CD Odyssey Disc 1773: Kate Davis

A long weekend has arrived (for us Canadians, it is Thanksgiving) and it couldn’t come at a better time. I am looking forward to a full recharge and also a big roast beef dinner (thank you, S.). We don’t do the turkey thing, but we do eat a fancy meal.

In music news I went a little crazy last week and ordered a LOT of music, through my local record store, Bandcamp and (yech) another online retailer I’ll not name, but sometimes use as a last resort. Most of it has arrived and the long weekend will feature a whole lot of different styles – German folk, Americana, indie, rap, metal and good ole rock n’ roll will all feature. You’ll hear all about these albums when I randomly role them, because that’s how it works here on the CD Odyssey. We never know where we’re going to sail next!

Disc 1773 is…Trophy

Artist: Kate Davis

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? Giant Head Cover! Not much to say beyond that. It is sparkly?

Not cover related, but the CD copy of “Trophy” is in a cardboard fold with no spine. This means to file it with my CDs as-is would mean I wouldn’t be able to see it when picking an album. This has become increasingly common with CDs. C’mon, artists. You don’t have to release on CD, but if you do please make the packaging substantial enough that you can read the name of the album on the spine.

How I Came To Know It: As it happens, not through her work with Postmodern Jukebox like most people. I heard about her through reading a couple of reviews on music websites I frequent (in this case Paste and Pitchfork both reviewed the record). Neither was effusive but when reading a music review it is less about the rating assigned and more about whether the music sounds like something you would like. I hope you find my musings similarly useful.

I ordered this album through Bandcamp and Kate Davis’ manager was very personable and kind. Great service!

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Kate Davis album. She’s released a couple since, but neither of them has appealed to me like “Trophy”.

Ratings: 3 stars

Maybe it is the uninspiring cover, but every time I put “Trophy” on I anticipate I’m not going to like it, and every time I’m wrong. This is a solid pop record, with catchy hooks, well-structured songwriting (all Davis), and engaging vocals.

Davis’ vocals are perfectly suited to her style of indie pop, and it makes me glad she moved on from jazz early in her career. Her tone is bright and full, with plenty of range. Her phrasing is particularly on point, landing with a whimsical traipse that makes for easy and engaged listening.

Lyrically, the songs are straightforward and tell mostly stories about love and relationships. “Open Heart” is particularly clever, treating a broken heart with the metaphor of actual heart surgery. Davis’ conclusion: repairing a broken heart means you can get hurt all over again in the future, but the risk is worth it.

“Dirty Teenager” has a dreamy quality to the production, as an awkward teenager sees a beautiful woman and imagines holding her hand. Our character swears that he doesn’t want to be a “dirty teenager” but I sense in the song it’s a battle with hormones that ultimately won’t be won. Besides there’s nothing dirty about wanting to maybe do more than hold someone’s hand. Still, always nice to hear a “I wanna treat her right” sentiment in a song. Ask her out for a coffee, narrator!

Some of the songs are a bit too dear for my tastes, notably the “musical number” quality of “I Like Myself”. It is a lovely sentiment of how being loved can help encourage you to love yourself, and beautifully sung, but the tune is a bit too Broadway for my tastes.

Also, the best songs are front-loaded on the record (a common but unwelcome feature of many modern albums) making things less impactful as you go. The exception is “rbbts” at Track 8, a late-breaking bit of brilliance near the end of the record. “rbbts” is a haunting, yearning sort of tune full of soul-baring moments and artfully placed minor chords. It made me feel the feels.

Before I sign off, hats off to producer Tim Bright. The production on “Trophy” is top quality and I bet done on a light budget, making it that much more laudable. Everything is crisp, and the mix is well balanced. Bright does a great job of showcasing Davis’ strong vocals, while still letting all the other players shine and have moments. I am biased toward this kind of clean (dare I say “bright”) production, so if you prefer saturated overlap or fuzz in your production, you may not agree. I encourage you to write your own blog entry all about that.

Best tracks:  Daisy, Open Heart, Dirty Teenager, rbbts

CD Odyssey Disc 1772: Mozart

Ready to foray into classical music for a spell? If so, read on! If not, um…read on and see if it will change your mind!

Disc 1772 is…Serenade No. 13 “A Little Night Music” and Piano Concerto No. 17

Artist: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Year of Release: 1992, but with music from 1784 (Piano Concerto No. 17), 1787 (Serenade No. 13) and 1791 (The Magic Flute Overture),

What’s up with the Cover? This is a close up of a section of Edouard Manet’s painting “The Fifer” also known as “The Young Flautist”. I don’t usually care for Manet, and that predisposition was reaffirmed upon looking at both this segment of “The Fifer” and then later the whole thing (you can decide for yourself by looking here).

One thing that is certain is this is not an original Mozart pressing, because this little fifer was painted in 1866, almost 80 years after the music was composed. We must therefore safely conclude that the CD I purchased does not hail from the 18^th century. Logic!

Also, given that the only part of the “Magic Flute” that is on this collection is the Overture, this is also a bit of false advertising. Think you’re going to get a bunch of songs about a flute? Think again! You will get a bunch of piano and a little night music and you’ll like it!

How I Came To Know It: I knew this Mozart guy was a bit of a thing, and upon seeing this CD at a local thrift store for $2, it felt like a bargain. Not so much if you bought it for that much back in 1790 though, where $2 was about two-weeks’ wages.

How It Stacks Up: and have already dabbled in a couple of prior Mozart albums and this was my third foray into his extensive catalogue. Of the three ‘albums’ I have reviewed, I put this particular collection in at #2.

Ratings: 4 stars

On my first listen to this record I suspected I’d made a mistake and bought a bunch of Mozart music I already owned. It turns out this is because like everyone I’ve been immersed with Mozart music my whole life in the background of a hundred movies. It is also because I don’t know much about classical music and rarely know the title of a piece I’m hearing. At least I know what I like and generally, I like Mozart very much.

This record has two compositions, but before we get to those we start with the Overture to his 1791 opera “The Magic Flute”. Just the Overture though, in what I’m sure the Soulless Record Execs planned as a classic bait and switch. I could talk about this, but putting just the overture doesn’t count as a full song and since this isn’t a late-night advertisement for an 8-CD set where you can “buy all the classics” I refuse to engage in such piecemeal chicanery. Which is hard, because that Overture is, like, really good…

Damn it, no! Let’s move on to the heart of the record.

