The First Half of 2011--- The Best and the Yet To Come

What can I say?  The music just keeps getting better and better and there seems no end in sight.  I feel like Scrooge McDuck diving into his pool of money, except I have no pool and I'm diving into music  and not money--- music good enough to make me pretty much forget about the past.  Pretty much.  Oh, I occasionally revisit my roots--- mostly through the YouTube type channels the Net provides--- but there is just too damn much great music in today's world to spend much time in the past.  So without further ado, let's check out what the music gods have given us in 2011, starting with a real discovery and a reason to smile if not laugh outright---

HANNAH GILLESPIE/All the Dirt.....

Words are going to fail me here and there is a reason.  I have been writing and talking about Gillespie since Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, etc.) posted a link on his Facebook page a month or two ago and I'm plain running out of adjectives to describe her.    In recent reviews, I have compared her to Marianne Faithfull during her Broken English phase and while I believe that is a fair comparison, I think it a bit unfair to both Gillespie and Faithfull because though their voices are similar to a certain degree, their worlds are far apart.  Faithfull lived then in a darker world than does Gillespie--- one filled with, to borrow a song from that period, Guilt.  Gillespie is more roots-oriented, drawing inspiration from her world rather than her angst and you really hear it on beautiful folk-oriented songs like Just a Man and There Are Songs.  There is another side to her, though, a side leaning more toward an angst different than Faithfull's--- an angst of her own.  You hear it in the stark black-and-white portrait of Headlights, with its haunting jazz brush strokes and tonal heartbreak.  You hear it in the chord progressions and the strings, electronic or otherwise, of Tales From the Tote (Vinnie), a song which would have fit Faithfull perfectly in her earlier folk days.  The truth is, I hear this and I hear what Faithfull might have done back then if the world had been then what it is today. 

If you want a review, here's what I posted on my website.  If you want the music, head to Gillespie's bandcamp page (stream the full songs) or scope her out at cdBaby. 

RESEARCH TURTLES/Mankiller Pt. 1 of 2.....

I want to say, I wait for a year and a half and all I get is five songs?  What I will say is that if every band out there put out songs as good as are on the Mankiller EP, it would be enough.  The Boys from Lake Charles nailed it on this one, stepping beyond the crunchy Power Pop of their previous self-titled album (It, too, is a killer) into the more mature but equally exciting world of Pop Rock. One listen to the excellent Bugs In a Jar convinced me.  Back in the old days, they called music like this "radio-ready".  In other words, it is ready for radio.  And, no, they didn't desert rockier roots.  Mankiller and Rhinestone Gal may be a bit smoother, but they still have plenty of punch.  They also have plenty of Pop.

MARIANA BELL/Push.....

Mariana Bell is an anomaly in my world.  She is one of those singer/songwriters people without open minds are tossing to the curb merely because of genre (if I have to label her music, I'll call it Mainstream Pop).  This is the kind of music you hear behind Target and Resort ads.  This is the kind of music that makes you sway with the melody and dance to the beat.  This is Perfect Day in places and a  bit of Michelle Branch in others.  There is melody in Bell which can be almost viral (I'm saying it's catchy, folks--- help me out here a little).  My attitude is what's good is good and what's great is great regardless of genre and, man, this is as good as it gets.  She went in to the studio expecting to come out with four or five good songs.  She stayed to complete ten beauts.  I don't want to say that it surprised me (I knew she had it in her), but it did.  From Book (her previous album) to Push.  It's not that big of a jump, but it sure sounds like it.

ISRAEL NASH GRIPKA/Barn Doors & Cement Floors.....

I had not heard of Israel Nash Gripka until this release and I have to wonder why.  The guy has talent and a way of looking at music that takes me back to the early seventies when bands like Cat Mother and Country Funk and the Crazy Horse phase of Neil Young ruled my turntable.  There is grit in his music reminiscent of The Band in their youth, moments which sound like they could have been taken from the beginnings of Capricorn Records with a Muscle Shoals sensibility on the more soulful tracks.  Did I say in my review that this album could be the sleeper of the year?  If I didn't, I should have.  The following clip is from a documentary they filmed of the recording process.  Of all of the films being paraded out at film and music festivals, this is the one I want to see, start to finish.

