Review: JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound - Beat of Our Own Drum.

Label: self-released (CD Baby)

Released: February 24, 2009

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound hail from Chicago, have a song about Baltimore and sound like Detroit...in the 60s. That was the time and place where the local airwaves were a battleground between Motown and garage rock. While not the greatest to emerge from that scene, it was probably Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels that best embodied that clash. And it is that same collision of sound that the Uptown Sound tap.

Beat of Our Own Drum certainly leans more toward soul than garage as Otis Redding or Booker T & the MGs will come to mind quicker that the MC5 or the Stooges, but it doesn't take a very discerning ear to hear the latter nonetheless. The album almost seems as if it came out of that swirling confusion as previously disparate genres clashed. It's like a soul record that discovered rock n roll and added the best elements it offered.

The only difficulty this album really runs into is that it is often too smooth. A song will build and just as it seems ready to really break out, JC and company throw in a hook rather than an explosion. It's not a killer, but it tones down the crazy that both great soul and great garage rock always have. Beat of Our Own Drum is in fact so good that it hints at the greatness that it doesn't quite achieve. They simply need to trust the music enough to let it run wild at times. There are points when it seems like a James Brown moment is ready to happen and when it doesn't, it can be more disappointing than a record that never even comes close to those heights. That is the one missing ingredient that stands between this being really good and flat out fantastic.

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

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Review: Nikka Costa - Pebble to a Pearl

Label: Stax

Released: October 14, 2008

Soul has become a genre dominated by artists that have a real shortage of, well, soul. Sure, there's Jill Scott and a renaissance for Sharon Jones and Bettye Levette. That first Joss Stone album a few years back was even pretty good. But for each of these artists, there seems to be bazillions of good voices over bad beats and samples that are completely devoid of anything that could even be mistaken for soul.

Into this scene steps Nikka Costa on her new album, Pebble to a Pearl. The first thing that's striking is how retro her sound is. She draws largely from 60s soul and 70s funk, but what really ties her to those days, even more than the arrangements, is that her music is so warm and organic. Costa's voice has the ability to be pristine one moment and sultry the next. She can put enough power into a song to make it undeniably moving. The backing band doesn't have that stiff studio musician sound either. Costa and her band move together in the music, something generally absent from the genre today.

Costa doesn't nail every song on Pebble to a Pearl. She's at her best when she draws on the raw emotion of her 60s predecessors than she is reliving the tighter funkiness of the 70s, but her voice alone is a pleasure even on the worst of the tracks. On the songs that really cut her loose though, she a powerful confidence that demands she be taken more seriously than most of her peers.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: Eli "Paperboy" Reed and The True Loves - Roll With You

Label: Q Division

Released: April 29, 2008

Last month, I drove to a funeral in another state. Funerals, especially funerals for a man who sort of became my surrogate father when my own dad was 2,000 miles away, aren't usually enjoyable experiences, so I made sure to pack the car full of fun music. I threw a couple of classic soul albums into the pile, because few people understand life the way good soul artists do.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and The True Loves went on that trip with me, and I've got to tell you, they helped to keep my perspective focused on the parts of life that matter.

Like most classic soul songs, the tracks on Roll With You focus almost entirely on love, lost love, lost love due to cheating, rediscovering lost love, redisovering cheating, and so on. And like most classic soul songs, the mood is buoyant despite the heartbreak that drives all the songs.

Now, you might argue that, being as Roll With You came out in 2008, the album doesn't qualify as classic soul. But you'd be wrong. Eli and his band cherry pick the finest elements of 1960's R&B, and they put it together in an album that is solid from start to finish. There's absolutely nothing ground-breaking here, but it's great to hear new songs in this style. The excitement of hearing Roll With You must be similar to how people felt in the '60s when they heard a new Wilson Pickett or Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding or Sam Cooke record.

