CD Odyssey Disc 1392: Eurythmics

This next band was one of the few “pop” bands that it was OK to like if you were a metalhead in the eighties. We slagged Michael Jackson, and we slagged Madonna. Hell, we even slagged U2. But we didn’t slag the Eurythmics. They were just too cool.

Disc 1392 is…. Sweet Dreams Are Made of This…

Artist: Eurythmics

Year of Release: 1983

What’s up with the Cover? This is a very uninspiring album cover. That tiny picture of a masked Annie Lennox holding the heart in a gloved hand – that should be the album cover, not whatever is up with all the various sized bars of colour.

How I Came To Know It: This album was pretty huge when I was a teenager, so that was my original exposure. Sheila owned it for years on tape and probably bought it on CD in those early days before my CD buying habits swamped hers like a tsunami. Or maybe I bought it for her, sweet guy that I am.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Eurythmics albums. I had six, but I got rid of “Be Yourself Tonight” after I reviewed it back at Disc 719. That was March, 2015…feels so long ago…

But I digress. “Sweet Dreams” is the best of the lot. Number one! As this is my final Eurythmics review, here is a recap:

1. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This): 5 stars (reviewed right here)
2. Savage: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 222)
3. We Too Are One: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 543)
4. Revenge:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 118)
5. Touch: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 570)
6. Be Yourself Tonight: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 719)

Ratings: 5 stars

When I first heard this record back in the eighties, I remember thinking how it was unlike anything else I’d ever heard before. “Sweet Dreams” has elements of New Wave, soul, rock, jazz, and techno but it is something altogether its own. Listening to it almost forty years later it still sounds as fresh and innovative as the day the Eurythmics released it. They would go on to make many wonderful records (see albums 1-5 above) but for my money, their signature achievement is “Sweet Dreams”.

From the opening fuzzed out synths and drum beat of “Love is a Stranger”, this record warns you it is going to ride an edge of nervous excitement. Against this backdrop of throbbing artificiality, Annie Lennox’s voice floats in sweet and strong; a balm against the angular cut of the rest of the production and arrangement. The Eurythmics would have gotten famous on the strength of Lennox’s voice alone, but by combining it with so much modern effect they created something greater. Love is a stranger, but it is a stranger you hope will meet you on a train, wearing just an overcoat and hat.

Much of the album is an exploration of mood. “Jennifer” with her green eyes, and dress of deepest purple, is a romantic mystery that remains absent and unsolved. The album’s masterpiece title track, “Sweet Dreams” oozes sex; the kind that finds its wellspring in the mind, and then slips out into the world. Hearing the synth-driven urgency, you can practically see the milling throng on a busy city street, each with their own secret desires, finally given voice by Lennox. Both “Sweet Dreams” and “Jennifer” that not only express longing, but also show the many faces longing can have.

Even when they play it straight, like the funky “Wrap It Up”, the syncopation and arrangement adds an element of unearthliness that pushes the song to a new level. “Wrap It Up” also features Dave Stewart laying down some sweet guitar licks, as if to show he could do that on every song, if he weren’t too busy making things appealing in more interesting ways.

While the record has an upbeat vibe, the Eurythmics take to their chosen topics seriously. Lennox falls into the pocket of every song and emerges personifying the emotion or character being highlighted. On “Somebody Told Me” the song is menacing and accusatory, as a woman confronts her unfaithful lover. Lennox sounds equal parts hurt and angry, and the fuzzy riff and insistent bass drum underscore her cocktail of disappointment.

It's not easy to use all that production and layered sound and not come off sounding artificial. The Eurythmics do it by transcending that artificiality, finding the perfect tension between our hearts and our heads, then building beautiful music there.

Best tracks: They are all good, but I particularly like: Love is a Stranger, Wrap It Up, I Could Give You (A Mirror), Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Jennifer, Somebody Told Me

CD Odyssey Disc 1391: Sean Henry

Even in this modern age where you can listen to an entire record before if you decide you want to own it, things can still go wrong. Here’s one of those.

Disc 1391 is…. A Jump from the High Dive

Artist: Sean Henry

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? A very poorly drawn cat. This cat looks like a recent escapee from an A-Ha music video. He also looks pissed off. Like he’s been chased around one too many times by those pipe wielding motorcycle cops and is about to drop a deuce made of corrugated cardboard on their paper shag carpet.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review and decided to check it out. Sean Henry didn’t (to my knowledge) release this album on CD so I downloaded it from Bandcamp and then I turned it into a CD. I’m stubborn about my preferred format.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Sean Henry album, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3

“A Jump From the High Dive” is the kind of music that’s perfect for sun and summertime; a laid back fuzzed out groove rock. And yet, despite listening to it in exactly the right conditions, it didn’t always work for me.

In fact, on each listen I got slightly more disinterested. On my final listen the album ended and the next song on my MP3 player came on (Queen’s “One Vision”). It felt so good to hear that song I let it play halfway through before I reluctantly skipped back to the beginning of “A Jump from the High Dive” to listen to it again and hope for a better result.

That result did not come, although the album at least leaves a good first impression. The opening track, “Can U” has a delightful harmonica and guitar groove, and later even a bit of funk guitar. The flat delivery and down-and-out imagery reminded me of early Beck.