Serenade No. 13 “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” aka “A Little Night Music”

The opening violin riff of this song is possibly the most recognizable classical riff in history. Certainly tied with Beethoven’s 5^th. It is also pretty Goddamn great.

When it comes to classical music I cleave closer to the violin than the piano, and The ole No. 13 did not let me down early. I wanted to spin around the room in a powdered wig, my red long-tailed dress coat flailing out behind me, a beautiful woman – held in perfect frame – in my arms (in my fantasy I always maintain a perfect frame).

After all that initial bombast, Mozart settles in with some serious brilliance. Sometimes it just feels like a piano sawing at the silence, but it saws at it with such perfection, it is like it is rending the universe so you can look into the resulting rift and see heaven.

By the third movement the whimsy completely overwhelmed me, and I was under the spell of this little bit of night music, wishing there could be just a little bit more of it.

Piano Concerto No. 17

This little ditty starts out with some great energy. Again with the party atmosphere, as Mozart trills a little birdsong along like only he can. It was easy to forget with all that great violin action that a bunch of dirge-y piano was just around the corner.

But no! When the piano does arrive, it is equally trill-heavy, and it was easy to accept this newcomer to the melody, as piano and violin called and answered one another with an effortless grace.

Unlike our little night music, however, the momentum could not be maintained. Before we are halfway through the song’s second movement we get a bit of what we modern rock fans would call…a noodle. I didn’t love this noodle either and dare I say this second movement needed to move along just a little bit faster than it seemed inclined to.

Things recover in the third and final movement, although the dude on the piano still gets pretty frantic in places. You just forgive him because 1) he’s so damned good at tinkling those ivories 2) the increase in pace (from andante to allegretto) is overdue, but welcome and 3) the violins are there to ride in victorious and rescue everything the piano threatens to overdo.

Overall, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is five-star glory that still slays after more than 230 years on the earth. Piano Concerto No. 17 is also solid, but I can’t go above a high four due to the bit of andante in the middle. What can I say? I’ve got the impatient ear of a modern music listener. Classical music snobs may sneer if you like, but Mozart belongs everyone, even us old school metalheads, and that’s a good thing.

Best tracks:  Of the two tunes, I’ll go with A Little Night Music

CD Odyssey Disc 1771: Patty Griffin

Before we get into the next review I would like to honour Kris Kristofferson who died earlier this week at the age of 88. Kristofferson was one of country music’s great singer-songwriters and he will be sorely missed.

A lot of retrospectives focus on Kristofferson’s songs being sung by others, but that was not my experience. I knew him because my mom (and later my stepdad) listened to Kristofferson records, and I was immersed in his gravelly truth telling pretty much from the day I was born.

The idea that these songs are “better” when sung by others never sits right with me. Kristofferson isn’t a gifted singer if you measure success by octaves, but if you want three chords and the truth then he’s your man.

He also killed a lot of vampires, which isn’t something Johnny Cash or Janis Joplin could ever lay claim to.

I’ll miss you, Mr. Kristofferson. Thank you for the lifelong gift of music.

If you’d like to read any of my Kris Kristofferson music reviews (there are eight) click here.

Disc 1771 is…1,000 Kisses

Artist: Patty Griffin

Year of Release:

What’s up with the Cover? Flowers and swallows and a slow winding river flowing past a church steeple put the viewer in a quiet and contemplative headspace, which is the right headspace to be in for a Patty Griffin record.

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Patty Griffin back in 2007 through her “Children Running Through” album”. Shortly thereafter I dug into her back catalogue, which is where I found this record.

How It Stacks Up: I have eight Patty Griffin records. “1000 Kisses” comes in at #2, bumping “Living With Ghosts” down to the bronze in the process.

Ratings: 4 stars

Patty Griffin is a lot like Kris Kristofferson – a brilliant songwriter who from time to time gets them covered by someone more famous. Unlike Kristofferson, you won’t find anyone suggesting those people sing the songs better than Griffin. No one credible, anyway.

Griffin sings with effortless power, and a tone that rings big and bold like a bell. It’s a voice that big could easily trend to shouty, but you will not experience that with Griffin. She knows how to reign it in just the right amount to fill your heart with the feels, but not lose the thread of story.

Which is a good decision, because “1000 Kisses” is replete with great stories, most of them complex character studies, often told in the first person. Griffin has a special talent for exploring complex characters in the first person, and many of the songs are artful soliloquys as we get to explore the triumphs and tragedies of the human spirit from the innermost thoughts of those experiencing them.

One of the best of these is “Long Ride Home,” about a woman in a limousine heading home from a funeral, her head full of the mixed emotion of remembrance and “what comes next” when someone important in your life is suddenly and irrevocably no longer there. It’s heart-wrenching and cathartic and all the things you feel in these moments, but made imminent through the specificity Griffin applies through the character study.

Just as thought provoking, “Making Pies” explores the loneliness of an old woman who is in the midst of a life adjusting to that kind of loss, with her husband of many years now gone. The song recounts how she fills her days, and a stoic practicality she expresses in the final stanza:

“5am, here I am
Walking the block to Table Talk
You could cry or die or just make pies all day
I'm making pies”

Griffin also takes time out from her own songwriting to deliver a killer version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Stolen Car”. Did I like it better than the Boss’ original? Reader, I did.

Voice and story come together on “Nobody’s Crying” one of the most Goddamn heartbreaking songs of lost love you will ever hear, where Griffin transmutes grief into emotional triumph. Griffin accomplishes this through both the expansive climb of the song’s structure and arrangement and through her incredible vocal talent. By the end, when she’s unleashed all her power, the walls are shaking with emotion, but with total control throughout.

I just lay back and revel in the majesty of it all, imagining that somewhere far off, Kris Kristofferson is doing the same.

