CD Odyssey Disc 1946: Killer Mike

Last week I bought my first El-P album. More about that when I roll it (randomly) but for now let’s talk about a magical time when El-P partnered up with a man who would become his long-time collaborator.

Disc 1946 is…R.A.P. Music

Artist: Killer Mike

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? Killer Mike, chillin’ in Adidas.

My amazing and talented fashion blogging partner Sheila also loves Adidas (as recently as today!) and I think she wears it better. Sure Killer Mike’s the better rapper of the two, but where is he when I need to know if my tie goes with my shirt? Off rappin’ somewhere…

How I Came To Know It: I came backwards to Killer Mike: after finding out he was one half of Run the Jewels I dug into his back catalogue as a solo artist. And here we are.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Killer Mike albums, and “R.A.P. Music” is the B.E.S.T. #1.

Ratings: 5 stars

Before “R.A.P. Music” you will encounter many a fine Killer Mike record but those early records are missing a secret weapon: El-P. A year later these two brilliant artists would fuse together to create Run the Jewels, and on “R.A.P. Music” you get an early offering of just how great a partnership it is going to be.

The infusion of El-P’s brilliant production, and his mastery of beat and rhythm elevates “R.A.P. Music” to another level and results in what is Killer Mike’s finest record.

When I say “finest” it doesn’t mean friendliest, though, and “R.A.P. Music” is a furious, sometimes downright challenging record, as Killer Mike takes no prisoners. If you are easily offended or if the occasional curse word makes you blush and cover your mouth and sputter a high-pitched “oh, my!” then this record is not for you. You have been warned.

OK, still with me? Because if you aren’t easily offended you will find yourself treated to one of the finest rap records made in this or any era. You don’t have to agree with what Killer Mike says, but getting inside the dark constellation of ideas and concepts that he explores on “R.A.P. Music” it is clear he’s not afraid of the sharp edges of the pulpit.

“Big Beast” is the introductory track to “R.A.P. Music”, an expletive-laced shot of energy where Mike makes clear what you can expect for the next 45 minutes and change. In it he describes his style:

“I don’t make dance music this is R.A.P.
Opposite all that sucker shit they play on TV”

Worth noting that that’s one of the few lines in the song you can quote in company.

As for his flow, Killer Mike has one of the best in the business, a ball of fury careening down a mountain, controlled just enough to make sure it hits every sensibility it encounters on the way. Often when you get someone flowing as fast as Mike does it comes off light and traipsing. Somehow Mike goes just as fast, but where every line drops as hard as a lead weight.

Helping considerably is the skill of El-P, who has an exceptional ability to reinvent very old beat structures into something new and futuristic.

“R.A.P. Music” has plenty of anger and thump throughout, but it also shows melodic variance that keeps you engaged, finding time for a song like “JoJo’s Chillin’” which feels more like a cross between Jackie Brown and Ocean’s Eleven.

As the record progresses Killer Mike also explores more of his youth and experiences. These individual vignettes of his life are just as compelling in their intimacy as his grand political statements. The range of emotion and experience is part of what makes the record better and better on repeat listens.

That range is not limited to the lyrics. On “Ghetto Gospel” the duo throw in echoes of church singing for good measure, showing that you can slip a little techno into your worship, mix in some relationship drama, thump out some of Killer Mike’s rap talent and have it all come out the other end bigger and better than any of its component parts.

There was a time when I would have said that El-P and Killer Mike first achieved perfection on the second Run the Jewels album, but that was before I knew about their pre-history. “R.A.P. Music” is all the things that make RTJ one of my favourite artists, only in the before times. Sure it would benefit from a bit more El-P on the mic, but all the ingredients of their awesomeness are here, and what’s more, it’s all for the first time.

For letting me experience the magic of El-P/Killer Mike all over again, but making me feel like it was the first time, I’m giving this record the full five stars.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1938: Gang of Four

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey, where the luck of the draw brings us back to the late seventies.

Disc 1938 is… …entertainment!

Artist: Gang of Four

Year of Release: 1979

What’s up with the Cover? This cowboy looks like an untrustworthy creep, and the three panel “push in” effect doubles down on that feeling of foreboding.

Lest you think it is all a misunderstanding or a trick of the frame, Gang of Four has included subtitles that confirm beyond any shadow of a doubt that this cowboy is, in fact, a creep of the highest order.

How I Came To Know It: I read about this record on a “best albums” list on some music magazine site. I gave it a listen just to see what all the fuss was about and was hooked.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Gang of Four album (so far) so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 5 stars

To describe Gang of Four’s album as “entertainment” would be accurate to the record’s title but would fall well short of just how revelatory an experience it is. Entertainment ain’t the half of it.

“entertainment!” is a record that transforms the raucous protest of punk rock into danceable party music, all while not losing an iota of edge. It is a leading edge record of post-punk. Maybe not the first ever but arguably the funkiest.

From the opening notes of “Ether” crashing around with a deliberate awkwardness, you know you are going to be treated to sounds that challenge your understanding of rhythm all while still making some of the grooviest beats this side of Motown.

I wanted to just go on about Dave Allen’s bass riffs, and I could write the whole review about just how awesome those are. The problem is that every member of the aptly named Gang of Four represents an equal part of what makes this record leap out at you. There are no weak spots. Hugo Burnham’s drums? Insistent and aggressive. Andy Gill’s guitar? Alternatively gritty as hell and then loaded with sway and snap a moment later.

