Chris Milam--- Kids These Days

Sometimes you just know.  It didn't take more than one listen to Kids These Days to convince me. Chris Milam's voice rides the edge of John Denver's, the very slight tremelo embellishing a song which could easily have been a hit in any of the decades since Denver dominated radio and TV in the seventies. And, sure, it is somewhat of an anomaly, but Milam is not one to cop another person's sound or aura. It just so happened that the voice (and song) has that sound, nothing more. I mean, others might be happy to sound like everyone else---God knows there are enough in the tribute and vocal competition game who are trying to do that--- but Milam has the music in him and he takes it wherever it happens to go.

He is more upbeat than Denver which turns out to be a good thing. After Kids he bounces from one to another of his originals, each written and performed to semi-perfection, or so I think. (Semi- only because perfection is unattainable) There is magic in the grooves here--- All Of Our Ghosts a mid-tempo ballad of sorts, helped along with what sounds like string ensemble; Autumn a slow-rocking tour de force of emotion and voice; Tell Me Something I Don't Know a march-tempo rocker; and an album-ender of which John Denver would have been proud--- At the End of the Day--- a soaring and all-too-short piece (1:23) which wraps up a very impressive collection of songs.

 

It is not just the voice, though Milam has one of the better voices I've heard in some time. It is the heart. You don't write music like this without one and judging from the quality of the songs his is a good one. Love, life, heartbreak, wonder are all topics he touches upon and very well indeed.

Look, I debated whether to even mention Denver. So many of us old fogies are so staid in our ways that we hardly even notice him these days except for the most hardcore fans. But Denver was a good guy and talented as hell, whether you like his music or not. Only time will tell whether Milam meets the requirement for sainthood, but he sure does when it comes to talent.

The album is titled Kids These Days, after the song. I recommend it wholeheartedly if you like mainstream pop/folk/songwriters. Hell, I even recommend it if you don't.

Added bonus--- this is one beautifully produced album. Worth it for that alone. Seriously.  

Quicksilver Daydream--- A Study in Psych

This would be easier to write if everyone had lived my life, for music was a large part of it. I grew up in the Fifties and Sixties and have since seen the ups and downs of musical trends most of you cannot imagine because while the oldest amongst us loved music, theirs was filtered through jukeboxes and radio stations and a few friends who had the desire to hear more and share. So while everyone shared the Beatles experience (we could not get away from it, in fact), the overall effect missed on a massive scale. We remember the hits but few remember the scene except as described above. Most never experienced the listening parties or the hanging out at record stores or the afternoons and nights of the lesser and unknowns played through headphones, the world inside all that mattered. That is what music was to the few and, like scientists immersed in science, we learned. We learned music and its many different paths but mostly we learned how to listen.

And I have been listening to Quicksilver Daydream's Echoing Halls for some time now. What started out as a simple folk/psych album has turned into a full blown experience. Each listen has peeled back a layer and the sounds, as many as there are, are beginning to make sense. Allow me to list what I have heard--- early Jefferson Airplane, The Soundcarriers, The Kingston Trio as heard through the experience of a monk's abbey, Anthony Newley, music fit for Broadway, a sixties junior high rock band, theme music for cinema, Sage Run, John Stewart, and Godley & Creme. And I'm not done yet.

Confusing? I should hope so. Those references came out of ten+ listens and in sometimes short bursts, the sound coming together sometimes for a measure, sometimes for a chorus, but there nonetheless. Don't confuse what I heard for influences. Chances are that The Daydream, who is actually none other than Adam Lytle, has heard only a few of the artists and did not set out to insert something akin to a theme for a hobbit-like or spaghetti western movie. These things just happen. Sometimes organically, and I am assuming that that is the case here, Lytle entering the studio with nothing more than an idea of the sound he wanted on some of the songs, the others solid in his head and creative heart.

In the end, what it all boils down to is psyche, the sound dense and lo-fi, thanks to extreme use of organ, mellotron, reverb and echo, and the sometimes monk-like choruses. Expect nothing flashy. The sound is the key and it is a good sound for those who dream in quicksilver, the mind loose and free.

Bottom line: I like this. I like this a lot. There are surprises throughout and I am enjoying every single one of them. There are caveats here though. Don't expect The Moody Blues or Pink Floyd. Expect the music to change on each track and even within certain tracks. Listen with an open mind, no expectations. Follow those guidelines and you might find Quicksilver Daydream much to your liking.

You can stream the album here. And don't be a needle-dropper (a person who listens to five seconds of a few songs before throwing an album on the trash heap). Give it a chance. Give yourself a chance. This could be one of those albums you might never have heard but for your adventurousness. One of those which shows you that music is only as dead as the person who listens.