DVD: The Who - Kilburn 1977

Label: Image Entertainment

Released: November 18, 2008

I've always known that the Beatles are rock's greatest band. There's no denying it. But I do have to wonder why I question that every time I listen to the Who. I think it's because the Beatles made rock music what it is, but the Who actually embodied it like no one else. (The Clash is probably the only band that I think of in the same way). The two shows on this DVD are a lot like hearing that stutter in "My Generation" or the huge guitar of "Baba O'Reilly" for the first time. It's just great rock n roll in its purest, most deliberate form.

By the time of the Kilburn show, the Who had an incredible catalog with which to build a great show. By the time they've amassed this kind of material, most bands have been at it too long and lost too much of their hunger to deliver on their own greatness, but nothing could be further from the truth about the Who. They come off a year-long hiatus and yet, other than the recording quality, they sound like they'd spent that year pounding out these songs in a garage, not relaxing on the fruits of their labors. "My Generation" gets reworked, but everything here feels as fresh and new just on the electricity alone. Interestingly enough, this came the same year punk exploded and I can't help thinking that punk may not have been necessary had other bands been playing it like the Who, with wild, reckless abandon and the heart of kids. I know, that's two bold statements in one review, but I don't make them lightly.

You'll watch the Kilburn show and think, "Man, this is one of rock's greatest bands at the peak of their power!" Then, throw in disc two and wonder, "How could they have been at their peak in 1969 also?" The answer is simple though. The Who never lost their sense of what their music was about and who it was for. They just stayed that good. Neither the video nor the audio for the earlier show is as good as it was eight years later for the Kilburn show, but somehow it gives an even better sense of how loud the world's loudest band was. You could turn the volume down to a whisper and there's still a very tangible sense that it's just LOUD.

Who is rock's greatest band? It might be almost unfair to answer right after watching this one.

Rating: 10/10 (only because I can't give it 11!)

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um (Legacy Vinyl Re-Issue)

Label: Sony Legacy

Released: September 16, 2008 (originally released in 1959)

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."
 - Charles Mingus

These aren't just words from Charles Mingus. He didn't always manage to make things simple, but one of the many amazing things about Mingus Ah Um is that he took this incredibly challenging jazz, in perhaps its creative heyday, and made it as easy as pop music. That's not to say that he dummied it down. He didn't. He did exactly what he said, made the the complicated awesomely simple. What that means is that it's as easy as a pop record, but the ride is as fascinating and wild as Mingus' later more "difficult" albums. Pop stars of the day, like Sinatra or Nat King Cole, were pleasant, easy to digest artists while guys like Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane were pushing the limits of music as it was known at the time. Mingus Ah Um doesn't split the difference between those two schools, but rather fully accomplishes the goals of both, something that may not have happened again in popular music until Revolver and Sgt. Pepper almost a decade later. It set a standard for pop music to explore, to be avant-garde, and rock music in particular owes a tremendous debt to that spirit.

As great as Mingus Ah Um is, I've only ever heard it on CD until now. Legacy Recordings has re-issued this classic on 180 gram vinyl and it's like hearing the album for the first time. Its already abundant warmth is warmer and the sound more natural. If you own the CD, this is the perfect time to pick up the vinyl and really hear it the way it was meant to be heard.

Ratings
Satriani: 10/10
Zappa: 10/10
Dylan: 10/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: The Baseball Project - Vol. 1 Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails

Label: Yep Roc Records

Released: July 8, 2008

Baseball is a slow game with a level of intensity and athleticism that is generally below that of many other sports. Yet there's nothing quite like sitting in the bleachers on a warm summer evening. There's nothing like the 7th inning stretch, nothing like a double play. Even in the days when a roid-ridden bum wears a crown that many years ago belonged to the storied Babe Ruth, baseball still draws us in. The story of baseball, America's pastime, is as beautiful and checkered as the story of America itself with an up for every down and vice versa. Its stories aren't just statistics for the record books. They tell us something about ourselves.

The Baseball Project, made up of Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate/Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3), Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows/Minus 5), Linda Pitmon (Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3) and Peter Buck (REM), is not simply a group of accomplished musicians who happen to like baseball, but rather a group as well-versed in baseball's deep human history as they are in America's musical tradition. This thoroughly American collection of songs about baseball, like the sport itself, is about so much more, because the band sees beyond the superficial.