If this had come out in 1968, it would've been rightly dismissed as derivative and redundant. If it had come out in 1978, it would've been ignored for being old-people music. But in 2008, the act of writing 11 new songs -- nearly all of which are on par with the greatest Motown and Atlantic tunes -- and recording them is bold in its own way. It's a statement that the past is never dead, and we can't ever lose sight of our history, no matter how far into the future we move.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 8/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

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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: Mingering Mike - Super Gold Greatest Hits

Label: eMusic

Released: June 17, 2008

DIY is a term often associated with punk rock, not soul, but soul artist Mingering Mike embodies that ethic as well if not better than the most serious punk purist. Super Gold Greatest Hits is a homemade album of Mike's soul songs recorded with only vocals and percussion (which amounts to whatever was around when he made these home tapes). To boot, he made these recordings in the late 60s, well before underground rock established the trend of bypassing traditional models in order to get your music out. Does Mingering Mike hold up next to his great contemporaries like Marvin Gaye? Of course not, but he doesn't have to. Mike's creativity is actually heightened by the limitations of his methods.

Interestingly enough, if there's any album to which I'd compare Super Gold Greatest Hits, it's Fugazi-bassist Joe Lally's There to Here. It's not that they sound the same, but they share a minimalist approach and a sense of understated soul that's ready to explode. So, while Mingering Mike's style is more along the lines of Motown, his heart is more in line with Dischord. The message of both is simple: If you want to make music, just do it.

There's nothing on here that's on par with "What's Going On," but Mingering Mike does have the power of soul mixed with the everyman nature of folk music that makes it clear that not only listening, but creating can be done by anyone. It's a tough listen in a lot of ways, but its creative and inspirational qualities make it worth the effort.

Ratings
Satriani: 4/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (2008 Collector's Edition)

Label: Rhino

Released: April 22, 2008

Otis Blue is a widely accepted soul classic and for good reason. It finds Redding running through some great soul tunes, many made famous by others, yet it never makes you long for the other versions (even Aretha's version of "Respect"). He's just that powerful of a singer. "Satisfaction," one of rock's most overrated songs, even sounds good when Redding does it.

Rhino's new double CD collector's edition includes both the original mono and stereo mixes as well as alternate takes, b-sides and two live shows. Frankly, I'll never understand the appeal to re-issuing a CD with both the stereo and mono mixes. There wouldn't have been a mono release of these albums had the world not been in transition between the formats. Why do we need them re-issued? Otherwise, the bonus material ranges from interesting to awesome. The live cuts are particularly hot and make the re-issue as a whole a very nice package.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 9/10

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Review: Van Morrison - Keep It Simple

Label: Lost Highway

Released: April 1, 2008

Van Morrison has done some of his best work over the last decade or so. The old curmudgeon has shown that he still knows how to put his entire soul into song, whether he's making an album that concentrates on folk or soul or even skiffle. That makes Keep It Simple kind of puzzling. Everything he's been bringing to his music for over 40 years is strangely absent here.

First of all, there is entirely too much blues on this album. Morrison has a soul voice. It's rich and smooth and deceptively powerful. Blues is neither as clean nor as subtle so it robs Morrison of his strengths. One of those strengths is his ability to know just how much to give and how much to withhold from a song. It comes both from knowing the song and trusting himself. Instead, on this album, he seems detached from the songs and he over-trusts himself. That arrogance leads him to go through the motions rather than get into the songs. Sure, he loosens up on a few, like "That's Entrainment" and "End of the Land," but most of the album is stiff with Morrison stumbling through music from which he's a thousand miles away.