Best tracks:  Rain, Chief, Making Pies, Stolen Car, Be Careful, Long Ride Home, Nobody’s Crying

CD Odyssey Disc 1770: Brand Nubian

After a couple of bad night’s sleep in a row, I’m feeling a bit worn down. Nevertheless, I recognize the sacred contract I have with you, dear readers, to fill your heads with nifty music ideas or – failing that – at least empty mine of same. It gets crowded up there sometimes.

Disc 1770 is…One for All

Artist: Brand Nubian

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover? The boys pose under a pergola. This is almost exactly the same album cover as on “The Very Best of Brand Nubian” (reviewed at Disc 1524). For clever pergola observations, please check there.

You can also play “find all the differences” between the photos on that album and this one. Notable, the skyline looks a bit darker through the pergola in this cover, and the dude in the back (sorry – I don’t know my band members by sight) is upright instead of leaning.

Also of note, the warning label features prominently on “One For All” whereas it is wholly absent on the “best of” album cover. I assume it was explicit for 1990 but by the time the Greatest Hits record rolled around twenty years later, all the bad words weren’t bad anymore. Then, when the record turned 30, the words were bad again. It’s all very confusing.

How I Came To Know It: As noted on the “best of” review, I learned about these guys through a former coworker named Adrienne and her husband. I despaired finding the original album and after a bad encounter with a sanitized “clean version”(no warning label) I settled for a ‘best of a few years ago.

Then, lo and behold, I found this 30^th anniversary version by happy accident while digging in the “miscellaneous B section at the local record store.

How It Stacks Up: this is my only Brand Nubian studio album, so it can’t stack up. As earlier noted, I previously owned “In God We Trust” but it was the clean version and I couldn’t abide that. I remain on the lookout for that record, but with the warning label.

Ratings: 4 stars

While this is my only Brand Nubian studio album, I like my chances that this is their best. Exhibit A – six of the sixteen tracks on my “best of” compilation find their original home on “One for All”. Exhibit B – this record is dope.

As noted on previous reviews, Brand Nubian is rap from the golden age, when word wizardry was the order of the day, before hip hop got lazy and relied on heavily borrowed pop hooks (one man's opinion). Which is not to say Brand Nubian don’t sample pop hooks on “One for All” because they totally do. But they do it with an art and precision that repurposes those hooks, bits and pieces into something wholly new. The hook may still appear, but it is used differently, creating something new while also providing the backdrop to the reason you really came to listen – the word flow brilliance of the emcees.

As noted on previous reviews we have three emcees in the band, Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar, and they are all great, bouncing in and out of each other’s flow without ever tripping each other up. It is the hip hop equivalent of a good bluegrass song: everyone gets a turn to shine, and the whole ends up greater than the sum of the parts.

It isn’t always cool to reference what samples you hear on a rap tune, but this stuff is widely quoted, and the way “Slow Down” repurposes a famous Edie Brickell tune is pure bohemian brilliance. You hear all the original greatness, but better. It’s not imitation, it’s inspiration.

For the most part the songs that are anthologized later are the record’s best (among them on this listen I appreciated “Drop the Bomb” in a way I apparently missed in my review back in 2021), but there are also many deep cuts that are very much worth your time. “Ragtime” comes immediately mind but there are plenty of good ones.

The biggest sin on “One for All” is the length. At 16 tracks and 73 minutes it is just a bit too long, and the record would have benefited from four fewer tracks and a tight dozen tunes. Know when to say when because just because CD technology can hold 80 minutes of music, doesn’t always mean it should.

This is a minor quibble though, and “One for All” is rightly appreciated as an early rap classic that has aged very well indeed.

Best tracks:  All for One, Concerto in X Minor, Ragtime, Slow Down, Brand Nubian

CD Odyssey Disc 1769: Bonnie Prince Billy

I saw the tour that supported this next album last year, but didn’t have the record yet and so I couldn’t review it at that time. However, if you also want to hear about the show it is at the bottom of an Abbie Gardner review. Read it at Disc 1641.

Disc 1769 is…Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You

Artist: Bonnie Prince Billy

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover? Looks like a restaurant. As album covers go this one doesn’t inspire me so much as make me hungry. Good thing I’m headed out for brunch after I post this.

How I Came To Know It: I already liked Bonnie Prince Billy so this was me buying his latest record. I’d also heard a few of the songs live, as noted above.

How It Stacks Up: Counting his two collaborations with Matt Sweeney (which I do) but not counting his compilation of Greatest Palace Music (which I love, but don’t count for stacking) I have seven Bonnie Prince Billy albums. This amounts to about a third of his records. Of those seven (if you just said, ‘which seven?’ please try to keep up) I put “Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You in at #4, which is respectable.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

I didn’t always know what Bonnie Prince Billy (aka Will Oldham) was talking about on “Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You” but he definitely wasn’t keeping secrets. The album is raw and fragile and unafraid to show the inner workings of the human heart, in all its wonder and weirdness.

If you’re not familiar with Bonnie Prince Billy, he is a folk singer who looks like a drifter, but sings with a gentle, wispy head voice making you feel like you’re in the presence of an angel. The angel is sometimes soothing and reassuring and sometimes more of a blood and thunder apocalypse, but in either incarnation you’ll feel privileged that he’s willing to share this curious mix of inspiration and uncertainty with us mere mortals. I’m told angels don’t usually open up like that.

“Keeping Secrets…” starts out strong, and “Like It Or Not” is one of my favourite Bonnie Prince Billy songs on this or any of his albums. It opens with:

“Everyone walks to a certain point then turns around;
how far you go just depends on the time that you got.
Time is a killer like its good buddies love, light and sound.
There’s not enough room for us both here, like it or not.
Everyone smiles when they see something rendered with justice.
Everyone laughs to dispel something bound up inside.
Everyone cries when we feel like nobody trusts us.
Everyone dies in the end so there’s nothing to hide.”

I had originally intended to just quote the first two lines, but like so many of BPB’s songs, the image continues to unwind itself in your mind, and it is hard to stop once you start paying attention.

While this is the album’s best example, other songs (“Kentucky is Water”, “Willow, Pine and Oak”) are also dripping with rich imagery. This imagery doesn’t always provide you an immediately accessible narrative to follow, so much as concepts to ponder. This, plus his application of religious imagery, makes “Keeping Secrets…” a bit like listening to a street preacher or new age prophet. It all feels like wisdom, but it’s a wisdom that requires contemplation before it reveals its secrets to you.

