10 more records from the lower 20 of my Top 40 of 2020, in alphabetical order.
79rs Gang – Expect the Unexpected (independent). I can't claim to know a lot about New Orleans tradition of Mardi Gras Indians other than a well-loved copy of The Wild Tchoupitoulas in my collection. This is a band comprised of two former rival chiefs, who unite to make a thoroughly modern record steeped in deep tradition. Yes, there's yet another version of "Iko Iko" (this one called "Iko Kreyòl," with Haitian band Lakou Mizik), and a spoken word track that condenses New Orleans history into 90 second. But the rest is a welcome reset, with some help from members of Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, if you need that to nudge you a bit closer.
Allie X – Cape God (AWAL). This is a really smart, well-arranged pop record, in the realm of a more operatic Maggie Rogers. It pushes all the buttons for me that Carly Rae Jepsen should but never does. Allie X is a pop star without a radio audience of her own; she writes for BTS, Katy Perry’s a fan, and she’s been slogging it out for a while, to the point where she has more than a million streams (which is more than some Canadian acts who fill arenas). But this album is where Allie X’s classical training and craftsmanship really come to the fore. Ideally, she’d be a household name by now; in the days of Kate Bush, maybe she would have been.
Julianna Barwick – Healing is a Miracle (Ninja Tune). Yes, yes it is. And I listened to this album and others like it (collaborator Mary Lattimore's Silver Ladders) this year as a meditative balm. Even if there are times when I feel like Barwick is the new Enya, and after reading about the latter in Chilly Gonzales's treatise and Jenn Pelly's Pitchfork appreciation, I might be okay with that.
Bloto – Kwiatostan (Astigmatic). Polish jazz from the end of the world. The drummer seems to be channelling drum'n'bass at times. The bassist plays Moog bass as often as he does electric. The keys are largely atmospheric and at times industrial, with the occasional vibraphone flourish or dark piano riff. The saxophonist plays tenor, alto, soprano and even that ridiculous Akai "electronic wind instrument." I know nothing else about this band other than that they sound like the Comet is Coming's creepier younger brothers. And it's awesome.
Budos Band – Long in the Tooth (Daptone). Hey, remember the '70s, when there was massive political unrest, people getting shot in the street, cities were decaying, there was mass unemployment, there was a drug epidemic and institutions were breaking down? And yet people made powerful music that managed to encapsulate all that in ways both beautiful and bleak? Thank god we have the Budos Band around today. This might be their first album where no one will compare it to a '70s NYC dystopian movie soundtrack, because we're living the movie right now. At least this is a part of the soundtrack.
Caribou – Suddenly (Merge). I wrote this in June: Dan Snaith continues to not only improve, but to remain unique in his field. I’m hard pressed to think of another electronic artist with this breadth of material in one album, from beat-less ballads to R&B pop songs to psychedelic jazz loops to early '90s house. Less rigid than his last record, this is Snaith’s most soulful and encompassing records of his long career. Suddenly is like his own greatest hits collection.
Jennifer Castle – Monarch Season (Idée Fixe / Paradise of Bachelors). This Toronto songwriter split for Port Stanley several years ago, and so instead of the usual all-stars surrounding her, this is a true solo record. And it's perfect: guitar, piano, harmonica, and that spine-tingling voice, all sounding like they were recorded in a rural town on the coast of Lake Erie (which they were). Remembering friends in "NYC," singing about how "butterfly days are here" in the title track, writing a paean to the moon on "I'll Never Walk Alone"—these are songs for meditative moments when life slows down to a crawl. Had any of those lately? She can even lift a phrase from a well-known Motown song—Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?"—and make it entirely her own.
Brandy Clark – Your Life is a Record (Warner). Game respects game, which is why it's not remotely surprising that this Nashville songwriter got Randy Newman to drop by for a song called "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat." It's not even close to the best song here. Like him, she is a master of character portraits, rich with acerbic details and kiss-off one-liners. She sounds cynical at times, but that's the "hopeless" part of "hopeless romantic." This is ostensibly a country record, but any fan of great songwriting should get on board.
