MUSIC: SEPTEMBER

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

James Luther Dickinson: DINOSAURS RUN IN CIRCLES

(Memphis International Records, 2009)

James Luther “Jim” Dickinson, who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and who died on August 15, at age sixty-eight, was a personality and talent of epic proportions. In addition to being an endearing solo artist, an in-demand piano stomper (for Bob Dylan and the Flamin’ Groovies, among many others), and the papa of two-thirds of the North Mississippi All Stars, he was a visionary producer. You needn’t look further, really, than Big Star’s magisterial THIRD/SISTER LOVERS album for proof of the latter—but countless examples abound (Alex Chilton’s FLIES LIKE SHERBERT, the Replacements’ PLEASED TO MEET ME, Toots Hibbert’s TOOTS IN MEMPHIS, Amy Lavere’s ANCHORS & ANVILS, etc.). When this magazine first got the idea to do a Southern Music Issue with CD, it was Jim Dickinson who we first called for advice. (Mr. Jim directed us to Rick Clark, a producer who ended up being the co-compiler of 7 or 8 OA CDs.) Mr. Jim’s last solo album, DINOSAURS RUN IN CIRCLES, came out just before died. It features saucy covers of pop & r&b standards, all done up in a spare sound (mostly piano, with some upright bass and light-touch drumming), and Mr. Jim’s upfront, slippery vocals. Mr. Jim’s voice: limited; his soul: unlimited. In a short article Mr. Jim wrote for us about producing the Toots album, he wrote: “Just as surely as bad music makes you weak, good music has the power to heal and restore the soul.” Amen, Brother Dickinson. RIP.

Hear this! “Save the Bones for Henry Jones (Cause He Don’t Eat No Meat)” by James Luther Dickinson

(For more info, please visit CD Baby)

Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family: NA TEEF KNOW DE ROAD OF TEEF

(Daptone Records, 2009)

Great albums come in one of two ways: There are those that jump right out at you and those that slowly reel you in. Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family’s previously unreleased 1973 NA TEEF KNOW DE ROAD OF TEEF has a dual approach, seducing listeners with its heavy-hitting but thoughtful Afro-funk.

Bandleader Nicholas Addo-Nettey perfected his chops while playing congos in Fela Kuti’s Africa 70. While part of Fela’s collective, Addo-Nettey recorded two solo albums which were overshadowed by his much celebrated boss. Daptone’s recent reissue of Addo-Nettey’s buried treasure reasserts his role in the distinctive and ever-challenging Afrobeat tradition.

Fusing elements of jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, and traditional West African music, Addo-Nettey creates an original yet cohesive sound. In “Ataa Onukpa,” Addo-Nettey lays down a rhythmic foundation and invites his band members, one by one, to build up what is to become a monumental groove. The song is highly textured with melodies and countermelodies, rhythms and polyrhythms, but is pulled off so effortlessly, that the song just makes you want to dance. The accessibility of the album belies its underlying sophistication, making it enjoyable immediately and many times afterward. —BS (ROCKY)

Hear this! “Ataa Onukpa” by Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family

(For more info, please visit Daptone records)

Exene Cervenka: SOMEWHERE GONE

(Bloodshot Records, 2009)

 
Punk legend Exene Cervenka takes a much quieter, folkier path than what fans might expect in her newest solo album. The delicate harmonies with backing vocalist Cindy Wasserman are a gentler revision of the pained, wailing harmonies immortalized by Cervenka and X frontman John Doe. Tracks like “Surface of the Sun” echo the apocalyptic darkness of a bygone X tune, but executed with new restraint. Cervenka has always shown a proclivity towards country music, and this album allows her to exercise that devotion, as in the ballad “Sound of Coming Down.” Cervenka also marvelously attempts bluegrass in “The Willow Tree,” which sounds like it might as well be sung in church. Her songwriting preserves the characteristic punk brevity; none of the songs are over four minutes, creating a bite-size folk ditty likely more palatable for the fan coming to her album through the X experience. Cervenka’s deft lyricism remains stark and unfaltering, recalling punk-rooted themes of fraught romance and existential isolation. If anything, SOMEWHERE GONE is her turn to strum the guitar, and to showcase her previously drowned-out turns of phrase, boasting such self-aware wit as in the line “My refrain is always the same.” —NE (SMITH)

Here this! “Walk Me Across the Night” by Exene Cervenka

(For more info, please visit Exene Cervenka's website)

Star & Micey: STAR AND MICEY

(Ardent Music)

Star & Micey, consisting of two brothers and a third “brother,” is new to the folk pop scene. Their music is bubbling with various pop tunes and intimate lyrics. One of the CD’s best songs, “I Am The One She Needs,” opens with soft vocals and catchy guitar and makes you want to be the girl with a carefree loving nature being sung about.

