CD Odyssey Disc 1852: Mean Mary

On the heels of a movie soundtrack, we get a record that is the soundtrack to…a book. Strange, but true.

Disc 1852 is…Blazing: Hell is Naked Soundtrack

Artist: Mean Mary

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? Just words. Considering one of the underlying themes to this record is the observation that “a woman would run naked into the street to save her baby, but a man would stop to put on his pants first,” this cover is an opportunity missed.

How I Came To Know It: In a very short window of time I have become a pretty serious Mean Mary fan. This was just me digging into her back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Mean Mary albums, and I’m on the lookout for two more. I love every single one of the six I have, but something had to be last. I’m going to put “Blazing” in at #6. Competition is fierce.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Blazing” is an oddity I’m not sure I’ve encountered before – a soundtrack to a book. In this case, a book called “Hell is Naked” co-authored by Mean Mary (aka Mary James) and her mother Jean. The pair write a lot of books together, and a cursory overview suggests the characters make it into many of Mean Mary’s songs. This is the only time I am aware of where a whole album is dedicated to a book also written by the songwriter.

I have not read “Hell is Naked” – and apart from some overviews I’ve read (that include the observation I quote in “What’s Up with the Cover?”) – I don’t know much about it. The good news is you don’t have to know anything about the book to enjoy this record. It is just more of Mean Mary doing what she does best – writing and singing great songs and playing the banjo with skill and artistry few can match.

Let’s start with that banjo playing, which is transcendent. It stupefies me to listen, and made writing this review difficult, because when Mary is deep in her instrument the beauty is overwhelming. I can’t do anything but sit and let it soak over me. I had to turn the volume down just to concentrate on writing. And I hated doing it, too.

The album is replete with examples of banjo at its absolute finest, but the best is “Rainy”, a mid-tempo instrumental appearing at Track Two. “Rainy” is the light splash of a warm summer rain, and trills along in a way that makes you want to dance in that rain. You will get water in your shoes and – against all previous experience – you will find the experience joyful.

This song calmed and lifted my spirit in a way that reminded me of early experiences on first hearing the fiddle of Capercaillie’s Charlie McKerron. My heart wondering, “can this be happening, and please let it happen for a little longer.” “Rainy” is sadly over in 3:12, but I took solace that I had it on recording, there for whenever I needed it.

I’ll now go back to the start, and the opening track, “Harlequin” on which Mean Mary eschews banjo for fiddle and guitar. The song has a bluesy barroom sway that introduces you to the titular character in a way that is soaked in sin and mystery. One of many great lines that draws you in by only teasing what may be going on…

“Bogged down in the Tinsel Town of sin
Harlequin, dressed up as paladin
Confident—but not confiding
You fool the world by hiding—what’s within”

Cool.

The album showcases Mean Mary’s considerable range of style. “Harlequin” is all sway and smoke, and songs like “Sugar Creek Mountain Rush” are pure bluegrass jump n’ holler, and just as compelling.

Mary also delivers a devout and deeply moving version of “Rock of Ages” arranged with just vocals and banjo. Think the banjo can’t properly deliver a solemn hymn? Think again.

All of the songs benefit from Mean Mary’s compelling warbling tone. Her vocals are like the ocean: on the surface a a myriad of tiny variations and light touches that make every note unique, and underneath an inexorable power that flows over and through you.

The album’s final song, “I Face Somewhere” has a “final credits/triumphant last scene” feel that befits the end of the book’s “soundtrack”. It’s the first and only time we feature an electric guitar (played by Mary) and it is used to create a rock n’ roll groove that drives off into the distance in the rarely welcomed fade out. Great stuff.

I hope one day to read the book “Hell is Naked”. The CD case has excerpts from it alongside each song and the writing looks top grade. But even if I never get to it I’ll be glad to have the record, which stands tall and inspiring, independent of any other artistic medium that might be associated with it.

Best tracks: Harlequin, Rainy, Face Somewhere, Sugar Creek Mountain Rush, Rock of Ages, I Face Somewhere

CD Odyssey Disc 1851: Soundtrack and Muppets!

The albums on the CD Odyssey are selected randomly. If it’s in the collection, and it hasn’t already been reviewed, it’s eligible. This can generate some unintended consequences. In this case…Christmas in August.

So strap in. Things are about to get weird…

Disc 1851 is…The Muppet Christmas Carol

Artist: Er…a bunch of Muppets?

Year of Release: 1992

What’s up with the Cover? A bunch of Muppets! Also, a glowering “Michael Caine” lurks in the background. Based on his sourpuss expression, this is “Christmas Eve” Scrooge, not “Christmas Morning” Scrooge.

How I Came To Know It: I loved the Muppet Christmas Carol movie but I would never have bought the soundtrack. As it happens, I didn’t. Sheila picked it up for a single dollar in a thrift store. To which I say, “why not?”

How It Stacks Up: I have upwards of 37 soundtracks. I may have the count wrong, as I lose track of the ones that are both soundtracks and also albums by individual artists (e.g. Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild,” Queen’s “Flash Gordon”).

Let’s go with 37, of which I put the Muppets Christmas Carol in at…#30.