The vocals (mostly Jon King, with Gill featured on plenty of tracks) are blurts of manic energy, filled with unpleasant truths, a restlessness that lies somewhere between the political musing of the Clash and the stoned “I’m bored” vibe of the Ramones. The refrain in “Glass” sums up the experience:

“I’m so restless (I’m bored as a cat)”

These lads are so cool they can make restless boredom a good time.

Best of all, the production keeps all four elements even in the mix, each equally loud and competing for your attention. The sound is stark, with plenty of space, creating a delightful assault coming from all levels and directions.

The music’s pace leans forward into the pocket with a New Wave urgency, but with the dismissive snarl of a revolutionary. “entertainment!” sits in the heart of its own culture, simultaneously celebrating, judging, and taking the piss. The effect creates a breathlessness, the music giving you no time to contemplate outside of the moment, even as the lyrics echo evocative observations through your near-term memory.

It was all so bright and new, and I could feel the record’s innovations echoing through modern artists. The angry observations combined with creative beats made me think of Sleaford Mods, and the apocalyptic Goth-adjacent vision of some tracks reminded me of HMLTD. It feels like you are sitting at the wellspring of half a dozen musical styles, all spewing out at a frantic pace.

The final track on the original record, “Anthrax” is the record’s least accessible, starting with 90 seconds of droning guitar feedback and then some soupy soundscapes. Two sets of lyrics compete out of synch, one sung and one spoken, but lining up in unison for a half-line at the end of every other bar. None of this should work, but it all does. All that weirdness and excess could devolve into self-congratulatory tripe, but instead it draws you in and makes you dance, think, and then dance again.

The only thing I didn’t love about this record is that mine is a CD reissue with a gratuitous amount of bonus tracks (eight, to be exact). These don’t add a lot, but neither are they terrible. If I hadn’t heard the greatness of the original record immediately preceding them, I’d be giving them 4 stars all on their own.

As it is, there is no amount of bonus content that can deny the original record’s greatness.

Best tracks: All the original tracks, and some of the bonus stuff ain’t half bad either (Armalite Rifle is a favourite)

CD Odyssey Disc 1928: Jimi Hendrix

As of today I am on holiday! My first official act (my second if you count that rum and coke last night) will be to do one of my favourite things – write a music review.

Disc 1928 is…Are you Experienced

Artist: The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover? Trippy convex mirror action. This reminds me of Thin Lizzy’s first album (reviewed back at Disc 1251) although with people in fancy clothes instead of cars.

It also reminds me of the mirror on the blind corner of my parking lot to let you know if any cars are coming before you pull out.

Good for both the art world and the real world - all hail the flexibility of the convex mirror! But I digress…

How I Came To Know It: Everyone knows the songs off this iconic record, although I didn’t buy it until it was re-released about 15 years ago in a fancy new CD package. That’s how it was in the golden age of CDs, where the wise were out buying records at garage sales for $5 and the unwise were still collecting tapes and hoping for a comeback.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Jimi Hendrix studio albums, which is – sadly – all of them. Of those three, “Are You Experienced” is the best. There are people who may dispute that, but those people are wrong.

As this is the final Jimi review for my collection, here’s a full accounting*

1. Are You Experienced: 5 stars (reviewed right here)
2. Axis: Bold as Love: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1638)
3. Electric Ladyland: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 766)

*If you go and look at these reviews, you’ll see that I stubbornly put “Axis” in third, but if it is 4 stars, and Ladyland is 3, then that just makes no sense whatsoever. The Odyssey is a fluid experience, dear reader, and the final determination of how a record stacks up is at the end of each journey, so despite the err…er…’discrepancy’, the list above is the definitive one.

Ratings: 5 stars, but only because my ranking system only goes to 5.

“Are You Experienced” is one of the greatest records ever made. It reinvents what can be done with rock and roll, fearlessly blending genres sounds, and melodic structures, all the while showcasing some of the finest performances ever recorded in a studio. This is what perfect sounds like, and it sounds good.

Where do you start with one of the most iconic records ever recorded? Well, for starters, you probably know half these songs already from hearing them in a hundred places. When one of those hits comes on (“Purple Haze”, “Hey, Joe”, “Foxey Lady”) you never think “oh, no – not this one”. You might be at a diner, you might be at a pub, or you might be watching a movie that has (wisely) grabbed one of these for the soundtrack, but wherever you are, you will not blithely move along. You will stop, take notice, and think once again, ‘wow – great song’.

We’ll get into the “deep” cuts in a second, but let’s start with these songs. “Purple Haze” launches the record (at least the North American release as well as the blended/extended CD version that I am reviewing here). That opening guitar riff is as famous as “Smoke on the Water” and a lot more interesting. Jimi could’ve just let that be the song and it would still be a classic, but nope – he switches it into second killer riff (a third if you count that two note intro tag) and then morphs into a crazy psychedelic solo.

He does all of this in two minutes and fifty seconds. In under three minutes, Hendrix reinvents rock and roll, shows off on the guitar and makes every human for fifty years after look across the table at their lunch companion and sing “Purple haze!” with their best sneer.

At the other end of the spectrum you get “Hey Joe,” where Hendrix shows off his deep literacy with the blues in all its forms. The list of “man kills his woman” blues songs is long and illustrious, and yet this is the best of them. As is the case on a few of the songs on “Are You Experienced”, “Hey Joe” fades out with the musicians still going off. Usually this is the sign of a melody that doesn’t know to resolve but with Jimi, all is forgiven. The song is too awesome to know how or where to end and besides – if you heard the whole extended riff your brain would probably explode in ecstasy. That fade out isn’t a cop out– it’s a safety feature.