They tackle the thankless good fight in "Gratitude (for Curt Flood)" (Flood sacrificed his career to fight against baseball's reserve clause) and life's tragic unfairness in "Harvey Haddix" (Haddix took a perfect game 12 innings and gave up a run in the 13th that kept him off a list of pitchers who only threw 9 perfect innings). "Fernando" shows the disparity between the displacement of Mexican-Americans at Chavez Ravine to build Dodgers Stadium and the LA fans' later embracing of Fernando Valenzuela. "Satchel Paige Said" is a tale of achievement in the face of adversity and "The Closer" is an analogy for moments of stress.

For music fans, the songs here are simply great and memorable. For baseball fans, the stories are a reminder of what still makes baseball important. For everyone, there is real humanity to which we can all relate. From start to finish, Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails uses baseball and song to tell us about life and few records ring as pure and true.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 10/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium

Label: Epic

Released:October 7, 2008

What should we expect from a live recording of a band within a year of its own demise, a band who had recently dismissed its heroin addicted drummer and was already splitting apart at the seams in the wake of its own internal turmoil? Will it show the band burning out or fading away? With Live at Shea, we get neither. Instead it finds the Clash in their prime, a prime that lasted their entire career from its earliest rumblings out of the ashes of the 101ers to the near bitter end preserved here.

Many of the songs find new interpretations in the live setting, particularly those drawn from London Calling and later. “Guns of Brixton” is faster, finding a new groove, while “London Calling” is rawer and even more urgent. Perhaps none of the songs finds itself better live than “Rock the Casbah” where the band disposes of the song's novelty elements and instead rip it up with the ferocity it deserves. The transition from funk to reggae and back as they move from “Magnificent Seven” to “Armigideon Time” and then return is one of the most powerful messages of the unity of struggle throughout the world perhaps ever recorded. The fact that earlier material like “Tommy Gun” and “Career Opportunities” fall into place more easily doesn't diminish their impact though. The Clash find the heart of all their songs and bring their own class war to a crowd that was probably not even on the same side. Still, they resonated, because a band like the Clash is almost impossible to dismiss.

It seems hard to believe that a performance like this came so near the end of the road. It may seem like an early curtain call for one of rock's greatest bands, but Strummer and Simonen would prove it to be perfect timing when they formed their own farcical version of the Clash for 1985's Cut the Crap. But here, three years earlier, it was a different story. The Clash not only show that they were the only band that mattered, but more importantly that they mattered right up to the end.

Ratings:
Satriani - 7/10
Zappa - 8/10
Dylan - 10/10
Aretha - 10/10
Overall - 10/10

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

DVD: James Brown - I Got the Feeling: James Brown in the 60s

Label: Shout Factory

Released: August 5, 2008

There is little doubt that James Brown is an iconic figure in American music. From "Please, Please, Please" to "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)," Brown has found a way to resonate not only within the Black community, but also in a broader America. As Al Sharpton says in The Night James Brown Saved Boston, the first of three DVDs in this set, "James Brown made mainstream cross over to Black." Like James Brown, so too did the Civil Rights movement crossover so that today we all reap its benefits.

When you watch The Night James Brown Saved Boston, you will see how one man in one moment made all the difference. There is nothing I can write to prepare you for the power of that moment. The whole documentary, over an hour long, focuses on that moment, but also puts it into the context of the America that led up to it, what happened in other cities that didn't have such a moment or such a man and what followed. It shows how a man changed a moment, how that moment changed the man and how the man went on to change people.

As if the documentary isn't enough, the entire concert is included on the Live at the Boston Garden, April 5, 1968 disc. Unlike the documentary, this shows in detail just why James Brown could make a difference: not because he was a profound thinker or a gifted speaker, but because he connected with people on an emotional level. When he asked "Can't I get respect from my own people?" they listened, because they were his people, not because of race, but because of what they shared in his music.

