Guided
By Voices
“Let’s
Go Eat the Factory”
4
out of 5 stars
Sometimes
you can go home again. Eight years after Robert Pollard dissolved one of the
most influential lo-fi indie-rock bands of all time, Guided By Voices have made
their triumphant return with “Let’s Go Eat the Factory,” a new collection that
in a fittingly GBV way stuffs 21 tracks into a tight 40-minute running time.
The giant surprise for fans, though, is that this reincarnation of Guided By
Voices is actually the “classic” lineup from 1993-1996 that saw Pollard sharing
duties with the likes of a real band instead of just being a figurehead in
name, a la Robert Smith from The Cure or Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails.
That makes this reunion extra special for GBV nerds and enthusiasts everywhere,
like myself, because this means that Tobin Sprout is back lending his (from
time to time) lead vocals and songwriting, as is the guitar playing and
production of Mitch Mitchell, along with Greg Demos back on bass and Kevin
Fennell on drums. Guided By Voices as a band again? Surely Robert Pollard
couldn’t screw this up as he did with so many later era albums, could he?
Thankfully,
the answer is no. “Let’s Go Eat the Factory” is every bit the welcome return
that one would hope it could be. Fans of the early to mid ‘90s masterpieces,
such as “Bee Thousand,” “Propeller” and “Alien Lanes,” will have much to revel
in here, as Pollard sounds reenergized for the first time since maybe 2001’s
“Isolation Drills.” You can’t hear a song such as “Doughnut for a Snowman” or
“The Unsinkable Fats Domino” and not get caught up in how passionate and fired
up Pollard sounds in his delivery. And what a welcome return for Tobin Sprout.
Hearing his voice ring true on barnburners such as “Spiderfighter,” “God Loves
Us” and “Who Invented the Sun” makes this album worth owning for fans alone.
They’re not all diamonds, as most Guided By Voices albums usually are, but
there is definitely enough great stuff here to call this a triumphant return to
the fold, and here’s hoping these five gentlemen that have rekindled an old
flame keep it going for years to come, because this is one very welcome return.
—K.E.
Kathleen
Edwards
“Voyager”
3.5
out of 5 stars
Canadian
songstress Kathleen Edwards has been at the singer-songwriter game
professionally for almost a decade now, carving out a niche for herself
somewhere between the likes of a Sheryl Crow or Suzanne Vega, with a little bit
of Patty Griffin thrown in for good measure. “Voyager” is her fourth album, and
the buzz leading up to it, sadly, has more to do with who her current boyfriend
and producer is (Justin Vernon a.k.a. hot indie “trending” thing of the moment
Bon Iver) rather than the fact that it’s her first album in over four years.
Don’t
let the big “produced by Justin Vernon” sticker slapped on the front of the
cellophane packaging fool you – this is still first and foremost a Kathleen
Edwards album, and fans of his hoping for some quiet, droning on and on release
with hipster auto-tune effects thrown in for good measure should definitely
look elsewhere for a fix because Edwards, even with Vernon’s input, still has
more in common with the female singer-songwriters listed above than anything
else. First track “Empty Threat” is laced with Edwards’ usual melancholy charm
with her lamenting about “moving to America” and how it will eventually lead to
becoming exactly what the song title infers. The next two tracks,
“Chameleon/Comedian” and “A Soft Place to Land” are also two of the strongest
tracks here, peppered with beautiful melodies and Edwards’ heartbreaking charm.
But, as is the case with all of Edwards’ albums, consistency has never been her
strong suit and “Voyager” does have its minor flaws. Frontloaded to a fault,
the second half of the album’s songs all tend to bleed into one another and the
pacing of the tracks are on the tedious side, but repeated listens do make
these tunes somewhat memorable after a while. “Voyager” is a good album, to be
sure, but Edwards is just another good singer-songwriter that has yet to craft
that one truly great record to catapult her to the upper echelon of superior
talents – but don’t be surprised if she gets there sooner rather than later. –
K.E.