If Star & Micey is anything like the Format in that they are even better live than recorded, their show in North Little Rock on November 20 (Reno’s Argenta Café at 8:00 pm) should be monumental, epic, classic, and any other synonym for remarkable. If you like their sound and aren’t close to North Little Rock in November, try to catch them on tour at a venue near you. —NER (NATRAMM)

Hear this! “My Beginning” by Star & Micey

For more info, please visit Star & Micey's MySpace page)

Fool’s Gold: FOOL’S GOLD

(IAMSOUND Records, 2009)

 
This debut release from the LA-based dodecatet (or somewhere near that number) samples much of the pop-friendly flavors of world music to create an upbeat, danceable party atmosphere the likes of what Animal Collective’s latest effort strives to simulate with mere macbooks. The vocals, performed in Hebrew by Israeli-born Luke Top lovingly mimic the cadences of resurrected 1960s Ethiopian funk singers like Mahmoud Ahmed. In particular, the second track, “Nadine,” references the polyrhythmic instrumentation of Ethiopian funk and soul, with intricately whelming layers of percussion and horns. Top’s vocals delightfully execute the lilt and melisma usually unknown to American throats, reminding you that this is indeed world music—but a more pop-accessible edition—ideal for a backyard cookout or long drive on a sun-drenched afternoon. The album spares the listener from too many moments of self-indulgent jamming, however losing a little momentum during the repetitive choruses on “The World Is All There Is,” and “Poseidon,” only to be recovered with the Prince-like percussion on “Yam Lo Moshech” and the runaway-train rhythms of “Night Dancing.” Over all, FOOL’S GOLD is a lively, fluid world pop party in eight tracks. If only it had arrived earlier in the summer. —NE (SMITH)

Hear this! “Surprise Hotel” by Fool’s Gold

(For more info, please visit Fool's Gold's MySpace page)

Smith & Pyle: IT’S OKAY TO BE HAPPY

(Urban Prairie)

The band Smith and Pyle is made up of two actresses, Shawnee Smith (ARMAGEDDON and the SAW movies among other performances) and Missy Pyle (FIFTY FIRST DATES and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY among others), who have created their own record label, Urban Prairie.

In their most successful song, “Frump Flannel,” Smith and Pyle manage to tell a sad but redeeming story through a combination of speaking and singing, which is aided immensely by Bobby Ferguson on the fiddle.

With lyrics like “I wish you had cancer or mouth and genital herpes is the answer” and “I ain’t no princess, but I’ve been kissing frogs. They give good tongue,” Smith and Pyle create a folk-y desert country rock album with a humorous, slightly crude twist. These two ladies crank out an impressive amount of good songs (some of which: “I Ain’t,” “Too Damn Tired,” “Peter Pan”). —NER (NATRAMM)

Hear this! “Frumpy Flannel” by Smith & Pyle

For more info, please visit Smith & Pyle's website)

Joe Henry: BLOOD FROM STARS

(ANTI- Records, 2009)

In his new release, BLOOD FROM STARS, Joe Henry combines talented songwriting with sophisticated sound production to create an album that is both resonant and adventurous. The album opens and closes with a piece entitled “Light No Lamp When the Sun Comes Down,” indicating a structural logic involving the theme of self-exploration. In the songs “This Is My Favorite Cage” and “Suit on a Frame,” Henry takes an intimate look at himself through the stark sounds of these inanimate objects. In the “The Man I Keep Hid,” one of the album’s best, Henry stares into his heart of darkness and plays a sultry blues with the devils that reign there. Though the song has a traditional New Orleans sound, Henry adds in his own brand of mania with frenetic synthesizers and weird samples. In BLOOD FROM STARS Joe Henry gives us something very human but brilliant nevertheless. —BS (ROCKY)

Hear this! “The Man I Keep Hid” by Joe Henry

(For more info, please visit ANTI- records)

Follow these links to hear musical gems from our MP3 archives, including Ray Charles singing cowboy-style here and rare 1970s African pop here.