If you still haven't had enough of Soul Brother No. 1, Brown's March 1968 appearance at the Apollo (which also found its way to television as James Brown: Man to Man) is also part of package. While it lacks the historical urgency of the Boston Garden show, it does demonstrate that James Brown didn't need to be in the midst of one of the 20th Century's most poignant moments to raise his intensity to a fever pitch. While it doesn't quite measure up to the Boston Garden show, it's better recorded and better filmed. Among its best moments, one wasn't even musical. When James Brown discusses his vision for Black America, it's clear why he held such sway over the crowd in Boston only a month later and therefore ties the entire package together.

Does anyone question that James Brown was the most intense performer of all-time? If so, they haven't seen these shows. Call him what you want, Mr. Please Please Please, Soul Brother No. 1, Godfather of Soul, but the bottom line is the man performed with an energy, urgency and intensity that puts everyone else to shame.

Rating: 10/10

Review: Joe Jackson - Live 1980/86

Label: A&M

Released: 1988

In the liner notes of this album, Joe Jackson writes perhaps the best case for this album's greatness:

"I've always had two stubborn rules about playing live. Firstly, no matter how small the audience, how bad the acoustics, how smelly the dressing room, etc, every show is important. It's possible to play to about a dozen people throwing garbage and still be called back for an encore. Secondly, play what you want to play....My theory was that if I could still get excited about what I was doing, the audience could get excited about it too, even if it wasn't quite what they'd expected. After all, they could always go home and play the records."

Those words, it seems to me, should be the mission statement of all live performances and any live album worth the vinyl it's pressed on should convey that.

On Live 1980/86, Joe Jackson lives up to those goals entirely. Ranging from edgy new wave to reggae-infused rock to jazz and all things in between, Jackson is never short of the best a performer can offer. Whether he's angry, upbeat, sarcastic or melancholy, he shares that entirely with the audience. These shows are important and as a result, so is the album.

Jackson's performances span styles and bands (all of them top-notch, by the way), but nothing shows his desire to change things up and play what he wants to play, how he wants to play it, better than the three (count them, three) versions of "Is She Really Going Out With Him." The most mundane version here clocks in at over six minutes (almost twice as long as the studio version). The a capella version gives me chills. This is his best-known tune, the one everyone wants to hear whether they're a diehard fan or not, but he does it his way and succeeds in a way you have to hear to believe.

Often, live shows don't live up to their potential. Bands play the same set over and over. They fail to mix anything up to make the performance unique. Joe Jackson doesn't have these problems and the fact that it's clear on an album makes that album one of the greatest live recordings of all time and absolutely essential listening for everyone.

Ratings
Satriani: 10/10
Zappa: 10/10
Dylan: 10/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: De Novo Dahl - Move Every Muscle, Make Every Move

Label: Roadrunner Records

Released: March 25, 2008

De Novo Dahl find themselves in the difficult position of following up their amazing Shout EP with a full-length release. Even if they were able to reproduce the exuberance of "Shout" (the best musical expression of joy since U2's "Beautiful Day") over the course of the entire album, I think it may well have killed me (albeit with happiness). What they manage on Move Every Muscle, Make Every Move is to carry over the joy of their EP and to mix it up with different moods and tempos that keep the album interesting and even manage to put the exclamation point into the already exhilarating "Shout."

Fearlessly, De Novo Dahl kicks their latest album off with the very song that sets their own bar so high, offering up the rest of the album to be compared and critiqued beside it. They let things down easy with hooks borrowed from Elvis Costello on "Heartbreaker" and then get a little moody with the agitated pop-punk of "Means to an End." Further in, "Shakedown" dabbles in disco. "Make Some Sense" gets back to pure pop goodness and "Marketplace" masters melodramatic folk-pop. The bottom line is that they did figure out how to keep the album moving and changing and fresh instead of just trying to maintaining the high level of energy in the opening track (as good as it is). And they do it all with an overriding optimism that's every bit as colorful as their outfits. Prior to listening, I suspected that this would be an impossible task. After listening, I just think De Novo Dahl is the best pop band in the world right now.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 9/10
Dylan: 10/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

Website

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Mike Seeger - Early Southern Guitar Sounds

Label: Smithsonian-Folkays Recordings

Released: 2007

New Lost City Rambler Mike Seeger (half-brother of Pete) serves up 28 traditional songs, some with vocals, some without. These are old songs, songs that have been around awhile, songs that Seeger probably learned from old scratchy 78s. Seeger approaches these songs with love, appreciation and authenticity. Some of the guitars he used are as old as the songs themselves, but Seeger does have a technological advantage over the past: recordings today are much better. On Early Southern Guitar Sounds, he doesn't rehash old recordings, he relives old performances, the way people heard them live decades ago, but could only be sufficiently recorded today.

