grey is the man and this is dope. I mean it.

Tom Dempsey/Tim Ferguson Quartet, Beautiful Friendship

2013-04-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

It's not exactly the norm for a quartet to be fronted by a guitarist and a bassist. While that happens to be perfect for this blog, it's also something very worthwhile when it's the Tom Dempsey/Tim Ferguson Quartet and the album is Beautiful Friendship (Planet Arts 301226).

What we have here is a first-rate straight-ahead jazz gathering running through some standards, jazz standards and originals. Tom Dempsey plays a harmonically well-healed guitar. His comping is beautiful to hear. And his solo work has that endlessly variable play-all-night feel to it. He can invent plenty of nice choruses if called upon, I suspect, though all of the numbers are relatively short.

Tim Ferguson has that propulsion that drives a band along swingingly, that drummers love. He takes solos that have imagination in that post-Paul Chambers sort of mode.

Tenor-soprano artist Joel Frahm has good sense, great tone and solo ideas that stand out. He manages not to sound like anybody in the process. Then Eliot Zigmund. You may remember his work with Bill Evans. He is a model of the interactive, small-band swinger.

Those are the pieces. The whole fits quite well together. Standards and originals flow and the solos say something. Well done!

TriPod

2013-04-25T07:02:00.000-07:00

TriPod? Yes. Here we have a trio in the realm of such ensembles as Morphine--sax, bass and drums with vocals. But they don't precisely sound like Morphine. It's a prog-fuse, song-centered hard fullness created by the presence of Clint Bahr on 12-string bass and lead vocals (a twelve-string bass is composed of the standard four strings on an electric bass, plus two-octave strands per regular string...so 4+8=12), Steve Romano on drums and percussion, and Keith Gurland on alto and tenor, clarinet, effects and backing vocals. All this on their self-titled album just out on MoonJune (MJR004).

The music is somewhere in the realm of King Crimson progressivity, in its own special way. There are hard-edged, intricate arrangements, prog song niceties and a program that combines the two elements in judiciously balanced contrasts.

Clint Bahr's bass playing has a fullness that might make you think there's a guitar in there as well, but there isn't. He's playing the 12-string so that the bass and chordal possibilities come out strongly. Keith Gurland's saxophony is well-suited for the music and gives the music the second melodic voice in the ensemble that fleshes it all out. Steve Romano plays a LOT of drums as is fitting, and that sounds great too.

The songs-vocals put it all in focus. This is some heavy prog that should not be missed if you like the edgy Crimsonian thrust as I do.

And Clint's 12-string bass alone is a listen in itself. It's first-rate prog-fuse in any event.

Brick and Mortar and Love, A Trust Gang Film, DVD

2013-04-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

Brick and Mortar and Love (MVD Visual 5697D) is all about the rise and fall of a record store. Since Record Store Day was this past Saturday, I thought it would be apt to get a review in this week.

X-tacy Records, a Louisville, Kentucky institution for a quarter of a century, is the focal point of the story. But of course it applies to all independent record stores today.

The film covers what the store meant to music aficionados, local artists, plain folks or not-so-plain.

The story covers the origin of the store, the people who worked and went there, its function as community center, gathering place for music lovers, live venue, indie music outlet, and local music promoter.

As a product of the rise of internet sales, downloads and economic downturn the store comes on tough times. The story is all about how they try and stay alive.

It's an object lesson I suppose for anyone in a similar position (as I was), and why it is important that we keep these institutions going.

The film tells a tragic tale in the end. It's well done.

Dylan Ryan Sand, Sky Bleached

2013-04-24T06:11:00.001-07:00

Drummer Dylan Ryan's Sand trio recording Sky Bleached (Cuneiform Rune 357), with Timothy Young on electric guitar and Devin Holt on electric and acoustic bass, is one of those avant jazz-rock goodies that stirs the soul.