“Willow, Pine, and Oak” is the most straightforward of the bunch as BPB sketches character studies of three kinds of people, each rendered through comparison to a kind of tree. BPB prefers “Oak People” and I could quote him as to why, but this review would quickly become a quote fest, so I just encourage you to go and listen yourself.

BPB is not just a gentle and wise preacher, he is also a delightful kook and “Keeping Secrets…” has its fair share of the weird and wonderful. He follows up “Willow, Pine and Oak” with “Trees of Hell” which is a horror story about how trees animate and start taking revenge for humanity’s use of them. The tale ends with our narrator being disemboweled and blinded by branches, which is even creepier when juxtaposed against BPB’s angelic vocal.

“Bananas” is a song about sex where the banana is a metaphor for exactly what a banana usually implies in such situations. The song is a bit too weird for me to love, but I always admire how BPB will unapologetically talk about all the sticky parts of sexual encounters.

The production on this record is very stripped down, which is how I like it, and is mostly just the Bonnie Prince and his acoustic guitar, with occasional additions of strings or horn to add colour and variation.

Overall, the record is uneven, with about a third of it being some of the best songs BPB has ever written, and a lot of the others being just OK. Hence the three stars, but it was a thoughtful and enjoyable three-star journey, and I recommend it.

Best tracks:  Like It Or Not, Behold Be Held!, Kentucky is Water, Willow Pine and Oak

CD Odyssey Disc 1768: Grace Cummings

Hello, gentle readers and please forgive my extended absence. I’ve been travelin to Seattle to see my beloved Miami Dolphins play a game of football. The Dolphins were soundly trounced, but despite the terrible result it was a lovely trip, surrounded as I as by dear friends and good times.

Disc 1768 is…Ramona

Artist: Grace Cummings

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Grace displays an awkward but undeniable beauty as she half sits on a chain link fence, maybe in someone’s backyard. The pose looks uncomfortable, but she seems resistant to moving. Or maybe the dress is snagged on the fence, and she is trying to avoid a tear. Is this a simple backyard repose or is this a wardrobe emergency!

We don’t know. We can’t know. We can only wish Grace the best.

How I Came To Know It: I know Grace Cummings through her previous two records which I LOVE. Buying this one was a very easy decision.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Grace Cummings albums, and the other two are just too damned good, dropping “Ramona” into third place.

Ratings: 4 stars

The ghostlike warble of Grace Cummings will drench you with strange and powerful emotions. This experience is an inevitability even if - as is the case with her third album, “Ramona” - it took a while before it fully reached inside of me.

On previous records, Cummings impact was immediate, and on my first couple of listens to “Ramona” I experienced disappointment as I impatiently waited for the same magic to happen. Nothing Grace Cummings does could be described as accessible, the notion is just too routine and pedestrian to suit the weird and wonderful vocal antics she gets up to. But “Ramona” took a couple of extra listens before I felt the feels.

Which, after a good five or six listens in seems hard to believe, now that I find myself fully under this record’s spell. I think it is just that she takes her melodic structures one step even further into the unlikely, and that step is a precarious and uncertain one; like crossing a brook on slick stones covered in wet moss. Magical and whimsical but with no guarantee you’ll reach the other side.

While the music takes a bit of immersion to reveal itself, her poetic talent is on full display from the outset. The record’s first song, “Something Going ‘Round” opens with:

“The wind it is howling
Like dogs in the evening”

It’s the perfect scene-setter, made even better by the evening howl that is Cummings’ voice.

The majestic and slow-moving beauty of “Something Going ‘Round” is immediately followed by the insistent gallop of “On and On,” which feels like a Springsteen ballad, if instead of a blue-collar town you were in an enchanted castle.

The record is replete with stories of love that is so overwrought it will break you through the sheer weight of its passion. On “Love and the Canyon” Cummings croons:

“The canyon is forgiving
Maybe I’ll meet some Hollywood man
Who drives a million dollars into town.”

It feels like dustbowl L.A., as seen through the back lot of an abandoned movie lot at sunset. None of that is explicit, but Cummings paints word pictures that encourage the listener to take their own flights of fancy. Maybe it is just me, but the record seems built to inspire internal reverie.

As I mentally danced my way through these image rich tales, each iteration became easier and easier to absorb. Before too long those slick stones were lily pads that I danced across weightless as I listened.

With the exception of the title track at #7, the record’s opening third is the best part, and if you are only listening to these tunes as singles, that’s where you’ll find them. I wouldn’t encourage that approach though. The album is not just a collection of songs, but more like one long poem, divided into 11 movements, finally ending with this last stanza from “Help Is On It’s Way”:

“Your guitar
It weeps a naive melody
And if you see her
Say hello
Pick up your heart of gold”

Don’t worry if these final words sound jarring and external to your experience where you expected revelation. It happened to me too. Go back immediately and listen to it again clear through. You’ll find it start to sink in like the extended hymn to the human heart that it is.

Best tracks:  Something Going ‘Round, On and On, I’m Getting Married to the War, Love and the Canyon, Ramona

CD Odyssey Disc 1767: Ages and Ages and a Rifflandia overview

Up next my first review of a band I’ve been enjoying for years but only now is revealed to you through the power of a random dice roll.

If you prefer live concert reviews, we have that for you today as well, as I quickly break down the many live performances I saw at the Rifflandia music festival on Sunday.

Strap in and here we go.

Disc 1767 is…Me You They We

Artist: Ages and Ages

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? This is not a skeleton sitting on a chair. This is a person dressed up as a skeleton, sitting on a chair.

I imagine this is a mortal that was trying to cross over into Hades, maybe to visit a girlfriend that recently suffered an untimely death. He successfully got across the River Styx with the help of his costume and a timely bribe of two coins.

Unfortunately, after a routine sniff from Cerberus at customs revealed the distinct smell of living human flesh he was pulled aside and is now in a waiting room while some agents go through his backpack. Within, they will discover both a sandwich and deodorant – two things no self-respecting skeleton requires.

If he’s lucky he’ll just get swiftly deported and put on a “did not die” list (the underworld’s version of “do not fly”).