Ratings: 2 stars

Well…here we are, doing this. If you skip this one, I won’t blame you. But if you stay, I promise to avoid excess analysis of the music. The Muppets didn’t intend for it to entertain you that way, and neither do I.

Let’s start with the movie. Is this the best version of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”? Better than that 1935 one, which is excellent but wrecked by your parents forcing you to watch it? Better than 1988’s “Scrooged” where Carol Kane (as the Ghost of Christmas Present) hits Bill Murray’s Scrooge with a toaster?

Tough competition to be sure, but I’m going to side with the Muppets over both. Not as artsy as the thirties one, and not as edgy as the eighties (and sadly lacking any dancing showgirls), but it’s got heart to spare.

As for it being a musical, this does not usually land with me. I am not a fan of the genre, and all the musical scores/original cast recordings are – similarly – possessions of my better half. Sure there are exceptions. I love two songs from Les Mis (Disc 111): “Red and Black” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” If those songs don’t get you going you should check your pulse. From “Chess” (Disc 156) I love “One Night in Bangkok” (yes, that’s where it’s from) and “Nobody’s Side” (listen to it and then lie to me and tell me you didn’t like it).

However, mostly when I watch musicals I’m either dreading some character bursting into song or hoping the number will end so we can get back to the story. They’re not for me.

But damn it, these Muppets. They go and make me feel the feels with their infuriating and catchy tunes about the power of love. I tried to shake it off and make fun of the situation, but despite myself this soundtrack made my heart grow three sizes. Yeah, yeah – different story. Sort of.

The song “Scrooge” has clever turns of phrase a-plenty, and I enjoyed Kermit and Tiny Tim scatting on “Christmas Scat” more than decorum should allow, but mostly, this record just made me feel good.

There is one “bummer” song, which is “When Love Is Gone” about the lost love of Scrooge’s youth. It feels like Oscar bait, and while schmaltzy enough to secure an Oscar, wasn’t even nominated. Like it would have had a snowball’s chance against either song from “Beauty and the Beast” that year. Fun related fact: “When Love Is Gone” is by a character also named Belle and was removed from later releases of the film for being too much of a bummer.

Also solid, “Marley and Marley” delivered by perennial Muppet curmudgeons Statler and Waldorf, which includes a very catchy ghostly refrain of “whooaaah” at the end of each line.

But I digress dangerously close to that ordinary musical review thing I promised you I would avoid. My apologies.

This record is best enjoyed over the holidays building a puzzle (if your cabin doesn’t have cable) or while watching the movie (if it does). If possible, select the “Belle’s bummer song” version – it is better.

Do I recommend this album in the middle of summer during your morning commute? No. Well…sort of?

Do I think it belongs on a serious music review website? Probably not, but I would remind you I review all the albums, not just the ones that make you feel cool enough to pop your collar and roll a pack of smokes into your t-shirt sleeve.

Most of all, this soundtrack will bring peace, goodwill and joy to all. If you’ve seen the movie, it does the same thing, only double. And lest you think this is me being nostalgic for my childhood, I was well into my adulthood when this came out. You’re never too old, and it’s never the wrong time to be infused with a bit of Christmas spirit.

Now run outside and invite someone to know you better, man! Wish a stranger a Merry Christmas in August! Maybe buy them a goose. Unless that feels weird, which I expect it will.

Look at that – you’ve made it to the end. Next time we return to regularly scheduled music reviews. It’s safe, I swear. I don’t even own “The Muppets Take Manhattan”. Yet.

Best tracks: Scrooge, Marley and Marley, When Love Is Gone, It Feels Like Christmas

CD Odyssey Disc 1850: Craig Finn

Welcome to the long weekend! Let’s get things kicked off with the second review of a 2025 release in the last three albums. It’s almost like I just keep buying new music, or something…

Disc 1850 is…Always Been

Artist: Craig Finn

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? I’m not sure you could be a rock star and look less like a rock star than Craig Finn.

Here he looks like a guy travelling to a regional meeting of chartered accountants, and getting his photo taken near his airport hotel on his way to the convention centre.

How I Came To Know It: Craig Finn is also the lead singer and creative force behind the band, “The Hold Steady”. My friend Chris got me into the Hold Steady with a birthday present one year (thanks, Chris!) and from there I followed the breadcrumbs to Finn’s solo career.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Craig Finn solo albums. I’m on the lookout for four more but the “how it stacks up” section strictly stacks against albums currently in-hand. Of the two that currently qualify I put “Always Been” in at #1. Which is saying something, considering the other album (“A Legacy of Rentals”) made my Top 10 list of 2022.

Ratings: 4 stars

Somewhere in between the troubadour taletelling of a country singer and the artsy phrasing of a spoken word performer likes the artistry of Craig Finn. The two genres aren’t as far apart as they may appear – you can catch both in a dive bar, both tell stories about characters that are down on their luck, and the main difference is the prevalence of guitar vs. piano, and whether people applaud of snap their fingers between numbers.

Finn walks this thin and dusty line, subsumed into his characters in a way that would rival a method actor. Listening to “Always Been” is to experience Finn disappearing into his stories so completely that you’ll feel like you’re in a virtual reality game (minus the sports and gunfights).