Ten numbers, some penned by Holt, some a collective effort, one by the late Paul Motian, have character, electricity, notable compositional sign posts and very cool playing.

The sort of fused outness that includes memorable motives, kicking rhythmic figures, the occasional odd time-signature, and well-crafted performance-improvisations prevails.

It doesn't quite sound like any trio. Each player stakes out a musical territory that belongs to him and collectively they get a nice leveraged sound.

There are psychedelic moments, harmonically cool structures, and plenty of good drumming, guitaring and bass-ing.

Highly recommended.

Yagull, Films

2013-04-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

According to my press sheet, Yagull is an "acoustic power project." That is an interesting way to put it and so I quote it straight off. It's the baby of guitarist Sasha Markovic. The new CD Films (ZOZE 12001) has 15 ambiently mellifluous numbers, a cross between Oregon and an instrumental Moody Blues in some ways, in other ways just original music, well played by Markovic on acoustic plus Lori Reddy on flute, Eylon Tushiner, saxophones, and Sonia Choi on cello. There are unusual versions of "White Room" and "Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath." Otherwise these are Markovic-penned.

The music has some of the mellow qualities of new age, but there's more to it melodically-harmonically. And I found it nice listening after I got used to what it was about.

Eric Hofbauer, American Grace, Solo Guitar

2013-04-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Guitarist Eric Hofbauer has done some interesting work in the past for sure but his American Grace (Creative Nation 022) solo acoustic set gets things really moving. There are very cool versions of classic music like the Beatles' "Dear Prudence," the standard "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry," and Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" (complete with a version of the famous trumpet break from the first recording). Then there are original compositions-improvisations, too, well worth your ear-time.

What is striking, memorable, and sets this music apart is the originality and artistry of Eric the guitarist. There is some finger picking, some line weaving, chordal comps and a sound (must be an unamplified archtop semi-hollow) nicely percussive and punctuated.

It's a bit of a tour de force in plectorial artistry. You need to hear it. Eric Hofbauer has it all going on here.

I Never Meta Guitar Too, Solo Guitars for the 21st Century

2013-04-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

The guitar has occupied pride of place as the West's (whatever that means) instrument of choice for some time now. That such attention should attract creative musicians and innovation is logical. Guitarist-composer-conceptualist Elliott Sharp has taken the time to address the latest in such endeavors, specifically for the solo guitar, whether electric or acoustic, in an anthology of works by new and thoroughly contemporary artists, essentially from all over the world.

The second volume, I Never Meta Guitar Too (Clean Feed CFG06) is out and I've been listening to it. There are 16 artists playing 16 solo segments. Most names you probably wont be familiar with unless you have been a microscopic enthusiast. There's Ava Mendoza, Ben Tyree, On Ka'a Davis, Shouwang Zhang, Joel Harrison, Yasuhiro Usui, Alan Licht, and nine others.

The music varies from very electric metal and free wheeling sound poetry and soundscaping to acoustic compositional and/or folksy excursions. In short this is a barrier-free collection, as was the first volume. The proviso is that the music should characterize our new century--be new in whatever sense that might mean for a particular artist, even if there are some very rooted things going on at times.

Elliott Sharp as curator-producer is the ideal choice, in that he himself embraces a wide spectrum of musics and styles, and has keen ear to the ground.

What we get is another provocative, very enjoyable album of guitarists with lots of ideas. Some selections will be just what you would like to hear, no doubt, and maybe some others you wont expect. Either way this will stretch your ears and give you a nicely presented look at some of the possibilities being worked on today.

Take the jump and check this one out.

Last Shop Standing: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Shop, DVD

2013-04-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

The 20th of this month is Record Store Day. It is a good idea, a way to focus concentration and attention on an endangered species. What is at stake is nicely presented in the film and now Special Edition DVD of Last Shop Standing: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Shop (Convexe DVD 903106).

