March 12, 2010

1% for the Planet Album<br> Johnson, Browne, Potter, ALO

Filed under: 11, 2010, 30, 99, First, From, IT, John, League, MA, Music, New, News, Phish, Pot, Too, Waste, Web, a, access, age, and, as, beginning, book, brown, ca, center, down, en, end, fee, fi, gag, hi, jam, love, nc, ny, of, on, op, pro, rad, read, row, the, to, tools, track, war, with — hamptonphish @ 3:38 pm

Artists Raise Money and Awareness with 1% for the Planet Album

1% for the Planet, a global network of 1,200 companies that donate 1% of annual sales to environmental causes, has released a digital music compilation: 1% for the Planet: The Music, Vol. 1, the world’s first music compilation dedicated to supporting non-profit organizations working to create a healthy planet. The album aims to accelerate the 1% movement by engaging more people and inspiring more companies to join.


In early January the album hit #1 on Amazon.com’s MP3 download chart, and broke into the top 50 on iTunes’ bestselling album list. Featuring more than forty tracks for only $9.99, the album can be found on the 1% music web site, and on all major music download sites.

More than 40 musicians have donated music to the album and are featured on the 1% music site. Leading artists, including Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, and Grace Potter, gave rare and exclusive tracks. “The artists are amazing. They have been incredibly supportive of the project from the beginning, and their passion is infectious. Fans hear the artists’ music and are inspired to get involved themselves” says Melody Grote, VP of Marketing and Acquisitions, 1%.

In the spirit of reducing waste generated from the distribution and disposal of traditional CDs, the album is an all-digital release. At the new 1% music web site, fans can sample and buy the music, see what the artists are saying about their involvement in the cause, and spread the word online. Supporters can visit the site to get a web badge to display on their site or blog, or use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to spread the word.

Though the release is all-digital, the compilation is also available to offline purchasers. With a greater number of consumers buying CDs only to store them after they’ve saved the music digitally, 1% for the Planet offers consumers and retailers a more earth-friendly option in purchasing music. Eco friendly download cards allow the music to be merchandised in retail stores alongside regular CDs. The download card evokes the look and feel of a CD but is made entirely of recycled paper. Consumers purchase the download card with an enclosed access code which allows them to download the music. The new format is available now to retailers worldwide.

“1% for the Planet: The Music, Vol. 1 is an easy way to make a difference for anyone who loves good music,” says Grote. “Listeners can share the music online with their friends, family and colleagues in order to exponentially increase giving to the environment.”

Details on all 41 tracks can be found at music.onepercentfortheplanet.org.



February 25, 2010

Dark Star Orchestra: Life After Dead

Filed under: 11, 12, 1997, 2010, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 99, American, Colors, December, Eve, From, Guitar, IT, John, Last, MA, Main, Music, New, News, November, Phish, Setlists, Stab, Too, You, a, age, and, around, as, band, bonnaroo, ca, california, center, concert, down, en, end, engineer, fee, festival, final, four, gain, hi, high, home, jam, las, late, lights, live, lot, night, ny, of, on, opening, page, pro, producer, production, rad, read, recording, rock, room, row, set, show, song, sound, stage, state, studio, the, times, to, tone, tools, tour, track, view, war, with, years — hamptonphish @ 11:50 pm

By: Jarrod Dicker

Dark Star Orchestra by Peter Wochniak

“We are NOT the Grateful Dead,” professes Dark Star Orchestra’s rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rob Eaton. “I think the main misconception is that we strictly copy the Grateful Dead’s music or somehow mimic their persona and none of that is true. We love this music, we live and breathe this music and when we step onstage there is no thought process of us trying to be or do anything except serve this music.”

Established in 1997, Dark Star Orchestra embarked on a single mission: reincarnate exact setlists from the Grateful Dead’s tour catalog which, throughout its 30 year existence, accumulated nearly 2,500 live performances. Dark Star Orchestra conveys these live performances by employing two distinct methods – a “recreation set,” where DSO mirrors a historical setlist of a genuine Grateful Dead performance, and the “elective set,” where the group generates their own setlist of Grateful Dead songs.