Finn has a warbling and angst-ridden tone that tells you something is being pinched when he sings – usually the conscience or emotional wellbeing of his characters.

Or for most of “Always Been” a single character, and facets and moments from his life. There is a bit of exploration of other folks but for the most part this record is a loose concept album about one man’s emotionally complex life. Finn lets you figure it out for yourself through specific images and moments, rather than a biography, so you have to piece things together.

Near as I can tell our fella is a fallen priest who struggles with his emotions, some PTSD and drugs. Somewhere near the end he gets born again, cleaned up, and watches others not as fortunate in navigating the dark night of the soul end of lost or dead.

You feel the wounds of our ordinary hero in real time. Wince alongside him at his wounds - some self-inflicted, some just the wear of moving through a harsh world – and emerge from the other end, glad to have survived and maybe a little sadder and wiser.

Along the way you will be treated to the mastery of the written and spoken word that is Craig Finn. Finn is a born poet, and he crafts lyrics that transport you with precise imagery and emotional precision, without ever feeling unnecessarily clever. Finn reminds us that there is another level to songwriting. Townes found it, Dylan found it, and Finn deserves his place in that same conversation.

Sometimes it is a small selection of lines that grab you, like these from “Bethany”:

“Drifted through the rituals
Prideful high and pitiful
Pissing off a petty vengeful god.”

Other times, it is the storyline of our character that draws us, as in “The Man I’ve Always Been”:

“There’s men that want to lead you into battle
There’s men that want to hold you down in bed
When I finally left Seattle
I was haunted by the needle
That city always held above my head”

That internal assonance, and delayed rhyme scheme is vintage Craig Finn, and you’ll get a lot of it on this record and, frankly, all his others. It lends itself to narrative tension and gut-punch lines at the end of each stanza.

There will be a lot of this, and a lot to pay attention to, but the payoff is worth the effort. You don’t read Nabokov just for the story, you read Nabokov to soak in the mastery of language, and that’s the same when listening to Craig Finn. If you don’t want to do that – if you prefer a “good banger” where what the singer is going on about is secondary to the melody – then you will not like this album as much as I do. You have been warned.

For me, however, this stuff is pure gold. I listened to “Always Been” a good four times in a row this week, and the stories just got more and more compelling with each iteration. Will this be good enough to land on 2025’s top 10? Too soon to tell, but it’s a contender.

Best tracks: Bethany, Crumbs, The Man I’ve Always Been, A Man Needs a Vocation, I Walk With a Cane, Clayton

CD Odyssey Disc 1849: First Aid Kit

Sometimes you have a day that just runs you down. For days like that, I recommend a well stocked First Aid Kit. By which I mean the band, of course.

Disc 1849 is…Palomino

Artist: First Aid Kit

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover? The Sodereberg sisters enjoy a hug out on the plains. Or maybe it is just cold out there on the prairie, and they’re huddled for warmth.

No horses in evidence to whisk them away to a heated ranch, but the dress on the right has a palomino vibe, so that’ll have to do.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of First Aid Kit, so I just bought this one on faith when it came out and hoped for the best.

How It Stacks Up: I have five First Aid Kit albums, which I believe is all of them. These gals have a lot of great records, so even though I loved “Palomino” it was only able to land in third spot, displacing “Ruins” in the process.

Ratings: 4 stars

There’s great tone and then there’s the tone you get with sisters Johanna and Klara of First Aid Kit. That’s the tone of another level. It’s otherworldly in its beauty – voices that fill the room with rich sound without ever needing to resort to being loud.  It’s the tone of angels, of sirens, of Mirkwood elves. 

This not-so-secret weapon is what makes every First Aid Kit start off with an unfair advantage. They sing with a head-turning quality that instantly draws you in, and where the slightest melodic trill becomes an irresistible hook through the sublime quality of its delivery. You will know the voice from the first few notes, and you’ll be giddy with anticipation at what comes next.

OK, enough with the flowery superlatives. How is “Palomino” as a record? It came out in late 2022, with the world just starting to shake off the torpor of the pandemic. Many artists creating music at this time resorted to smaller, more isolated sound, partly inspired by the separation they’d been feeling, and partly from a lack of ability to get to a studio and make magic happen.

Well, less so in Sweden which was light on the lockdowns and where this record is recorded (and where the band hails from). Or it could just be because everyone was – wisely – only meeting outside back then. Whatever the reason, the record feels a lot like the cover photo, expansive and yet comforting

The record also has an overall mid-tempo jump to it and some funky basslines that belie its folksy underpinnings. This is folk music that will make you want to dance a little in an elevator – maybe admiring your moves in the semi-reflective walls while doing so.

OK, maybe that last part was just me, but the record has a bit of shimmer and hustle in it that brings a lightness to your step, if not evincing the actual hustle in the process.

The worst thing about this record is that many will unfairly compare it to the band’s early classic records “The Lion’s Roar” (2012) and “Stay Gold” (2014). Those are two of the greatest pop-folk records ever made, and comparisons to them are inherently unkind. Does the nostalgic “Wild Horses II” meet the standards of the like-minded masterpieces “Emmylou” from ten years earlier? No, but that doesn’t make it bad, it just makes it a lighter shade of great.