Alabaster DePlume – To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1(International Anthem). “People have said this to me: ‘I put your music on, and it was perfect, but then you started shouting something about a pig. Can’t it just be the nice bits?'" Alabaster DePlume explained to The Quietus about why he put out an instrumental record lifted largely from his previous four albums. I knew nothing about this oddball beforehand, so I can't really comment on his pig poetry, or how this album relates to his work in music therapy, but I do know that this is a beautiful, soothing record focused mainly around a saxophone played with maximum vibrato, which suits the eastern melodies. This isn't jazz or experimental or specific to one specific cultural reference (though there are certainly nods to Ethiopian jazz); it simply sounds like open-minded, delicate players aiming for beauty. This was essential pandemic listening for me early on.
Sarah Harmer – Are You Gone (Arts and Crafts). I wrote this back in June: The master is back. It’s been 10 years since we last heard from her, and she’ll tell you this is her best record yet. Strong words: it’s hard to top the untouchable You Were Here or I’m a Mountain. But this comeback is full of timeless gems, not the least of which is “St. Peter’s Bay.” And dammit, “New Low” is exactly the political pop song we needed in 2020; I only wish she turned up the guitars on that one in order to match the lyrical bite. Would love to hear Billy Talent take a stab at that. Can imagine Stars doing a lovely cover of "Wildlife." But can't imagine anyone but Harmer improving on the sublime "Just Get Here" or "Little Frogs" or "Take Me Out" or, or, or... ah, dammit, it's so great to hear her voice again. Her comeback might have been ill-timed from a business standpoint, but fans really needed to hear from this old friend during times like this.
As always, these reviews ran in the Waterloo Record.
Streaming is great for sample purposes, but please find a way to
support your favourite artists financially.
Un Blonde – Good Will Come to You (Egg Paper)
Perhaps the most obscure artist to
vault onto this year’s Polaris Music Prize long list, Jean-Sebastien Audet
spent his teenage years in Calgary with a variety of musical projects, which is
probably why the latest album by this 19-year-old and recent Montreal
transplant sounds so accomplished, even though it’s incredibly bare, featuring
little more than acoustic guitar and layers of Audet’s gospel-tinged harmonies.
(For anyone, like me, who’s been seeking out Prince demos online since that
legend’s death, Un Blonde has further resonance.) One song is called “I Felt
the Evening Come Through the Window,” and indeed, Audet retains the sound of
falling rain outside his apartment, along with seagulls and other ambient
noise. Audet isn’t just a singer-songwriter fond of sparse arrangements; on
instrumental tracks like “Exercise A,” he also explores ambient textures (with
what’s either a melodica, accordion or harmonium—hard to tell). Good Will Come to You features 21 songs
in 46 minutes; tiny perfect sketches that speak volumes about the man’s talent. (June 9)
Stream: “Celebration,” “Brand New,” “Staying in Line”
case/lang/veirs – s/t
(Anti)
The first time I ever heard Neko Case, I hadn’t been that
electrified by a North American woman’s singing voice since k.d. lang. Twenty
years later, the two women have formed a trio with Oregon singer/songwriter
Laura Veirs. It sounds amazing—on paper.
Both lang and Case are powerhouse vocalists who can leave
listeners—at least this one—in a weepy mess. Veirs—well, frankly, it’s a bit of
a mystery what she’s doing here. (I’m sure she’s a lovely person.) She doesn’t
distract from the potential in this recording—she’s certainly a decent
singer—but it’s not clear that she adds anything, either.
It starts out with a promise: opening track “Atomic Number”
finds all three women trading off lines. That promise quickly evaporates: most
tracks are solo turns, with the other two providing backing vocals, the likes
of which could really have been performed by any studio professionals
(admittedly, a rare occurrence in the age of solo artists multi-tracking their
own backups). We’re denied the sublime pleasure of Case and lang exchanging
lines, or even singing a lead in two-part harmony.
Much of the collaboration here took place in the songwriting
process, which might be the problem: for the last 20 years, k.d. lang has been
a masterful interpreter but a middling songwriter; Veirs is perfunctory, but
not capable of writing material for a project like this; Case, the strongest
songwriter of the three, has an idiosyncratic flair that may not lend itself to
surrender. Veirs’s husband, producer/engineer Tucker Martine, dresses up the
material in impeccably bland arrangements, with strings and woodwinds and
vibraphones that merely clutter up the sonic space that should be left wide
open for these voices to roam.