The tradition of Dark Star Orchestra’s pedigree is for members to adapt terminology and choral arrangements originally exhibited by the actual Grateful Dead. By doing this, they are able to familiarize the audience and transcend them spiritually to a nostalgic time when the Grateful Dead were an active, animate part of the rock & roll scene. Thus, rather than label themselves a “cover band,” DSO prefers a more accurate, incorporeal term.

“I say we are a spirit band,” Eaton explains. “We play the music in the spirit that it was originally conceived. The heart, soul, emotion and spirit of the music are the only things we can do to carry it through. It is impossible to copy a setlist exactly. You cannot recreate a show. You can play a setlist, but you absolutely can’t recreate it. That’s basically something that happens in the moment.”

Dark Star Orchestra by Peter Wochniak

The group’s commitment to heavy improvisation goes all the way back to the formation of their band name. The Dark Star Orchestra moniker was chosen deliberately by founding members who believed that the Hunter/Garcia song “Dark Star” was the single most fitting piece to categorize the fundamental nature of the Grateful Dead. Meagerly including a sizeable verse/chorus arrangement, the song highlights the non-structure inventiveness of the Grateful Dead more than any other song in their extensive catalog. “Orchestra” was affixed onto the group’s name to communicate the obligation these artists felt to keep this music alive by communicating to the world the classic compositions of the Grateful Dead.

“The name ‘orchestra’ in our band is so apt because when you think about what an orchestra does, they’re recreating classical work,” DSO keyboardist Rob Barraco observes. “The difference is classical work is really orchestra, but we’re kind of approaching it in a similar way. We’re trying to be true to a particular era and sound, but by the very nature of what Grateful Dead music really is, you have to live in the moment of the music.”

In October 2008, the group performed its 1,600th career show. They are one of the only tribute groups that have achieved such heightened notoriety, having played major festival’s like Bonnaroo, Gathering of the Vibes and Summerfest, as well as nurturing a devoted nationwide following with a relentless touring schedule.

This past December, Dark Star Orchestra co-founder and lead guitarist John Kadlecik announced that he would be leaving the group after 12 years to join Bob Weir and Phil Lesh with their current project, Furthur. While this news initially stalled the DSO freight train in its tracks, the band kept playing on, electing Zen Tricksters founder and Donna Jean Godchaux Band guitarist Jeff Mattson to fill the “Jerry” role… for now.

Stu Allen by Susan J. Weiand

“There is another guitar player that we’re going to be taking out and touring with in April,” reveals Barraco. “It’s only to be fair, because you don’t want to simply choose one guy and then realize later that you made a mistake. So, we’re going to be going out with Stu Allen [JGB] and doing a whole West Coast tour with him. He’s a tremendous player, has a beautiful voice and a really nice sound. Then after we play with Stu, we will have a clear idea of where we’re going to go in terms of Kadlecik’s official replacement. We’ll see after we play with Stu in April what the final decision will be.”

The current touring DSO lineup includes Jeff Mattson, Rob Eaton, Kevin Rosen (bass, vocals), Lisa Mackey (vocals), Rob Koritz (drums), Dino English (drums) and Rob Barraco. As mentioned, Kadlecik was a founding member of the group along with the late Scott Larned, and his presence and veteran role in DSO most certainly will be difficult to replace. However, with the addition of Mattson, the band believes that he will not only be able to aptly fill the departed’s shoes, but also inject a new element into the group that they have never experimented with while Kadlecik was involved.

“John Kadlecik became a Deadhead a lot later than Jeff because of the fact that he’s younger,” Barraco states. “I think John’s real forte is playing more of the later ’70s and ’80s Grateful Dead. The one thing that Jeff has above everybody else is that he really understands the earlier bend on the Dead. The late ’60s, early ’70s. He does it so well and that’s something that we really haven’t concentrated on in this band until now. Jeff brings just a little more grease, that psychedelic greasy element that was missing in John’s playing. Not to demean John’s playing, because he’s brilliant. That’s just what Jeff brings that is different.”

John Kadlecik with Furthur by Susan J. Weiand

“[Mattson] comes at it from a place of its inception almost,” Eaton interjects. “He understands where it started and how it started and what it felt like when it started. He brings to the table a really deep understanding of what Jerry meant to this music in a pretty profound way that I didn’t realize until I started playing with him.”