Overall, the songwriting on “Palomino” is still at the highest degree. There is a seventies radio quality to what the sisters are doing on this record, and while that could easily generate shallowness of emotion, they instead convert that free and easy vibe into something bigger and better. The songs shift around with melodies that are 90% predictable and 10% “O – hey!” as the throw a little unexpected magic at you at the end of a bar. It’s the kind of thing that feels effortless until you sit down at a piano and try to match it. Sneaky good.

This is a record, not unlike the end of 2022, that feels like emerging from darkness. This is a record for glorious dawns, and walking with a spring in your step and maybe even a little foot shuffle or two as the traffic goes by. Just so the rest of the world knows there are good things out there in the world and that some of those things are currently bouncing around in the headphones of that mustachioed middle-aged guy walkin’ funky down the sidewalk.

OK, that last part was just me again, but buy the record and it could be you too.

Best tracks: Out of My Head, Angel, Ready to Run, Turning Onto You, Fallen Snow, A Feeling That Never Came, Palomino

CD Odyssey Disc 1848: Julien Baker & Torres

This next album is certain to land on my Top 10 albums list for 2025.

Disc 1848 is…Send a Prayer My Way

Artist: Julien Baker & Torres

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? I believe the kids call this “rotting”. Fear not, Julien Baker and Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) are not zombies – they’re just listless.

At least two coffee drinks are within easy reach so that could help. With the listlessness, I mean. Not zombie-ism. Only one cure for that my friends – the old click-bang. Next time don’t brave an infested café for that second coffee and it wouldn’t have to come to this.

But I digress…

How I Came To Know It: I’m a fan of Torres, so I was excited to see she had a new album out. I was less excited about Julien Baker, as her previous records had not grabbed me. I was resolved to check it out at some point, and was further encouraged by my local baristas, who both said this was a good one.

So I did that, I liked it, and here we are. Another quarter-inch of shelf space occupied.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Torres albums and no Julien Baker albums. As a collaboration, this record is neither, so can’t stack up either way.

Ratings: 5 stars

When artists collaborate they lose a little of their individuality and create something new through that process. This is a certainty. What isn’t certain is whether that ‘something new’ is any good.

Consider “Trio” as one example. Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt – all legends, all amazing, all welcome in the CD Odyssey collection. “Trio” should be great, but instead is a saccharine sappy mess. I owned it for a good five minutes and is now gone with nothing to show for it other than this nasty little paragraph you’re reading now.

Enter Julien Baker & Torres. Not living legends (at least not yet) but definitely two artists with their own distinct sounds that decided to go down that uncharted third road of collaboration. How did it go for them?

As it happens, it could not have gone better. Consider my prior uncertainty around Julien Baker extinguished, and as for Torres, this is the best work I’ve ever heard from them, solo or otherwise.

Torres solo records can be a bit weird and ambient. This is not an insult. I love how they are ambient and weird. I’ve reviewed three of them so far and they all earned four stars.

Torres’ voice is low, rounded and fills a room. It is hard to imagine anything you’d want to intrude when you’re under its spell. But then along comes Julien Baker, with her high angst-ridden vocals. Just as full, but higher and lighter – the sky to Torres’ earth. The combination creates a tension greater than the sum of the parts.

Consider the country twang of “The Only Marble I’ve Got Left” with Torres singing low like she’s channeling the ghost of mid-career Leonard Cohen, and Julien coming in with a loose harmony at the second verse like Cohen’s ever-changing but always talented female collaborators.

While the vocal combination is sublime, the alchemy goes deeper. Somehow the combination of styles led the duo to a folksy country. I’m sure they would call it indie, but what a terribly uncertain and diffuse word. This is folk-country, right down to the gentle guitar strums, the lilting melodies, and the lyrics-forward focus. Long time readers will know this style of music is VERY likely to land in my happy place.

If you’re going to put your vocals forward in the mix, you better have something to say, and once again the duo do not disappoint. This record is deeply personal, exploring both singers’ complex relationship with faith, love and heartache. The record holds a delightful tension between crippling doubt and self-sabotage, juxtaposed with a bit of romantic whimsy that leaves you comforted in the knowledge that love will always win out. You’ll feel deep dark feels, but you’ll also receive a reassuring hug.

Along the way, you’ll be gifted with powerful imagery and master-class storytelling that takes the specific and makes it speak to something larger. The examples on “Send a Prayer…” are almost bottomless, but a couple of my favourites include:

From, “Sugar in the Tank”:

“I love you all the way to hell and back
I love you tied up on the train tracks
I love you clear as day and in the dark
I love you sleeping on my dead left arm”

Brilliant, and the way the song later takes the effects of sugar in a gas tank (bad) and turns it on its head into a grand romantic gesture is so good I won’t spoil it by quoting anything.

And from “Bottom of a Bottle”:

“I care too much for my own good
I’ve got a dog in every fight
Lost a few along the way”

Been there, done that.

I could quote and quote and quote this record, because as a lover of language it just keeps giving me more of what I love, but the real magic happens when everything is paired together. The words, the voices, the gentle and insistent strum of the guitars, and the collaborative alchemy that happens when two great artists put aside who they are at the door and create something truly special together.