It has long been said that Morrison has never shown much regard for his fans, though he almost always cared about his music. But not here. He's just going through the motions and he's not the kind of singer that can get away with that. He needs the subtleties that come with intimacy, but this album has no love, only a cold feeling of obligation.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 5/10
Aretha: 4/10
Overall: 5/10

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Review: Lack of Afro - Touch My Soul

Label: Freestyle Records

Released: March 24, 2008

The cover of Touch My Soul is a take-off on Small Faces' Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. The song features Steve Marriott's voice right out of "Afterglow (of Your Love)." But if you're expecting Lack of Afro (aka Adam Gibbons) to be much like Small Faces, you've got another thing coming. Sure, "Afterglow" was a pretty soulful rock song, but "Touch My Soul" is funky with hot horn and organ parts. It takes some clues from the Manchester dance scene that produced the likes of the Stone Roses, using tribal rhythms with sixties pop hooks. Lack of Afro just turns up the funk. "The Outsider" steps a bit more into the 70s, but still retains that same sense of wild dance fun. If it's a step down, that's only because "Touch My Soul" is such a hot track.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

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Review: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - 100 Days 100 Nights and Angie Stone - The Art of Love and War

Label: Daptone Records

Released: October 2, 2007


Label: Concord

Released: October 16, 2007

It would seem that the essential component of soul music (old school or new) would be the soul itself, yet that is often just what modern soul and R&B lack. Too often even a good R&B singer has a tough time overcoming assembly line songwriting and synthetic backing tracks. It is this old versus new soul difference that separates the new releases from Sharon Jones and Angie Stone.

Without question, both singers have great voices. In fact, Stone's is probably technically superior, but that is the only place that she manages to measure up to Jones on these albums. When you strip away that sheen, what's underneath, the soul, isn't even close.

Years ago, Sharon Jones was told that she was too dark-skinned, too short, too fat and once she passed 25, too old. Jones didn't get a break until she was 40 (singing backup on a Lee Fields record). In the meantime, she worked as a Wells Fargo armored car guard and a corrections officer at Rikers (!), but she kept singing. Angie Stone's break came much earlier, having a hit record as a member of The Sequence before her 20th birthday as well as at least middling success until taking off in the last decade. I can't help but wonder if the "business" hasn't robbed Stone of something that it in turn augmented in Jones through her struggles. While that may not explain why, these two albums leave little doubt that Sharon Jones just has more soul.

Sharon Jones' voice is everything that a good soul voice should be. It can be bold, soft, sultry, strong, defiant. She connects on a human level, because she sings with more than just her voice. After all these years, there's no going through the motions. She has hunger and confidence despite being ripped off. Her energy isn't angry though, just righteous. Her backing band, the Dap-Kings, whose horns helped light the fire on the otherwise soul-deprived Amy Winehouse's debut, is the kind of natural, organic band that has crossover appeal in the rock world. They have more in common with the Family Stone or even the Allman Brothers and Black Crowes than they do with modern R&B sounds. Rhythmically, they propel the music, giving Jones even more force. The horns are so natural that they work in the capacity of background vocals. They're just that rich. The intense interaction between Jones and the band is what makes the album so big and bold, so natural and alive. 100 Days, 100 Nights is essentially a 60s soul album, but it doesn't come off like a revival. The record is very much in the here and now despite its vintage approach.

There's no doubt that Angie Stone has the voice to make a great record, but The Art of Love and War is just formula R&B. The beats are measured and precise. The piano has all the emotion of light jazz. The background vocals are generic. The result is an album that sounds as if all the pieces were recorded in isolation and queued up to have Stone's vocals recorded on top like karaoke. There's none of the human interaction that makes Sharon Jones soar. Instead, it's just cold, synthetic music that robs Stone of any emotion she may have brought. Neither Stone nor the backing tracks have any touch, any feel, any swing. While this might be acceptable fare for an indiscriminate modern R&B fan, anyone looking for real soul, the kind that would crossover into other genres, will be sorely disappointed. This is a superficial soundscape and you don't have to poke very hard to find that it's paper-thin.

Whether it's their past or their present or some combination of the two, there's a world of difference between these two very talented singers on their latest albums. Quite simply, Sharon Jones has made an album that knows the true meaning of soul and Angie Stone has not.



Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 9/10

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Angie Stone
Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 2/10
Dylan: 4/10
Aretha: 4/10
Overall: 5/10

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Review: Van Morrison - Still on Top - The Greatest Hits

Label: Exile Productions Ltd.

