White Widow - "A Psychological Thriller" CD Review / Show at Public Assembly on July 17th

White Widow (aka Carla Patullo) is releasing her fourth disc, A Psychological Thriller, on June 5th 2012. The new disc is culled from Patullo’s growing interest in psychological thriller films and tells the dream-like story of a fictional character in ten songs that seamlessly blend together into one half-hour long soundtrack.

A Psychological Thriller and its concept spiked the interest of Brooklyn artists Jamie Dwyer and Justin Ulloa (Electric Wonder Creative), who produced an original animated short film under the same title. Inspired by White Widow's music, the film is a fantastical and delusional portrayal of an unraveling love affair, set to the full album. White Widow will be performing the soundtrack live at Public Assembly on July 17th (Advance tickets are $10)





A couple of years ago, the Wall Street Journal described Patullo’s music as "angst-drenched indie rock that ranges from bombastic to intimate, occasionally within the same song". This is much better description of White Widow’s music than I came up with as I was going to make a comparison to a ‘gothic Tori Amos’ crossed with Stevie Nicks. Like Amos, Patullo’s music is emotive – the difference is that Patullo’s songs don’t just rely on raw vocals (like a number of Amos’ songs) to hit the listener’s emotions but are rather multi-layered, lush “full band” pieces.

There is enough variation between the songs to keep the music fresh and listener engaged - songs range from the rawly emotive “Serial Love Affair” to the soaring Salvationist “Something About Paradise” to the 80’s rock number “Trophy Girl”. There are also two instrumental interludes on the disc which help build the overall mood of the disc and this is complemented by the addition of cello, strings, piano and keys to the standard rock instrumentation.

This is a moody, relentless and powerful disc that holds up well to repeated listens.

Links:
White Widow

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Grand Magus - "Iron Will" CD Review (Metal Blade)

Metal Blade is re-issuing Swedish “traditional metal” band Grand Magus’ 2008 CD Iron Will (originally out on Rise Above) on June 5th. This is my first exposure to Grand Magus so I can’t compare the music on this record to any of the band’s other discs. I’ve read though that Grand Magus started out as “doom” but this disc predominately sounds like Ian Gillan fronting early Iron Maiden.

Grand Magus is a power-trio that was formed by vocalist Janne "JB" Christoffersson and bassist Fox Skinner. After his tenure in Spiritual Beggars, Christoffersson’s vocals are immediately recognizable but his stellar guitar playing comes as a pleasant surprise. I guess it is hard to get noticed as a guitar player when you are playing alongside Michael Arnott. Iron Will was the band’s fourth disc and the lineup this time out includes newcomer Sebastian "Seb" Sippola on drums. For most of the last decade, Christoffersson split his time between Spiritual Beggars and Grand Magus but decided to focus on Grand Magus exclusively after the release of 2010’s Hammer of the North.

While Spiritual Beggars is more groove-based stoner rock, Grand Magus emphasizes driving guitar riffs and melodic leads overtop of a galloping rhythm section. There isn’t a lot of ‘excess’ (guitar heroics, vocal histrionics) on this disc as the songwriting emphasizes the powerful guitar riffs and Christoffersson’s bluesy vocals. The lyrics mostly seem to be focused on pagan/sword-in-stone imagery (the problem with digital promos is one can never be completely certain of the lyrics) which drive to fist pumping, sing-along choruses.



The songs on the first half of the disc are all epic ‘tradition metal’ tracks – in the middle of these songs is a short (under a minute) rumbling bass track (“Hovding”) which serves as an intro. to the grinding riffs and anthemic choruses of “Iron Will”. Starting with “Silver into Steel”, the tone of the disc becomes a bit darker. This track starts with strings playing overtop of a brooding undertone and the track hits full-steam when its grinding Sabbath-ish riffs kick in. The guitars seem to have been “turned up to 11” for “The Shadow Knows”, which brings in more of a thrash/punk sound that is comparable to the sound of Iron Maiden’s first disc. “Self Deceiver” is full-out epic doom number that features down-tuned riffs, a heavy bass line and pounding drums. The band then takes a step back from the darkness with the Alice in Chains sounding “Good and Evil” and the disc ends with the morose “I Am the North”. (Note: this last track runs 5 minutes, not the nine minutes listed. There is a ‘hidden’ minute-long guitar riff at the end of the song.)

Grand Magus' new album, The Hunt, is due out on June 5th on Nuclear Blast.

Links:
Grand Magus

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Hallelujah The Hills - "No One Knows What Happens Next" CD Review

More and more bands seem to be turning to Kickstarter to fund the recording of a new disc – Hallelujah the Hills launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2010 to fund the band’s third disc, No One Knows What Happens Next, which came out last month.

