Today we have a quartet of reviews to tantalize your tastes and expand your musical horizons. Eclectik Electrik music reviews: its a good thing! - Prof. Ric
#1 Alice Russell – To Dust
English-born Alice Russell is a rare
breed in the world of the modern chanteuse; she manages to sound
classic without ever stooping to being overtly retro. The music,
produced and performed by TM Juke, is contemporary but Russell's
bitter-sweet rasp is timeless. Not all tracks live up their potential
but To Dust is peppered with highlights. Album opener 'A to Z'
screams “sample me” and any entrepreneuring DJ could turn it into
a funky club jam. She has a masterful command of the language of funk
and soul and bends it effortlessly to her will. All three parts of
'Heartbreaker' (played out of order just for fun) mine the rich
history of R&B and re-clothe it for a modern audience. With each
album released Alice Russell becomes more confident in her abilities
so wherever she goes from To Dust should be something to
behold.
Rating: B-
Recommended tracks: Heartbreaker pt 2,
Hard and Strong
#2 Endless Boogie – Long Island
There may not be a band on earth with a
name the describes their sound better than Endless Boogie. Their
albums are marathon slogs of jam-tastic noodling and blues rock
excess that would make Canned Heat keel off their perch. Needless to
say Long Island is a long album with its eight songs stretched
over the full 79 minute run time so endurance is key to surviving the
full run time. The vocal stylings of Paul “Top Dollar” Major
might also take some getting used to. His tone is so gritty and raw
you could be forgiven for thinking that some unhinged Vietnam veteran
had hijacked the microphone. If that doesn't float your boat don't
worry the focus is still on the endless piles of molten rock
contained herein.
Rating: C
Recommended tracks: Taking Out The
Trash
#3 The Fall of Every Season – Amends
Some may not like it, but Opeth are one
of those touch-stone metal bands that are extremely easy to refer to
when describing the sound of another. What makes Norway's The Fall Of
Every Season so intriguing is that is manages to sound like early /
Candlelight-era Opeth had they evolved in a different direction to
the modern incarnation. Acoustic prog? Check. Grandiose riffs and
hell hound's bark? Check. A clean singing voice to die for? Double
check. But on Amends you will find less stylistic freak-outs
than on Watershed, with the focus on creating a more
emotionally engaging experience. Even more amazing is that all the
music is coming from one man, Marius Strand. Many one-man acts sound
a little lacking but Strand is more than capable of playing the force
of nature that this record demands. Quality stuff all around.
Rating: B+
Recommended tracks: Sole Passenger, The
Mammoth
#4 Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell, and
Angels
Jimi suffers a little from his
unreleased work being so readily plundered. Of all the famous “27
Club”, Hendrix was one of the greater tragedies given his
comparatively small body of work. The albums, proper albums as
constructed by the classic Experience trio, had a sense of movement
as they let their many moods and styles interplay. Rock and roll
powederkegs, smoldering blues, freakout jams, gospel joints, all
rubbing shoulders and knowing their place. People, Hell, And
Angels, or any other posthumous release for that fact, will never
satisfy quite the way that Electric Ladyland did. This disc
focuses on the band's looser, jammier modes over volcanic guitar
leads with tracks like the impossibly funky 'Mojo Man' being
futuristic for their day. None of these later day compilations will
ever replace his primary discography but they all us to see another
side to such a legendary musical iconoclast.
Rating: B-
Recommended tracks: Mojo Man, Let Me
Move You
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