Best tracks: all tracks (minus the ten seconds of outtake conversation at the start of “Goodbye Baby)

CD Odyssey Disc 1847: The Kills

For the second album in a row, we have a record from the mid-oughts.

Disc 1847 is…Midnight Boom

Artist: The Kills

Year of Release: 2008

What’s up with the Cover? I hope this is one of those “you sometimes have to make a mess to clean up” situations and the bed is not always strewn with this much junk. Like they are just reorganizing the photo albums or scrapbooking and we’ve caught them halfway done.

If so one of the photos I would toss out is the one that was chosen for this album cover, which is poorly framed and fills me with a desire to run out of the room and wash my hands.

How I Came To Know It: By way of another band - the Dead Weather - which also features Kills’ singer Alison Mosshart, back in 2011. I then dug backward into their catalogue and came upon this little gem.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Kills albums (I once had six). Of the four that remain, it is a dead heat between Midnight Boom” and “Blood Pressures” for second. Since I don’t do dead heats in this section, I’ll give the win to “Blood Pressures” by the narrowest of margins, dropping “Midnight Boom” to third. Competition at the top is fierce.

And because this is my last Kills album, here is the full accounting, including #5 and #6 that are part of the review experience, but no longer part of the collection:

1. Keep On Your Mean Side: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 324)
2. Blood Pressures: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 788)
3. Midnight Boom: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
4. No Wow: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 795)
5. God Games: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 1715)
6. Ash & Ice: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 989)

Ratings: 4 stars

Some music sounds a little rough around the edges, but the Kills’ “Midnight Boom” does rough right the way through, only letting you up for breath when it knows you can appreciate the gesture. This record is grimy and glorious like ripped blue jeans and a faded leather jacket, looking cool but making you feel like you need a shower.

The core of this record is the blues, and the crunch of Jamie Hince’s guitar and Mosshart’s caterwaul vocals will reach down and grab you by the cockles. There isn’t anything complicated going on, and if anything the magic of “Midnight Boom” is the simplicity of the individual components, laid out bare and played with maximize grit.

The band is only a duo, but they dig deep into their bag of tricks to generate maximum thump. It helps that Mosshart has a classic rock voice in the style of Janis Joplin or Robert Plant, generating all kinds of twist and torque with her delivery.

The production also makes great decisions, adding in every manner of percussion option you can imagine. Sometimes just the guitar played for maximum beat, sometimes a bit of actual drum (presumably Hince on an overdub) and sometimes artful hand claps. Despite all these extra bells and whistles nothing feels artificial.

To ask what the songs on “Midnight Boom” are about is to ask the wrong question. Half of them are under three minutes long and nothing is longer than four – no time to generate multiple verses spinning complex themes or layered tales. Instead you get just enough time to establish a very cool groove mixed with some artful phrases that Mosshart manages to infuse with deeper and more profound meaning than they deserve.

After you’re fully immersed in the crunch of songs like “U.R.A. Fever” and “Tape Song” you are ready – softened up for – the album’s quieter moody pieces like “Black Balloon” and “Goodnight Bad Morning.” You wouldn’t have appreciated them at the front end, but now they give the record depth and variety and a little space to breathe.

“Goodnight Bad Morning” is a standout and coming last on the record, feels like a palate cleanser. Gone are the tortured thumps and barking guitars, replaced with Hince playing light and gentle. Mosshart sings soft as an angel, but don’t expect harps and beatific inspiration. More like that angel from Revelations, cradling your head in her lap and providing much needed succor after having poured all that blood in the river earlier.

It’s the calm after the storm but don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world this time. It’s just rock and roll, baby.

Best tracks: U.R.A. Fever, Cheap and Cheerful, Tape Song, Black Balloon, What New York Used to Be, Goodnight Bad Morning

CD Odyssey Disc 1846: The Fiery Furnaces

Fresh from the record store I have returned home with three prizes – one old album (Cinderella) and two new ones (James McMurtry, Wet Leg). If you would like to hear about these records you will…have to wait. Reviewing order occurs randomly here at the CD Odyssey. While you wait, here is a weird and obscure band from Brooklyn to keep you entertained.

Disc 1846 is…Bitter Tea

Artist: The Fiery Furnaces

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover? This cover promises a lovely cup of tea – but no! A dark cloud has something to say about that and despite having the shape of a comment bubble, all we have to go on is a few streams of black rain drops. It is going to be very hard to determine just what the cloud’s message is.

It is a fine summary of what to expect from this record.

How I Came To Know It: As I’ve noted on previous Fiery Furnace reviews, I was a fan of Eleanor Friedberger’s solo work and they were recommended to me by the friendly and well-informed staff at my local record store.

I was done with Fiery Furnaces over the last few years, but when I saw a used copy of “Bitter Tea” at a bargain price I succumbed. It’s always a good day to invite a little weird into your life.

How It Stacks Up: The Fiery Furnaces have released 7 LPs and 1 EP over their career, but I only have three of them. Of those three, I must put “Bitter Tea” in at third. Bitter news, but something had to be last.

Ratings: 3 stars but warning – if you make your decisions based jut on the rating I provide and then move on, this might be one of those times you read deeper. I mean, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you need to know what you’re in for.