Naturally, there are sublime moments, starting with lang’s
“Honey and Smoke,” which ranks as one of her finest torch songs
in the Roy Orbison mode. Case’s “Delirium”—written by all three, an apparently
the song with the longest gestation—is the highlight here. Neither are enough,
however, to compensate for the squandered potential here. Let’s hope the tour
brings out the best in them. (June 23)
Case/lang/veirs play Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall on Aug. 16.
Stream: “Atomic Number,” “Delirium,” “Honey and Smoke”
Brandy Clark – Big Day in
a Small Town (Warner)
Still have tears in your beer since
ABC cancelled Nashville? Well, cheer
up, because there’s a new Brandy Clark album. The 40-year-old songwriter, who’d
penned hits for or with Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire and Kacey Musgraves, was
thrust into the spotlight with 2013’s 12
Stories, the kind of album songwriters of every genre study carefully, full
of both killer one-liners, developed narratives and astute character sketches.
Here, Clark steps up into the big
time, with a major label and a producer, Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Carrie
Underwood) who beefs up her (previously predominantly acoustic) sound for radio
play. Thankfully, it’s not an unrecognizable makeover: the core of Clark’s
charm and songcraft remain. She can be incredibly poignant, as on the
examination of faded youth on “Homecoming Queen,” or laugh-out-loud funny, on
“Broke”: “Ain’t
enough apples for our apple pie / if we had a penny not sure we could spare it
/ we’re sitting on the porch drinking generic / Coke / we’re broke.” And
she’s got sass to spare, as on the first single, in which she taunts, “If you
want the girl next door, go next door.” (June 9)
Stream: “Girl Next Door,” “Broke,”
“Homecoming Queen”
Doomsquad – Total Time
(Hand Drawn Dracula)
Granted, there are moments here
that sound like the soundtrack to a ritual sacrifice at a rave somewhere north
of Sudbury. But when it comes to spookier-than-thou psychedelic trance music,
it doesn’t get much better than these three Toronto siblings, who recruited
Mary Margaret O’Hara to sing backups for them, and whom Wolf Parade picked to
open their sold-out reunion shows in New York City. There are elements of dub
reggae, hippie jams, plenty of goth angst, and you can practically smell the
incense coming out your speakers. It’s certainly divisive, but to these ears,
it’s just perfect for summer nights in subversive times. (June 2)
Stream: “Who Owns Noon in
Sandusky,” “Pyramids on Mars,” “Farmer’s Almanac”
Fanfare Ciocarlia – Onwards to Mars! (Asphalt Tango)
Did you know one of the best bands in the world is playing the
Italian Canadian Centre in Guelph this week? And Maxwell’s in Waterloo shortly
after that? (And the major jazz festivals in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and
Quebec City as well.)
Fanfare Ciocarlia are a Balkan brass band from a remote Romanian
village, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In 2014 they
recorded an album with Guelph guitarist Adrian Raso, owner of the Little Shop
of Guitars on Quebec Street. They’ve already toured in Europe; now they’re
finally bringing it to major jazz festivals in Canada—and a local wedding hall
in Guelph.
Here they’re on their own, doing what they do best: incredibly
fast and brash brass lines, frenetic rhythm driven by sousaphones and two
percussionists, and occasional vocal forays sung in their Roma language. It’s
physically impossible not to dance to this music, the dizzying horn and
clarinet lines adding to the euphoria.
The band’s style has evolved over the years, and not just
through their work with Raso. Here, the oddball pop entry is a cover of the
1950s slow-grinding classic “I Put a Spell on You,” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
Here it’s sung by Iulian Canaf, a comically histrionic soulman who attained
notoriety as a contestant on the Romanian version of TV’s The Voice. It has to be heard to be believed—though, truth be told,
the original is just as much of an oddball, (literally) snortin’ good time. (June
23)
Fanfare Ciocarlia and Adrian Raso are playing Toronto with the
Lemon Bucket Orchestra on June 29 at the Opera House, the Guelph Italian
Canadian Club on July 2, and at Maxwell's in Waterloo on July 5.