As for “Foxey Lady” believe it or not, it didn’t even originally chart above 67. But when I put it in the “three big hits” section earlier you didn’t question it for a second, did you? That’s how great it is. The third top ten hit is actually “The Wind Cries Mary” which is fucking awesome, but I’m running of space here and we need to move along.

Every listen to this record brings me a new joy and new favourite song. This time I enjoyed the warm bath of Jimi’s slow jam “May This Be Love” and the discordant glory of “Manic Depression”. The structure of this song bounces high and low and skips the connective tissue in between, making it a deeply evocative depiction of the subject matter. This approach would make a lesser song unlistenable, but instead it pulls you into discomfort and makes you like it.

“Manic Depression” is also one of many songs showcasing the record’s drummer, Mitch Mitchell. Mitchell’s drumming on this song (and this record) is as great an individual performance as you will hear on any record. Blending jazz and rock and hitting beats that don’t just fill space with interesting flourishes, but rewrite ways you can keep the beat. There aren’t many musicians that can go toe to toe with Hendrix’s guitar. Mitchell not only holds his own, he’s a big part of what makes the record great.

OK, we’re almost done with all this fanboy action (for which I am unapologetic), but on a personal note, it was very cool while I was grooving through the meandering but masterful “3^rd Stone from the Sun” to hear Jimi use the expression “superior cackling hen”. This is the title of one of my favourite early nineties albums by the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. (Disc 320). Yet one more brick in the road of inspiration this record has laid down for generations of musicians that have followed.

The iconoclast in me wanted to throw shade on this record – it’s my nature. Maybe the extended 17 track version was too much, or one of the songs was over-indulgent. Sadly, there were no gaps in the “Are You Experienced” excellence.

They forgot to punctuate the title? That’s all I got.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1910: Jeffrey Martin

After a stormy few days the sun’s come out. I’d say this is great weather for contemplative folk music, but the truth is I’m always up for some contemplative folk music. Don’t believe me? Read the review.

Disc 1910 is… One Go Around

Artist: Jeffrey Martin

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? A perennial CD Odyssey favourite – the Giant Head cover!

In this case we have the Giant Head of a person (Jeffrey Martin) that looks in need of both a shave and a shower. Possible that third “sh” word as well, although there’s no way to know other than maybe the pained look in his eyes. I get the same look about 45 minutes after I eat that fourth slice of pizza.

How I Came To Know It: I can’t recall exactly, but it likely relates to Anna Tivel, as I am a Tivel fan and the two of them collaborate a fair bit (and yes, she appears on this record).

How It Stacks Up: I have three Jeffrey Martin albums, and I put “One Go Around” in first place. I do this knowing there is another record by Martin that might still best it, but to do so is going to take five stars.

Ratings: 5 stars

Jeffrey Martin is a natural storyteller, and his songs will draw you into other places, other lives, and ultimately, yourself. You’ll mostly like it, but it will also pinch a bit. Don’t despair (or do) – it’s all part of the process.

“One Go Around” is guitar forward folk music, uncomplicated but deep. Martin is clear and concise with plenty to say. Some of the songs have a bit of country poking through, and others are the direct inheritors of Dylan both in structure and scheme. You could argue that in a couple of places it is too reminiscent of Dylan’s clever rhyming structures, but that would be unkind. Dylan just did it first, it doesn’t mean other people can’t do it. That’d be like blaming the Beatles for ripping off Buddy Holly.

Martin focuses in on quiet and often desolate moments. You can feel the space between the road signs, as his characters – some autobiographical, some merely narrative – navigate discomfort and existential dread. However, at each turn he helps you find warmth in the darkness. Most of the songs set up hard conversations in your mind, but they resolve either with a lesson learned or failing that, a realization that you can’t carry it all. Songs like these help with the weight.

Case in point, the opening track, “Poor Man”, which walks us into the kitchens and bedrooms of the working poor. Stanzas like this:

“They’ve got a baby on the way but his wife still feels empty
Says it’s hard to feel pretty when they’re always counting dimes
He sits up nights in the kitchen in the dark when it’s raining
He can’t sleep for the sound pounding in his mind”

Remind us that life’s complicated for everyone, and not having money can be a major reason for those complications. The song ends with the repeated refrain of “I’m not a bad man, I’m a poor man”.

Later Martin turns his mind to the lives of the intelligentsia, with “Billy Burroughs” a song about the tortured life of writer William S. Burroughs. Burroughs famously killed his wife by accident while attempting to shoot a shot glass off the top of her head. Martin digs into what that would have felt like for Burroughs in the years that followed, ending with the perfect summation of:

“All Jack’s horses and Ginsberg’s men
Couldn’t put him back together again
He was broken by the weight of his sin
And his pen”

Jesus. Dark stuff. Famous writers and unknown labourers alike all have their demons, and to Martin all of their stories are equal in the telling.

Martin’s guitar work is simple but played with heart and good tone – a perfect partner to his scratchy storyteller’s voice. There are other elements in the arrangements (Anna Tivel’s sublime violin on “Thrift Store Dress”, Tyler Fortier’s banjo on “Surprise, AZ”) but for most of the record everything outside of vox and guitar is back in the mix and unobtrusive.