As for subject matter, I’m not sure what “Can U” was about. Some sort of general ennui but it didn’t matter much. I also liked “Surf Song” which, as the title suggests, evokes a surfer vibe.

I think that fuzzed out surfer music sound is what drew me to Henry in the first place and when he hits it just right, it’s pretty fun. There are a few songs that land well, with easy flowing melodies that let your mind wander along and chill out.

Unfortunately, too often it feels derivative of mid-nineties alt-rock, but without the fresh experience of never having heard that kind of music before (I heard plenty of that in the mid-nineties).

I realize I’m being a bit harsh here. There is nothing awful about this record, and none of the songs are terrible, but it just sort of jangled along without ever giving me a “wow” moment. It is the kind of inoffensive record a friend might put on while you have a beer with him on the deck. Something in the background that he’ll ask if you’re ok with and you’ll answer, “it’s fine”. But four or five songs in, you are wondering “Why isn’t this on shuffle? Is he really going to play the whole thing?”

On the CD Odyssey I require an even more immersive experience than that, and one of the reasons that I do is that I don’t want music on in the background because it is pleasant. I want music to inspire and intrigue me. “A Jump From the High Dive” was a perfectly serviceable record, but that’s just not enough for me to pick it off the shelve on any given day.

Instead, it felt like when you’re sitting on the beach and a volleyball comes rolling over to you. You’re happy to bump it back to the guys with a smile and friendly wave, but you don’t really want to join the game. This is my smile and friendly wave to Sean Henry. Take care buddy, and all the best.

Best tracks: Can U, Surf Song, Space Kicks, You Fall Away

CD Odyssey Disc 1390: Justin Townes Earle

I’m just back from the house of a friend who is parting with his CD collection. I scored a number of great albums that you’ll be reading about soon enough.

My last randomly determined review was a Steve Earle album, and this next one is by his son, Justin Townes Earle. Is it just a coincidence, or the universe winking at me? Does it matter?

Disc 1390 is…. Kids in the Street

Artist: Justin Townes Earle

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? It’s a Giant Head Cover! JT’s cap says that he works down on the docks, but his glasses say he works in a coffee shop.  Lest you think I’m mocking him, I have rocked the same hat/glasses combo, albeit with a nicer shirt.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan, so just bought this album when it came out.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Justin Townes Earle albums. One of them has to come in last and it is “Kids in the Street”. Since I’ve now reviewed all five, here’s a recap:

1. Single Mothers: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 893)
2. Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way Feel About Me Now: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 906)
3. Midnight at the Movies: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 802)
4. Absent Fathers:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1033)
5. Kids in the Street: 3 stars (reviewed right here)

Ratings: 3 stars

It took a while for me to figure out what I didn’t like about “Kids in the Street”, and along that path of discovery I found a few things I did. In fact, I started liking it more and more, like I was developing an audio version of Stockholm Syndrome. I better write the review while I still have mean and entertaining things to say.

Despite this growing sense of bonhomie, there was still an undercurrent of dislike that clung to the record. What was it? Was it Justin Townes Earle’s voice? Partly, yes. I can’t tell if he’s had too many voice lessons or not enough, but there is a kind of over-shaping of the vowels that sometimes goes on in the back of his mouth. At its worst it becomes a caterwaul, like that modulating yowl your cat will throw at you when he’s not in distress, but wants your attention nonetheless. The tunes and lyrics are solid, and I just wanted Earle to sing them straight, and the songs where he did tend to be my favourites.

Maybe it was all those bluesy flourishes putting me off. Again, partly. I’m not a big fan of barroom blues, but Earle is heavily influenced by it. Despite this, after a few listens it faded pleasantly into the background the same way a good bar band will when you’re enjoying a few beers with your friends at a half-empty pub.

Then it hit me as I was listening for about the fourth time. It was…the jazz. There isn’t a lot of it, but it wafts in from time to time, like the fish that does in the dinner guests in Monty Python’s Meaning of Life. When it appears, it is one too many influences on an album that’s already being pulled in a lot of musical directions.

However, this record has some solid moments. The opening track, “Champagne Corolla” is one of them. A whimsical fun track about seeing a pretty woman drive by in a Corolla. Not exactly the world’s sexiest car, but Earle is well aware of lack of glamour in his choice of car imagery. As he points out:

“I don't care what no man say
She can run all week on just one tank
Goes to show you
Maybe baby got a head on her shoulders
And she sure looks sweet driving by in that champagne Corolla”

On “Short Hair Woman” Earle also sings about his preference for exactly that, I think, because, once again, he sees it as practical. It’s a cute song despite violating my firmly held principle that how a woman chooses to style her hair is nobody’s business except her own.

At the other end of the emotional spectrum is the wistful title track. Accompanied by a stripped-down guitar picking pattern, Earle looks back on an imperfect life, not missing it so much as mourning how things change over time.

In the end, the combination of solid songs like “Kids in the Street” and a dose of Stockholm Syndrome were enough to rescue this record from the giveaway pile.