Mattson’s comprehension and knack to play early renditions of Dead music has transcended the group to places they’ve never been before. A few weeks back, drummer Dino English and his wife welcomed a child to the world, which understandably prevented him from attending the opening week of tour. Dark Star couldn’t play a show that called for two drummers if only one, Koritz, was going to be present. So what did they do?

“We decided to do a whole string of Europe ‘72 shows and recreate those concerts [these shows feature just drummer Bill Kreutzmann],” says Barraco. “Dark Star had never done that before, all that old Pigpen stuff. Jeff was just ripping it up. It’s been so psychedelic.”

The Europe ‘72 shows were chosen by Eaton, who holds the chief responsibility of deciding the setlist for every DSO performance. He is a three-time Grammy Award winning producer as well as a former Grateful Dead taper who recorded throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s. He produced all of Pat Metheny’s records for the past 20-25 years and has recently worked with Peter Wolf and Richard Bona. Joining DSO in 2001, Eaton had always selected setlist material with one “Jerry” in mind, John Kadlecik. Have any complications come about creating setlists to compliment their new guitarist?

“Nope, not at all,” Eaton confidently proclaims. “He did five shows with us in November, mid-tour, and I threw the gauntlet at him to see what he was made of. I gave him EVERYTHING! I gave him a show from ‘89, and it had some stuff we’ve never even played before. There were some songs that John Kadlecik just didn’t want to learn sometimes. Certain shows would have a song called ‘California Earthquake’ that we never got around to doing. So, I threw that at Jeff – I said, ‘Learn this song. We’re going to do this exact show’ – right out of the box without any rehearsals or anything like that. I tested him right away and he passed all the tests with flying colors. At the end of the day, the exocentric components of a specific tone are all about the heart and soul of the music and what the emotional content of it is. The emotional content with Jeff is very strong. That I think, at the end of the day, is what Grateful Dead music is all about. It’s all about the emotion.”

Continue reading for more on Dark Star Orchestra…

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John Kadlecik became a Deadhead a lot later than Jeff [Mattson] because of the fact that he’s younger. I think John’s real forte is playing more of the later ’70s and ’80s Grateful Dead. The one thing that Jeff has above everybody else is that he really understands the earlier bend on the Dead. The late ’60s, early ’70s. He does it so well and that’s something that we really haven’t concentrated on in this band until now. Jeff brings just a little more grease, that psychedelic greasy element that was missing in John’s playing.

-Rob Barraco

 

Photo of Jeff Mattson by Peter Wochniak

The duty of arranging the setlist night after night is no simple task, and none of the others envy Eaton’s role. On a nightly basis he must satisfy the desires of the crowd as well as those of his bandmates. He and he alone holds the vital judgment of whether to execute an “elective” or a “recreation” set.

Rob Eaton by Peter Wochniak

“I look at what we’ve done at a venue and go back to the last five times we played that city on tour. If we haven’t done one of our own setlists [elective] in four or five years, then we are due for one,” says Eaton. “I plot out what it is that we should be doing and then I start going through setlists to put the Rubik’s Cube together and make it all work. It’s quite a tedious process, but it keeps it interesting for us and gives the fans something different every time we come to town. They know they’re not going to see the same thing.”

The relationship between Dark Star and living Grateful Dead members is congenial. As mentioned, John Kadlecik left DSO to join Furthur. Jeff Mattson is the guitarist in the Donna Jean Godchaux Band and has co-written a song with Barraco on Phil & Friends‘ There and Back Again. Barraco has played in The Other Ones, The Dead, RatDog and Phil & Friends. All remaining DSO members have either been involved with previous Grateful Dead affiliations or tribute groups, too. But it’s Barraco who had the grand opportunity to work side by side with a key Dead “member,” Robert Hunter. Meeting him while on a string of shows with Phil & Friends in 2001, Barraco humbly introduced himself to the lyricist and from that moment on a friendship bloomed. This segued to the production of a co-written studio album in 2007 titled When We All Come Home.