This is exactly what you want, because when you listen to “One Go Around” nothing should get in the way of the uneasy but illuminating wisdom of these 12 songs. Each one helps you live the lives of others, examining your own through that prism, and emerging like an ancient mariner after a storm, sadder and wiser, thankful that 55 years after we first heard Dylan, there’s still greatness to be discovered.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1894: Hole

While I admire the nineties Seattle music scene (and have plenty of music from it) I never fell as hard for it as some of my peers. That’s the only excuse – a thin one at best – on why it took me so damned long to come around to Hole’s masterpiece, “Live Through This”. Glad to be catching up now.

Disc 1893 is… Live Through This

Artist: Hole

Year of Release: 1994

What’s up with the Cover? A now iconic image capturing the intersection of savagery and beauty that is a pageant.

How I Came To Know It: This album is kind of a Big Deal, so I knew about it for years, but never thought to buy it. This was foolish.

Fortunately, I belong to a club of music enthusiasts where we share our discoveries, and last year someone brought a song off of “Live Through This”. This caused me to investigate, recognize my previous oversight, and correct it on my next visit to the local record store.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Hole album, so it doesn’t stack up.

Ratings: 5 stars

Alternating between a sultry croon and a full-throated growls, “Live Through This” is consistent in one thing: it’s visceral rage. It’s the good kind of rage; targeted and thought-provoking. The kind that makes the listener confront society and all its ills and reconcile their place in that mess.

Grounded in the Seattle grunge sound, “Live Through This” sits at the nexus of punk and rock, with an undercurrent of pop-music hooks to help the medicine (which is often bitter) go down easier.

Like the album’s cover, this is a record about beauty with its mascara messy and running. Appearance and image – and the twisted way society can weaponize it – feature heavily throughout. On “Miss World” we see the inner turmoil and trauma of a pretty girl, and on “Asking For It” we have perhaps the greatest rebuke to that tired and petty sexual assault defence ever codified in music.

Courtney Love isn’t a multi-octave crooner, but she makes no claims to be. If anything, I think history has unfairly judged her vocals. She has a slightly-flat tone that matches well with her punk-style delivery. The slight disconnect, one half step away from pop, is a big part of what puts the sharp edges on these songs. When she’s singing quiet, she makes it sound dangerous. When she opens up into full metal growl she lifts the song up into the roiling angry storm that the lyrics call for.

The rest of the players are equally exceptional, with their skillful playing providing the platform from which Love can explore the space in the song without anything ever going off the rails- or going off the rails just enough.

Guitarist (and principle co-writer) Erik Erlandson is particularly notable, delivering rock grooves and metal crunch with equal skill. His guitar has a foreboding tone that matches the themes of the record well. On “Credit in the Straight World” there is even a hint of Buddy Holly lurking in there, under all that reverb.

On a tragic note, this record was the last for bassist Kristen Pfaff who would die of a heroin overdose shortly after recording at the young age of – you guess it – 27. Damn you once again, heroin. Damn you.

An unexpected discovery for me is “Jennifer’s Body” a song that is simultaneously about the attack on a woman’s body, and also her own inner disconnect from it. Is it a song of murder and mayhem, or just crippling self-doubt? Yes. It fits well with the 2009 movie of the same name. Not the same plot, but clearly with themes that (I think) are partially inspired by the song 15 years earlier.

There aren’t many records that can be this angry but still retain focus, but this record accomplishes it. It is a record that, like its title, isn’t just for listening, it’s for living through. You’ll be confronted with the inner demons of its creators but reflected back through the harsh lens of society that is one of the reasons they were possessed by those demons in the first place.

This is a winner of a record that took a while to find a home in my collection but will be getting a lot of playing time in the years to come.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1889: Sleater-Kinney

Merry Christmas! I am writing this sitting in a pair of cream-coloured pajamas and a gold robe (both vintage), feeling quite decadent. I hope you are having an equally sumptuous and relaxed holiday. Perhaps as part of your routine you would like to enjoy a small dose of musical criticism. If so, consider this my Christmas gift to you.

Disc 1889 is… Dig Me Out

Artist: Sleater-Kinney

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover? The band pays homage to the Kinks’ album, “The Kink Kontroversy” (thank you Internet, as I did not know this independently).

Rather than going on about that thing I learned without effort, let us reflect on the amateur photography of 1997. 1997 was relatively early for digital camera availability, so I suspect these were film photos that were developed.

The downside to film was that you only got about 20 photos, good or bad. As a result a lot of photos have the quality of the ones on this album cover, which look overexposed (no post-photo editing) and glary.

How I Came To Know It: I knew about Sleater-Kinney back in the day, but didn’t really dig into their music until later. I had a feeling I would like what I heard, and I was right. “Dig Me Out” was just one of a flurry of purchases I made in recent years to round out my collection of this awesome band.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Sleater-Kinney albums. I originally ranked 2019’s “The Center Won’t Hold” (Disc 1294) as #1 and reserved the #2 slot for “Dig Me Out”. But the truth is that the two records are both perfect, and so different from one another it is impossible to compare them. They are both #1, but I don’t allow this, so I am going to give “Dig Me Out” precedence and move it up to top slot.

Ratings: 5 stars

“Dig Me Out’s” immediate impact is a visceral one. This record shrieks at you with a defiant call from the peaks of rock and roll. This is music for scaring your mom and make your dad harrumph in disapproval (n.b. dad was also scared but harrumphed to mask his discomfort).