Best tracks: Champagne Corolla, Maybe a Moment, Kids in the Street, Same Old Staggolee

CD Odyssey Disc 1389: Steve Earle

I spent some of my free time going through Paste Magazine’s “Top 25 albums of 1980. It is fair to say I disagreed with a lot of the choices, but I did find five new albums that I hadn’t previously heard and really enjoyed. If you’re interested in finding some new music from forty years ago, these are worth your time:

• Prince, “Dirty Mind”
• Devo, “Freedom of Choice”
• Pylons, “Gyrate”
• The Cramps, “Songs the Lord Taught Us”

Disc 1389 is…. Ghosts of West Virginia

Artist: Steve Earle

Year of Release: 2020

What’s up with the Cover? Welcome back, Tony Fitzpatrick. I did not miss you. This cover appears to be an homage to all the people lost in mining accidents in West Virginia. Which is an important and affecting topic. I only wish I wasn’t so profoundly uninspired by Fitzpatrick’s painting style.   

How I Came To Know It: There was a time when I would just buy Steve Earle albums as they came out, but I’ve become more wary in recent years. When this one came out I gave it a listen on Youtube first and realized it was time to rejoin the ranks of the believers.

How It Stacks Up: I have 16 studio albums by Steve Earle (not counting his collaborations, nor his homages to Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt). Of those 16, I put “Ghosts of West Virginia” at #10. Since this once again concludes my full Steve Earle collection, here’s an updated recap:

1. I Feel Alright: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 14)
2. Exit 0: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 423)
3. Guitar Town: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 616)
4. El Corazon:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 395)
5. Jerusalem: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1153)
6. Copperhead Road: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 398)
7. Train A Comin’:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 127)
8. The Revolution Starts Now: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 359)
9. Sidetracks: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 851)
10. Ghosts of West Virginia: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
11. I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 718)
12. The Low Highway: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 633)
13. The Hard Way: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 179)
14. Washington Square Serenade: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 226)
15. The Mountain: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 332)
16. Transcendental Blues: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 438)
17. Terraplane: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 980)

Ratings: 4 stars

“Ghosts of West Virginia” is Steve Earle’s best album in a decade. It is the kind of record I’ve been waiting on (sometimes impatiently) through underwhelming efforts like “Terraplane” and “So You Wanna Be An Outlaw”. With “Ghosts…” Earle reminds us that even if an aging artist doesn’t knock you off your feet every time, they still have a few good swings left in them, and you should keep giving them a chance to let one land.

Turns out all it took was a return to subject matter that never fails to inspire Earle; blue collar heroes struggling to carve out a life of honour for themselves and their families. In the case of “Ghosts of West Virginia,” it is about coal miners for the most part. Seven of the ten songs are about coal mining, and together form the bulk of the album. They are also featured in the stage play “Coal Country” about the 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine that claimed the lives of 29 workers. If you think that having so many songs about a single topic (coal mining) would get tiresome, you’d be wrong. Instead you get a deep, multifaceted look at the lives and history of the people who work in some of the most dangerous conditions of any job in North America.

In delivering their stories, Earle draws on multiple influences he’s picked up over the years. The result is a mix of the manic rock-country vitriol Earle displayed on Jerusalem, sitting alongside the homespun mountain heartbreak of “The Mountain” (which Earle recorded alongside the Del McCoury bluegrass band. The two styles sit easily with one another, each complementing the other and adding to the record’s dynamics.

There’s no Del McCoury this time, but Earle is joined by the most recent incarnation of the Dukes, who are accomplished players equally adept at anger and tenderness, as the individual song demands. An extra shout-out to Eleanor Whitmore, who not only plays some energetic fiddle, but takes lead vocals on “If I Could See Your Face Again,” a song about a woman mourning the loss of her man that will be sure to put a coal-sized lump in your throat.

Sometimes Earle takes a wider lens, such as on “Union, God and Country” where he paints a picture of mining life through time, and sometimes he gets personal and visceral, as he does on “It’s About Blood” which ends with Earle naming the victims of the Upper Big Branch disaster.

My favourite song on the record is the last one. “The Mine” is a story anyone who has grown up in a resource town knows; the allure of the big money offered by a company job. In Earle’s version a young man is excited at the prospect of all the money he’s going to spend now that his brother has got him a position at the local mine:

“Well, my brother drives a brand new Ram truck with a hemi

And a satellite radio too

Well, I reckon, that’s the first thing I’m a gonna get me

And a baby blue Camaro for you.”

Hell, even I want that Camaro, but coming as the song does after songs about black lung, dead miners, lost jobs, and mourning widows you hear the narrator’s excitement with considerably more circumspection. The work is good, but it is also risky, and the song may sound relatively carefree on the surface, but Earle is clearly honouring the inherent bravery of the people who live a large part of their life down below it.

Best tracks: Union God and Country, Devil Put the Coal in the Ground, Time Is Never On Our Side, It’s About Blood, If I Could See Your Face Again, The Mine

CD Odyssey Disc 1388: The Hu

I’m enjoying a lovely Saturday afternoon futzing about with music. I’ve done a little music shopping (picked up the latest albums from the Chicks and Margo Price), caught up on uploading a bunch of CDs, worked on some personalized playlists of my own design and now this!

Disc 1388 is…. The Gereg

Artist: The Hu

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? As band logos go, I declare this one all kinds of cool.   

How I Came To Know It: I saw a video for “Wolf Totem” and I knew I had to hear more of these guys.

How It Stacks Up: I only have one Hu album, so it can’t really stack up. Pointy bits, scrolly edges and lots of metallic sheen. Someone make this into a necklace!