These are the kind of recordings that a serious guitar player can appreciate. At times, Seeger sounds like more than one player. The liner notes include information about history, but also tunings and hardware. This is a guitarists' album. But it's not just a guitarists' album. For the rest of us, it's just beautiful, timeless music.

Ratings
Satriani: 10/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 10/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

Website

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

DVD: Kurt Cobain - About a Son

Label: Shout Factory

Released: February 19, 2008

It's hard to ask someone to talk about themselves over an extended set of interviews and not seem self-absorbed. For Cobain, it would probably be impossible to ask that over a twenty minute sit-down let alone something this extensive. Cobain comes across as a whiner, whether he's crying about his childhood, his health issues or his fame. It makes it clear why he struggled so much with fame. It was so counter to all that he wanted to believe in. And it was counter to who we wanted him to be. He says that punk rock fed his low self-esteem, because punk didn't expect him to be a rock star. Things sure did change.

The interviews aren't what makes this film special though. About a Son recognizes that the story is about more than Kurt Cobain. Other than a few old stills scattered throughout, there isn't a picture or a video of Kurt or Nirvana. Instead, it focuses on places and the everyday people in those places. We've all seen live footage of Nirvana at all phases of their career, but here we get to see what Aberdeen and Olympia and Seattle were really like. There are no Nirvana songs here either. Instead, it's filled with the music that was part of the environment that made Kurt and everyone in that scene who they were as people and artists. That music is filled in with scoring by Ben Gibbard (a master of both mood and simple honesty) and Steve Fisk.

About a Son takes a common though extensive set of interviews and turns them into a work of art all their own. This tells more than Kurt's story. It tells the story of the towns, the scenes and all of us in the process. I've often wondered, "Why Nirvana? Why were they the voice of the musical revolution? Of a generation?" I don't know if there will ever be a good answer to that, but this film at least gives some insight by reflecting not Cobain's image back, but that of the people and the times.

Rating: 10/10

DVD: Nirvana - Unplugged in New York

Label: Geffen Records

Released: November 20, 2007

I have long felt that Nirvana is grossly overrated. Bleach was a good grunge album and Nevermind managed to both transcend the genre and be in the right place at the right time, exploding into the faltering world of commercial rock. Even so, it's more commercially important than musically. In Utero, however, is one of the two "Emperor's New Clothes" of 90s rock (the other being U2's Zooropa). After all, who wants to admit that they don't get it? Well, I get it...all too well. It's the bloated ramblings of someone selling their punk rock soul for self-importance. Sure, I'll give Cobain credit for not just spitting out another Nevermind, but it would have been nice if he hadn't believed the hype about his genius, because if In Utero proves anything, it's that Cobain is no genius. His death cemented the album's inflated legacy and protected it from ever being reconsidered outside of the euphoria of having mainstream rock finally say something other than "let's party." To me though, Nirvana was a dead end street at this point, a one trick pony who couldn't learn something new, but was too . Nothing anyone has written or said has ever made me reconsider this. Giving In Utero countless second chances hasn't either. But one thing has: Nirvana's Unplugged in New York.

For such a good idea, MTV's Unplugged had been a spotty affair. There were some great ones to be sure, but most were mediocre reworkings of hts and covers. So, when the broadcast of Nirvana's Unplugged session was on the horizon, recorded just a short time after the release of the, to me, very disappointing In Utero, I wasn't exactly jumping up and down. All of that changed when I saw it. Kurt Cobain's struggles with fame were absent. He seemed comfortable in his now famous skin for the first (and perhaps only) time. The band's ability to translate their loud, abrasive music into this more refined environment and be more powerful speaks volumes about them. Even the three songs they perform from In Utero have that power. The guest appearance by the Meat Puppets doesn't stink of rock snobbery. Instead, it's a natural collaboration that likely would have failed (much like the Meat Puppets' next album) had it appeared on a regular studio album. They didn't play all the big hits. It was intimate. Quite simply, Unplugged in New York was the creative pinnacle of both MTV's and Nirvana's existences. It all went down hill from there.