“We started talking about songwriting as a craft and I looked at him and said, ‘I got some stuff.’ He just stopped me in my tracks and said, ‘Send it to me, and let me hear what you’re doing.’ He gave me his address and I went back to my girlfriend at the time’s place in Portland and sat in the bedroom for days doing demos. I was so excited that Robert Hunter was going to listen to my music,” Barraco explains. “I sent him three songs, and three weeks later I got an email stating, ‘Your music is speaking to me.’ In that, he sent his phone number and said to give him a call in a week or so. So I called him up and he says, ‘Listen man, can you come down here to San Rafael? I got some really good stuff for you.’ I went down and visited him. I sat in his living room and he handed me these sheets of paper. In my head I’m listening to my music and reading his lyrics and I was just so blown away because he captured the spirit of it all – I basically did not have to do any editing with it, he did it perfectly. I looked at him, dumbfounded, and said, ‘Do you think you’re up for a little more?’ And he just said to lay it on him. After that, I just started sending him stuff and in a very short period of time it became an album’s worth of material.”

Dark Star Orchestra’s claim to fame with fans will always be their magical reincarnation of the Grateful Dead’s music. However, some original creative expansion is taking place removed from the Dead catalog.

Dark Star Orchestra by Peter Wochniak

“We’ve started working on an original project,” says Barraco. “We all live in different parts of the country though, and it’s hard for us to get together in the studio at given times. Rob Eaton is a Grammy Award winning studio engineer and [he's] just brilliant. He’s a brilliant producer and a brilliant recording artist. One of our drummers is a really good producer as well, and is really into recording. We all have Pro Tools on the road, so the way we do it is somebody comes up with an idea and we pass it around, see what one another could make of it. They’ll play a part and put a part down, and so on. So, we started working on that and so far it has been really cool. Unfortunately, John [Kadlecik] leaving the band sort of put a little monkey wrench in that for the time being, but whoever we end up with as our guitar player, they’re both down to do it.”

Dark Star has constantly had to deal with misconceptions about what they do. Dismissing the tag of “cover band,” the group feels that their mission and performance expands way beyond the generic label. Yes, they carry out a catalog of music created by another group, but it is in the spirit of the improvisations where they shine most uniquely. They do NOT think they are the Grateful Dead, and as Eaton puts it, they know damn well who they are.

“Here’s a great analogy I have used before,” explains Eaton. “Say I’m a painter and I have a setlist and this wood frame. The wood frame on this white canvas is the setlist, the order of the songs and the arrangements of the songs. All the colors and textures and patterns that get splattered on this canvas over the course of the night are the improvisations that differ on a nightly basis. I think that’s all we can do, to be true to ourselves and to be true to the emotional content of the music. We play it with heart and soul, and that’s really what the people get. People get the feeling. When you can transfer something you’re feeling into sound that someone else could hear and feel that’s a great thing. Jerry was really great at it. If we can tap into even a little part of that, that’s really what it’s all about.”

“We honor that music like Bach, Beethoven and Chopin because we think that this music needs to live on through the ages,” Barraco continues. “It’s incredibly important, it’s uniquely American, and we want to honor it that way. We want to approach it the same way they approached it. We want to take ourselves on that journey. By the very nature of doing that, we take the entire audience on the same journey.”

JamBase | Ridin’ That Train
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Dark Star Orchestra Tour Dates :: Dark Star Orchestra News :: Dark Star Orchestra Concert Reviews



February 15, 2010

Albums of the Week: <br>February 12-18

Filed under: 09, 11, 12, 2009, 2010, 27, 30, 99, American, Enjoy, Eve, Exile, First, Free, From, Funny, Gary, Ghost, Guitar, Hood, IT, Jay, John, Joy, Last, MA, Main, Mars, Music, New, Nine, Phish, Pot, Stern, Taste, Too, Video, Web, XM, You, a, age, and, around, as, audio, band, black, blue, ca, chris, concert, covers, down, en, end, epic, fee, festival, final, four, frank, front, gain, gordon, hd, hi, high, home, interview, jam, las, late, live, massachusetts, mastering, mix, mixing, moon, new york, night, ny, of, on, post, pro, rad, read, rock, row, run, scent, set, show, solo, song, sound, studio, the, theater, times, to, todd, tone, tools, tour, track, view, war, with, years, york, zappa — hamptonphish @ 9:47 am