The vocal style is pure punk and the brassy back-throat snarl of Corin Tucker rings out like a war cry across a roiling plain of battle. Brownstein’s vocals are a calmer counterpunch to this battery, but no less emotive. Together, the pair sonically slap you until they’re sure you’re paying attention. Then they slap you one extra time because…rock and roll.

While the vocals are the easy access point, there is a LOT going on with “Dig Me Out”. The individual instruments, if played in isolation, would feel stark and incomplete. It’s the artful way the trio play together that creates something special. A couple of simple guitar riffs that mixed together create a layer of syncopation and aggression that let you know there is a lot more going on here than the chord or two of your average punk song.

Now insert Janet Weiss on drums, pounding out a panoply of beats that are sneaky creative, and you end up with a record that can be enjoyed for its technical excellence, its creative songwriting, or just for thrashing your hair around angrily when life irritates you.

A timely disclaimer amidst the hyperbole here. Life will still irritate you after the experience but a listen to “Dig Me Out” will make you feel better, if for no other reason than providing a voice and outlet for the irritation.

Like the music, the lyrics lead with the visceral, and then dig down into something more profound after they settle. The title track is born of a frustration so deep the singer wants to tear themselves out of their own skin.

Other songs are grounded in the wellspring of desire, drama, or even dance, with each expressed in the key of measured rage. On “Words and Guitar” the emotion is so overpowering all that can be expressed is words and guitar, rendered down to their Platonic ideals. Words and guitar are just words and guitar, and the music and delivery will tell you everything you need to know of their importance beyond that.

On “Little Babies”, Sleater-Kinney even bend old sixties pop forms to their will, twisting radio friendly arrangements and images of domesticity into something gritty and powerful.

“Dig Me Out” is like being buried in a fine ash. It catches in your throat, hot and gritty, but look a little further and you’ll see the source – an erupting volcano in the distance, all beautiful fury in shades of yellow, orange and red.

Great stuff from a great band that has changed their sound over the years but never stopped climbing the mountain of awesome. “Dig Me Out” is them at the peak.

Best tracks: All tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1887: Grace Cummings

Despite a very busy schedule at work, today I began some much-needed holidays. I’ll be doing a bit of shopping, and some chores I never get to because they require a free weekday. Before that, however, let’s give the people what they want. If you’ve come here, that would be a music review.

Disc 1887 is… Refuge Cove

Artist: Grace Cummings

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? Cummings looks like a starlet from Hollywood’s golden age as she smokes a cigarette and thinks about passion, the fleeting nature of mortality and just where in this Goddamn town you can get a passable Gin Rickey.

How I Came To Know It: I heard about Grace Cummings through her 2022 album “Storm Queen” which was also my #1 album of 2022 (for the full list click here).

“Refuge Cove” was impossible to find on CD so finally I broke down and downloaded it from Bandcamp.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Grace Cumming albums and they are all awesome. “Refuge Cove” comes in at #2. This being the final album in my collection (for now) here’s a full recap:

1. Storm Queen: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 1573)
2. Refuge Cove: 5 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Ramona: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1768)

Ratings: 5 stars

Every once in a while you encounter a voice that is so compelling, so majestic and otherworldly, that it pushes all other things away and demands your soul’s full attention. Grace Cummings has this voice. It helps that she’s also an exceptional songwriter meaning her songs also have something to say.

Cummings does folk music in the style of early Bob Dylan, when he’s at his most melodic. She paints pictures with her words that are grounded in unexpected imagery and big thoughts distilled down to simple truths. She has a bit more classical and jazz in the undercurrents of the writing than Dylan’s folk revival style, but the fact that you can mention her in the same sentence as a Nobel prize winner for literature should give you an idea of the talent.

As for the vocals, they are beautiful, but it won’t be what you expect. It is the vocal of a tortured ghost, a grieving angel, an open wound. It pours out off her in a way that feels almost involuntary, a low warble that coats each word it sings with a vibrant imminence. Once in a while she injects hurtful growl of a wounded beast, vulnerable and dangerous, but mostly it is just a deep emotional connection to every moment, every note.

I imagine some hearing Cummings approach to phrasing and melody might find it an acquired taste, something powerful and unexpected that might take a bit of listening to fall into. I would suggest that if you don’t fall into this stuff immediately then you need to lower your guard a little and let the feelings shine in. Do that with Cummings, and you’ll be immediately infused with the power of her testimony. If you’re driving when it happens, try to keep the car on the road.

The record starts with “The Look You Gave”. When I heard this song for the first time – having heard nothing else on the record – I knew I would fall hard for “Refuge Cove.” The power and majesty of Cummings’ vocals are a big part of it, but her ability to paint the devastation of a lover’s once warm glance turned cold - that shit hits hard all on its own.

Cummings poetry is clear, concise and rich with imagery. Sometimes it is an immediate thrill of discovery (“I need to swim in an ocean/as cold as the look you gave”) and other times it takes a bit of digging, like references to Paul Gachet. Turns out Gachet was Van Gogh’s physician assisting him during his struggles with madness. Cummings sees Gachet’s face in a spot on her ceiling. There’s a lot of layers to that onion, and they’re fun to discover.

On “The Other Side” Cummings muses about how to recover from a bad bout of musing. It is a song for all of us that have ever day-dreamed darkly, ever had visions of doubt and uncertainty, and a lesson in how to return. Midway through the song, Cummings encounters the assistance of ancient wisdom:

“Athena looks down and she
Begs you with reason
To hold your grief with you
In your hands for a while
There's no use for stillness
For the world keeps turning
It'll shake you and throw
Your feet off the wire

"To get you out of your slumber
Get you out and on the other side”

It's a stanza that pushes you off that tightrope dancing, and back to the crowd, but does it in a way that lets you know you’ll go back when you need to.