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

What do you get when you cross traditional Mongolian throat singing with western rock and roll? A kick-ass record, that’s what.

With “The Gereg,” the Hu have created a record loaded with restless energy. A confluence of folk and rock that Gram Parsons couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams. Welcome to the future of musical fusion.

In the wrong hands this musical crossover could feel gimmicky or strained, but neither is the case on “The Gereg”. The record is the perfect mix of traditional beats and rhythms, and rock riffs. The power and dread realized in the throat singing loads every song wit a portentous energy. It feels epic and powerful, the kind of stuff you play while storming an evil wizard’s castle or lining up in a shield wall. Everything just sounds…heroic.

The music has a galloping energy that made me wish I had a car so I could have the opportunity to turn it up and drive faster. Songs like “Wolf Totem” thumps along with an inexorable momentum that you don’t listen to so much as you are swept into. It’s a rolling earthquake of rock and roll.

The crossover of styles is perfect on “Shoog Shoog” which opens with some traditional instrumentation (I am not familiar enough with Mongolian folk instruments to know which, but it sounds like some kind of flute), that gives way to chanting and then an absolutely dope bass line (again, not sure what it is played on, but it sounds great). The full effect makes you feel like you’re taking a 50 km turn at 90, and relying on centrifugal force and the gods of rock to pull you through. They do.

The band is a four piece, each of whom plays a traditional Mongolian instrument. Three of them throat sing, with only tovshuur player Temka eschewing duties on that front. FYI a tovshuur is a Mongolian instrument similar to a lute. Temka is damned good at it; obviously good enough that he gets a pass on skipping out on the throat singing.

All of the vocals are in Mongolian, but it doesn’t take anything away from the experience. The Hu have a great tone and their combined throat singing gives a fresh twist on harmony which is compelling and intriguing. I recently heard “Song of Women” with guest vocalist Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. It is awesome to hear the song in translation and with her more soaring classic metal style, but it is great either way. The liner notes come with side-by-side original language and English translation, which helps you follow along if you are so inclined (although the font is hard to read, if I were to quibble).

“The Gereg” is a revelation, and not only because it sounds so fresh to my Western ears (although it does). This music is infectious and uplifting. It leans forward from start to finish, but never loses its balance. “The Gereg” is the Hu’s first album, and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Best tracks: The Gereg, Wolf Totem, The Legend of Mother Swan, Shoog Shoog, Yuve Yuve Yu

CD Odyssey Disc 1387: The Coup

It was a beautiful day for a walk home, which is exactly what I did. If my walk had a bit of a strut to it well, that’s just this next album working its magic.

Disc 1387 is…. Pick a Bigger Weapon

Artist: The Coup

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover? Boots Riley and Pam the Funkstress have apparently had a bad day at the office and have decided to hit back a little. Unfortunately for that computer monitor, Pam hits back with a bat.   

How I Came To Know It: I’ve been digging through their discography for the last eight or nine months. I was lucky enough to find four of their albums at my local record store and “Pick a Bigger Weapon” was one of those.

How It Stacks Up: I currently have four albums by The Coup. Of those, “Pick a Bigger Weapon” comes in at #2. The two I’m missing will likely displace it, but they aren’t here, and this record is.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Pick a Bigger Weapon” feels like someone crossed the intricate rhymes of Eminem with the old school funk of the Ohio Players. If you think that sounds like a good combination, you’d be right. This being the Coup’s penultimate release, it tends toward their movement away from the rap side of the combination toward the traditional R&B, but there is still more than enough of both to please, regardless of your preference.

The best songs feature both aspects of their music, mixing some of the funkiest grooves you’ll ever hear in with top-grade emcee work. Front-man Boots Riley has a killer flow to his rap, mixing impeccable timing, interconnected rhymes, politics and more than a little humour as well. As with ever Coup album, Boots has a lot of political points to make, but the humour is the sugar coating that helps it all go down easier.

While Boots and Pam the Funkstress (turntables) are the only full-time members of the band, there is host of talented musicians playing on the record. They throw in the usual (guitar, bass, drums) along with strings, horns, synthesizers, harmonica or whatever the hell else the song needs to sound funky. James Brown once said, “it’s got to be funky” and the Coup were clearly listening. All this live playing gives the record a wonderful organic feel.

The record is front-end loaded, with the majority of its greatness in the first half – Side One for you vinyl freaks. This means it tends to tail off on repeat listens, as I found myself antsy to skip back to the beginning before it was over. It doesn’t help that the record is 17 songs and 65 minutes long. The final three minutes of the album is aimless wandering guitar and hand claps, which also didn’t help.

However, I can forgive all of these sins given how awesome Side One is. It starts with “Bullets and Love”, a crazy mix of synthesizer, rock guitar, hand claps (of the non-aimless variety) and Boots’ microphone mastery spitting revolutionary zeal for a minute and a half. It ends so quickly that you could be left hanging, if it weren’t for the immediate launch of the album’s best track, “We Are the Ones” full of groove and social commentary (the Coup’s favourite combo), guaranteed to make you strut in a funk-inspired dance fest.

The Coup are social activists as much as they are musicians, with many a political message. They mix their partying with a call to arms, or as they summarize so succinctly on “Laugh/Love/Fuck”:

“I’m here to laugh, love, fuck and drink liquor

And help the damned revolution come quicker.”