JamBase Albums of the Week | February 12-February 18, 2010

Dennis’ Pick of the Week
Redwater: Time Is A Lie (Redwater Music)

At first it seems one has stumbled across a really good hard rock band, crusty as ’70s Robert Plant’s jeans after a fortnight on tour and unruly as sweaty old Sabbath. And this would be just swell on its own measure but Redwater starts throwing serious curves four tracks in with country tinged corker “Off To War” and from there they roam off the leash, jamming and prodding things with puppy-like energy. The stellar hard rockers return in the tail section and taken together with everything in between – including a real facility with slow burns -Redwater’s full-length debut (released February 12) is reminiscent of what Pearl Jam and The Black Crowes did in the 1990s (i.e. taking classic rock and building compelling new shapes atop that foundation). Though many ape Zeppelin and Hendrix, Redwater sweats their musk. They are young and there are definitely some rough edges, but they bear the markings of a band that could one day be really special. They’ve already offered up a frothing elixir against the Nickelbacks of the world with this highly enjoyable first salvo. (Dennis Cook)

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Ron’s Pick of the Week
Kenny Rankin: Catalog Reissues (Sly Dog-Mack Avenue)

“Yacht rock” is a term levied by the hipper-than-hip denizens of Generation Y in reference to the silky soft AM sounds of such 1970s acts as Christopher Cross, Loggins & Messina, Michael McDonald, Bread, Gordon Lightfoot, et al. The term also served as the title to a funny 2005 online video series spoofing the lives of these aforementioned soft rock superstars. Now upon listening to the late Kenny Rankin, who sadly died of lung cancer in June 2009 at the age of 69, it’s totally understandable if your initial reaction is, “Oh man, this is EXACTLY what Ted Knight would be listening to on The Flying WASP in Caddyshack (had, of course, Rappin’ Rodney not dropped anchor on it).” However, to pass off Rankin’s music as mere “yacht rock” would be a disservice to the ground broken by this most underrated New York-born performer, who grew up in the same neighborhood in the Bronx as Dion and played guitar on Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, with his calming, natural fusion of soul, bossa nova, folk and jazz, utilizing the same panache as Steely Dan did for their Brooklyn-brewed blend of bop and rock. “He’s a fine musician with an original style and unquestionable taste,” gushed Johnny Carson, who invited Kenny onto The Tonight Show several times during his long run as host, in a quote on the inside cover of Rankin’s 1967 debut, Mind-Dusters. When you dig into this sextet of digitally mastered reissues of his sextet of seventies releases, curated by the Rankin family, you can’t help but agree with the late night legend’s sentiments. Though all six of these albums are gems in their own right, heads will want to start off with 1970’s Family, which proves Rankin was the only cat who could properly pull off back-to-back covers of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence,” Bert Jansch’s “Needle of Death” and Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” without a hitch. 1972’s Like A Seed serves as the finest showcase for Rankin’s magnificent fretwork, especially his rare electric moment, “Bad Times Make You Strong,” written by both Kenny and his then-wife Yvonne, and 1974’s Silver Morning contains a version of “Blackbird” that so impressed Paul McCartney he asked Rankin to perform the song during Macca and John Lennon’s induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Do yourself and your constitution a solid and introduce yourself to the artistry of Kenny Rankin and his thinking man’s sooth if you haven’t already. Yacht rock this most certainly is not. (Ron Hart)

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Hot Chip: One Life Stand (Astralwerks)

Well, this is pretty freakin’ romantic, even downright syrupy in places (“Take It In” and the unavoidably homoerotic “Brothers” will test the patience of even the most stalwart New Romantic). Hot Chip’s fourth offering (released February 9) picks up the laced gauntlet of Spandau Ballet, OMD, and more obscurely the Blue Nile and Prefab Sprout – all wet-eyed, swooning English pop models. What’s absent are the crunching, saucy dance floor bombs they made their bones on. There’s a lil’ shimmy to “We Have Love” and the title cut but mainly this simmers low and REALLY sincere. It’s quite artfully put together, and in a way it’s a perfect Valentine, if one has the patience and appetite for such soft serve. (DC)