How I Came To Know It: Sheila and I went to Portland in 2019 to see a couple of concerts (Mountain Goats and Iron Maiden). Portland has some first-rate record stores, and I always bring my wish list to see if I can find any rarities or hard to find items.

I found some of those, but also noticed this brand new – and heretofore unknown to me - Ages and Ages album. Liking their earlier stuff, I bought it and hoped for the best.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Ages and Ages albums. Of those four I rank “Me You They We” at third best.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Me You They We” is the most gentle and melodic Ages and Ages record. Previous efforts have the same tight harmonies and call and answer elements as earlier records, but on “Me You They We” they double down on both sweet and smooth.

The result is a record that leaves you in a light and carefree mood. It was so pleasant that despite catching lyrics that felt anxiety inducing, or at least thought provoking, I kept finding myself floating back into pleasant reverie. Best to not pay too close attention, and let the music soothe me like it seemed to want to.

This is in contrast to earlier Ages and Ages records where I was drawn in and left thinking heavy thoughts on many of the songs. The wiki page suggests a considerable amount of turnover (two original band members, but sixteen former ones), and this likely in part accounts for the different sound.

There are elements where it is a bit too dreamy, and all that vocal and creative activity from earlier records isn’t quite there. The songs are delightful to relax in, but sometimes they need a bit more bottom end and dynamics to hold your attention.

While this left me wishing for the more complex arrangements over their first two records (less so, their third) there were still moments that capture the old magic, and none more so than on “Unsung Songs” a beautiful bit of harmony that feels like a choir of angels singing you to your rest (in heaven, not Hades). “Unsung Songs” slowly evolves from pure vocals into an increasingly dense sounding rock song, before reverberating into the ether, and settling back into the celestial ease where it started. It is a rewarding journey.

The worst track is “Just My Luck” which is emotionally empty and has an annoying central sound of someone repeatedly hitting a bunch of high notes on a piano that sounds like a kid discovering a chord, but other than this one clanger, the record ranges between inoffensively pretty or downright joyful.

Ages and Ages haven’t released a record since this one, and five years is a long time to wait. Their website suggests there is no active tour, and maybe they just faded into the light after this record. Given how light, airy and calming it is, it is an easy fate to imagine for them.

Best tracks:  Way Back To, Needle and Thread, Unsung Songs, Nothing Serious

The Concert – Various Bands at Rifflandia 2024, Victoria BC

It is that time of the year again when we all engage in a little “September Forever” magic and talk Rifflandia. (all photos below are by Sheila).

We only went on Sunday this week, but we went early and saw a lot of bands – seven in total - although two of these were truncated because at a festival you sometimes need to make real time decisions about what stage you’re going to go to or stay at. As the kids would say…FOMO!

To mix it up a little, I’m going to review these bands in the order I liked their performances, not in the order they played. Note that there were another eight bands that are not included here. I don’t review them because I didn’t watch them. I only regretted my decision of who to watch once – more on that below.

#1 L7

#1 and then some, L7 were the main reason I went to Rifflandia and I was not disappointed. Unbelievable punk rock energy from these badass ladies of rock and roll. They snarled their way through a 40-minute set that in any just world would have been twice that long. I felt immediately immersed in the rebellious energy, and the feeling remained – along with a bit of ringing in my ears – long after they stopped playing. L7 – you make my…hit list.

#2 Janky Bungag

Janky is an alt country singer from Vancouver and the main reason I wanted to get to the festival early (he was one of the first acts). He was worth the early arrival. Personable, believable and a great songwriter. He was also funny, as he sang song after song about loveable lowlifes. The only tour shirt I bought other than L7 and the only regret was he wasn’t also selling CDs.

#3 The Beaches

This was my fifth time seeing the Beaches, making them second only to Frank Turner. There is a reason the Beaches are a must-see event. Not only do they write great rock and roll songs, they are amazing live. Full of energy (despite just flying in from PEI), plenty of power and no small amount of mischief. Lead singer/bassist Jordan Miller oozes charisma, but frankly the whole band does, and I once again enjoyed the spectacle of one of Canada’s great live experiences.

#4 La Force

La Force is a woman who sings alt pop tunes with a voice of liquid gold. I didn’t find these songs catchy so much as immersive, but it was easy to fall into her sound. I don’t think I will go out of my way to buy a La Force record, but she was solid.

#5 Wooden Horsemen

Blues bar rock with a trumpet. Every rock band could add a trumpet in my opinion, and the Wooden Horsemen brought that trumpet to bear with zest. These songs weren’t exactly innovative, but they did get my feet tapping. Again, won’t buy the record, but had a good time all the same. Kudos the woman playing tambourine and singing back up who put her all into the performance. Also, did I mention the trumpet?

#6 K-OS

I admit I left this show halfway through to go take in the Beaches. I’d seen K-OS about twenty years ago when he was first making it big and I’d liked him then. His show has changed a lot. Much less innovative DJ action, and more of a mélange of crowd engagement activity. His rap is still great (including some freestyling I believe) but I needed a lot more of that, and a lot less exhortations for me to sing along to samples of old rock songs. Bonus points for the B-Boy dude whose only job appeared to be walking around looking cool and breaking out dance moves. He did a fine job of both.

#7 Crash Test Dummies

The Crash Test Dummies hadn’t been to Victoria in 30 years. The last time they were here they played on the lawn of the legislature at a free show that was worth exactly what it cost. One of the worst five shows I have ever seen. This time they were better, but it was a low bar to clear, and they didn’t clear it by much. The set list was uninspired and other than “Superman’s Song” largely forgettable. At one point they danced around in a way that felt like a Sharon, Lois and Bram show, but with less energy. I regret not leaving and going to see the Cro-Mags.

Apart from that one bummer show experience, this was one of the best lineups of  any Rifflandia in recent memory, and well worth the price of admission and $14 cans of cider.

CD Odyssey Disc 1766: Halestorm

The weekend has arrived, and I am ready for a good one filled with good times, good friends and lots and lots of music.

Disc 1766 is…Vicious

Artist: Halestorm

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? This cover takes a real “hands on” approach. Some of these hands seem interested in Lzzy Hale’s necklace, others her jacket. Whatever the case…rude.