My memory may be faulty on this but I vaguely remember seeing Hallelujah the Hills perform live a number of years ago and came away thinking that their music fell into a similar style to the Annuals and Arcade Fire. Regardless of impressions and assumptions, the music on this new ten-track (40 min) disc is predominately lo-fi Pavement-style “slacker rock”. Most of the songs are mid-tempo indie-rock numbers that are powered by Ryan Walsh’s world-weary vocals backed by minimalist and subtle instrumentation. The more ‘exuberant’ tracks on the disc leave the strongest impression as these are “bright” numbers that punch up the tempo of the songs with horns, strings and big shout-along choruses. On either side of this musical spectrum, the band is fairly eclectic – Walsh’s vocals seems to find new energy while waiting for the end on “Hello, My Destroyer” and the most upbeat number on the disc, “Nightingale Lighting”, collapses into a cacophony of feedback, operatic vocals and other sound effects.

In addition to the six members of HtH, local musicians Noell Dorsey, Katie Von Schleicher and Leah Hennessy add backing vocals to two of the disc’s stronger track, “Get Me in a Room” and “The Game Changed Me”. Marissa Nadler and Faces on Film also guest on the disc but they appear on some of the more melancholy numbers so their contributions aren’t as distinctive.



No One Knows What Happens Next is pretty evenly balanced between the late night introspective tracks and those that stand up well in the daylight so it will be interesting to see if HtH settles on one style and where they go from here.

Links:
Hallelujah the Hills

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Sleep - "Dopesmoker" CD Review (Southern Lord)

You have to “love” the major labels – in the frenzy to sign the next Nirvana, many bands were signed to labels that had no idea what the band was about or how to market the band to a mass-market audience. The sad thing is that many solid ‘underground’ bands wouldn’t have appealed to a mass-market (think Pearl Jam) audience in the first place. Recently reflecting on the band’s flirtation with Atlantic Records, J. Robbins from Jawbox said “As far as my experience goes and understanding the major label music business, it's a machine for creating massive pop culture phenomena. So, if you want to be Prince or Madonna, if you want to be the biggest f*cking thing in creation and be a household word...if you want to be Lady Gaga, that is absolutely the world to step into."

The Meat Puppets had become more-or-less socially acceptable by the time they signed to London Records but I can’t imagine who signed the Butthole Surfers to Capital or Sleep to London Records. The Butthole Surfers got onto “modern rock” radio with “Pepper” but there was no way that Sleep was ever going to get onto the radio or MTV with an hour-long epic to “drop[ping] out of life with a bong in hand” (“Dopesmoker”).



The new Southern Lord release of Dopesmoker contains the epic-length title track and a live version of “Holy Mountain” that was recorded in 1994 at the I-Beam in San Francisco. Dopesmoker has been out of print for years so it is almost irrelevant to compare this new version to the previous 2003 pressing (Tee Pee Records) but…this new version was mastered from the original studio tapes by From Ashes Rise guitarist Brad Boatright and has more sonic depth than the previous issue (or any of quasi-legit/bootleg issues).

Sleep had toured for Holy Mountain (1993) with Cathedral and Hawkwind and Dopesmoker stretches the sound of Holy Mountain to incorporate best of these two bands. The title track, “Dopesmoker”, is old-school sludgy doom metal in the spirit of Black Sabbath (and Cathedral) with epic, lumbering guitar riffs that brings out the listeners’ visceral emotions as Sleep takes the listener further and further into their stoner-rock aural landscape. To steal a phrase from a past Southern Lord festival, Dopesmoker emphasizes the power of the riff – the guitar riffs are almost organic as they grind and crash, one after another – with no sign of stopping, while Al Cisneros’ vocals are delivered in an almost cathartic chant. The 11 minute live take of “Holy Mountain” has more of a ‘traditional’ song structure than “Dopesmoker” but this extended live version shows how the band was rapidly moving further into the sludgy Sabbath ‘void’. This live recording sounds like it was taped from the audience but it is a great representation of Sleep in all their primitive glory.

Sleep 2012 U.S. Tour Dates:
6/02/2012 The Ritz – Tampa, FL
6/03/2012 Neumos – Seattle, WA
6/04/2012 Neumos – Seattle, WA
6/05/2012 Fox Theater – Oakland, CA

Links:
Sleep

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Anvil - Live Photos from Maryland Death Fest, Baltimore, MD 5-26-12

In one sense, Anvil reminds me of doom-metal pioneers Trouble. Both bands have been around since the 70's, a significant number of well-know musicians cite them as influences but the 'average' music fan hasn't heard of either group. Below, Lars Ulrich does a nice job of describing Anvil's arrival on the metal scene in the early 80's.



After coming close to fading into obscurity, Anvil rocketed back into the public eye with the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008). The band has been playing a number of high-profile festival shows over the last few years which, most recently, include a set at Maryland Death Fest 2012.











Anvil signed to The End Records in late 2010 and the label released Juggernaut of Justice (their 14th studio album) about a year ago. As a lot of Anvil's records have gone out of print over the years, The End Records has recently re-released four of Anvil's long out-of-print discs: Plugged In Permanent, Speed of Sound, Absolutely No Alternative and Plenty of Power (all originally released late 90's/early '00 on the German label, Massacre Records).



