BRIGHT
GIANT
Kings
& Queens
of
Air
Jeez,
it took these guys long enough. Power rockers Bright
Giant have
finally presented us with an album, having handed us a stone
winner in 2009 with the Bright
Giant EP,
and it is a stone killer! Crunching guitar rock with added
feedback for effect. That's like getting all the fixin's with that
fried chicken, my friends, because these guys know what they're
doing when it comes to amplified burps and farts and let me tell
you that it has upped their game! It is called Kings
& Queens of Air.
I needed this. You
need
this! Read all about it. Then buy it. One
of the best albums I've heard this year, and I've heard plenty!
JIM
ALLCHIN
Overclocked
& Hot!
Outstanding
music is coming out of the woodwork this year and Jim
Allchin's
right in the mix. His guitar is hot but better than that, his band
is hot! Smokin', rockin' blues with an Allchin touch. Right up
there with some of the best players available (and some of the
ones not readily available anymore). You like this kind of music,
you shouldn't pass this guy up. He plays with all six fingers,
too! That was a joke, son! Click
here for something not even remotely jokeworthy.
NICK
HOLMES
Soulful
Crooner
Some
albums are good, some are great and others are timeless. Soulful
Crooner is
the last, one of those albums which will be sought after by music
freaks far into the future. Holmes is still playing and still
recording and chimed in on what it was like to be in New York in
the early 70s with the likes of Hugh
McCracken,
Michael
Mainieri,
Michael and
Randy Brecker and
so many others who would set the jazz and rock world on its ear
not long after. This is history from the lips of a guy who was
there and who, whether you know him or not, earned the right to
play with the best. That's
Nick
Holmes.
When
you hear him, you remember.
RITA
HOSKING
Burn
Rita
Hosking has been known for
keeping history alive with her music. She comes from a family of
gold miners and has studied the songs of the mines as well as
songs of the Old West and has put out a number of albums which
included her songs based upon what she learned. On Burn,
she steps into the present day and gives us dirt track autos
instead of the horse and buggy. Without
a doubt, her best overall album yet.
But don't disregard her previous albums. There is gold in them
thar songs...
CAHALEN
MORRISON
&
ELI WEST
Old-Timey
But Not Old
Morrison
& West are a trip through time, but not really. They play
old-timey music, true, but it is all original on their latest
album, The Holy Coming of the Storm,
and they take it in a new direction while being true to the genre.
This is what The
Blue Sky Boys might
have been doing if they recorded today. Smooth vocals, beautiful
melodies and harmonies and a sense of living, not just living for
today. Excellent
record, top to bottom.
JD
MALONE
&
THE EXPERTS
Avalon
I
didn't think I was ready to hear these guys but when the CD came
in and I put it in the player, I changed my mind. JD
Malone & The Experts play
that good feelin' style of music you used to hear from Tom
Petty (before
he got too serious) and Richard
Torrance (before
he faded into the background and a handful of other
let's-stand-up-and-dance bands of that ilk. Well, Malone is as
ilky as they come, cranking out rhythm and pop tunes and making
you feel glad they are there. It's a CD/DVD package for the price
of a CD and well worth the price. There is even another surprise,
should you decide to buy, but you'll have to read
this and
follow the links first. It'll be worth it.
SIMONE
STEVENS
Right
On Time
Simone
Stevens has spent a lot of
the past two years working with Fiery Blue,
a trio comprised of herself, songwriter Paul Marsteller
and multi-musicalist Gabe
Rhodes. During that time,
she was also writing and compiling songs of her own, ostensibly
for this release. Right On Time is
a pop music delight, Stevens' personal message to us that she is
not just another pretty voice, that she has something more to
offer. She offers it with pop guns blazing on this, a solo album
which she would say was more because of the people involved. She
had fun making this album. You can tell.....
KNITTING
BY TWILIGHT
Weathering
From
Providence, Rhode Island, these guys are. Prog-rock, they play.
Nothing so intense as to make you contemplate suicide, but nothing
so light as to float away at the slightest gust of wind, either.
Their music is very rhythm-laden on a variety of levels (numerous
listens will uncover layers of rhythm and sound over time) and
somewhat cinematic at its core. While their last album, Riding
the Way Back was
a bit more experimental, Weathering reins
the band in and gives a more cohesive and musical sound. Another
step forward for head-Knitter John
Orsi and
crew. Read
more.....