Big
Deal
“Lights
Out”
4.5
out of 5 stars
Sometimes
great things come in small packages – surely an apt description for Big Deal,
an indelibly ironic band name for this young, new London duo comprised only of
singer-songwriters Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe and their acoustic and electric
guitars. And that’s it. Really. No bass, no drums, no keyboards, no fancy
production tricks. Just these two lovebirds singing with a little bit of reverb
and warble now and then. Simple? Yes. Boring? Hardly.
Initial
reviews already have these next big things pegged as similar to bands such as
XX or Beach House, but I hear tinges of bands like Low and Mazzy Star in the
mix, as well. “Lights Out” is filled to the brim with songs of teenage love,
lust and heartbreak and makes me pine for the days when I wasn’t cynical and
jaded about … well, everything. Costelloe’s voice is honey to the ears, and
Underwood’s backing vocal and guitar accompaniment is pitch-perfect. Songs such
as “Chair” and the phenomenal album closer “Pi” make you glad that new bands such
as this can still come along and make you excited once in a while. If you’re
looking for big beats and dance anthems, Big Deal isn’t the band for you. But
if you’re looking for that new Sunday morning album to enjoy your coffee,
breakfast and the morning paper to, “Lights Out” will be right up your alley.
Big Deal is definitely one of the new bands of 2012 to keep your eyes peeled
for, because “Lights Out” is one of the more impressive debuts to come along in
ages. – K.E.
The
Little Willies
“For
the Good Times”
3.5
out of 5 stars
Six
years after they made their self-titled debut, Norah Jones and her band of
Little Willies is back with their follow-up, “For the Good Times.” If you don’t
recall, Norah Jones, singer-songwriter Richard Julian, her bass player Lee
Alexander and a few other pals came together a half-dozen years ago to craft a
loose, fun-filled country covers album with a few originals sprinkled in
between. “For the Good Times” is even more heavy on the country covers with
only one instrumental original, but “For the Good Times” is actually all the
better for it because the covers selected here suit this merry band of misfits
quite well.
The
proceedings kick off with a rousing rendition of Ralph Stanley’s old time
classic “I Remember You” and then work their way into more expected fare such
as Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” and Willie Nelson’s own “Permanently
Lonely.” Jones has a hoot and a holler with Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City” and
Lefty Frizzell’s “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time” and puts a real
hurtin’ on Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” as well. But my personal favorites on “For
the Good Times” are the lost classics, such as “Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves”
by Doye O’Dell that Julian tackles here to perfection with his Lyle Lovett-style
croon, and “Foul Owl on the Prowl” by Boomer and Travis that was originally
made famous from the ‘60s movie “In the Heat of the Night.” Here, Jones and
Julian restore the song in all its former glory. If you’re a Norah Jones fan or
just a lover of old country songs, The Little Willies’ new album “For the Good
Times” was certainly made with just that in mind and is sure to put a big ol’
smile on your face I guar-an-tee. – K.E.
00000
The Green
“Ways and Means”
I recently got to take a
weeklong trip to the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and it was the most beautiful
place I’ve ever seen. While there, I went to one of the local trucks serving
freshly caught shrimp and heard some really killer reggae music playing, and
one of the cooks was dancing, singing and REALLY getting into it. So I decided
to ask the cook who the musicians were, since I like reggae and had never heard
this group before, and he told me it was a local band called The Green. Talking
to some of the locals I found out these guys are REALLY big in the area and
sell out their shows fast, which isn’t hard to understand after you listen to
their music.
If you check out a lot
of the gift shops on the north shore you’ll notice that Bob Marley is really
popular in Hawaii, and you can clearly hear his influence on The Green. Their
self-titled debut album and their recent follow-up, “Ways and Means,” employ
the classic reggae sound and add hints of Rock, R&B and soul.