Brace yourself and then dive into the bat-shit crazy musical salad that is the Fiery Furnaces. This band is not famous enough to do whatever the hell they want on their records, but they do it anyway.

On my first couple of listens to “Bitter Tea” I began to wonder, “is this just a test of some kind?” As if this were music that dares you to prove that you are ‘with it’, ‘willing to experiment’ or maybe just tough enough to take the assault on regular songwriting sensibilities and not complain lest you be labelled that thing all music aficionados fear most: “uncool”.

If you’re new to the Fiery Furnaces, they are composed of siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. Eleanor is possessed of a sweet and whimsical vocal that makes every word she sings a birdlike trill of joy. Matthew is possessed of a dark and twisted musical genius determined to push your love of Eleanor’s vocals to the absolute breaking point.

I imagine composing for “Bitter Tea” went something like this. Eleanor and Matthew come up with an idea for a song. Maybe a snippet of a lyric and a melody. Next, they apply various treatments to make that song hard to listen to. First some discordant beats are added. Fucked up enough yet? No. Then do more. Maybe some random sounds, and abrupt right turns to interrupt the flow. Maybe take Eleanor’s vocals and play them backwards so they’re unintelligible. ‘Yes, now we’re getting somewhere!’ the Friedberger’s exclaim, steepling their fingers and cackling as they imagine the puzzled looks of the listener, trying to stay cool and act like they are totally OK with all this batshittery.

Other examples of bands determined to do whatever they want and expecting you to like it include Anaal Nathrak and Miles Davis. I like neither of these bands, as I find clever for its own sake painful, boring, or both.

So imagine my surprise as this odd and often awkward experimentation began to grow on me. Yes, it helps that Eleanor’s vocals are sublime. And after a few opening songs so weird they practically double-dare you to give up, you are rewarded as her vocals shine through the “treatments”, like some princess keening out beauty from an isolated tower in the farthest corner of Dr. Frankenstein’s castle.

But also, all that crazy treatment grows on you. There is an awkward beauty to this music, and there is just enough melodic structure to draw you through the chaos, albeit while startling your ears enough that you are forced to look around. “Teach Me Sweetheart” will lilt as prettily as any other indie pop song of merit and “Oh Sweet Woods” has a funky beat that is 100% danceable and survives through the majority of the song. Do they resort to backwards vocals at one point? Annoyingly, they do, but they also add hand claps to mitigate the discomfort.

Right when I was prepared for a full embrace, along came “Whistle Rhapsody” which, at 2:30 inserts 15 seconds of what I can only assume is a fire alarm going off (on headphones this is literally painful) and then a slow fadeout of feedback squawk that sounds like a baby crying. There’s just no reason for this. Downgrading occurred.

But then, before you know it, there’s Eleanor on “Nevers” singing whimsical notions like “I put back on my overshoes/and got in my Renault”. It’s delightful. A European adventure down a cobblestoned back alley of weird heading toward what the song calls a “city of Something”.

I was back in, willing to put up with occasional alarms for more of the fanciful side of the Fiery Furnaces experience. This is thoughtfully carefree music, that dares you to not like it, but unlike extreme industrial death metal or anxiety jazz, it’s a dare I am willing to accept.

Best tracks: Teach Me Sweetheart, Oh Sweet Woods, Benton Harbor Blues, Nevers

CD Odyssey Disc 1845: Ruston Kelly

Fun fact: when I was very young and first learned the expression “woe betide” I immediately assumed the past tense of the expression would be “woe betode” as in – after the betiding came in, and you are now recalling a previous encounter with calamity. While time and education has proved me wrong, I still think “woe betode” is an excellent expression, and oft-needed when describing some formerly encountered woe.

Shall we move along to the review, then?

Disc 1845 is…Shape & Destroy

Artist: Ruston Kelly

Year of Release: 2020

What’s up with the Cover? With its marbled deep red and black background and gold embossed sticker, this cover had me thinking of a fancy box of chocolates. As everyone knows, the exciting thing about a box of chocolates is you never know what you’re going to get. In the case of this assortment you get…the Angel of Death!

Yes, if you look carefully, you can see a scene in the background which is a reprint of a 19^th century engraving by Levasseur called “The angel of death striking a door during the plague of Rome”.

I don’t usually resort to any visuals past the actual album cover here on the Odyssey, but this engraving is simply too cool to not see in its full and terrible majesty, so here it is:

Upon further review, this looks more like the angel of death’s assistant striking a door, but let’s not quibble. The angel is providing clear direction that this door gets a knocking. As for the poor fellow who answered – woe betode him!

How I Came To Know It: I don’t remember, but it was most likely reading a review, since like the rest of us back in 2020, I wasn’t able to get out on the town much.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Ruston Kelly albums, and this one is tied for first place with 2018’s “Dying Star.” However, I don’t allow such quibbling cowardice as a tie in the “How It Stacks Up” section, so I’ll put “Shape & Destroy” in at #1.

Ratings: 3 stars

Feel in the mood for a good wallow, but you prefer a mid-tempo lament to a slow dirge? You’ve come to the right album, with Ruston Kelly’s sophomore full length album, “Shape & Destroy”.