Links:
Anvil

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Paul McCartney - "RAM" Special Edition CD Review

STREAM: Paul McCartney - "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (from RAM)

When reviewing deluxe reissues, I generally don’t attempt to review the original album as, most often, there is little to add to the hundreds of reviews that have already been written. That being said, I don’t think I had heard Paul McCartney’s second solo LP RAM (originally released in 1971) before and was taken aback by how well this disc stacks up against today’s indie-pop music. It seems such a contradiction in terms to mention Sir Paul and “indie-pop” in the same sentence but…there are definitely elements on this disc (layered production, orchestral elements) that are heard on modern releases from bands like Arcade Fire and Of Montreal.



To provide some background on the original recording of RAM, Paul composed the songs (with input from Linda) while on an extended holiday on McCartney’s farm on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. A number of the videos on the bonus DVD were filmed on the McCartney’s farm during this period. RAM was recorded in New York and Los Angeles and the McCartneys’ backing band was recruited via open auditions. The RAM sessions were prolific and a number of the songs not included on the original 12-track disc ended up as b-sides and on later Wings’ releases.

According to the online “Paul McCartney Sessionography”, twenty-three tracks were recorded:

The "RAM" Sessions (Late January - Late February 1970)

Released as a Single in Advance of RAM but Not Included on the Original LP
Another Day (RAM bonus track)
Oh Woman, Oh Why (RAM bonus track)

Original Issue of RAM
Too Many People
3 Legs
Ram On
Dear Boy
Uncle Albert-Admiral Halsey
Smile Away
Heart of the Country
Monkberry Moon Delight
Eat at Home
Long Haired Lady
RAM On (Reprise)
The Back Seat Of My Car

RAM Bonus Tracks
A Love for You
Sunshine, Sometime (also on Rupert the Bear soundtrack)
Hey Diddle
Rode All Night

Unreleased Tracks from the RAM Sessions
Dear Friend
Little Lamb Dragonfly
Get On The Right Thing
Now Hear This Song Of Mine
When The Wind Is Blowing

Musicians:
Paul McCartney - Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards
Linda McCartney - Vocals, keyboards
Dave Spinoza - Guitars
Hugh McCracken - Guitars
Denny Seiwell - Drums, percussion

The remaining two bonus tracks – “Great Cock and Seagull Race” and “Little Woman Love” – were respectively recorded at the Wild Life sessions in 1971 and “The First Singles Session” in Spring 1972.



My review copy came with bonus DVD from the Deluxe Edition (and this set includes 2 extra CDs - the remastered Mono edition of RAM and the Thrillington CD along with a 112 page book). The playing time on the DVD runs about 25 minutes. While I would have like more material, the likely reality is that the footage used is all that exists from this time period as Macca didn’t tour until 1972 with Wings.

The features on the bonus DVD are:

1 – Ramming – The Story of the Album: This is a current-day audio interview with Macca (backed by studio shots of the recording session which are presumably were shot by Linda) where he reflects on working with Linda in the studio, hiring the band and he also talks about the impetus behind some of the songs. (Note: Macca states that “Dear Boy” was directed at Linda’s x-husband – not, contrary to popular belief, John Lennon)

2 – “Heart of the Country” & “3 Legs”: Both of these are promo videos which combine video footage of the McCartney family at home (and at play) in Scotland with the studio versions of these songs.

3 – “Hey Diddle”: This is an “impromptu” acoustic live performance of Paul and Linda sitting outside of their farmhouse singing this song, backed by Paul’s acoustic guitar.

4 – “Eat at Home” On Tour: This is an early promo video that combines live footage (from Wings 1972 tour) interspersed with tour bus and ‘day in the life’ footage of the band



Links:
Paul McCartney

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Francis Bowie - "Francis Bowie" CD EP Review

I’m innately suspicious of white singers with dreadlocks (though Perry Farrell was weird enough to pull it off) as most seem to be either pop tossers or trustafarians. Given these 'biases', Dutch painter/sculptor Francis Bowie’s new self-titled EP came as a pleasant surprise. The four tracks on this new EP (14 minutes) sounds like some of the more intelligent (pre-MTV) new wave/synth-pop that came out of the UK in the early 80’s.

Bowie proclaims himself the founder of the Intelligent Pop Music genre of music and stated that “IPM is an attempt to put some quality, dignity and honor back into popular music.” While that is a fairly lofty goal - this isn’t the autotune nonsense that seems to be all over the radio. Bowie (predominately) sings with a rich baritone that is reminiscent of Peter Murphy and his music ranges between Deep-era Peter Murphy and Bronski Beat. The music is very accessible and catchy but there is a dark edge to all of the songs.



Most of the song lyrics are about love – and Bowie explores both the good and the bad. “Endlessly” has a mellow beat that is powered by low-key “new wave” synthesizers which leaves Bowie’s vocals to ably drive the song. “Wasted Time” follows in the same vein but adds strings and horns to the instrumentation. Bowie picks up the pace for the techno-dance number "Sunny Day" and this number shows the versatility of Bowie's vocals as he sings in almost a falsetto. Shifting styles yet again, the last number, "Silly and Crazy", is a gutter-glam industrial number.

While this new EP doesn't break any new ground, Bowie does an excellent job of mining a variety of sounds from the original post-punk era and his chameleon-like ability to jump between different aspects of the genre with ease may put him on par with the other Bowie given time.

Links:
Francis Bowie

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