Also of note, according to that watch in the upper right it is 5:20, in the time zone west of wherever this hand attack is taking place, it is 4:20. I like to think it is Mountain Time, making it a mountain high.

How I Came To Know It: As I noted when I reviewed “Back from the Dead” at Disc 1747, I found the whole Halestorm collection in a store at…the mall. Weird, but fortuitous.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Halestorm albums. “Vicious” falls in the middle of the collection, third best.

Ratings: 4 stars

Visceral power. That is what you can expect on any Halestorm record, and while “Vicious” may have some disgruntled metal heads say it isn’t “metal enough,” it makes up for that with some solid songwriting and, of course, the ever-present revelation of Lzzy Hale’s vocals.

More on that later, but let’s start with the musicianship this record delivers. Halestorm plays a kind of music that can sound very by-the-numbers done wrong in one direction, and very muddy done wrong in the other. To play this tightly timed anthemic style of hard rock you need to be very precise, but you also have to sound emotionally engaged. The guitars have to snarl. The drums have to snap. Because of the overshadowing effect of Lzzy Hale’s vocal talents, the band doesn’t get enough credit for holding up the back end.

The crunch on the record is there, but it comes and goes. It is a deliberate effect of the arrangement to lay off a bit, letting Hale belt it out, and then coming back in hard for the chorus. It is a very old trick of arrangement and production that is found most commonly in pop music. It lends itself to repeat listens, because the more you anticipate the cues of where the song will jump in or out of the full crunch, the better your air-guitar and perfectly timed horn throwing becomes. In short, you feel clever, knowing what’s going to happen.

That production strays close to a Nu Metal “over loud” sound in places, but just enough to make me notice the similarities, not enough to ruin it. If you ever wonder what a loudly produced record would sound like when done well, then this is it.

Thematically, these songs are straight ahead, no chaser. Lzzy Hale likes to rock out, she likes to rebel, and she likes to get a little nasty. She is not embarrassed to sing about any of this. The result is a mix of anthems, calls to action, and booty calls. Expect lots of songs encouraging the listener to feel their own power, and not let the world bow you down, never not ever. It feels pretty good, and on every listen I found myself filled with energy and determination to soldier on.

The sexy songs are quite sexy, notably “Do Not Disturb” and “Conflicted”. “Do Not Disturb” is a late-night booty call in a hotel before our narrator jets off to a new city. The lyrics are not for misinterpretation:

“I'm on the very top floor room 1334
There's a king size bed but we can do it on the floor
Turn your cellphone off, leave a sign on the door
That says "Do not disturb"

Ever walk past a hotel door and hear something sexy happening on the other side? Don’t lie, we’ve all experienced this (n.b. when this happens don’t be creepy – keep walking). Well, “Do Not Disturb” is here to confirm that whatever the best thing you can imagine is going on in there, is going on in there. “Do Not Disturb” has a great song structure as well, filled with a churning energy and an invitation to sing along. Which is fitting, given the invitational nature of the lyrics (other great line “bring your girlfriend too/Two is better than one, three is better than two”).

If “Do Not Disturb” is about a woman making her desires plain, then its flip side is “Conflicted,” where she is calling on her paramour to take the initiative. She’s conflicted, but not really, and the song is saying “come on over and stop waiting for an invitation.”

Feeling uncomfortable with all this unabashed sexuality? Well, on “Uncomfortable” Hale lets you know that’s her intent. Don’t worry, though. Uncomfortable is a good place to be when experiencing art.

I mentioned at the top that the star of Halestorm is Lzzy Hale’s vocal prowess. Every song discussed above is elevated several steps because of her power. Never is it more true than on the record’s last song, “The Silence”.

“The Silence” is a song about enduring love, a commitment to your partner through thick and thin, frost and fire. The arrangement is just Hale and an acoustic guitar but it fills the room more completely than any of the more rock-arranged songs prior. When she hits full throat on this song you will stop what you are doing. You will shut up, you will lay back and you will suffer that voice to fill every corner of your soul. You won’t have a choice in this matter but don’t worry - it will feel fucking great.

Best tracks:  Black Vultures, Do Not Disturb, Conflicted, White Dress, The Silence

CD Odyssey Disc 1765: Lori McKenna

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. I got out for a run today before the rain came, which helped me get an extra listen in on this next record. Running is one of those “don’t do anything else while listening” tasks that is allowed under Rule #4.

Yeah, I realize it says “walking around” but running is basically walking around at an accelerated pace.

Disc 1765 is…The Balladeer

Artist: Lori McKenna

Year of Release: 2020

What’s up with the Cover? This album came out in 2020, so no surprise the live action shot has no one else in it – Lori is probably maintaining a minimum six-foot distance in observation of COVID protocols.

How I Came To Know It: I was already an avowed Lori McKenna fan, so just bought this record when it came out, as we fans do.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Lori McKenna albums. I want to have eight, but those missing two are devilishly hard to find. Anyway, of the six I do have, I put “The Balladeer” at #4. It isn’t bad, it’s just that there are four better.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

Lori McKenna is not going to blow the doors off with her vocals, and as songwriting goes this is very much dead centre in the down-home old school country variety. Don’t expect to be artistically challenged but do expect to find yourself settling into a contemplative and peaceful headspace.

A Lori McKenna song is like the rustle of browning maple leaves blowing past on an early fall breeze. It feels easy and relaxed, with the rustling restlessness memory of days gone by. She’s an old soul that is always in a state of remembering being young, and it creates a narrative that marries the two experiences.

On “The Balladeer” McKenna explores well-worn themes of faith, family and wistful reverie. My instinct was to be bored with the subject matter as overused and obvious. How many songs can you have about intergenerational love (grandfathers/grandsons, moms and daughters, sisters, etc.)? Turns out you can have quite a few if those songs are each individually good enough to hold your attention. I won’t deny that I would love McKenna to explore a bit more creative space, and write songs with more edge, but I also can’t deny that the simple themes she chooses are done with artful care and quiet beauty.