The original MTV broadcast is on here, but the main feature is the full concert as those lucky enough to be there saw it. The MTV News: Bare Witness feature has some interesting moments, but is largely full of stupid memories colored by years of Cobain worship following his death. The rehearsals show a bit more of the band's personality, a nice bonus, but are certainly not essential. While the bonus material isn't great, it doesn't have to be, because the main feature is still amazing, even for those who, like me, aren't caught up in the cult of Nirvana.

Rating: 10/10

DVD: Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Label: Universal Music

Released: February 5, 2008

The fact that this DVD flat out rules is no surprise. Iron Maiden is one of metal's most technical and most literate bands and, as if that's not enough, they're a blast live. Other than a few foggy Spinal Tap-esque moments during the epic "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Maiden never comes across as self-indulgent. Their stage, with all its Egyptian props and its huge, animated Eddie, is quite a spectacle, yet it never (even in those few clichéed moments) overwhelms the music. Bruce Dickinson, already one of the genre's top vocalists, is also an incredibly dynamic performer. He's everywhere, never stopping. Nicko McBrain is more exciting live than on record and Dave Murray and Adrian Smith put all the technical skill they have in the studio on display. And all of them pale next to Steve Harris. He is not only metal's best bassist, but one rock's best as well and he does it without being flashy. Any questions about Harris' skill are answered right here. In some shots, his fingers are moving too fast for the human eye. Literally. He's just that good and like Dickinson, he's wonderfully engaging on stage.

Unlike the superficial content of so many of their peers, Maiden has always been able to translate a good command of literature and history into great rock n roll. This is never more evident than in Dickinson's gratuitous drug reference of the night. Any other band would just ask the crowd if they liked beer or pot, but Dickinson's pot reference involved stories about Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Queen Victoria! Even when he's being stupid, he's smart.

It's no surprise that this film has held up well over the last 23 years. Iron Maiden was so unique and so few bands have even come close to matching them that they're still fresh today. And Live After Death is one of the great concert films of all time, catching a truly great band in their prime. Why, oh why didn't I catch them live back then? The DVD isn't a substitute for being there, but as consolation prizes go, it's nothing short of awesome.

In addition to the original concert that was released on VHS in 1985, this DVD re-issue comes with a second disc which includes videos, stills, live footage and two short documentaries. As if disc 1 wasn't enough, the bonus material isn't just the regular third-rate add-ons. The footage from their trip to Poland is particularly interesting. It was a bold move by a bold band and those young Polish rock fans of 1985 probably have an appreciation for Maiden that none of us can even understand.

Rating: 10/10

Website

Review: Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly - Folkways: The Original Vision

Label: Smithsonian Folkways

Released: April 25, 2005

It's interesting how sometimes, two completely different artists can embody the greatest facets of an entire style of music. For example, take a look at The Beatles and The Rolling Stones; one is the hopeful and adventurous warmth of daylight, while the other is the nihilistic swagger of darkness. And while rock fans love to debate the relative merits of each, they were both vital to the evolution and longevity of rock music. Neither band would have made as much of an impact had the other not been there as well.

Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie were a pair much like The Beatles and the Stones. Sure, there were many similarities between the two. Both were musicians who left the world very different than they found it. Both were passionate men of great talent. Both captivated their audiences, whether they were playing for children or prisoners. From the little I've read, the two men had a genuine respect and fondness for each other, and they spent a good deal of time together both on and offstage.

But it would be hard to find two musicians as different as these two. Guthrie's voice is as inviting and pleasant as a warm spring afternoon. It's a bit thin and a bit nasally and it has a bit of a twang, but its charm reaches out to you with a warm hand and an open heart. His words are easy to understand, and you can sing along by the time the first verse is over. He offers some very complex and difficult subjects in his songs, but his voice is so accessible that people can listen to his music as entertainment without ever digging into the messages of his words.