Stream: “Crayfish Hora,” “Out to Lounge,” “Mista Lobaloba”
The Kills – Ash and Ice
(Domino/Outside)
The Kills are a bluesy guitar duo
who’ve survived and thrived almost 15 years after forming, with much credit
going to attention magnet Alison Mosshart—who also fronts perhaps the finest of
all Jack White projects, the Dead Weather. Mosshart and guitarist Jamie Hince
claim they wanted to flip the script on this, their fifth album, and even cited
hip-hop master Pusha T as a big influence. Which is an interesting ploy to
convince people that Ash and Ice is
some radical reinvention, when in fact it’s just another Kills record, no
better or worse, with slightly more interesting drum programming. It may not be
fair to compare, but Mosshart is much better utilized in the Dead Weather,
where her howls and snarls and sexual energy is completely captivating; in the
Kills, one always gets the sense she’s underplaying her power. That does allow
her to sink her teeth into some of the slower material, exploring the torch
singer into which she’ll inevitably evolve some day. (June 9)
Stream: “Doing It to Death,” “Hard
Habit to Break,” “Days of Why and How”
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (ATO)
A nonagon, for the geometrically
challenged among us (I looked it up), is a nine-sided figure. This is the
eighth album by this seven-piece Australian band in the last four years. All those
numbers add up to: infinity?
That’s the intention behind these
nine rollicking psychedelic rock songs, which not only flow seamlessly into
each other like a 42-minute suite, but the last track also flows back into the
first if you (are weird enough to) leave your player on “repeat.” That journey
often travels at a breakneck speed, with influences from Led Zeppelin’s
“Communication Breakdown” through Deep Purple and Can and Iron Maiden and
Stereolab—basically, any band that’s ever strapped themselves to a runaway
train. Nonagon Infinity is more than
just a thrill ride, however, with a keen sense of dynamics, spacey keyboards
and guitar textures balancing the hard-driving riffs and rhythms. (June 9)
Stream: “Evil Death Roll,” “Road
Train,” “Robot Stop”
Pantha du Prince – The Triad (Rough Trade)
I played this record in a cabin in
the woods one morning, surrounded by a symphony of birds—who fit in seamlessly
with the stuttering bells and chimes that have become the trademark sound for
this German producer. His rhythms have much more swing in them than you’d
expect from minimal techno, and he’s more prone to using major chords than most
of his peers. This time out there are more vocalists employed, though not to
particularly great effect; his keyboard leads are still the main melodic
driver.
The producer has mused that he’ll
bury the name after this album, having achieved everything he wants to with
this aesthetic. The Triad isn’t as
strong as its predecessor, Black Noise—he’s
starting to sound like a one-trick pony—so perhaps that decision is wise. In
the meantime, the birds in my neighbourhood are more than happy to sing along. (June 2)
Stream: “The Winter Hymn” feat.
Queens, “Frau im mond, Sterne laufen,” “Dream Yourself Awake”
Samaris – Black Lights (One Little Indian)
Of Monsters and Men have shifted our perceptions of Icelandic
music away from esoteric electronica, avant-garde pop stars and whatever it is
Sigur Ros happens to be, and toward catchy yet bland radio rock. Which is why
it’s refreshing to encounter Samaris, a Reykjavik trio that draws from ’90s
trip hop, dubby electronica and the (relatively) more recent sounds coming from
London’s Hyperdub label, including Hamilton’s Jessy Lanza. Breathy female
vocals and strong, skittering beats—even at slower tempos—are adorned with
equally dreamy and disquieting synths, making for languid, late-night vibes. (June
30)
Stream: “Wanted 2 Say,” “Black Lights,” “3y3”
Sate – Red Black and Blue (independent)
Canada has no shortage of rock bands. What this country is
lacking, however, is fantastic rock singers: people who can grab a song by the
throat, who can be heard above electric guitars even without a microphone. More
howlers, fewer growlers, please.