I’ll leave the politics to them (this is a music blog), but however you feel about it, they deliver some furious rhymes on song after song, intricate rhymes chaining from line to line, all delivered over musicians who absolutely occupy the pocket.

The Coup bring humour to their message as well, with “Ass Breath Killers” detailing the invention of pills that counteract the disease of kissing too much ass. This song is also the best of Pam the Funkstress’ work on the turntables.

I’m not much for revolution, but you don’t have to want to foment revolution to enjoy great R&B and rap music, and “Pick a Bigger Weapon” features plenty of both. The Coup is one of my happiest discoveries of 2019, and this record is a worthy entry in their catalogue.

Best tracks: Bullets and Love (introduction), We Are the Ones, Laugh/Love/Fuck, My Favourite Mutiny, Head (Of State), Sho Yo Ass, Ass Breath Killers, Captain Sterling’s Little Problem

CD Odyssey Disc 1386: Steve Earle

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! This next album is one of the few I bought last year without hearing it first. When Guy Clark’s writing the songs, it’s an easy chance to take.

Disc 1386 is…. Guy

Artist: Steve Earle & the Dukes

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? Another cover by Tony Fitzpatrick. This one has a bird on it, which as we all know, makes all things better. In fact, this is one of the best covers Tony Fitzpatrick has done for Earle. This meant I disliked it a lot less than usual. Make no mistake, I still disliked it. I just disliked it less.  

How I Came To Know It: I had given up buying Steve Earle albums automatically a few years back, when I felt his quality began to slip. However, Earle won me back here by doing a cover album full of Guy Clark songs. I had loved “Townes,” Earle’s homage to Townes Van Zandt, and I was expecting great things here as a result.

How It Stacks Up: I don’t think an album full of cover songs should stack up against regular studio albums. It just seems wrong. If I were to just stack it up against “Townes” it comes in a distant second, though.

Ratings: 3 stars

Timing isn’t everything, but it does matter. Way back in 2009 when I reviewed “Townes” (Disc 28) I had never heard of Townes Van Zandt. I’d heard a couple of his songs along the way (“Pancho and Lefty” for example) but I had no idea it was his song. So Steve Earle’s introduction to his music was a revelation.

Fast forward ten years, and Earle does an album of Guy Clark songs, in honour of Guy’s death three years earlier. The difference is that this time I was well-acquainted with every one of them. This made me a lot more critical of Earle’s interpretations. Sometimes he nails it, and sometimes I just hear the Clark original in the background and wished that it was on instead.

That said, “Guy” is a solid record. Like “Townes” it is hard to go wrong when your material comes from one of country music’s all-time great songwriters and Steve Earle’s love for his old friend and mentor is evident throughout.

The best tunes are the ones that suit Earle’s temperament to begin with. Guy and Steve are like your two favourite, but very different uncles. Guy Clark is the uncle that grills up a mean hamburger at the family cookout, tells you vaguely dirty jokes when your mom is still in earshot, and buys you a Swiss Army knife when you’re still a couple years too young to play with one safely.

Steve Earle is the uncle that argues politics with his brother-in-law, tells you stories about riding shotgun in a Humvee through Fallujah and how he once saw one man stab another man in the parking lot of a Tijuana whorehouse. Like I said, they’re both great uncles, just different.

I should note at this point that Townes Van Zandt is a third cool uncle but doesn’t feature in this comparison; he got drunk at home and missed the barbecue entirely. But I digress…

The point is that Earle is best doing Clark songs that are in his wheelhouse. That tends to be the darker stuff, or the sad romantic tunes. “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train” and “The Last Gunfighter Ballad” are both solid tunes about broken down anti-heroes. Earle elevates them and makes them pulse with heartache.

“That Old Time Feeling” takes full advantage of Earle’s classic southern drawl, and sways in just the right time to make you want to circle around the block if only to play it a second time. “Out in the Parking Lot” has Earle delving back into the country-rock of his Copperhead Road days, which works masterfully. Blasting out a nasty reverb guitar and singing about the grimy activity that happens late at night in parking lots, Earle takes owns every moment of this song.

When the songs really need Clark’s homespun happiness, Earle doesn’t deliver at the same level. “Dublin Blues” is a Guy Clark classic, but Earle’s version feels a bit rushed, and it takes away from the core of what makes the song great; regret and reminiscence.

On “The Ballad of Laverne and Captain Flint” and “New Cut Road” Earle and the Dukes decide to play loose and easy to create the down-home, rustic quality. It isn’t that they’re out of time – the playing is impeccable – but it is hard to match that easy, relaxed quality Guy Clark brought to certain songs. Also, Earle slurs a little in the interests of being organic, and I wasn’t digging it.

Finally, at 16 tracks and 60 minutes, the album is too long. I imagine it is pretty hard to cut tracks when you’re playing covers of one of your idols and closest friends, but that’s the task. Kill your darlings, Steve, or in this case, kill Guy’s.

The album ends on a high note, with a delightful rendition of “Old Friends” with Earle sharing the mic with a host of guest vocalists, including Terry Allen, Jerry Jeff Walker, Rodney Crowell, Jo Harvey Allen and Emmylou Harris. You can feel the love they all bring to the recently departed Clark, who left a lasting impression on many lives with his music, including mine. If Earle’s love-letter isn’t quite at the level he achieves on “Townes,” it doesn’t mean there is any less love to be had here, and yeah, “Old Friends” tore me up a little.