If you don’t know Ruston Kelly, he makes pop/country crossover music with easy and effortless melodies, and heart-baring lyrics. Before you start having horrific visions of Kenny Chesney, please calm yourself. Not that. More on the folksy side of country. Less Kenny, and more Dawes. It’s still overly polished in places, but it is OK to like it.

This particular record is a “get sober” album, and most of the songs are heartfelt explorations of Ruston Kelly’s doubts, fears and regrets as he emerges from a bad bout of addiction. It works because his approach reads as 100% authentic.

Coming out of substance abuse usually means you’ve got to make peace with yourself, and a whole host of other folks to whom you’ve done wrong. Kelly embraces the mission with raw and unflinching truth. By doing this, he brings you into the inner reaches of his personal journey – whether that means he’s scared, or hopeful or just plain unsure.

Sometimes these songs capture the shame of trying (and not always succeeding) to get clean, such as on “Changes” where he screens out the calls from people who love him simply because “The disappointment in your voice would hurt me most of all”.

This is followed up by “Mid-Morning Lament,” on a day when the demons can come calling at the most unexpected of times, with:

“I wanna spike my coffee but I know where that leads
And it ain't the safest feeling
When the angel on your shoulder falls asleep”

I like this as a follow up to “Changes” because you get the sense he finds solace and security in his art. At one point drawing, and another up on the roof with the crows, writing a song and trying not to think of what he almost did to his coffee and of course, himself.

The trilogy of great songs culminates with “Brave” which is about more than being brave, but also about visualizing himself as someone who can be. “Brave” is also the best vocal performance on a record that features many good ones. Kelly has a natural hurt in his raspy delivery, which makes all these songs feel like weary confessionals. They can end with messages of hope or fall just short, but either way his singing always reaches for that better place deep inside, and in so doing drawing his audience a few steps closer to grace.

My biggest challenge with this record is the production which would benefit by being a bit rougher around the edges. It is good stuff, and it is straight from the heart, but the smooth doubling of the vocals sometimes feels like Kelly pulls his punch with a song that could have easily knocked the wind right out of you.

It's a minor quibble. This record is a beautiful and uplifting apology – both to himself and to loved ones he’s hurt – and if there’s a chocolate coating on the pain from time to time, it just helps it go down easier.

Best tracks: Radio Cloud, Changes, Mid-Morning Lament, Brave, Hallelujah Anyway

CD Odyssey Disc 1844: C+C Music Factory

I’ve had a few new subscribers and commenters of late to who I say – welcome! Thanks for joining me on this musical journey.

Disc 1844 is…Gonna make you sweat

Artist: C + C Music Factory

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover? It was the fashion at the time. The baggy pants have aged poorly, but the short tight dress is a timeless classic.

How I Came To Know It: I probably saw a video for one of the singles and decided to buy the record. It’s not a good reason, but any other reason is likely worse. Back in the day I owned this album on cassette, but I only got it on CD last summer when I found it in a thrift store for $2. I might have paid up to $5, but that’s the upper limit.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only C+C Music Factory album, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 2 stars

It’s hard to fathom it now, but back in 1990/1991 C + C Music Factory was a big deal, and the songs on this record were ubiquitous across all the clubs in the city.

What were we thinking? Well, at least it gave me a memorable summer – more on that later.

C + C Music Factory was named after cofounders Robert Clivilles and David Cole. Along with rapper Freedom Williams they undertake a project that – according the back of the CD case – was composed of “rock + soul + funk + pop + techno = C + C”. If that means they would sample from all those things then sure. I’d just call this record “dance” since that is its principal value to the world.

For all that, when this record launches with the title track, Martha Walsh’s signature (albeit uncredited) peel of “everybody dance now!” you are suffused with joy and an irresistible drive to dance. Preferably ‘now’.

It’s a great song and the follow up, “Here We Go, Let’s Rock & Roll” is also a club banger. The third song is “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm…” which is a novelty song based on the Arsenio Hall catch phrase of the day. It was a different time. Yes, I watched Arsenio Hall, and probably thought “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm…” was mighty clever. Reader, it was not.

As for the raps on this record, do not expect Rakim or Eminem level word wizardry. Freedom Williams is not that inventive and seems content to land catch phrases rather than innovate with the beat. Nevertheless, I continue to quote a Freedom Williams line from this record 35 years later. It goes:

“I pay the price
to control the dice
I’m more precise
to the point, I’m nice.”

I do not know why I still quote this not-terribly-memorable line. I still feel clever when I say it, and I’m still not. At this time, I would remind you I secured this record for the bargain bin price of $2.

As for his rap style, Williams is talented in his phrasing but he’s not exactly edgy. He has the same staccato, gravelly delivery of Ice T, if you were to rip Ice T’s innards out and replace them with cotton candy and glitter. There’s nothing wrong with cotton candy and glitter, just don’t expect any gangsta vibes.

After the first three “radio friendly” songs, you will be subjected to 50 minutes of questionable dance beats. “Live Happy” is seven minutes of someone singing “Live Happy” while the boring, go-nowhere beat ensures this will not happen until after the song ends. “Ooh Baby” takes the same basic approach, but they sing “ooh baby”. So, you know, variety.