Enter Sate, a.k.a. Saidah Baba Talibah—daughter of Salome Bey,
one of this country’s greatest R&B/jazz voices in the ’70s and
’80s—reinventing herself as a rocker here, after starting her career in a
bluesier vein. The blues is still present here, but on opening track “Warrior”
she goes for the jugular in ways the Toronto scene probably hasn’t seen since
Danko Jones. “You’re gonna know my name / from the Mississippi to the Rhine,”
she boasts—and by the end of the track you’re more than inclined to agree. As
strong as that song is, in the context of the album it seems like a gimmick to
get you to pay attention. Once she’s got you hooked, Sate starts to get
serious: right away she delves into the blues of “What Did I Do,” and “Mama
Talk to Me” is a poignant, emotional rocker about Bey’s struggles with
dementia. For all her fiery delivery, the upbeat tracks here suffer in
comparison with the slower numbers, especially the gorgeous, gospel-tinged
closer, “Peace.” Red Black and Blue
is an uneven record by an artist searching for her sound, but there’s no
denying that Sate is a force to be reckoned with. Her talent is too enormous to
be denied. (June 30)
Stream: “Warrior,” “Mama Talk to Me,” “Peace”
Andy Shauf – The Party
(Arts and Crafts)
One of the most anticipated Canadian albums of the year is by
this mild-mannered Regina singer/songwriter, who steps into the big time by
signing with Arts and Crafts in Canada and Anti in the U.S., the label that is
also home to the new album by k.d. lang, Neko Case and Laura Veirs, with whom
Shauf will be touring this summer. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy is a huge fan, as is
novelist Nick Hornby. The hype seems strange for songs of such subtle
pleasures; Shauf is on the same wavelength as Beck’s acoustic moods, or Elliott
Smith, an early influence. And he’s chosen as his coming-out party a concept
album of sorts, connected songs set at a house party, a series of character
sketches that highlight Shauf’s eye for nuance. The playing and production are
impeccable—all Shauf solo, except for the strings—though Shauf’s sedated vocals
drag some of the material down; The Party
in question is more than a bit of a bummer. No matter. This record puts plenty
of wind in his sails; the after-party promises to be a lot more exciting. (June
2)
Stream: “The Magician,” “To You,” “Martha Sways”
Tegan and Sara – Love You to Death (Universal)
It’s heartening that an act like
Tegan and Sara get bigger and bigger with each album—rare in the chart-pop
sphere they no longer aspire to, but to which these 36-year-old sisters
rightfully belong. Working again with producer Greg Kurstin (Adele), who helmed
2013’s Heartbeat, Tegan and Sara aim
for stadiums and come up with a gold rush of hooks and radio-ready
melodies—granted, few with the undeniable punch of Hearbeat’s “Closer” or “I Was a Fool,” which would be hard to top.
“Boyfriend,” however, is unusually lyrically rich bubblegum, a lesbian love
song that will forever erase the memory of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” (June
9)
Everyone knows no good new records
ever get released in early January, which is why I spent most of this month’s
Waterloo Record column reviewing albums I missed from the end of 2013. See
also: yesterday’s review of the magical Nick Buzz album.
Highly recommended: Africa Express
Presents: Maison des Jeunes, Brandy Clark, Patty Griffin
Worth a listen: Robbie Fulks, Alison
Moyet
Africa Express Presents: Maison Des
Jeunes – Various Artists (Transgressive)
This album was recorded in Bamako, Mali,
over seven days last October. Damon Albarn arrived with Brian Eno, Nick Zinner
of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and others, and set up a studio at a local youth
centre. They corralled the best young local acts they could find—perhaps
through word of mouth via the more established acts Albarn booked on the U.K.
tour called Africa Express—and somehow came out of that week with an 11-song
album that is an embarrassment of riches. There’s no mistaking the Malian roots
here—koras and n’gonis abound, and the sound is familiar to anyone familiar
with Rokia Traoré, Ali Farka Touré or Amadou and Mariam—but Maison Des Jeunes
is modern and vibrant. Though there are some stripped-down, gorgeous acoustic
tracks—the likes of which you might expect—there are also roaring electric
guitars, modern electronics and hip-hop influences enhancing and playing off
the traditional instrumentation, while the drumming is, naturally, phenomenal
(especially on tracks by Lil Silva and the Lobi Traoré Band).
There are no African names here recognizable
to Western audiences—yet. You’re unlikely to hear a better compilation of music
from any genre or continent for the rest of the year. (Jan. 23)
Download: Songhoy Blues – “Soubour,”
Lil Silva – “Bouramsy,” Lobi Traoré Band – “Deni Kelen Be Koko”
Brandy Clark – 12 Stories
(Slate Creek)
As will quickly become
evident in this entry of 2013 catch-up, I barely listened to any country music
in the last 12 months. But I can’t imagine anything being better than Brandy
Clark.