KEITH
MORRIS
&
The Crooked Numbers
Love
Wounds & Mars
Charlottesvillain
Keith Morris busts out of
the Velvet Rut with an album of outstanding tracks played by his
band, The Crooked Numbers,
and guests which make my head spin. I have often said that C-ville
should be recognized as one of the centers of great music in the
US. This album proves my point. At times raucous, at others
country smooth, this album hits the spot on numerous levels. Worth
checking out and worth buying--- Love
Wounds & Mars.
BYRON
ISAACS
Disappearing
Man
Ollabelle's
bass player and vocalist steps out front with his own album,
titled Disappearing Man.
Not ready for public consumption, I went behind his back and stole
it from the vaults. All I will say is that it's a beaut and even
better than expected. He's shopping for a label as I type, but if
that doesn't happen, he's ready to release it on his own. It can't
be too soon, as far as I'm concerned. Words cannot even come
close, but here's
the skinny...
TERRYE
NEWKIRK
Pure
and Simple
Before
Terrye Newkirk was a wife
and mother, she was a songwriter and performer. She, in fact,
wrote My Oklahoma,
recorded by then-husband Steve
Young on
his Seven Bridges Road album.
She
recorded her own version of that classic for this album, titled
Pure
and Simple,
along with a string of other great tracks.
When she said she was going to record an album, all her friends
could say was, “It's about time.”
BETH
WIMMER
Of
Ghosts & Men
It
is doubtful that Beth Wimmer had
ever envisioned living in Switzerland, recording in Italy and
selling her wares in her native United States, but that's what
happened. Her new album, Ghosts & Men,
is a collection of music and dreams set to her own beat which
varies a bit from song to song but is always true to the musician
she is. This
album will have some others thinking about checking out Italy as a
recording home,
as well. Very well done.
RESEARCH
TURTLES
Mankiller
Pt. 1 of 2
The
Boys From Lake Charles have done it again. Five songs woven
together so well that they might as well be one. This is the way
it is supposed to work--- the music getting better and more
involved with each release. Mankiller is
indeed a step up from their much-acclaimed self-titled album--- in
quality, in sound, in every way. Don't get me wrong. Research
Turtles is
still on my all-time list, right at the top, but Mankiller
is
just that much more. And guess what? After a long wait, it is now
available!
HIGH
STRUNG
Memories
of
THE
FIVE AMERICANS
Michael
Rabon, head Five American
himself, gives us a behind the scenes look at what really happened
before, during and after The Five Americans took
American radio by storm with hits such as I
See the Light,
Western Union
and
Zip Code.
His new book, High
Strung,
pits the highs against the lows and let's you decide--- rock star
success, pathway to hell, or both. While it was a long road mined
with pitfalls, Rabon pulls no punches as he paints the real
picture of what happened to so many in the rock 'n roll roller
coaster of the sixties. It's
a book with twists and turns and, lucky for Rabon and those who
loved his music, a happy ending.
GREEN
MONKEY
Still
Doin' That
Basement
Crawl
Green
Monkey's
Tom Dyer announces this month's streaming album as Empire
of Sleep,
a “reformed”, shall we say (?), Moving
Parts.
Trying to kill old bands is becoming impossible and, what the
hell, Moving Parts was
one of the good ones. Click
on the link to stop by for a listen to some excellent PNW rock and
remember to check with Green
Monkey every
month for something worth hearing and maybe even worth buying...
Recent Album Reviews
The Good Intentions/Someone
Else's Time
Jennie Gillespie/Kindred
Audrey Martell/life
lines
Brian Cullman/All
Fires the Fire
Glenn Patscha/Songs
From the Jefferson Highway
Lest We Forget
Music goes by so fast it is a blur for many of us. This is an attempt to give credit to past successes which are not past at all. Like some people say, music is timeless, so let us pay tribute where tribute is due.
Back in the early seventies, The Sopwith Camel busted into the Top Ten with Hello, Hello (or was that the sixties?). A couple of years later, they put out an album that shoved that song into the background. The Miraculous Hump Returns From the Moon was one of those albums which should have been considered groundbreaking, but lack of airplay and a cohesive tour made them a footnote in music history rather than a headline. It has become a cult classic, one you have to hear to understand. Read about it here...