As for the music, the album is sparse with the arrangements, mostly just acoustic guitar strums and piano bits. Don’t expect a bunch of solos or post-production hijinks here. Cummings doesn’t need that stuff. She’s got everything she needs in her head and her lungs. It’s our job to open our hearts and bear witness as it bursts out of her.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1877: Neil Young

Welcome to that rare event – back-to-back 5-star album reviews. This one is much more relaxed than the previous one.

Disc 1877 is… Harvest

Artist: Neil Young

Year of Release: 1972

What’s up with the Cover? Not much. Soft autumn colours suitable for harvest time, and some scripty font. On this one, Neil’s gonna let the music do the talkin’.

How I Came To Know It: In the early seventies “Heart of Gold” was on every AM radio station in the land, so this album is in my DNA. I didn’t buy my own copy until the late eighties, however (and that on cassette). Eventually, when I upgraded my collection to CD, this was one of the first converts.

How It Stacks Up: I have (or have had) 23 Neil Young albums. I thought for sure this was the last one to review but one remains. So the full list will have to wait, and for now I’ll simply note where “Harvest” ranks, which is #1. The best.

Ratings: 5 stars

After fifty plus years of “Harvest” gracing our collective consciousness, there isn’t much left unsaid in the hyperbole vault, but if it is a well-worn path I’m about to walk, at least it’ll be a beautiful one.

This record is a masterclass in songwriting, playing melodies that take you on a journey to the centre of the soul without need of a single word. Young’s quavering vocals are the perfect backdrop, but he could probably just idly make nonsense syllables and this record would be worth four stars.

Of course, he does much more than this, adding his finest storytelling and mood setting poetry to the music. The quiet and plaintive prayers of “A Man Needs a Maid” gives way to the spiritual wanderlust of “Heart of Gold”.

Over the years I have cycled through almost every track as my lyrical favourite. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching of all is “The Needle (and the Damage Done)” with its revelation that “every junkie’s like a setting sun.” Beautiful and tragic, and descending to darkness with a reminder that there’s “a little part of it in everyone” to remind us that all of society is affected by the tragedy, and every one of us could walk the path if fate were just a bit more unkind. We listen to this song a thousand times each time emerging both sadder and wiser at its revelations.

The record somehow manages to fill us with bone-deep weariness and transcendent wisdom at the same time. The combination is both rest and meditation, and the realization the two are not the same.

“Old Man” always comes to mind in this way. In my early twenties, this song brought a deep connection to restless youth. “Twenty-four and there’s so much more” and the trepidation on just what the “so much more” would entail. In my middle-age this song speaks just as strongly, with different accents and connections across the years – decisions made, and the ongoing work to fully come into who we are through the accumulation of our deeds. I fully expect to find yet undiscovered connections years hence when I’m in my eighties.

Great lyrics alone do not make a great record, however. While “Harvest” ranges from folk to rock sensibilities, Neil Young’s guitar is ever present. Sometimes strumming quietly along in fellowship (“Out on the Weekend”, “Harvest”) and sometimes digging in with discordant raw emotion (“Alabama”, “Words (Between the Lines of Age)”). Young’s tone and style of playing is one of the most unique in music, and the brilliance of it is sometimes overlooked on his folkier records.

The arrangements on “Harvest” also serve the story. Banjo, piano and harmonica come and go at just the right time. A song like “Heart of Gold” would be a classic played on a single acoustic guitar, but the delayed entry of that harmonica hook a couple of bars in – that’s what makes it transcendent. Later that step-down of the guitar tag provides the perfect juxtaposition to the harmonica’s high peal of manic exploration. The combination lets the song “search” high and low, as the tension between the two instruments, and the rival hooks they play, mirrors the restless nature of the seeker.

Over the years every song on this record has revealed its secrets to me like a flower in full bloom. Untold decades and countless listens later I simply can’t pick a favourite anymore. All of them.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1876: Arch Enemy

For the second review in a row we get a Swedish metal album released in 2007. Much as I love Sabaton, this next album is better.

Disc 1876 is… Rise of the Tyrant

Artist: Arch Enemy

Year of Release: 2007

What’s up with the Cover? Maybe the titular tyrant’s coat of arms? We’ve got an eye set in a triangle, some serpent tales, white fire and a whole lot of nasty looking talons.

Or maybe this is a seal on some crypt revealed when an old building gets taken down. Break this seal, and risk the rise of the tyrant, fools!

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Arch Enemy this year, after checking out their 2025 release “Blood Dynasty”. This led me on a delightful journey into their back catalogue, which is how I came upon “Rise of the Tyrant”.

How It Stacks Up: Arch Enemy has released 13 studio albums, but I ‘only’ have seven of them. I bought all of these in a glut since March and I can’t claim to know them well enough yet to know my favourite for sure. However, “Rise of the Tyrant” is pretty goddamned good, so I’m going to put it #1 and dare something else to knock it off. It won’t be easy.

Ratings: 5 stars

Arch Enemy’s “Rise of the Tyrant” is a perfect evolution of heavy metal as an art form. In biology it would be the xenomorph from the Alien film franchise, except instead of being a perfect killing machine, it is all the styles of metal, evolved to the farther edges of heavy.