I miss you too, Guy.

Best tracks: Desperados Waiting for a Train, That Old Time Feeling, The Last Gunfighter Ballad, Out in the Parking Lot, Old Friends

CD Odyssey Disc 1385: John Moreland

This next album made me think of an old friend who moved to the United States a few years ago. She lives in Tulsa now, and while I think of her from time to time, I only write rarely, and I’ve never visited. That’s on me. Hopefully I’ll see her again when the madness that is this pandemic ends.

Disc 1385 is…. High On Tulsa Heat

Artist: John Moreland

Year of Release: 2015

What’s up with the Cover? DID YOU WANT TO KNOW THE ALBUM TITLE? WELL, HERE IT IS. IT’S HIGH ON TULSA HEAT.

Seriously, John, there’s no need to shout.

How I Came To Know It: Just me digging through his back catalogue. This was the hardest one to find, and I eventually special ordered it through my local record store. I guess I could have done that all along but sometimes I like to hunt for a while first.

How It Stacks Up: I now have four John Moreland albums. I like them all, and given that they’re all fairly new to me, it’s hard to rank them. But since you’re not here to listen to me equivocate, I’ll say “High on Tulsa Heat” is…third. There.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

“High on Tulsa Heat” is John Moreland’s love letter to his home state of Oklahoma. Of course, this being John Moreland, most of the stories he chooses to tell are about unrequited love. That’s just how the man rolls.

There are three things you can count on with a John Moreland record: Moreland’s gravelly, mournful voice, emotionally infused guitar playing and top-grade songwriting.

First up is the voice. Moreland’s voice is a rumbling big block V8 engine, that runs on grief. He isn’t going to climb through three and a half octaves. Hell, he doesn’t even use falsetto. However, what he does he does well. He has the voice of someone who was up all night drinking bourbon and beer alone in his apartment. It doesn’t speak of healthy living, but it sure gives him the right amount of hurt and regret.

His guitar playing is sneaky good. There’s nothing spectacular going on, but it is laden with feeling throughout. He hits the notes and chords with hard, deliberate playing. The combination is stark and desolate. The hurt in the way he plucks each string is like an underground river, sequestered and surviving deep under the hard pack and away from the desert sun.

The heavy focus on Oklahoma lends a cohesiveness to Moreland’s imagery. It is so pervasive that the landscapes feel like a character unto themselves. Listening to songs like “Hang Me in the Tulsa County Stars” and the title track, you get the impression that Moreland’s home is an old familiar friend, sitting in the background and not saying a lot, but whose presence is reassuring all the same.

Of course, Moreland can’t resist sadness, and the record is replete with him making impassioned pleas to lovers who have already rode off into the sunset. Song titles like “You Don’t Care For Me Enough To Cry” are early and accurate confirmations you’re in for some heartache. Moreland could come off as maudlin, but instead he just sounds honest. On “You Don’t Care…” he even admits “I’m so damn good at sorrow” even while acknowledging that particular talent isn’t what he needs to win her heart back.

There are lots of great lines on the record, but for me the self-destructive opening of “Cherokee” is the best:

“I guess I got a taste for poison

I’ve given up on ever being well

And I keep mining the horizon

Digging for lies I’ve yet to tell.”

So there you go. He’s got plenty of sad characters, but most of them are self-aware and OK within that reality.

“High on Tulsa Heat” doesn’t possess the same outstanding level that a couple other Moreland records do, but it comes damned close and is well worth your time. It’ll also make you want to go visit Oklahoma, even if you don’t have a friend living there.

Best tracks: Heart’s Too Heavy, Cleveland County Blues, White Flag, Cherokee, American Flags in Black & White

CD Odyssey Disc 1384: Neko Case

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! This next album is one of my favourites, and given how many albums I have, that’s saying something.

Disc 1384 is…. The Virginian

Artist: Neko Case & Her Boyfriends

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover? Neko’s disembodied head floats like an ivory cameo on a black background (well, it is supposed to be black – there’s some glare in my photo).

This album cover was so artfully designed it won first place in photography at the Virginian County Fair. As you can see.

How I Came To Know It: I can’t exactly remember. I think I discovered her around 2009, around the time “Middle Cyclone” came out. “The Virginian” was just me digging back through her catalogue to see what I’d missed.

How It Stacks Up: If you count the 2004 live album “The Tigers Have Spoken” (and I do) I have nine Neko Case albums. Of those nine, I rank “The Virginian” at #1. In many ways it is tied for first place with “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” but the two albums are so different it is hard to compare them.

I realize this is a controversial choice, and invite you to rank it differently when you write your own music blog.

Ratings: 5 stars

If you like women to sing you songs in coy whispers, “The Virginian” is not the album for you. Neko Case’s solo debut is big, bold and brassy. It will blast you across the room with its raw power and you will love every minute of it.

Raw power exactly what this record embodies. The nuance and subtlety that Case would develop on future records isn’t much to be found on “The Virginian.” She blasts these songs out like she’s standing in some Sun Records studio in 1957, vice-grip around one of those big steel toaster-oven microphones, sound pumping out of her diaphragm like a hurricane. While I love that nuance and subtlety she’d develop on later records, I didn’t miss it one bit here.