NATALIA ZUKERMAN/Gas Station Roses.....

Until this album (and Winterbloom, the gathering of women to celebrate the Christmas holidays), I had never heard Natalia Zukerman but thought I had her music pegged.  Every picture I had seen showed a mild-mannered, dyed-in-the-wool folkie ready to sing Kumbayah at the drop of a hat or any song from the Joni Mitchell Songbook, if requested.  So imagine my surprise when those pictures turned to confetti upon hearing Gas Station Roses.  No mamby-pamby folk here, folks.  This lady does everything but.  And when she picks up the slide, man!  Sells them through her website, too.  That is very cool.

ZOE MUTH & THE LOST HIGH ROLLERS/Starlight Hotel.....

I have a problem.  I'm not really into country music but I can't get enough of Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers.  They are country, I know, but hardly fit the mental images being pumped out of Nashville these days.  They don't fit the music, either, most of it being everything but country--- at least, country as I know it.  Zoe and band completely knocked me over with their excellent self-titled 2009 album (which I missed until 2010, damn it!) and have returned with Starlight Hotel, an album of equal or greater value, and you have to trust me when I say that it was not easy to do.  It is packed with country roots music presented simply and honestly, Zoe laying out her stellar song stories with a unique voice and the band supporting her with just enough oomph, but no more.  Flash isn't in this band's vocabulary.  They don't need it.  Neither do I.  Watch and learn.

OLD CALIFORNIO/Sundrunk Angels.....

In spite of the fact that this album is scheduled for a mid-July release, I include it here because I have an actual copy in my possession and I can't wait until mid-July to pass the word along.  Old Californio is back, sports fans, and whether you know them or not they are well worth knowing.  Sundrunk Angels adds a Brit Pop twist to their solid country rock and folk roots base and propels them into my limelight, if not that of the music media on the whole.  It's coming, though.  You can't keep a band this good down for long.

JUBAL LEE YOUNG/Take It Home.....

Jubal Lee Young is the son of Steve Young, a musician who deserves way, way more than he's gotten, and Terrye Newkirk, a singer and songwriter who is re-entering the music business after spending decades doing everything but.  Most will know Steve by the Eagles' live recording of his Seven Bridges Road (a version bested by the earlier Ian Matthews version, to my mind).  Steve's fans might know Terrye as Cheryl A. Young, the writer of My Oklahoma, recorded on Steve's Seven Bridges Road album.

Well, damned if they didn't go off and have a kid, Jubal, who took up guitar and decided he, too, was going to make music for a living.  He's been doing it for a number of years now and has released a handful of albums worth hearing.  He started as a rock 'n roller but has slowly been getting back to his roots.  Take It Home is as rootsy as he has gotten thus far, covering three songs his dad recorded plus a bunch of originals.  Country, rock, blues, folk--- he works them all in with a flair all his own.  You don't believe me?  Check out his music here.....

FIERY BLUE

When Paul Marsteller contacted me about listening to the first Fiery Blue album (self-titled), I told him straight out that I would listen, but no promises.  It didn't take me long to realize that the combination of three (he is joined by Simone Stevens and Gabe Rhodes) was something special.  Stevens' voice and Rhodes' instrumental work and production was impressive, indeed (Read the review here).  Well, Marsteller comes back with thirteen more beauties on Our Secret, proof that the first album was no fluke.  This is Pop music with slight roots flavor, produced to perfection.  Here is a taste from their first album.....

ERIC CORNE/Kid Dynamite & the Common Man.....

Technically, this is a reissue of a 2008 album, but Eric Corne  decided  to reissue it because it didn't gain any traction when it was first released.  The album is stacked high with high profile players and the music shows it.  Kid Dynamite/Rancho Mirage freaked me out when I first heard it, and the rest of the album is almost as impressive.  I say 'almost' because it is one of those 'anchor' tracks around which other songs float no matter how good they are.  You have to hear it to believe it.  I heartily recommend you visit Corne's Bandcamp site to stream what I hear as an overlooked classic.  And he put out a pretty fine video to support the reissue as well.....

 GARY HEFFERN & BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.....