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Excepter: Presidence (Paw-Tracks)

Long-running New York City noise collective Excepter release their eighth album in their eight years and go for broke doing it. Presidence (arriving February 16) is a two-disc goliath of transmission and atmosphere, mostly recorded live in the studio, including a 27-minute-long drone recorded on Election Day (hence the album title) that sounds like early Tangerine Dream, and “The Open Well,” another 20-odd minute jam that could be Can had they replaced Malcolm Mooney with Lee “Scratch” Perry instead of Damo Suzuki. (RH)

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Glossary: Feral Fire (Liberty & Lament)

Folks with a serious yen for The Jayhawks and similar everything-in-its-right-place Americana should immediately check out Glossary. With just the right measures of twang and rawk, Feral Fire slides along invitingly, the sort of slab that grows more beloved with each spin. “Bend With The Breeze” vibes with It Still Moves-era My Morning Jacket, though the general feel is more rough ‘n’ tumble than those Kentucky boys. Led by Lucero’s Todd Beene and produced by Centro-matic’s Matt Pence, Glossary’s sixth outing (released February 2) is a winner full of tattered hearts and souls ready for another round. (DC)

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Jaga Jazzist: One-Armed Bandit (Ninja Tune)

Norwegian electro-jazz rockers Jaga Jazzist continue to master their craft with One-Armed Bandit (arriving February 23). But if you are expecting the laptop modality of 2003’s The Stix, you might be in for a bit of a surprise. The feel of this nine-track set suggests someone has been on a serious Frank Zappa kick in this band, given the heavy Grand Wazoo/Hot Rats vibe of the album’s title cut and the epic-sounding freak-out “Prognissekogen.” Elsewhere, “Music! Dance! Drama!” institutes a heavy Lalo Schifrin soundtrack resonance while the gentleman haze of American post-rock lingers long over most of the other material here. A brave new direction for a most incredible band; it’s good to see them back. (RH)

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Hot Day At The Zoo: Zoograss (Eagle)

One always got the sense from their lively, impressive studio work that Massachusetts-based HDATZ was a murderously good string band in concert, and Zoograss offers empirical proof. There’s a delightful, slightly breathless roll to this 14-track cross section of newer tunes and satisfying live versions of older material that shows things are evolving really nicely. Swept up by Zoograss one wonders why these cats aren’t as well known as Greensky Bluegrass, Hot Buttered Rum, Cornmeal and other festival/club circuit comers. What’s so appealing about HDATZ is how they make no nevermind about mixing up sea shanties, boxcar blues, fiddle numbers, rock classics and much else. This is simply the music they love to play, and their great skill, knack for cool fusions and potent personal energy is likely to make you love it, too. (DC)

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Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra: Kollaps Tradixionales (Constellation)

After seeing its lineup expand to unreasonable numbers as Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band with Choir, SMZ thankfully pares down their personnel to a final five and make some of the best music of their careers on their latest, Kollaps Tradixionales (arriving February 16). It’s a fiery, psychedelic phoenix of an album that has more in common with the classical dirge of the Canadian group’s root band Godspeed You! Black Emperor than just about anything else they have ever done. Listen to this album and you will understand why the late, great Vic Chesnutt recruited some of these guys to be part of his last band. (RH)

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Karnivool: Sound Awake (Sony)

This is some seriously tasty prog-metal. Australia’s Karnivool has a decent presence at home and is quickly building a strong audience internationally. Not hard to understand given the stormy, Mars Volta-esque vocals of Ian Kenny laid atop the exploratory heaviness of a band with a broad sonic imagination. Sound Awake (arriving February 16 in the U.S.) is perfect bong hit, low light music nerd fodder that also sounds like it’d be deeply satisfying played monstrously loud live. Those feeling Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater have a new band to discover, and while some of Karnivool’s moves here seem vaguely re-Tool-ed, it’s unlikely Maynard or any of the other touchstones would have produced the snarling, catchy head-charge of “Set Fire To The Hive,” just one of several promising signs here. (DC)

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Nneka: Concret Jungle (DECON-Epic)