Lead Belly, on the other hand, has a voice that is like a humid summer night. It's rough and raw and difficult, but it pulls you into its depths and holds you there like a blissful hostage. His words can be tough to decipher, but his voice is filled with truth and life. And his melodies... well, the man's music is filled with more catchy melodies than pretty much every teenybopper pop band put together. All of these things result in music that, like Guthrie's, greets listeners with a warm hand and an open heart.

Folkways The Original Vision is a good introduction to these two artists, but it's more than that. By the time you get to the end of "We Shall Be Free" (a lively performance that showcases the best aspects of both men), there's a good chance that you'll understand things you didn't understand before. You might understand that, sometimes, things aren't as different as they appear to be. You might understand that, sometimes, beauty and truth come in really unusual packages. You might understand that, sometimes, warm hands and open hearts appear where you least expect them.

The song selection is skewed toward Guthrie's music, but that's my only complaint. Overall, this is an excellent collection. Each song flows naturally into the next, and at times I became so absorbed in the flow of the music that I didn't even realize the singer had changed. And that might be the greatest strength of this collection: it lets the listener hear that these two completely different singers share the same musical heart.

Rating: 10/10

Website

Review: Tia Carrera - You Are the War 7"

Label: Arclight Records

Released: 2007

Over the course of rock history, "Louie Louie" has been covered countless times. Its simplicity and infectious hook make it an easy task for even the most pedestrian bands. On the other hand, to my knowledge, only one band has covered Lungfish's "You Are the War." There's a few reasons: Lungfish is fairly far outside of the mainstream, "You Are the War" is far from a pop song, and most importantly, how would one go about it? The song is a great example of Lungfish's seething, yet oddly subdued psychedelic art punk. Where to go with a song that already pushes the edges of sanity?

Enter Tia Carrera, a band who's captured the trippy energy of Hendrix and the musical insanity of instrumental Black Flag on other outings. Even for them, "You Are the War" had to be such a challenge. Where could they take it? Well, first, they take the three minute original and expand it to a twelve minute epic (splitting the song over both sides of the 7 inch). Then they take the psychedelic power that churns under the surface to the forefront, rounding off its angular punk edges with waves of fuzzed out guitar and organ. The extended interplay between these two over the thunder of the rhythm section is one of the best excuses not to do drugs. Who needs anything else with a freak-out like this? This is what true psychedelic music should be. This is the trip. And it just keeps going...and going...and going. Even having to flip the record won't break the spell they cast.

If I had any doubts remaining after hearing November Sessions and Heaven/Hell that Tia Carrera was the best heavy psyche act going, this EP, this one song, a cover even, dispels them. Tia Carrera take an almost uncoverable song, shake it free of its moorings and fly off on a new trip.

Rating: 10/10

Website

Myspace

Review: Paul Robeson - On My Journey: Paul Robeson's Independent Recordings / Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 5

   
Label: Smithsonian Folkways

Released: August 28, 2007 (Paul Robeson) & October 9, 2007 (Pete Seeger)

On the surface, these two albums have little in common. But I happened to put them both on my iPod, and by hearing each artist's songs randomly mixed with Primal Scream and Pedro the Lion and Picastro (it was a "p" kind of week), I heard similarities that were wonderful and surprising.

Before I get to the review, I'm going to try to encapsulate two amazing lives in one paragraph. In addition to having a voice that's as full and rich as any in history, Robeson played pro football, earned a law degree, spoke multiple languages, acted in movies, and tirelessly fought for human rights. Seeger's reedy voice may be the antithesis of Robeson's, but Seeger has the same kind of powerful mind and personality that enabled him to accomplish things that are impossible for most of us to even imagine: he attended Harvard, served in the Army, protected the environment, and tirelessly fought for human rights. (Ironically, both men lost their own rights when they were blacklisted by the U.S. government during McCarthy's Red scare.)

They traveled in some of the same circles, so similarities in their music aren't that surprising. What's really interesting is the biggest difference between the two albums. Paul Robeson sounds like he's singing about the people he loves, while Pete Seeger sounds as if he's singing for them.

The spirit behind Robeson's work on these recordings is incredible and inspirational. Every song was recorded while he was blacklisted and unable to either work or leave the country. Each recording testifies to the strength of Robeson's conviction and character. But there's a problem. On nearly every performance, Robeson is accompanied by a talented, classically trained pianist. That would be fine if these were songs for concert halls and parlors, but most of these songs are about desperate and faithful people who struggled in the fields and fought in the streets. While Robeson's life at this time surely contained amazing amounts of both desperation and faith, the music here reflects very little of that.