Released: November 6, 2007

In over 40 years of performing, Van Morrison has released records on a variety of labels. Until now, there has apparently not been a best of culled from his entire catalog. Still on Top is a single volume anthology of Van the Man's hits ranging from his time in the mid-60s with Them up to 2005's Magic Time. As such, it is a bit inconsistent as were the times.

The album is organized chronologically and while that isn't terribly creative, it avoids the trap of using some indecipherable organization into which so many anthologies fall. Without a doubt, the best material on the album comes early. There are no surprises in the track selection other than the absence of a few favorites like "Into the Mystic." The first batch of songs ends in 1973 and the next picks up in 1978. A lot changed in those intervening years, for Morrison and music in general. He still sounds great, but the songs, both the writing and arranging, date themselves, making that period, which runs up into the late 80s, his weakest. Morrison did return to form in the 90s and 00s and happily some of that is reflected on this collection, providing a strong finish.

Because it's only a single disc, there are plenty of great songs left out and because it tries to be career-spanning, there are some weaker ones included. However, this isn't some hack stumbling his way through the material, the is Van Morrison. So while there is a lull in the middle, it's largely only because he's reached deep into his soul for so many of the songs on either side.

Rating: 7/10

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Review: De Novo Dahl - Shout

Label: Roadrunner Records

Released: 2007

I'm gonna cut to the chase here. "Shout" is the biggest slice of musical joy I've heard since U2 released "Beautiful Day" seven years ago. The song bursts with unadulterated happiness. It's hooks and harmonies grab you right from the start. A tide of pop beauty rolls in on driving rhythms, infectious bass lines and waves of guitar, organ and voice and it flows out on low-key verses whose soulful vocals clear the way for the tide to return.

"Shout" acts as the mission statement for the EP (and perhaps the band as a whole), but the other two non-remixes don't give up any ground. They follow the same undeniable plan that makes the whole experience nothing short of exhilarating. Their mix of pop and soul in the vocals and keys with a rock edge, courtesy of a big guitar sound and an animated rhythm section, and the electronic details of the omnichord rocks as hard and passionately as the White Stripes, yet is as quirky and fun as Devo or They Might Be Giants. While the songs build from quiet to explosive, the actual energy never lets up, not even for a moment.

The second three tracks on the EP are remixes of the first three. While they do a few interesting things, the originals cannot be contained by their tricks and therefore the remixes never seem to capitalize on the strengths of the originals. The quality of the songs in their purest form makes the remixes expendable.

Let me leave you with one warning about this EP: If you play "Shout" really loud, be careful. You're liable to experience pure ecstatic joy.

Rating: 9/10

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Van Morrison "Best of" out November 6th

From the press release:

THE ONLY CAREER-SPANNING VAN MORRISON "BEST OF" ALBUM AVAILABLE; OUT NOVEMBER 6TH

(Los Angeles, CA) - More than 40 years since bursting out of Belfast with Them, Van Morrison continues to make great music, continues to tour the world, and continues to inspire and engage new generations of fans and artists alike.

Here on Still On Top - The Greatest Hits (Hip-O/Ume) are 21 classic tracks that chronicle Van's incredible journey so far; all remaining true to his mantra "it's always been about soul."

Featuring selections spanning his work from 1964 to 2005, Still On Top - The Greatest Hits is the definitive collection of Van's original recordings. There are musical milestones from five decades of prolific recording, including - for the first time on a Greatest Hits collection - his powerful songs from the 90s and the new millennium. Among the gems included are 1995's "Days Like This," an alternative version of 1997's "Healing Game" and an already-classic from 2005, "Stranded."

Still On Top - The Greatest Hits moves seamlessly across the genres, reflecting a career which began in the 60s with the hat-trick of "Here Comes The Night," "Gloria" and "Brown-Eyed Girl" and has not faltered since. Highlights from the Seventies include "Domino," "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)," and "Warm Love." Among those selected from the Eighties are the romantic ballad "Someone Like You" (one of many Van songs borrowed by the big screen, in this case for Bridget Jones's Diary) and the glorious "Have I Told You Lately?."