The style of the record bears only hints of what she would do later. “The Virginian” is a love letter to old-timey music, with homages to fifties and sixties rockabilly, and later country crooners and belters of the late sixties and early seventies. For all that it still feels vibrant and current and filled with a restless energy that will make you want to move.

Case’s voice is like a one-woman army. Everyone in the band plays big and brash to match her, but she’s still the obvious star of the show. Her power is undeniable, and the tone feels like its going to lift you off the ground. Every time I listen to the album’s title track, I feel imbued with some kind of otherworldly energy. The melody is tailor-made for Case’s style (I can safely say this, as it is one of the originals). It digs deep into you and lifts you up. The song is about a woman who rejects God, but when you hear Case’s vocals triumphantly belt out:

“She fell away
She fell away
She fell away from the side of the Lord
Then she was free to do what she wanted
With clouds of her own”

You can feel she was saved all the same – albeit by herself. I have tens of thousands of songs in my collection, and “The Virginian” is, and always be, one of my favourites.

Case is equally adept at filling her soul (and yours) with cover songs. She does a version of Scott Walker’s “Duchess” and Loretta Lynn’s “Somebody Led Me Away” with exactly the same transcendent power.

In terms of writing credits, this is the least “Neko Case” record short of her “Canadian Amp” EP. She only cowrote half the twelve songs. The other half are classics ranging from early sixties Ernest Tubb through early eighties Loretta. In every instance (and I mean every instance, Loretta included), Case makes the song better.

On the lighter side, Case takes on up-tempo rockabilly sounds with originals like “Karoline” and “Honky Tonk Hiccups” (the latter by her collaborator Matt Murphy). These songs will make you want to jump up and dance with abandon. I have done so many times over the years and heartily recommend it. She even converts the Queen song “Misfire” into rockabilly. And yes, she makes it better too.

Case only cowrote half the songs, but it doesn’t matter one whit. She makes the classics her own, pushing them to new heights, and her new songs are every bit as good, leaving no downturn regardless of the source.

If you are expecting the more nuanced and soulful folk-rock Neko Case has recorded in recent years, this album may be a shock to your ears. It is a different beast altogether. However, if you can park your expectations at the door you are in for a treat. My biggest problem with this record is I put it on too often, and I’m afraid one day I’m going to wear out my love for it. Not so far.

Best tracks: All tracks, but let’s mention a bunch anyway: Bowling Green, Jettison, High on Cruel, Karoline, Lonely Old Lies, Honky Tonk Hiccups, The Virginian, Duchess, Somebody Led Me Away.

Apologies to the other 4 songs, which are also excellent.

CD Odyssey Disc 1383: Lilly Hiatt

I’m currently reading a collection of Joe Hill short stories. Joe Hill is a very good writer; better, I think than his much more famous father, Stephen King.

This next artist, like Joe Hill is the child of a famous artist who, once again, is better at her craft than her dear old dad. Sorry, not sorry, John.

Disc 1383 is…. Royal Blue

Artist: Lilly Hiatt

Year of Release: 2015

What’s up with the Cover? When scientists first discovered Lilly Hiatt’s DNA perfectly preserved in sapphire, they had dreams of replicating it and creating a country music theme park on a remote island. But then everyone realized dinosaurs would be better.

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Hiatt earlier this year when she released her latest album, “Walking Proof”. From there I dug backwards through her catalogue. One of those albums was “Royal Blue”.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Lilly Hiatt albums. Of the three, “Royal Blue” comes in at #2.

Ratings: 4 stars

Lilly Hiatt isn’t a little bit country, and she isn’t a little bit rock and roll either. She’s a lot of both. “Royal Blue” her second album, finds her fully owning this crossover sound, which is brash, bold, and loaded with lyrics that tell stories of heartache and hard living.

Regular readers will know of my general distaste of overly rich production, but on “Royal Blue” the frequent use of reverb and rock crunch gives the songs the edge they need. Maybe it’s the flourishes of pedal steel that soften the experience enough to make it work, or maybe it’s the visceral, analog production. Whatever it is, I had none of my usual complaints.

While the songs have the bones of contemporary country music, they are dressed up in rock and roll clothes which fit nice and snug. I was reminded favourably of Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” era in Hiatt’s ability to blend the two traditions so naturally. On songs like “Worth It” and “Heart Attack” she even throws in a smoky sultry blue-eyed soul.

Her vocals handle these different musical traditions with equal skill. I wanted to say “skill and grace” there, but ‘grace’ isn’t a word for Lilly Hiatt’s vocals. Hurt, more like. The songs feel like they’re drawn out of her, sometimes in low dirges, other times in a weary rasp, but always tinged with a sweetness that adds vulnerability to the stories. Life doesn’t let you through it without a few bruises, and Hiatt’s vocals put those bruises to good use in her delivery.

“Get This Right” is a good example of what makes the record so good. It matches a rocked-out country picking pattern in the melody, with a second guitar throwing out flourishes of big power chord strums. Over it all, Hiatt voices a combination of regret and acceptance as the chorus asks the central question encapsulated those two states, “Are we ever gonna get this right?” Hiatt already knows the answer, but her world-weary delivery makes it clear she hopes she’s wrong.