The single exception is "Hammer Song," which was recorded in 1957 with Sonny Terry on harmonica and Brownie McGhee on guitar. Like all musicians who played with Robeson while he was blacklisted, Terry and McGhee ran the risk of losing their right to work in the music industry, but they wanted to make music with Robeson. And on this song, the only one that belongs in the bright daylight of the outdoors rather than the twilight glow of an Upper East Side mansion, Robeson made music whose passion shines.

Compared to Robeson, Seeger's voice is... well, it's awful. (That's not fair, of course, because pretty much everyone's voice is awful when compared to Robeson.) But the man has passion. Every song on the disc -- most of which are just Seeger and his banjo -- could've been recorded under a tree with a bunch of kids, outside a California farm with a crew of laborers, at a peace march in the South, or even in the twilight glow of an Upper East Side mansion. Seeger's performances exclude no one. He reaches out to every single person within singing range, and invites them to come hear some music.

American Favorite Ballads Vol. 5 is the last in a series of expanded CD re-issues of some of the most popular albums that Seeger recorded for Folkways between 1957 and 1962. Most of these songs focus on the American frontier, and they embrace everything from class war anger to drunken desperation. No matter how dreary the subject matter, though, Seeger is a masterful storyteller whose lighthearted touch provides balance to the often dark music.

Both On My Journey: Paul Robeson's Independent Recordings and American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 5 have an enormous amount of heart, but Robeson -- intentionally or not -- erected a barrier of intellectualism and refinement around his music. Seeger is the one who reaches his hand out and invites you to come in for a listen, no matter who you are or what you know.

Rating:
Paul Robeson, On My Journey: Paul Robeson's Independent Recordings: 6/10
Pete Seeger, American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 5: 10/10

Website (Paul Robeson)
Website (Pete Seeger)

Review: Various Artists - Down Home Saturday Night

Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Released: July 31, 2007

As the liner notes describe, all across the country on a Saturday night music and good times go hand in hand and always have. American roots music, from bluegrass to zydeco, has been an influence on modern music as well as a vital part of life for many, many people. It's the latter that this compilation tries to capture.

Down Home Saturday Night crosses time and genres, mining the Smithsonian Folkways archive to create a collection of what is essentially an American roots music party. From the opening track, John Sebastian and the J Band (yeah, the "J" is for "jug") doing the old classic folksong "Minglewood Blues," to "Uncle Bud," the zydeco closer recorded by Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds, every track can be taken on two levels, educational and enjoyable. Over the course of the album, cajun, bluegrass, jump blues, conjunto, Western swing (courtesy of no less than the Texas Playboys, masters of the genre), and country are all represented without the album seeming the least bit haphazard. Among all 15 excellent tracks, the New Lost City Ramblers version of "Bill Morgan and His Gal" still manages to stand out. The song itself has a clever comedy that eludes today's hip, cool indie artists along with a sing along chorus that is irresistible. Complaining about his spendthrift girl, Bill Morgan sings, "You might have known me pretty long / But sure have got my initials wrong. / My name is Morgan, but it ain't J.P.," over great old string band backup. It's more infectious than any of today's pop songs.

This may be seen as a label sampler by some, but that misses the point. Typically, a compilation like this would focus on a particular genre, be it folk or blues or zydeco or any other, as its theme. While that's a logical way to approach it, Smithsonian Folkways understands there's an even more fundamental connection, the spirit of the music. With that understanding, they create what may be the ultimate party album for people who love music. Sure, there's something to be learned on Down Home Saturday Night, but the album is such a good time, you don't even realize it's an education.

Rating: 10/10

Review: Chuck Ragan - The Blueprint Sessions (singles club and CD)

Label: No Idea Records

Released: September 2006 - June 2007

For those expecting to hear the next generation of Hot Water Music, go buy the Draft's In a Million Pieces. Chuck Ragan's The Blueprint Sessions only shares his former band's emotional appeal, but the music itself is far closer to the raw folk/punk that he did with Rumbleseat.