Review: Nathaniel Mayer - Why Don't You Give It to Me?

Label: Alive Naturalsound Records

Released: August 21, 2007

Nathaniel Mayer is a legend in soul music, though lesser known outside of the genre. Once known for his sweet soulful voice, there is little of that remaining on his latest effort, released 45 years after his most famous song, "Village of Love." His now thin, raspy voice may not be what older fans recall, but the raw Detroit soul recorded here should still take them back to the days when the town's soul was so heavy that it influenced the burgeoning garage rock scene as much as it did the slicker Motown sound. In a sense, this record has as much to do with Mayer's influence on the MC5 as it does with his influence on R&B and soul.

Why Don't You Give It to Me? starts off with the title track, a straight blues number, and Mayer's vocals are shocking to the point that it seems like a novelty. His voice is thin and gravely and fails to convey much. However, the ride changes its character as Mayer's voice both improves and grows on you over the remaining eight tracks. Most of these take on a dark garage approach to soul msuic with loose, emotive rhythms and bluesy, psychedelic guitar. Mayer's band is filled out with some exceptional musicians, most notably Dan Auerbach of garage rock purists, the Black Keys. It is Auerbach's playing as much as Mayer's voice that brings the most out of these songs and it's no surprise that seven of the songs are group compositions. The closer is a cover of Delroy Wilson's reggae classic, "Dancing Mood." It may seem an odd choice until you hear Mayer and company nail it as a reggae-tinged garage soul number. If nothing else, it solidifies the idea that the initial misgivings with the opener are misplaced.

The production on Why Don't You Give It to Me? is poor to say the least...and it would be a crucial mistake to have it any other way. The album finds its way in walking that fine line between chaos and lifelessness, avoiding both and coming up with an album of tremendous energy. Mayer's voice may never quite resonate with all listeners, but taking some time to appreciate it as it is and to dig into the music that backs it will prove to be a worthwhile effort.

Rating: 7/10

Myspace: Mongrels

Mongrels is a Canadian five piece that is in sense a supergroup of lesser-knowns, drawing members from Tricky Woo, Bionic, Blood Sausage and Local Rabbits (I haven't heard of all of them either). They mix a stoner 70s hard rock influence with garage and soul to create heavy, sludgey grooves for singer Amy Turok's wailing voice. Two drummers add heaviness (almost like multi-tracking a guitar, but more natural) rather than the polyrhythmic approach you'd expect.

"Contemplating the..." moves slowly, but steadily with loose rhythms and mindnumbing riffs. Turok's voice is rich and full with the perfect grittiness and gives the song continuity as it gets heavier and lighter. The garagey soul of "City Living" is almost on par with the MC5, but the chorus is just a little too standard, with a common hook only slightly hidden beneath the rawness of the music. "All in My Head" has some searing guitar riffs without getting complicated. It takes advantage of their dual drummer approach and brings it all together with an upbeat, but soulful chorus that's catchy and anything but average.

Mongrels is like a one band embodiment of late 60s Detroit, bringing heavy garage rock and raw soul together into a near perfect mix. Sure, there are other bands doing this, but few are doing it as well as Mongrels.

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Review: Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves - The Satisfier b/w It's Easier

Label: Q Division

Released: June 2007

Soul and R&B have in many cases become so wrapped up in the influence of hip-hop that they've forgotten their own identities. When things like this happen, sometimes it's best to hear someone get back to basics to reclaim a genre that's losing itself. Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves may be just such a band.

Don't get me wrong, they won't save soul singlehandedly, but they should at least remind the purveyors of modern soul what they're missing. "Paperboy" doesn't have a technically amazing voice. It's very, very good, but what really makes him a fantastic singer is that he really digs in like he's singing these songs from the tips of his toes. This is on top of a band that is thoroughly solid. The True Loves know themselves and what they want to be and they succeed.