Another standout is the quiet, understated breakup song, “Your Choice.” This song is a stripped-down acoustic number, given Hiatt’s vocals center stage for the best lyrics on the album. The misery and self-loathing of the narrator expressed in the verses:

“Sitting here in Athens, Georgia

Doing everything to ignore ya

‘Cause you don’t think I’m sexy when I cry”

Is nicely juxtaposed by the #GFY sentiments of the chorus:

“When you turn your sheets down

Please think of me now

When you turn your lamp off

Please hear my sweet, soft voice

You made your choice.”

She’s sad here but holding out hope that her ex is sadder still. Taken together the song is one of the better musical examples of “I hope he calls so I can hang up on him” that I’ve heard.

This tenacity in the face of loss is a common thread through the whole record, but it never feels self-indulgent. Hiatt’s got lots of sad stories, but none of them break the characters that tell them. It’s a record filled with tenacity. The multiple stylistic influences blend together well, while also giving the record plenty of range and dynamics. I liked it more and more on each listen.

Best tracks: Far Away, Off Track, Get This Right, Your Choice, I Don’t Do Those Things Anymore

CD Odyssey Disc 1382: Band of Horses

Happy Canada Day!

On this Canada Day I hope you'll join me in celebrating our country's wealth, abundance and our liberal democratic traditions, founded in a respect for equality, diversity, freedom of speech, and the rule of law. These things were hard-earned and not everyone in the world is lucky enough to have them. Let's be proud of what we have, and keep working every day to make it even better.

I’ve been on a streak of relatively new music lately, with the last seven albums all being released in 2016 or later.

Disc 1382 is…. Why are you ok

Artist: Band of Horses

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? A couple of people on a beach with their hands covering their faces. If they knew what they were about to hear they’d be covering their ears instead.

How I Came To Know It: I had liked many of the earlier releases by Band of Horses so I just bought this one hoping it would be good.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Band of Horses albums and “Why are you ok” is my least favourite. In fact, I don’t really like it at all. Here’s a full accounting:

1. Cease to Begin: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 637)
2. Mirage Rock: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 649)
3. Infinite Arms: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 470)
4. Everything All the Time: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 561)
5. Why are you ok: 2 stars (reviewed right here)

If you’d like to read me saying nice things about Band of Horses, by all means check out the album reviews for #s 1 through 3 above. If you prefer something less kind, by all means, continue reading this entry.

Ratings: 2 stars

“Why are you ok” starts with a vague annoying drone sound. For the next 11 songs and 49 minutes, this sound returns often. If that pea-soup ambience is the thing you like about Band of Horses’ earlier records, this may not trouble you. You may even like it. But I’m not partial to “drone” as a musical experience.

The album opens poorly with the indulgent seven minute mess of “Dull Times/The Moon” which in addition to droning, features a couple of “movements” neither one of which I enjoyed, and some random mumble talking at the mid-way point. To be fair, it probably wasn’t random, but I wasn’t sufficiently interested to listen that closely to what they were going on about. The song ends with an ever-increasing clangor of drums and guitar reverb before, mercifully, it fades quickly to black. As first impressions go, it was like a guy with sweaty palms shaking your hand and refusing to let go. During a pandemic.

Anyway, things seemed to pick up on the next track. “Solemn Oath” has promising melody and an upbeat electric guitar riff. Ben Bridwell’s vocals are high and clear. However, as the song progresses, they just keep adding more layers until, inevitably, the melody is buried in a fog of sound.

This was a common experience on the record. I’d get a flash of something promising at the beginning of a song, but it would evolve into a whole lot of fuzz. I found myself me looking up the song information multiple times, not because I was curious as to what it was called, but because I wanted to know how long until it was going to end.

It isn’t liked Band of Horses can’t play. Things never get muddy in the mix despite everything that is going on. There is even a symphonic quality in these songs, which are designed to soar and swell. They just don’t.

Despite the growing boredom and irritation, I kept listening, as this is what CD Odyssey rules demand. I got hopeful for “Casual Party,” which is a pretty nifty name for a song. Maybe it would have the same restless party energy of “NW Apartment” had on the 2010 record “Infinite Arms”?

Nope. “Casual Party” is a song about a horrible party filled with blowhards. The music is built to match the experience. Too much noise, clanging, and even more poorly placed spoken word sections. A song about wanting a lame party to end shouldn’t make you want the same thing for the song.

The album has one song I genuinely like: “Throw My Mess.” Like “Solemn Oath,” it has a catchy guitar riff, but unlike that song stays in its groove, and resists the album’s general predilection for more and more noise. When they play reserved like this, you can appreciate the whole Band of Horses experience. Bridwell’s vocals, the anthemic quality of the band, and even a celebratory foot stomping beat. Sadly, this is the only time I felt the old magic over the whole record.

Less than a year after “Why are you ok” was released both guitarist Tyler Ramsey and bass player Bill Reynolds left the band. I didn’t know this had happened until today, though, because frankly, I didn’t care. “Why are you ok” left such a bad taste in my mouth that had me uninterested in what they would do next. Fortunately, I won’t have to experience that taste ever again. The album is now departing my music collection – hopefully to go to a home that will enjoy it more than I can.

Best tracks: Throw My Mess