The interweb describes Arch Enemy as “melodic death metal” which is fair enough, but doesn’t do justice to the range of traditions you will hear on this record.

Yes, there are classic death metal elements, notably the double bass drum action, and the menacing growl of Angela Gossow’s vocals. Gossow in particular is incredible here. Early Arch Enemy’s main drawback are the vocals of original frontman Johan Liiva. You won’t find any of those records on the CD Odyssey because with Liiva singing, Arch Enemy just doesn’t float my boat.

“Rise of the Tyrant” is smack dab in the middle of Gossow’s 14 year run as Arch Enemy’s vocalist, and this record is a standard bearer on how much she lifts that part of the band. Every word is understandable but still infused within an unrepentant raspy growl that screams “I am the danger” at you in a way that makes you like danger.

But unlike straight up death metal, Arch Enemy borrows from many other branches of metal tradition. “I Will Live Again” adds both thrash and symphonic metal into the mix, as it throws chugging riffs at you, over which soars the rich tone of guitar solos. The guitars on this record are courtesy of brothers Michael and Christopher Arnott.

I don’t know enough about this band to know who is most responsible for the solo work (Michael is a founding and continuing member of the band; Christopher is only on studio albums for a short run). Whoever it is, this is some of the finest metal axe work I have heard. It isn’t super complicated, but dear God man – hear the tone. Buck Dharma himself would be proud.

In a fit of what can only be described as showing off, they even throw in a short classically inspired piece of guitar-forward brilliance called “Intermezzo Liberte”. Yes the song title suggest a large dose of self-importance, but that’s OK when you can live up to the hype, and the brothers Arnott do just that.

If that weren’t enough there are moments on this record that Arch Enemy throw in decisions that are positively proggy. Imagine a latter-day Rush record, except with the violence dialed up to 10. Like Rush, Arch Enemy is not afraid to take a song in a totally new direction midway. Like that riff? Well, here’s a different one. You’ll like it too.

Ere the end, Arch Enemy even throws in some Doom adjacent sounds on “The Great Darkness” which features creepy chanting for good measure, along with yet another tasty guitar solo.

There isn’t much on “Rise of the Tyrant” to fault. This record knows where it is going and even though there are multiple destinations, they manage to hit every single one.

Whether you are a connoisseur of all things metal, or just a one-lane “I like what I like” headbanger, there will be something on “Rise of the Tyrant” that will get your blood pumping. Turn it on, turn it loud, and you’re welcome.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1868: Ken Pomeroy

Up early and (as usual) feeling inspired by the power of music. Whether today finds you distraught or down or uncertain, or joyful, hopeful and inspired I can assure you, there’s a song for that. Go put it on. But first, read this music review.

Disc 1868 is… Cruel Joke

Artist: Ken Pomeroy

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? Ken Pomeroy in the flesh. Well, actually it is just a photo, but Pomeroy’s gaze is so powerful and immanent, it’s like she’s in the room with you, staring into your soul.

That place of raw exploration and discomfort is where art lives, and if you are intrigued by the experience the cover offers, you’re going to love the music inside even more.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of her on a website I’m partial to called Americana Highways. If you like folk, country and americana music, then Americana Highways is a great place to discover bands you might not read about on bigger music platforms.

You can also do that right here on “A Creative Maelstrom”, of course.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Ken Pomeroy record, but I have a feeling I’m going to have a long and fulfilling relationship with her music for years to come.

Ratings: 5 stars

Growing up in rural coastal British Columbia, I take solace in the closeness of dense coastal rainforests, jagged inlets and lush understory. Ken Pomeroy’s music features none of those things, but hearing her paint pictures of the quiet solitude of the Oklahoma plains and foothills, I felt blanketed by the same soothing, contemplative spirit. Or put simply, this record will you chill you out and make you think.

Pomeroy straddles the line between folk and country, which is the perfect vehicle to deliver songs that are intensely personal, and grounded in natural space and place that puts substance and gravitas to her self-exploration. Like all great works of art, “Cruel Joke” taps into something that makes the personal into the universal.

If you are looking for experimental sounds and new melodic structures, you won’t find that here. You’ll get similar song structures on any number of other singer-songwriters out there, but like anything, it is all in the execution.

Pomeroy’s vocals have sneaky range, climbing high and bright, or descending into a low register whisper. Whatever serves the song. I haven’t heard someone instinctually manage a vocal with such deliberate ease since Heather Maloney did it ten years earlier on “Making Me Break” (reviewed at Disc 1200 and also a 5-star record).

Pomeroy is no slouch on the acoustic guitar either, again not engaged in any Django Reinhart level innovation, but just playing with grace and feeling that lets you sit down into a song and let it take you on a journey.

Lyrically, this record is not only compelling at the individual song level, but Pomeroy goes a step further, weaving common imagery through the record that makes the full listen a journey bigger than each tune.

Featured prominently are images of coyotes, wolves, and dogs. The common use of canine imagery allows Pomeroy to move from the wild to the domestic and back again all the while internalizing each animal into her own state of mind.

On “Pareidolia” the coyote walks against the wind, capturing the spirit of feeling wild but constrained at the same time. Pomeroy blends this natural imagery with everyday rural experiences like “talking about money” and “switching to flats,” even that last image connecting footwear to a broader exploration of her environment. Even the concept of pareidolia –seeing faces or images in random places like clouds – speaks to the interconnection of the human experience with the natural one.