"The Satisfier" is an upbeat soul song that beams with emotion and fun. The flipside, "It's Easier" is a ballad that shows off the group's real abilities on a song that wouldn't hide any inadequacies. Together, they show the group's ability to convey energy at both ends of the spectrum.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves are perhaps a bit like an evened out James Brown or a rough Marvin Gaye. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it's not, because they're a lot closer to Brown and Gaye than they are to much of what passes for soul today. One listen makes it clear that they mean what they sing; they really are the "satisifer."

Rating: 7/10

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Review: Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits

Label: Epic/Legacy

Released: 1970 (reissued August 28, 2007)

Released in 1970 to fill the gap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits compiles many of the top tracks from the band's early years. While every song on this album is also contained on the later Anthology release along with selections from their later catalog, this is in most ways a superior album.

In the interim between albums, Sly and company's early optimism began to fade alongside the idealism of the 60s and into Sly Stone's increasing drug problems. Because Anthology fails to mark that change, it feels haphazard, like a mere collection of random songs. Greatest Hits on the other hand shares the common themes of joy and optimism that characterize both the albums that these songs are drawn from as well as the times in which they were made. The only inexplicable omission is "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" from Stand!, an album which contributes several other songs. I suspect that this was just a matter of playing it safe and avoiding controversy on an album that by design would appeal to less hardcore Sly Stone fans. It's a shame, because the song, like several others which use that very emotional word, is incendiary, but fighting the good fight, not perpetuating stereotypes. Oh yeah, it's amazingly powerful too. Its absence doesn't hurt this album, so much as knowing the song just makes me wish it had been included.

While it doesn't take into account the second part of Sly and the Family Stone's career, which produced great music in its own right, and it backs down from righteous controversy by omitting a great tune, Greatest Hits is an amazingly cohesive collection of songs from the first few years that the band graced us with their music. The only real argument against owning this is that you should already have the records from which this was culled. There isn't much of a step down from the singles to the album cuts and that's even more amazing still.

Rating: 9/10

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Review: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark

Label: Sugar Hill Records

Released: June 12, 2007

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles do more than just channel the past. True, Diamonds in the Dark is partially images of days gone by, but the package is fresh. Touching on every raw influence of rock music, the end result is an album that is both clean and warm, touching the old, but very much new.

The album centers on Sarah Borges voice which is rich and warm. She can use it across the genres the album touches and her passion is just as clear when she's subtle as when she's brash. She has similar qualities to Natalie Merchant, but Borges' individuality is so strong that the comparison only becomes vividly clear once (on "Modern Trick"). The band is more than just a backup for Borges' voice. The rhythms can be driving or sublime or anything in between, setting the tone as it changes along the way. The pedal steel plays an integral role throughout, sharing a lot of the understated movement of the vocals and bringing out a lot of the songs' color.

Diamonds in the Dark clearly digs deep into the core of rock n roll, coming up with rockabilly, blues, soul, bubblegum, country and punk. "The Day We Met" has the punk-edged rockabilly perfected by X (even more than the album's actual cover of X's "Come Back to Me"). Punk energy is even more prevalent on the garagey "Diablito" and "Stop and Think It Over" applies that same punk rock edge to 60s pop. Borges pulls off "False Eyelashes" with all the confidence of Dolly Parton's original and her own restless energy. The pedal steel is just superb on this as well as "Modern Trick." Even the comparatively average country ballads "Around 9" and "Belle of the Bar" could stand on their own. The album finishes up with another cover, this time Tom Waits' "Blind Love," whose sparse echoey slide and rimshots provide the perfect atmosphere for Borges range and control without constraining her.

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles have produced an album that burns slow and warm with their passion and love, not for the music of the past, but for the roots of the present. There's a difference between those two, because one is just a revival, but Sarah Borges and company show us that even the roots are still alive and growing today.

Rating: 9/10