MUSIC: NOVEMBER

CDS WE LOVE...in which we cozy up to and share music that has struck our eardrums.
(The streams below will be available until December 1, when a new batch will appear.)

Captain Beefheart: MAGNETICISM: THE BEST OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BANDS LIVE 72–81

(Viper, 2009)

The problem with so many white men who sing the blues is that, to our ears, they try too hard to sound like black men singing the blues. (Shouldn’t that be as off-putting as blacks trying too hard to sound white?) Captain Beefheart, as wild a (white) blues man as you can name, tries hard to sing like himself. Note: The recording quality of this collection is, frankly, terrible, sounding more like itchy 78s than the 1970s. But it sounds great…because the music itself does. First place: Great music. Last place: Technology.

Hear This! “Grow Fins” by Captain Beefheart

For more information, please visit Viper Records.

—MAS

Laura Veirs: JULY FLAME

(Raven Marching Band Records, 2009)

Who is Laura Veirs? Don’t ask us. JULY FLAME may be her seventh CD, but it’s the very first one we’ve come across. We aren’t saying she’s copying anyone, but if you want guideposts, we hear a little Joanna Newsome and Vashti Bunyan in this lolling, sleepy-sweet album. A lost 1960s girlie-folk gem is what it sounds like. After we played JULY FLAME for the first time, Our Girl asked us to hit repeat. We didn’t object. We were thinking the same thing. A perfect Sunday afternoon record.

Hear This! “July Flame” and “I Can See Your Tracks” by Laura Veirs

For more information, please visit the artist's website.

—MAS

Long John Hunter: LOOKING FOR A PARTY

(Blues Express, Inc., 2008)

Strictly speaking, Mr. Long John Hunter is a legend. Born in 1931 outside of Shreveport, Louisiana. Reared in Magnolia, Arkansas. Learned to play a fiery electric guitar in East Texas. Signed, in 1954, to Don Robey’s Duke label of blues all-stars (Johnny Ace, Gatemouth Brown, Big Mama Thornton, Junior Parker, Bobby Blue Bland, et al). Cut a few hot 45s for Duke. Moved on. Played every day, seven days a week, for ten years at a Juarez, Mexico, joint called the Lobby Bar until it shut down in 1970. (We imagine many instances of Long John Hunter ducking beer bottles.) In short, the real thing. And here he is with a new spinner. Old age has affected his vocals; they are game but a little soft. Beyond that, Mr. Hunter’s blues still jump and that guitar of his still cuts it sharp. We salute you, Mr. Long John Hunter!

Hear This! “Apple of My Eye” by Long John Hunter

To purchase the album online, please visit the iTunes Store or Amazon.com.

—MAS

Various Artists: BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS TO HELL

(OZit Morpheus Records, 2006)

It is easy to think of trains as archaic, irrelevant relics, but to the people and artists who experienced them fresh, they were immense and sudden and alive. And they not only changed consciousness, they changed reality. Trains shoved the mechanical into the rural, abruptly connecting people to people, and doing away with the concept of ponderous, old-fashioned distance. It’s no wonder, really, that so many musicians sang of their impact: trains, the Internet—or crack cocaine—of the 20th century, seemed to touch just about everyone. From the Blue Sky Boys to Duke Ellington to Vernon Dalhart to Ma Rainey to the Rev. A.W. Nix, this wonderfully playful but smart compilation shares a dizzying variety of train-aware, train-obsessed, genre-crossing artists. Relive the excitement!

Hear This! “Daybreak Express" by Duke Ellington

For more information, please visit the label's website.

—MAS

Otis Taylor: PENTATONIC WARS AND LOVE SONGS

(Telarc, 2009)

We loved Otis Taylor’s last album, the aptly named RECAPTURING THE BANJO, which featured black musicians like Taylor and Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart boldly crafting performances around the still-relevant power of the “forbidden” banjo. On this follow-up CD, Taylor is in a mellow ’70s, or Ted Hawkins, kind of mood. There is a warm authority, we now recognize, to this man’s artistry. We also note that he’s interested in exploring any musical mood that hits his fancy and is clearly against pigeon-holing himself. It might not be too early to call Otis Taylor a major talent.

Hear This! “I’m Not Mysterious” by Otis Taylor

For more information, please visit the artist's website.

—MAS

The Almighty Defenders:  THE ALMIGHTY DEFENDERS

(Vice Records, 2009)

For a world corrupted by the insidious influence of Muzak and downloadable ringtones, the Almighty Defenders offer salvation with their muddy, tent-revival rock & roll.  Eschewing the silver-tongued devil, they win us over with the raw fervor of their song.

When King Khan & BBQ and the Black Lips teamed together for an impromptu jam session, the Almighty Defenders were born with a sound drenched in booze, irony, and reverb.  Recorded at a studio apartment over eleven days’ time, the Almighty Defenders’ debut album is garage rock—and not in name only. 

The Almighty Defenders bring the retro charm of their parent projects to new levels of contradiction and curio with their self-styled brand of garage doo-wop gospel. Amen, amen.

Hear this!  “All My Loving” by The Almighty Defenders

For more information, please visit Vice Records.
—BS

Beautiful Supermachines: SHUT UP

(Chicken Ranch Records, 2009)

The first few tracks on Austin-based Beautiful Supermachines’ album SHUT UP open up as characteristic shoegazy math-noise from your favorite ’90s college band—you know, in the good old days when you were studying philosophy at UNC-Chapel Hill. The lyrics are nonsensical at best—mostly spit-on-their-lips indistinguishable. It’s hard to gauge whether this is the real deal—a bunch of dedicated post-graduates with a true nonstory to tell, or an ensemble of creative anachronists striving to dutifully replicate the early works of Polvo. However, being primarily the brainchild of lifer David Williams, it must be legit. Just when you think you can’t handle another dissonant track, “The Miserablists” lights up your prog-rock sensibilities, and a whisper-thin trail of bigger-sounding ballads unwind curiously before you, most spectacularly with the album’s denouement, “Local Honey.” A tricky tune that opens deceitfully with a synth riff, “Local Honey” serves as a masterful homage to the epic near-seven-minute-long song of prog legend. Followed by an easy contender for a Greatest Title achievement award, the comparably immense “Diamonds Grow Under Pressure, Flowers Under Shit, and You’re Bearing Down on Me” transports you back to your friend’s sofa in 1993, where you can sip a beer and safely wait for the album to end.

Hear this! “The Miserablists” by Beautiful Supermachines

For more information, please visit Chicken Ranch Records.

—NE