For all my dismissal of this record, it will always hold a place in my heart as the soundtrack for the summer of 1991.

That year I was back in my hometown. The local pulp and paper mill was not hiring summer students, and I had more time on my hands than usual to tool around in my bright yellow 1980 TR-7 convertible (this was early in my ownership, before it broke down in the thousand uniquely annoying ways Triumph automobiles break down).

I spent that summer in the company of a very beautiful young woman who possessed a carefree, disposition, a penchant for Scrabble, and legs for days (she did ballet).

She loved my car and liked me, albeit in an off-handed “just for the summer” kind of way. She also loved this record (at least more than whatever else I had in the glove box), and as a result it was pretty much the only thing that got played on the car stereo. It was hardly high art, but if it increased my chances to take a ballerina to the beach, that was more than enough artistic value for me.

The last song on the album is a ‘hidden’ track called “Shade” which isn’t even on the tape version to my memory. This song has some of the best dance beats on the album. It features a repetitive phrase like all the others, but this time it is a good one:

“We’re not gonna be shady – just fierce!”

A lovely nod to Drag culture, and a reminder that when faced with a choice, don’t tear others down – just be the best version of you.

With that in mind I’m not going to throw any further shade on this record, which has done right by me over the years. When I was in the city, it helped me show off my dance moves in the club. When I was in the country it helped catch the attention of a beautiful young woman who otherwise may have just kept walking.

Best tracks: Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), Here We Go, Let’s Rock & Roll, Shade

CD Odyssey Disc 1843: Tami Neilson

It’s been a long day, and I’m a bit tired, but Odysseus never complained when he had a long day at the oars getting back to Ithaca, so I think I can handle a music review that finishes up around bedtime.

Disc 1843 is…Kingmaker

Artist: Tami Neilson

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover? I’m not entirely sure, but I like it. A bunch of stylized imagery collaged together. This cover makes me want to see an entire deck of cards based on this art, maybe being played in a smoky lounge frequented only by magicians or interdimensional travelers.

If the regulars look up and stare when you enter, don’t worry they’re not being rude. It’s just you looked so…normal. Pull up a chair, note that the lids on the drinks aren’t just for show, and apologies in advance for the fluctuating gravity.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve been a fan of Tami Neilson since her 2014 album “Dynamite!” and this was just me buying her latest record when it came out.

How It Stacks Up: I have (or have had) three Tami Neilson records, and “Kingmaker” comes in at…#2.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Kingmaker” is a record infused with all manner of roots music, with Tami Neilson exploring the sounds of traditional country, southern devotionals, Spanish rhythms, blues and what I can only call “Bond movie theme”. It could easily have been a disparate mess but Neilson deftly pulls it off, creating a cohesive and powerful piece of art.

It helps that she is gifted with a big bold voice that can sing it sweet or shake the rafters, as the occasion demands. Many singers who try on different vocal approaches come off sounding affected and disingenuous. Not so Neilson, who inhabits every style and makes it her own. Combined with that power, she knows how to rely on tone and phrasing to pull you through each twist and turn while keeping the story at the forefront.

In addition to Neilson’s throaty and golden tone, the record is held together by strong themes of feminism, female empowerment and some pointed calling out of the small-minded men threatened by such topics. If that’s you, mister, this record may not be for you – or maybe it is more for you than most.

In any event, art can’t deliver any message if the art isn’t any good. At that point no one is looking (or in this case, listening). Step one is always the same: write great songs. Fortunately Neilson is up to the task.

The record opens with the title track, with a song that answers the question, “what if you countrified a James Bond song, and then made it about Vesper Lynd instead?” I’ve always liked the idea of rebooting the Bond series with a woman protagonist and if they ever did so, then this tragically triumphant little ditty would make a great tune for the opening credits.

Neilson follows this up with the record’s true gem, “Careless Woman”, a true foot stomper that dares you to find the nearest drum and play along. All that noise making is paired with lyrics that make it clear that being heard is the literal point. Or as the chorus so aptly sums it up:

“A careless woman, she play too rough
She laugh too loud, she talk too much
Too much, too much, she’s just too much
I wanna be her when I grow up.”

From here, Neilson slides into the stylings of old West reverb with “Baby, You’re a Gun.” Our song’s protagonist may seem graceful and demur, but cheat at cards with her at the table and it won’t matter if you’re one of those interdimensional magicians I mentioned earlier – you’ll regret it.

The middle of the record dips just a bit but quickly recovers with the throaty bluesy number “the Grudge” before finishing off with “Ain’t My Job”. “Ain’t My Job” is a fine bookend to “Careless Woman.” Where the latter is a song about finding your voice, “Ain’t My Job” turns the perspective and reminds the audience that while they can project whatever expectations they want, it ain’t Neilson’s job to fulfill them. If you don’t like it, that’s OK, you don’t have to listen.

As for me, I liked this album plenty. It is loaded with great rhythms, dynamic range, and whip-smart lyrics with something to say.

Best tracks: Kingmaker, Careless Woman, Baby You’re a Gun, I Can Forget, the Grudge, Ain’t My Job