With Lauryn Hill in self-imposed exile and no set date for an album she has been working on for most of the 00s, there’s a strong chance she’s pulling a serious JD Salinger on us for the long term. Don’t fret, however, as Nigeria’s NNeka Egbuna picks up right where Ms. Hill left off with Miseducation on her U.S. debut, Concrete Jungle (released February 2). This becoming warrior princess of African and German heritage keeps it real with her acoustic-driven fusion of soul and hip-hop, coming off on some Dead Prez type shit, though her music could fit in alongside Corinne Bailey-Rae and Erykah Badu as well as it could Black Uhuru and The Fugees’ Blunted On Reality. (RH)

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Kicking Against The Pricks: Collector’s Edition (Mute)

Nick Cave found his voice on this album. That’s his literal voice as a singer/stylist; as far as his rangy, evocative, often confrontational songwriting, well, that’s still evolving nicely. 1986’s Pricks finds the man and his coconspirators tackling meaty material from John Lee Hooker, Lou Reed, Jimmy Webb, Leadbelly and more. The results are a mixture of alluring and distressing, with all involved rattling the ghost chains inside the iconic tunes. As a singer, Cave discovered his sweet spot mouthing other’s words, and has only refined what’s present here since. You’d be hard pressed to find better takes on “Hey Joe” and “Long Black Veil,” and the fine remastering job does wonders over the original’s slightly murky haze. The sharp edges, well placed strings and conscious space shine through the speakers now, further adding to Pricks‘ considerable heft. And the informative, interview rich liner notes by Amy Hanson further situate this gem in the Cave-nology. Mute continues the Bad Seeds reissue series on March 30 with audio retools plus video and 5.1 Surround mix bolstered editions of Tender Prey (1988), The Good Son (1990) and Henry’s Dream (1992) arriving March 30. (DC)

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Various Artists: Black Man’s Cry: The Inspiration of Fela Kuti (Stones Throw)

Coinciding with the Jigga-produced Broadway play and the newly revitalized Knitting Factory Records rolling out the same reissue campaign MCA did 11 years ago for Nigerian funk god Fela Kuti (with a much better campaign, in my opinion), leave it to Stones Throw to deliver a Fela set you should definitely look out for. Studiously compiled by Stones Throw czar Egon, this a collection of music inspired by the Afrobeat style developed by Fela and the international scene that evolved around the genre’s fruition, featuring music from the early ’70s scenes in Ghana, Colombia and Trinidad, alongside modern Afro-centric acts as The Daktaris, the Whitfield Brothers and Karl Hector and the Malcouns. Great stuff (arriving February 23). (RH)

Oops, We Missed It!
(Killer Releases From 2009 That Somehow Slipped By Us)

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Monahans: Dim The Aurora (Misra)

Ever wonder what happened to Milton Mapes? If you, like JamBase, were totally smitten with 2005’s The Blacklight Trap and hankered for more, well, here it issort of. MM’s Greg Vanderpool and Roberto Snchez, formed Monahans, which offers a bolder, grittier, all-together more ready-to-leap into your arms sound. From unpredictable, liquid instrumentals to a simmering boldness reminiscent of early U2 to soothing calls to connection to hooky rockers, Monahans holds up a crackling torch to guide us through the gathering shadows. Positivity or genuine sensitivity are tough to wrangle into song form without sounding trite or cliche, but Dim The Aurora (released May 19, 2009) manages this feat repeatedly, gathering heartening sentiments inside musically robust settings. Can’t wait for album number two. (DC)

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Guano Padano: Guano Padano (Important)

Free jazz, surf guitar and classic film music punctuate the amazing debut album of Italy’s Guano Padano, a late 2009 release on the ever-crucial experimental imprint Important Records. “If there ever was a soundtrack waiting to find its mate in the cinematic world, this album by Guano Padano would surely find good company with the likes of Fellini, Leone, Jarmusch and Sofia Coppola,” raved Calexico’s Joey Burns of this multi-faceted trio, who count Italian singing great Bobby Solo, Captain Beefheart/Jeff Buckley guitarist Gary Lucas and Alessandro Alessandroni, the legendary whistler from Ennio Morricone’s Spaghetti Western scores, amongst the guests on this 11-track journey, which is a must hear for any Tarantino fan out there. (RH)



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