When you’re a songwriter
for hire, even when you’re in your mid-30s and you’ve scored Nashville hits for
Miranda Lambert, LeAnn Rimes, and newcomer Kacey Musgraves, there’s some
subject matter best kept to yourself. Singers like a sure thing; risks are few—despite
the fact that the likes of Lambert and Musgraves owe a large part of their
success for their resistance to complacent country music stereotypes.
Though Brandy Clark is
musically conservative—12 Stories is note-perfect, tasteful, conventional country—she
throws caution to the wind when penning narratives of sin, sex, revenge and
regret. Clark’s characters cheat, carouse, imbibe and inhale—mostly because the
men in their life have let them down: “Boy, if you build a fire, you better bet
she’s got a match.” Clark can be deadly serious, a bonafide tearjerker, yet
also has a wicked and cheeky side: the protagonist in “Stripes” resists
wreaking violent revenge on her ex-husband because, as she says, “There’s no
crime of passion worth a crime in fashion / the only thing saving your life is
that I don’t look good in orange and I hate stripes.”
This album is called 12
Stories for a reason: they are Alice Munro-meets-Elmore Leonard in miniature. And yet despite the
fact that two of these songs were previously recorded by LeAnn Rimes and Reba
McEntire—and Clark also has a Grammy nomination for Kacey Musgraves’s “Follow
Your Arrow”—this powerhouse debut was, sadly, obscure outside of critics’
circles (I only discovered it after reading some year-end lists), released to
little fanfare in October by a tiny label with only one other artist on its
roster. In yet another year when mainstream country deserved so much mockery
(just Google “Grady Smith” and “Gawker” for an illustrative video montage of
2013’s crimes against country music), it’s no wonder Clark was held up as a
beacon of light. (Jan. 2)
Download: “Stripes,” “Hold
My Hand,” “Hungover “
Robbie Fulks – Gone Away
Backward (Bloodshot)
Fulks was a leading light
of the alt-country scene of the late ’90s, a wiseacre who revelled in wordplay,
one-liners and sharp satire, but who also demanded to be taken seriously. He
had clearly studied all the country music songwriting greats, and didn’t want
to settle for being anything less than in their company.
Fulks has not been as active
in recent years; I’ll admit I also lost track. But on Gone Away Backward, he’s
sounding better than ever: no longer a joker, his wit is instead focused
entirely on capturing the pain and disappointment of the New Depression, set to
entirely acoustic arrangements featuring little more than guitar, banjo,
fiddle, bass and four-part harmony. Even the instrumental tracks stand
out—which, for a wordsmith like Fulks, says a lot about his evolution as a
songwriter. (Jan. 2)
Download: “I’ll Trade You
Money for Wine,” “Where I Fell,” “Sometimes the Grass is Really Greener”
Patty Griffin – Silver
Bell (A&M)
Patty Griffin – American
Kid (New West)
Silver Bell, released in
October, is Patty Griffin’s third album. American Kid, released five months
earlier, is her eighth. You follow? The singer/songwriter, who has written hits
for a who’s who of Nashville and is a current collaborator (personal and
professional) with Robert Plant, has a long and varied career, and American Kid
is worth the while of any roots music fan—that almost goes without saying at
this stage in Griffin’s career.
Silver Bell is a whole
other story. Recorded in New Orleans at Daniel Lanois’s Kingsway Studio in
2000, it was shelved by her record label. She re-recorded some songs for later albums;
others were covered by the Dixie Chicks; the whole project was widely
bootlegged and a fan favourite. Said record company finally decided to release
it 13 years later, recently remixed by Glyn Johns (The Who, Eric Clapton)—which
must be bittersweet for Griffin, as it’s an astounding album, one that vastly
overshadows her newer material.
Here, she sounds like an
amalgam of Emmylou Harris, Kathleen Edwards, Lucinda Williams and Sam Phillips,
both vocally and in terms of songwriting heft. Musically, there’s little here
that sounds like Nashville at all: there are Arabic motifs, New Orleans
rhythms, scorching electric guitar, raw rockers that wouldn’t be out of place
on Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville or Weeping Tile’s Cold Snap, and, on the
fuzzed-out “Perfect White Girls,” what sounds like a template for everything
Melissa McClelland currently does in Whitehorse.