LITTLE
GREEN
BLACKBIRD
Not
Whining Anymore
Kirsti
Gholson, who records as
Little Green Blackbird,
is quick to point out that while it took three years to record The
Summer I Stopped Whining,
it wasn't three years straight. She has a life, she explains, and
she fitted the recording schedule around that. Which is just fine
because it is finally out and it's outstanding. It's been eleven
years since her last album. At that rate, we can expect the next
about 2022. Better
get this one now.
2022 won't be here anytime soon.
GREEN
PAJAMAS
Pajama
Country!
They've
done it again, but was there any doubt? Seattle's Green Pajamas
slip another outstanding
album through the underground, this one via Green Monkey
Records and magic man Tom
Dyer. While it's not exactly
country, it is Pajamas
which makes it better than most in this day and age, by default.
Another
outstanding effort from one freakin' great band!
From
Austin, Texas
Ladies
& Gentlemen,
Erin
Ivey!
As
if Austin doesn't already have more than its fair share, right?
I'm surprised Texas hasn't slipped into the gulf from the weight
of all that musical talent within their borders. Well, here's
another, a sweet-voiced singer/songwriter who writes like the wind
and at times sounds like it too. Erin
Ivey may
be pretty well-known within the confines of Austin, but with the
release of Broken
Gold those
confines should be expanding quickly. She has a folk edge but does
not limit herself to that, dragging in influences to suit her
needs. Can't be too many singers of her quality out there as far
as we're concerned. Like it says, “From Austin, Texas!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Erin
Ivey!
HANNAH
GILLESPIE
Tales
From
Down
Under
With
voice scented of Marianne Faithfull, a deep sense of self and a
desire to be heard, little known Hannah Gillespie has
set out on a music quest which
is liable to take her places she has never even dreamed. All
the Dirt,
her second album, has all the makings of one of those seldom seen
these days breakouts. In simple terms, it means that it is good
enough to break through the white noise created by thousands of
simultaneous releases vying for attention. Whether it does or not
only time will tell, but if it were a stock on Wall Street, I'd be
buying as much as I could. You want an album which will stand the
test of time, this
might very well be the one.....
ZOE
MUTH &
The
Lost High Rollers
Life
At
The
Starlight Hotel
Well,
somebody out there's
listening. After the totally stunning debut album by these guys,
Signature Sounds
Recordings jumped
into the fray and signed them for an album. Starlight
Hotel is
an extension of the self-titled first effort and proves without a
doubt that Muth and crew are no one-hit wonders. She's a little
bit country, we're a little bit rock 'n' roll, the High Rollers
say, though they really don't. They're dipped in old and new
rock/folk/country and sound made for the stage. You get a chance
to see them live, take it. Until then, there
are the albums...
LOST IN SPACE
The
Space Opera Story
The heretofore untold story of one of the great lost bands of the '70s, from beginning to present. Space Opera's struggle to keep their music and their dreams alive spans four decades and includes numerous legendary figures such as Clive Davis, T-Bone Burnett, Kris Kristofferson, Major Bill Smith, Stephen Bruton, Edd Lively and others. It is a story of a band's struggle for artistic control in a music world fueled by profit. Read the story...
The CARGOE Story
The
full history of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Rubbery
Cargoe,
who left Tulsa to work with Dan
Penn (The
Box Tops, et. al.) and became famed Ardent
Records'
first chance at success. Originally posted on the Pop
Culture Press website,
it is as in-depth as most of you can take and involves such
luminaries as Tulsa disc jockeys Robert
W. Walker and
Jim Peters,
the aforementioned Dan
Penn,
Ardent Records' John
Fry and
Terry
Manning,
and labelmates Big
Star.
This is the full Ardent Records story from the viewpoint of a band
which, on the edge of fame, fell through the cracks. Read
the story...
WHEN SEGARINI TALKS...
Some
people are music freaks, some are musicians, some are
historians--- Bob
Segarini is
all of those three and more. Presently writing a music column on
Wordpress
titled
after one of his best known songs (Don't
Believe a Word I Say),
he sits day after day in front of a computer screen regaling the
world with memories and visions of the music world as it was and
is. As tribute to his perseverance, we are reposting this
excellent interview done
for Pop
Culture Press magazine
for its “Summer Of Love” issue.