This one's personal, but still deserving.  I've known Gary Heffern for many years, having suffered through his tirades against the music establishment when he used to visit my store in the late seventies.  He was young, brash and full of attitude--- an attitude which carried him through a career of pushing the musical and artistic envelope at every turn.  He told me he was going to have his own band one night and I laughed because in spite of  his certainty, I had my doubts.

Gary quelled those doubts when he fronted The Penetrators, a San Diego band of no little repute, and went on to front a number of bands as well as becoming a beat poet or whatever they call poetry performance these days.  While Gary's artistic career has had its ups and downs, his music has remained fresh, edgy and, at times, outside the box.  He continues pushing that envelope, this year with an impressive group of cohorts known as Beautiful People.  Seriously, you have to see this.....

I really need to get more organized.  I should have been keeping notes.  I know I missed someone or some band and probably not only one.  I know I missed finding another hundred or two albums of note, some of those worth including.  You can bet, though, that I won't be missing the Yet To Come, the albums scheduled for release the second half of this year.  Here are a few I have been downright anxious to hear/see released:

KIRSTI GHOLSON.....

I don't have the album title yet, but Kirsti has promised me that it is close to being ready for release.  She caught my attention with a very under the radar self-titled album which she released as simply Kirsti Gholson.  I was impressed with her voice, songwriting and unique style.  That was, let's see..... 2000?  A decade's worth of water has passed under the bridge since then, I know, but I have heard the rough cuts and I'm just plain tired of not writing about it.  It will contain two tracks I play on a regular basis just to recharge my batteries--- Sing Hallelujah, a beautiful song which means something different to me every time I hear it, but always a reflection of the joy in life--- Dr. Lemmon, a musical slam at an icon of research using live animals.  I know it's a slam when she sings "Makes me wish there is a hell and it's where you're listening from." 

I keep  reminding myself the album is coming, but I won't believe it until I have it in my hands.  I've just plain waited too long.  I mean, I don't want to put any kind of pressure on Kirsti, but.....

SYDNEY WAYSER/Bell Choir Coast.....

I'll make this short and simple.  Sydney Wayser's last album, The Colorful, is one of my favorite albums of the last few years (read what I wrote at that time).  I have expectations that Bell Choir Coast will equal or better that album, but I find it hard to fathom.  The Colorful is full of such unique twists and turns and was so well recorded, it will be very hard to match.  Still, I have faith.  I think Wayser has only just begun to tap her reserves of talent.  On the way is good.  On the streets is even better.  Coming very soon--- but if you want to hear some amazing music, check out The Colorful first and keep your eyes open for Bell Choir Coast.  Oh, before I forget, Sydney has placed The Colorful on a pay-what-you-want scale through mavaru.com.  Follow the link and be ready to be impressed.....

BRIGHT GIANT.....

Bright Giant is right up there with Research Turtles in the band which deserves to make it category.  They are four man crunch with a side of Pop and a Black Crowes/early Stones base.  Their five song EP, self-titled and released in 2009, showed a boatload of potential.  Singer Josh Davis once told me that they didn't want to be stagnant, that they wanted to progress on a constant basis.  It's been two years. I already know I dig where they were.  I just want to hear where they've gone.....

KEITH MORRIS.....

Keith Morris  (not the Black Flag/Circle Jerks guy) is one of the funniest guys I know.  I mean, I'm still laughing at things he wrote to me a few years ago.  When it comes to his music, though, Keith is dead-on serious.  His followup to Songs from Candyapolis has been in the works for some time and may be slow in coming, but it will be well worth it.  I begged Keith for a sample and he sent me three rough cuts.  They are the three best things I've heard out of him yet and that's saying something. 

AMONG THE MISSING.....

is Carrie Biell.  I know that people have other things to deal with in life, but when it affects my music collection it is hard for me to understand.  Biell crushed me with When Your Feet Hit the Stars eons ago (2007) and I've been standing in line at the Biell store since, awaiting the elusive next album.  Until it happens, I take solace in the songs on When Your Feet (it is a magnificent album), but every once in awhile I can't help hankering for something new.  I know you're out there playing, Carrie, but where is that new album?  I'll take anything--- outtakes, sound effects, comedy--- I'm easy.