Eclecticism aside, the
songs are fantastic, and it’s hard to imagine them ever sounding better than
they do here, in Griffin’s hands, with this band, in this studio. No one said
the music business ever made sense, but better late than never to hear this
Silver Bell ring. (Jan. 2)
Download from Silver Bell:
“Little God,” “Perfect White Girls,” “Silver Bell”
Download from American
Kid: “Don’t Let Me Die in Florida,” “That Kind of Lonely,” “Get Ready Marie”
Jessy Lanza – Pull My Hair Back
(Hyperdub)
This new Hamilton singer/producer
grew up loving ’90s R&B, which is obvious in her cooing vocal melodies and
some of her rhythmic approaches. Her production style—with help from Junior
Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan—is far from slick or glossy, filled as it is with analog
synthesizers, skittering beats that draw from underground strains of house
music, and long instrumental passages that sound like remixes of Top 40 hits
where only hints of the hook are evident. Lanza makes it all work, coming off
like a more mainstream Grimes at times, but is best enjoyed in small doses; the
album as a whole feels featherweight. (Jan. 9)
Download: “Keep Moving,” “F--k
Diamond,” “Against the Wall”
Lenka Lichtenberg – Embrace
(independent)
Born in Prague, based in Toronto,
singing in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and English, Lenka Lichtenberg is a klezmer
vocalist who intertwines her various musical sources until they become
indistinguishable, bound together only by her voice. She gets comparisons to
Loreena McKennitt, which are not unwarranted: there’s a similar pristine vocal
tone and meticulous, delicate arrangements designed for concert theatres where
you can hear a pin drop. That’s in part why it’s refreshing to hear Guelph
remixer Eccodek get his hands on the track “Open My Eyes” and breathe some life
into it (you can hear it on Soundcloud). Hopefully that collaboration convinces
Lichtenberg to pump some bass into her musical backbone. (Jan. 9)
Download: “Open My Eyes,” “Raise a Cup of Joy,” “Vayn fun
lebn”
Alison Moyet – The Minutes (Cooking
Vinyl)
Thirty years ago, Alison Moyet left
her first band, the electro duo Yazoo. Her solo career since then was full of
ups and downs and label frustration, followed by a long period of silence. The
Minutes is her return—in parts—to the electronic backdrops that contrast and
complement her soulful voice perfectly. Sadly for Yazoo fans, that doesn’t mean
a return to the disco or experimental pop heard on the classic Upstairs at
Eric’s—that was another time, another place. “Suddenly the landscape has
changed” is the first lyric Moyet sings here. Of course, it’s not exactly
sudden, but hearing her come even within close proximity of the sound that
spawned her talent on the world is a relief.
Moyet now makes adult pop music the
way any 52-year-old British singer would, somewhere between the polarities of
Massive Attack and Kylie Minogue. Working with producer Guy Sigsworth (Seal,
Bjork, Alanis Morissette), who drenches her many minor-key melodies in
melancholic pomp. At its worst, it drowns out Moyet herself; the best moments
happen when they either strip everything back (“Filigree”) or write a major-key
pop anthem (“When I Was Your Girl”) or take their sole excursion onto the dance
floor (“Right as Rain”).
Moyet has a voice that demands to be
heard; hopefully this album is just the first step of a larger comeback. (Jan.
16)
Download: “When I Was Your Girl,”
“Right as Rain,” “Filigree”
Doug Tielli
– Keresley (Tin Angel)
Doug Tielli, Martin’s youngest
brother, has been making music for almost 20 years, and yet Keresley is only
his second solo album. Recorded in the titular rural British town (30 minutes
east of Birmingham), Keresley features little more than Tielli’s gorgeous,
elastic voice, acoustic guitar, drums and trombone. Sometimes he channels Nick
Drake, sometimes his acoustic guitar sounds like a Malian kora, sometimes it
feels like he’s back home in Toronto playing improv at the Music Gallery with
jazz-informed players. It’s lilting and lovely. Tielli has spent most of his
career playing well with others, but he’s even better when left entirely to his
own devices. (Jan. 9)
Download: “Water Falls,” “Oak,” “Big
Man of the Underbrush”