On “Wrango” Pomeroy writes a love song to her dog. I’m a cat person and I’m even a little bit scared of dogs but listening to “Wrango” I loved that dog. “Wrango” features some of Pomeroy’s sweetest vocals and guitar picking, and lyrics like “I’ll turn off the bedroom light/’Cause that sparkle in your eyes is bright enough to light the sky” that will melt your heart.

“Coyote” is a duet features the considerable talents of fellow Oklahoman John Moreland, and the nexus of the thematic blend of animal and emotion. Evocative lyrics like:

“Honey look out for the coyote
Sleuthing around the hens
Meet him with a stare and don’t turn away
If you don’t he’ll be back again”

On the surface is advice on keeping your chickens safe, but more deeply it is confronting your inner self, with all the strengths and the faults you’ll find there, and not turning away. Like the cover of the album, it’s an intense stare that rewards you if you have the strength to hold it and let it take you where, deep down, you know you need to go.

I’ve listened to this record a half dozen times, and on each run through, I find a new layer of exploration. Where Pomeroy is drawn to earth and big sky my West Coast mind goes to the sea as my equivalent, her music drawing me out into deeper water to the point that my feet can no longer touch the bottom, but where the surrender to that expanse is freeing and restorative.

Best tracks: all tracks

CD Odyssey Disc 1862: Albert King

Welcome back, dear readers. I’ve had an exciting week of discovering new music, enjoying live shows and getting tickets to future live shows. As Frank Zappa once said, “music is the best!” Since you’re here, I assume you agree.

Disc 1862 is…Born Under a Bad Sign

Artist: Albert King

Year of Release: 1967

What’s up with the Cover? A collection of five ‘bad signs’. From L or R we have poison, a black cat, Friday the 13^th, the ace of spades and snake eyes.

I take issue with the inclusion of poison, which isn’t a bad sign so much as it is a warning that says “don’t drink this!” or, in different circumstances, “have your enemies drink this!”.

Also as a fan of a) cats and b) Dan Marino, I take issue with the inclusion of the cat and the number 13.

Nevertheless this makes for a pretty great record cover, regardless of how you feel about cats, numbers, poisoning of one’s rivals or even Wild Bill Hickok for that matter.

As for that last one, as the kids say – IYKYK.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Chris brought some songs from this record to a music appreciate night we attended as part of a set list featuring Donald “Duck” Dunn on guitar (who also plays on this record). I liked what I heard a lot and…here we are.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Albert King record, so it can’t stack up. It is, however, released by Stax records, so it does ‘Stax’ up. Get it? Get it? Man, I crack myself up.

Ratings: 5 stars

If you listen to as much music as I do (i.e. a lot) you have heard plenty of people wank away on an electric guitar. And there are plenty of great players out there – Buck Dharma, Mark Knopfler, Brian May, etc. At the same time, as years go by it gets harder to impress me. Then along came Albert King. Consider me impressed.

When it comes to the blues, everyone fancies themselves a first-rate axeman, and you can get some unwelcome noodling and enough excessive blue notes to make even an enthusiast blue. It is every bad bar band you ever half-listened to because it happened to be on when you ducked in for a beer, or maybe just to pee.

Not so, Albert King. Every goddamn note King plays is purposeful, expressive and powerful. His guitar sounds like an apex predator, stalking these songs, slaying the chord progression and filling the empty space between attacks with purposeful growls.

And good God man, the tone! Notes boldly arcing through the night and into your body, making your spine twist in directions you didn’t know it could, and that feel so good. This being 1967, the majority of these songs hover between two and three minutes long, the effect being you are consistently left wanting more.

Like Jimi Hendrix, Albert King played a right-handed guitar upside down which is, for lefty players like me, extra cool. I play a left handed guitar built for lefties, but then I am not remotely as cool as Albert King.

As for the songs themselves, inspired stuff all around, and focused on all those usual bluesy topics. The title track being about how sometimes you just start out unlucky – although hard to feel sorry for Albert King in the moment, as that song is revelatory.

Alongside these we have the usual tunes bragging about the singer’s prowess in the bedroom. You can get this straight up (“Crosscut Saw”), a bit on the creepy stalker side (“The Hunter”) and my personal favourite, “Personal Manager” which is…er…service oriented. Best line:

“Yeah I want to be your milkman every mornin'
Your ice cream man when the day is through”

The Blues also often feature “cheat on me and regret it” tunes, and “Born Under a Bad Sign” has one of the greatest ever in “Laundromat Blues”. In this song, our protagonist has noticed that his lady is spending a lot of extended time at the laundromat ostensibly washing “a blouse or two” and likely hooking up with someone somewhere between the wash and spin cycles. Best line of this one:

“Yeah, you better hear my warnin'
I'm gettin' madder everyday
I don't want you to get so clean, baby
You just might wash your life away”

Because what’s an old blues album without a song featuring some threat of jealous domestic violence? I would advise the narrator to employ a marriage counsellor or divorce attorney instead, but I’m pretty sure this is one of those Biggy Smalls style “you don’t hear me, though” moments and he’s gonna do something that lands him the slammer.

Dark themes or romantic, Albert King’s smooth and sexy vocals are ever-present, as is some of the greatest guitar playing ever heard by human ears. If this isn’t the greatest blues record I’ve ever heard, it is certainly in the conversation.

Best tracks: All tracks, but if you only listen to one then the title track is “must hear before you die” level stuff. That said, if you only listen to one track on this record you are, sadly, an idiot.