It's two hours of interviews, narrative and footage hanging out in shops, all in England. Anyone who spent many hours in such places, such as myself, will respond strongly to this film. Any young folks who need to know why they should support indie shops (and vinyl) will get great reasons why.

There are store owners, music people, musicians, all talking about what makes such spots essential to music culture. And a good bit of history too.

The decline of the scene started with CDs and got worse with downloads. The film covers all that along with the vinyl revival.

It's a great two-hours and hits to the heart of our decline and (hopefully) rebirth. Music I suspect depends upon it--music business, music music, musicians, all of it. So grab this and hit a shop on Record Day!

Ingebrigt Haker Flaten New York Quartet, Now Is

2013-04-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

When people in the jazz avant camp emerge from the scene gigging and recording with some heavy cats, there is always a reason. Contrabassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten is certainly one of those lately. And the reason is that he can really play. So when he puts together a disk with some of the heaviest cats, his New York Quartet doing Now Is (Clean Feed 263), it is an affirmation.

Heavy cats? Mr. Joe McPhee on tenor, Mr. Joe Morris on guitar, and Mr. Nate Wooley on trumpet. That qualifies as heavy. Each is a leader on his instrument, a bandleader in his own right, and the melding of all four on a free date is all you'd hope for.

This is a drummerless group, which makes Flaten's bass playing stand out all the more. The result is four equal solo voices engaging in dense free counterpoint.

Everybody is in good form. It's something excellent to sink your ears in.

Bob Dylan 1966-1978, After the Crash, DVD/CD

2013-04-15T07:22:00.002-07:00

Herewith, a documentary about Bob Dylan during a critical period, a crises period, a reaffirmation period and then at the end of the time, a religious conversion. Bob Dylan After the Crash (Pride DVDCD 155) goes into some depth about it all and I suspect even the avid fan will learn something.

This is the time when Dylan plugged in and toured, found audience hostility and soaring popularity all a bit overwhelming, crashed his cycle, retired to Woodstock with the Band to experiment with a more directly rooted electric folk, ended up recording some country albums, seemed less political, was taken to task by A. J. Webermann, ended up finding a new more committed sound and took it on the road as the Rolling Thunder Review, and such.

The confrontational phone calls between Webermann and Dylan are proffered on the bonus CD and it gives you a glimpse of a time period and a side to Dylan we don't always get--a Dylan a little unsure of himself. The conversations give a candid insight into the personal meaning of his music (he was mostly addressing the lyrics to himself, he says) at the beginning and the transformations he went through, and there are moments that are rather funny to boot.

This is not the last word on Dylan, but it does a good job raising points and covering ground. Dylan fans will dig it for sure. Others with an interest in the period will be entertained and informed.

Marbin, Last Chapter of Dreaming

2013-04-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Marbin does prog-fuse. Their second album, The Last Chapter of Dreaming (MoonJune 050) shows a very instrumentally sound bunch of folks. They can play well, especially Dani Rabin on guitar, and they do. It's a quartet w/ Danny Markovitch on sax, Justyn Lawrence, drums, Jae Gentile, bass, plus special guests like Paul Wertico on drums and my old roomie from Boston, gone on to great things, Jamey Haddad on percussion.

This is a band that has tightness and name recognition among some because they are always touring. They also appear to be MoonJune's most popular artists in terms of sales.

I of course am happy for them!

As far as this album goes, there mostly is a full-out rockin instrumental prog thing going on. Some of the originals seem a little too pedestrian for my tastes--meaning they have a simple tunefulness that sometimes gets closer to a soundtrack or Herb Albert on acid than I feel personally comfortable with.

And that's to say that the appeal of this music may be more universal and less selective. It's more commercial than the prog-fuse that gets me rolling, truth to tell.

Nonetheless there are folks who are going to like this alot. And it's no fault of the quality of the musicians here. Just tunes that don't get to me personally. If you like edge, this is less of that. If you hate edge, you'll probably dig this one a great deal.

All the best to them!