On this record, McKenna often explores character by comparison, and how similar experiences can yield very different people On “Marie” she writes from the perspective of two sisters, raised in exactly the same experience, and the subtle turn of how they are both the same and different. How as siblings you can walk in the same shoes through childhood and end up both the same and different. Or as McKenna reflects:

“She looks more like our mother
She's prettier and softer
And she always helps me find my way
I've been lost a time or two
She knows bigger words than I do
But we both got the same size shoes
And no one's ever walked in mine, but me and Marie”

This “same but different” theme is further explored from a darker place on “Two Birds” where she tells the story of two women who meet one fateful night to find out they are both in a relationship with the same man. The women are different in temperament:

“One was a red dress, a wild one from out West
Didn't waste a minute with her heart
The other was a bluebird, careful with her sweet words
Unless she let you hold her in the dark”

But united in their betrayal. It would be a great song if that’s all McKenna explores, but she goes even further to capture the strange pathology of the man

“He wasn't cruel, he wasn't mean
But he had a way of breaking things
His aim was truer than an arrow from a bow”

So easy to just make the man a cad, but he is depicted here not so much cruel as careless. Like a child with a stone throwing it idly, felling two birds with one stone. It is a great image that reveals late, and adds depth to the story you’re not expecting.

This is McKenna at her best, seeing humanity in even the most broken of her characters. You’ll find tragedy aplenty on “The Balladeer” but you’ll be hard pressed to find true evil. In McKenna’s world even people making the worst choices are just damaged and hurt, and looking for connection.

This record felt like a collection of hugs from your mom or maybe your favourite aunt. Sometimes the hug is the kind you might get at a wedding, and sometimes at a funeral, but all of them feel kind and reassuring.

Best tracks:  The Balladeer, Marie, The Dream, Uphill, Two Birds

CD Odyssey Disc 1764: Frank Turner

This is a bit of a monster entry, featuring both a regular album review and then a live concert recap to follow. It is a lot to read, but there are way more photos than usual if your eyes get tired from looking at words.

Disc 1764 is…Undefeated

Artist: Frank Turner

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Frank from behind, sporting a new tattoo? It would be on brand, as he seems to get a new tattoo when he does a new record. Previous tattoos were more interesting than this one, but tattoos aren’t for other people, they’re for you.

I’m less a fan of the dark and indistinct filter making it hard to see much here. It gets worse in the liner notes which are printed in dark grey on black and nigh impossible to read. Would it kill you to be undefeated in slightly better light, Frank?

How I Came To Know It: I’m a Frank Turner fan, full stop. When he releases a new album, I buy that fucking album.

How It Stacks Up: I have 10 Frank Turner albums. I like them all, but anything new is going to be up against some legendary stuff. “Undefeated” is his best in years, but still comes in only at #8, bumping “FTHC” and “No Man’s Land” down a spot.

Ratings: 3 stars

For the last five years Frank’s been experimenting with his sound. On 2019’s “No Man’s Land” he did a theme album dedicated to various famous and infamous women. In 2022 he went back to his punk roots with the much heavier sounding “FTHC”. “Undefeated” is Frank returning to his core sound: folk rock anthems full of messages of overcoming adversity, anxiety, or both.

Being a huge Frank Turner fan means that I’m perfectly happy with his core sound, thank you very much, and while I enjoyed his previous two records “Undefeated” felt like slipping on a comfortable pair of shoes that have been too-long neglected at the back of the closet.

Turner’s albums always feature a couple of songs suitable for singing along, and ‘Undefeated” wastes no time getting into one. “Do One” launches the record, once again putting the theme of standing up for yourself front and centre. It starts with this positive bit of rhyme:

“Some people are just going to hate you,
No matter what you do.
So don't waste your time trying to change their minds –
Just be a better you.”

Good advice, and the verses of the song have that timeless lilting pine that characterizes much of Turner’s music. Unfortunately, the sing-along is just a scale up and down of “do do do do”. I expect more of a Frank sing-along than this – we are Turnerites, Frank – we can remember a few lines of actual words!

Much better on this front is “No Thank You for the Music” where our invitation to join is around a chorus of:

“I don’t want to be in any gang that you’re in.
I refuse to take part in gatekeeping people’s art.”

Yes, much better and again, an excellent message. Art doesn’t require gates. If you don’t like an artist, stop listening to them and your problem is solved. Also this song is the catchiest on the record, making singing along that much more enjoyable.

Frank sings about what he knows. On “Show People” he describes what it is like to be on perpetual tour, and how to own that and be proud of it. Not everyone was born to be a performer, but if you’re infected with this sickness, take pride in it and worry less about the money, and more about the experience. Frank has taken his own advice for years, and the world is better for it.

Turner is also very open about his lifelong struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. On “Undefeated” we have a couple, “Ceasefire” where he imagines giving his younger less-assured self a pep talk, and “Somewhere In Between” where he explores his struggles with imposter syndrome. Both songs are solid, and Frank is a natural at writing on topics like these without sounding like a whiner. At the same time, he does a better version of it on previous records.

“Undefeated” is a double disc set, where the second disc is the record recorded acoustically – just Frank and his guitar. The last time Turner did this was 2015’s “Positive Songs for Negative People”. His songs have such strong structural fundamentals that they sound great with or without a band, and I like having the option to hear them either way. Overall I liked the acoustic versions more, where Frank’s vocals come across stronger and there’s space and time in the arrangement to “feel the feels” of what he’s laying down.

Overall, “Undefeated” is a solid record from a singer-songwriter who long ago mastered his craft, and who continues to find new ways to make even an old sound fresh and enjoyable.

Best tracks:  Girl from the Record Shop, East Finchley, No Thank You for the Music, The Leaders, Show People

The Concert: September 3, 2024 at the Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver BC

This was my second “commando raid” concert of the summer, where Sheila and I fly over to Vancouver, see a show that night, and fly home the next morning. The concert itself is probably 10% of the total cost, so it has to be worth it. This was to be our sixth time seeing Frank Turner. He’s also the only artist I’ve ever travelled to multiple towns to see on successive nights. I knew in advance it would be worth it.

The Venue:

The Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver is an iconic venue to see live music. It was built in 1929 and is a classic art deco ballroom, with a sprung dance floor that invites revelry. The downside of the Commodore is it is a lot of work to secure a table without paying a reserve fee. Sheila and I lined up an hour in advance and were rewarded with a choice location in one of the terraced side tables near the stage.