The Green, to me, sound
like a hybrid of Bob Marley and Sublime With Rome (minus the punk rock and
hip-hop elements), so you have a good hybrid of classic and modern reggae. On
“Keep On,” “Gotta Be” and “Jah Love,” the classic sound takes front and center,
where “Decision,” “Love and Affection” and “Good Vibrations” have more of a
modern edge. In some ways you might say that reflects the struggle of Hawaii at
this point in time (or at least Oahu as I saw it) – the classic beauty of the
islands and their culture being slowly overtaken by the modern world, which is
actually touched upon with the beautiful closing track in “Ways and Means,”
“That’s The Way,” in which the singer says, “Honolulu it makes me sick, I never
thought that I would say it, but when I drive past it, it breaks my heart, but
I know I’m not the only one. I’m with the moon, the stars and the sun, and Mother
Nature she sets me free”
I was just a tourist,
and having seen both the classic beauty of Hau’ula and the modern luxury of
Waikiki, I can see why the singer and the locals feel that way. Big cities are
everywhere, but places of that level of natural beauty are not.
Despite the melancholy
nature of the last song, this album grooves and positively explodes with great
rhythms and good vibes that will put your body in motion, and one listen to
this record will no doubt have you hooked. For me, it is a great reminder of a
fantastic trip to an incredible place, and The Green is a band with all the
chops to be counted among the genre’s finest artists. If you like reggae, or
just good music in general, you have got to check out The Green and help spread
the word, since a lot of great artists don’t get heard these days and great
music needs to be heard. —R.J.
00000
Amy
Winehouse
“Lioness:
Hidden Treasures”
I’m sure the death of Amy Winehouse doesn’t
come as any sort of shock to anyone familiar with her recent history, but that
doesn’t make it any less tragic. The troubled singer/songwriter’s battle with
addiction has sadly become what defined her in the eyes of the media and,
therefore, the general public at large. I say “sadly” not just because it is
sad to see this happen to anyone – and I’ve seen this happen to people I cared
about – but in the case of Amy Winehouse it’s sad because she had such a gift
and you don’t see someone in this genre who has this much talent come along very
often these days. I, for one, was one of those people keeping my fingers
crossed that she‘d rise above it and we‘d have many years of great music ahead
from her. But if you’ve been around someone who has become that far gone into
dependency, you know their chances of survival are minimal at best.
I was really excited to hear the news that
she was working on a follow-up to her critically acclaimed prior album “Back To
Black.” That was a great record that redefined jazz, doo-wop and soul music for
the new millennium, and that was a no-bullshit, take-it-or-leave-it work of art
that this very gifted artist from London bared her soul on.
Most albums nowadays stray from having that
level of artistic integrity because that isn’t what will get you a lot of
endorsements, but I will tell you this: I respect Amy for putting herself out
there for people to see, warts and all, and between her little-known first
album, “Frank,” and her critically acclaimed hit “Back to Black,” she had a
fantastic start and all the skill to make a musical impact that would have been
felt for years to come if only she could’ve turned her personal life around.
What I find funny is that when I talk to a
lot of people about Amy Winehouse, they don’t get into her because of her
lifestyle and the content of her lyrics. Amy Winehouse is considered too
explicit in a culture that hails Lady Gaga as a genius, and all she does is rip
off of Madonna and Bjork and dance around on stage in her lingerie. At least
those two artists were original in their own rights, but I digress. Lyrical
content aside – and I think she was a great lyricist – Amy Winehouse was a
great songwriter who made a modern progression on what had been done in this
genre prior to her, and she did things on her own terms.
“Lioness” is a collection of new songs,
collaborations (a couple of which feature the great Tony Bennett and rap icon
Nas) and B-sides and is, overall, a pretty chill record that, unlike a lot of
collections of this sort, is pretty consistent. I don’t think there is a weak
song on here. It’s not as energetic as “Back to Black” or “Frank,” but if
you’re a fan you’ll love it – particularly if you like songs like “Love Is a Losing
Game” or “Wake Up Alone,” the latter of which is featured in its original form
on this record verses the version that wound up on Back to Black.
I sincerely hope that between record label,
family and friends they pull a Tupac on Winehouse’s fans and unearth several
records worth of songs that haven’t been released yet, because I want more. Do
yourself a HUGE favor and turn off the TV, turn off the main lights and leave a
few candles lit, then press “play” on this CD while you sit back and enjoy this
fantastic album from an artist who was taken way too soon. —R.J.
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