This is not a traditional release. It came out as a series of 7 inches limited to 1100. Subscribers got an additional 7 inch and a CD that included everything from the vinyl along with two bonus tracks. It wasn't cheap, but the unique format along with No Idea's beautiful (as always) vinyl made for a great package.

The Blueprint Sessions is as raw as it can be, largely just Ragan and his guitar and an occasional harmonica. There are no studio tricks to clean it up or cover up its lumps. That's not to say it's poorly recorded, because it isn't. It is perhaps more challenging to capture the coarse, organic nature of roughhewn passion than it is to process that passion into clean perfection. Perfection, after all, is counter to the purity of Ragan's music. Perfection would ruin it.

Lyrically, Ragan wears his heart on his sleeve. Not in the maudlin way that is so characteristic of the dying emo genre, but in a way that creates trust through exposure. He reaches out to the misfits "In the corner, where all the lost souls have been found." He touches on old-time country loneliness and mortality on "Hold My Bed." "For Broken Ears," a protest song against the war in Iraq, is subtle enough not to mention anyone by name, yet we all know who and what he's talking about. "Valentine" could be the love of a lifetime or a moment or, more likely, the lifetime in a moment. Everything Ragan touches, he touches with his soul, like an old Gospel recording. The Blueprint Sessions is a soul-enriching experience and it's about all of life, including death. The album itself might be best captured in Ragan's own words, "I wanna dance like nobody's watching, and sing like nobody cares. Climb to the top of the mountains we see to find peace and to die up there."

Chuck Ragan is not the next Bob Dylan. He's poetic, but not obscure. His power chord folk owes some debt to Billy Bragg, but his content has a more raw, emotional appeal. At his core, he may be most like Johnny Cash. There are no frills, no facades, no lies, just Chuck reaching out and touching us with honesty, passion and love (and a fair dose of righteous anger). This is not the kind of album that changes music. Instead, it's the kind of album that changes hearts.

Rating: 10/10

Review: Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

Label: I.R.S.

Released: September 1979

Whenever I see (or make as the case may be) a list of the "Greatest Albums Ever" or the "Top 100 Albums of All-Time," I find it unfair to include greatest hits collections and anthologies...with one exception: The Buzzcocks' Singles Going Steady. I love the album, but that's not the reason for the exception. Unlike most collections which are made up of the singles and best tracks from other albums over the course of a career, this one is a collection of singles that were released over a period of less than two years. None of these songs appeared on a regular studio album, so this is the only full-length format on which they appear. In that sense, it's more like a regular release than a typical anthology or greatest hits collection.

Unfortunately, I only own this one on CD, but the LP had the A-sides of the singles on the first side and the B-sides on the flip. It's a pretty good way to organize the songs rather than just going in chronological order, but it's no longer apparent on the CD.

The first single included is 1977's "Orgasm Addict" b/w "What Ever Happened To?" Both songs are more angular and agitated than the Buzzcocks would be a short time later, but not to the point that they don't fit in. "What Do I Get?" is probably fairly familiar these days having appeared in a Toyota commercial. Interestingly, it's B-side, "Oh, Shit" caused quite a row in its day as prudish (or punk-hating) workers at the pressing plant refused to press the single. Over the course of the album, the Buzzcocks craft their sound ever so slightly without losing their punk rock edge. It's pretty amazing that there is almost no difference in quality between the As and the Bs. "Ever Fallen in Love?" and "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" (another Buzzcocks song that appeared in a recent commercial, this time for old-folks organization AARP) are great catchy punk songs, but no better than "Autonomy" and "Noise Annoys" which were B-sides. The album's second to last track is also a bit of a forgotten gem. "Why Can't I Touch It?" finds the Buzzcocks stretching out with a song rooted in its bass line rather than a wall of guitar and hooky vocal melody.

I suppose in a sense the fact that the band's progression can be heard over the course of the album might argue against it being the exception to the "no greatest hits" rule, but there are plenty of regular releases that have taken years to record and have the same issue. There aren't many bands that can spit out 16 tracks, each of which has the potential to stand on its own, in less than two years. Most bands can't do that in a lifetime.

Rating: 10/10

Note: Rock of Ages has a video for "Ever Fallen in Love," so head over and check it out.