As we sipped our drinks we thought back on the types of music the place would have seen. Big band banquet hall stuff in the thirties, young local gals dancing with soldiers on leave in the forties, and everything else that followed in the great and glorious celebration of music through the ages.

Bridge City Sinners

The opening act were Portland’s the Bridge City Sinners. I knew nothing about this band other than the fact that they had great t-shirt art.

In fact, the pre-event lineup at the merch table had four times as many Bridge City Sinner devotees as Turnerites. I walked up to the Frank Turner merch table with about as much difficulty as a woman finding an open bathroom stall at a football stadium.

Then I decided, quite whimsically, to line up again in the longer Bridge City Sinner line and take a chance on them. It felt like those folks were in on something I wasn’t, and they had the look of real music fans about them.

While waiting I met a very large, very dangerous looking man who turned out to be entirely jovial and talkative. We had a lovely chat while waiting. I figured he must love the band for a reason so, as I did when I saw the Smalls back in 2014 (review here). I not only bought a t-shirt, I bought the band’s whole damned discography as well. I’ve since listened to two of the four records and can confirm this was a good decision.

But I digress…

Back to the actual band. The Bridge City Sinners are a style entirely unto themselves. They are a cross between punk and bluegrass with a fair bit of the devil thrown in for good measure. They reminded me favourably of Canadian psychobilly act Creepshow, complete with their own scary but beautiful lead singer, Libby Lux. Lux blasts with pure punk energy, all the while playing an instrument something that – according to their Bandcamp page – is called a banjolele. With a band this unabashedly smashing genres together, it feels like a fitting instrument.

It isn’t just Lux who commands attention, every band member seems like The Most Interesting Person You Will Meet. Special mention to fiddler Lightnin’ Luke, who was all beard and hair as he furiously sawed away.

As the first of three bands the Sinners got a scant 30 minutes, but they made the most of it and I was definitely left wanting more.

Bedouin Soundclash

Up next was Bedouin Soundclash, another genre busting band this time in the form of a three piece rock band that play a mix of reggae, ska and prog rock.

Bass player Eon Sinclair commanded most of my attention with his smooth groove and eighties shimmy-shimmy dance moves. At first I was enraged by the appearance of the word “Let’s” on his bass, with no accompanying verb. Let’s what? Let’s dance? Let’s go?

Later a blacklight would reveal the hidden second half of the message, which when fully displayed read “Let’s Grow”. Well played, Eon.

Bedouin Soundclash had good energy, and apparently were well known through Canadian radio, with Sheila recognizing several songs. I did not, and although I liked it all well enough, I won’t be searching them out.

In one low moment, the lead singer stating, “jazz is better than country music”. This felt like an attempt to recover from an earlier failure to ignite the crowd with a Sturgill Simpson cover but more importantly, the statement was objectively untrue.

One song I did know was their 2004 hit “When the Night Feels My Song” but given the way they were thrashing and rocking out, I was dubious they’d pull off the soft and sweet sounds of the version I recall from the video. In the end they did play it, but as a medley with a couple other songs, notably “Country Roads”. The crowd sang along, proving they liked country after all, and all of us – jazz and country enthusiasts – ended the set as friends.

Frank Turner

At last, having weathered the insistent requests from the roving server to buy more drinks (and succumbing a total of twice) it was time for Frank Turner to take the stage. Take it, he did, with a ferocity that immediately seized the room and lifted things up. He started with a couple classic sing-a-long anthems of yesteryear, plus a track from the new album.

This would be the order of the night, as Frank played all the favourites, and squeezed in a good half of his new record. I for one welcome new record play at a show, even though for every song off the new record that I loved (“East Finchley”, “No Thank You for the Music”) he played one that I appreciated less (“Letters”, “Somewhere In Between”).

As a Turner show veteran, times I knew what I should expect and got it all, and then some. Frank belted it out, Frank bantered, Frank encouraged crowd surfing, and then did some crowd surfing himself. Check, check, check and check.

The rules of a Frank Turner show remain the same. There are only two: 1) Don’t be a dick (i.e. dance, party and punk the fuck out, but not at the expense of those around you) and 2) If you know the words, sing along. If it seems like I mention that a lot, it is because it happens a lot. If you usually hate it when the person beside you sings along full-throat with the act you came to see I feel you, but trust me when I tell you that with Frank it is different, and you will like it.

I followed both rules with gusto. Briefly there was a table in front of us doing a lot of standing and milling about in our sight lines, straying dangerously into a possible violation of Rule #1. However, the largest and most boisterous of the bunch was none other than my newfound friend from the Bridge City Sinners line up. He quickly recognized what was going on and set a better example, and within a few minutes the whole group had reorganized themselves so we got an unobstructed view the rest of the way. Score one for the brotherhood of punk rock!

Later this crew left permanently for the dance floor and were replaced by two non-descript women who looked at their phones and took selfies throughout the show. I don’t know why they were there, but whatever combination of drugs or alcohol is required to allow you to ignore Frank Turner playing live right in front of you, I want no part of it.

Through it all, Frank was killing it. There was a brief moment about 2/3 of the way through where three or four “bad relationship” songs in a row threatened to bum us all out, but that was just Frank feeling the feels (he does this). It is one of Frank’s great connections to an audience that he can create a feeling of togetherness not just through rock anthems, but through a genuine vulnerability and admission of his failings. It has the effect of giving his audience permission to forgive ourselves a few of our own cares and worries. It is very cathartic.

And besides it was short-lived and before long he brought us all back up to a frenzy of horns-in-air/flip of the hair/devil-may-care ecstasy.

I am wise to Frank’s ways, but I succumbed yet again. If you haven’t experienced the sheer joy of a Frank Turner concert, you should give it a shot. For best results, I recommend you chat in the merch line not during the show and by all means take a few photos, but otherwise, put your phone in your pocket, or – where appropriate – use it to light up the room like this:

Remember to not be a dick, and to sing along and while Frank Turner is great with strangers that you will treat like friends, it is even better enjoyed with those you love, as I did with this lovely lady. Sheila, you are the best – I’m so glad we met. In jail.