What I am listening to: Sam Barber

Now is probably as good of time as any to talk about reality singing competitions.

The discussion for American shows has to start with American Idol. Love it or loathe it, that first season was so huge you couldn’t avoid it. I still keep tabs on these kinds of variety shows. 

The most interesting aspect to me is how The Voice has seemingly overtaken American Idol in popularity. However, Idol still has the unknown to pop star pipeline, while the Voice stars' post-show fame still reminds me kind of a Gong Show word of mouth talent. 

I watched the two seasons of Rockstar which was more my speed. I loved INXS and although I think we would all agree Michael Hutchene cast a Jim Morrison sized shadow, I never faulted the Farris Brothers et al for trying to continue. It did seem doomed from the start, but it was enjoyable. Similarly, the second season supergroup put together by Dave Navarro and Tommy Lee also had an extremely short shelf life. But I watched every episode. I don’t fault bands for trying to gain attention though. 

Take OK Go, an otherwise fantastic power pop band who would be an obscure power pop band if not for their viral videos. And I have to admit of being one of those people who want to hear stuff first. 

I was the right age to pick up CMJs 1988 compilation Ten of a Kind- their picks for the best unsigned artists in the US. And they got Material Issue right so my teenage self would have expected more, that’s probably a better average than they could have hoped. As for the others, the Gunbunnies had some degree of success, though their 1990 debut was also to be their last. Paul K and the Weathermen achieved a cult status and made an album for Homestead in 1992. Circle Sky frontman Matt Keating would end up having a long solo career and made one of my all time favorite records 1994s Scaryarea for Alias 

In any case, I find I don’t fault anyone for going on these shows. The days of Clay and Ruben are long past. Missouri born country singer songwriter Sam Barber gave the American Idol route a try, even making it to Hollywood though Wikipedia says his performance didn’t make it to air. Aged 20 Barber is a bright young talent. Part of that first generation that grew up on Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton and Zach Bryan (all mentioned frequently in his interviews). 

Barber is a perfect fit into the Bryan-style sound. His debut EP last years Million Eyes had success on country and rock charts. Like Bryan and another recent hitmaker Noah Kahan, it's the current sound that straddles country and post-Mumford and Sons folk- it wouldn't sound out of place on the radio or in some jamband-heavy playlist Early 2024 saw the release of a live EP. He’s playing some middle sized venues around here and his future looks bright.

 

Marley : A Film by Kevin Macdonald

 

A Bob Marley biopic is in theaters now so that’s probably why Streaming is pushing out a lot of Marley content. 2012s Marley by the great documentarian Kevin McDonald is probably the most known so I had to check it out.

 I am not always a fan of biopics but I do have hopes for the Marley one. I have grown to become quite a big fan of reggae and ska. I still listen to a ton of Bob Marley. He seems to be a pretty standard part of a musical diet like the Beatles or Queen or the Doors. Still, there’s something magical about Marley. Marley delivers on its promise. 

Sadly, a decade or so later- all these important people in the Marley story have passed- Rita Marley, Lee Scratch Perry, Bunny “Wailer” Livingston, Aston “Family Man” Barrett and footage of mother Cecelia Booker- as well as Cindy Breakspeare, Chris Blackwell, Ziggy Marley, Junior Marvin and others. There is also the famous 1980 Gil Noble WABC-TV interview that catches Marley in his own words. 

 The movie does a good job of balancing the personal side and the musical side. It covers the Wailers’ early years (along the invention of ska in the 1960s- the influence of pop hits by Frankie Lymon and Dion and then characterized by the guitar chop on the offbeat) and culminates with “Small Axe” finding the band going to Perry to fight against the Jamaican producer “Big T(h)ree of Coxsone Dodd, Prince Buster and Duke Reid. 

There plenty of 20th century world politics that come into play - Ethiopian emperor Halie Selassie’s 1966 visit to Jamaica (and Bob’s conversion to the Rastafarian movement) as well as Marley’s 1980 concerts in Gabon and Zimbabwe. Of course, most famously the 1976 Smile Jamaica concert (in which Marley had been shot by assailants two days before during rehearsal) and the 1978 One Love Concert where Marley held hands with the two political leaders Manley and Saega. 

I like to play the “what if” game with artists like Ronnie Van Zant, Terry Kath, Buddy Holly and so on. It’s hard to imagine Marley having any more impact. He was 36 when he died. His early musical career in Jamaica was likely why he was so good later on. The doc (like his life) ends with him planning to open a US tour for Stevie Wonder. His friends thought it was beneath him but Marley (likely rightly) knew that this was a smart career move if he wanted radio airplay. 

But what else could he have accomplished. The closing credits show the impact he has had all across the Globe. His trip to the UK (covered briefly here) no doubt influenced punk and post punk rock in obvious and not so obvious ways. He never had radio success (the Clapton cover isn’t mentioned here) but his songs have become all time classics anyway. We could look at Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh’s careers , maybe even artists like John Lennon and U2, for example- but Marley no doubt is among the artistic peaks. Marley is surely as much Bob as you can encapsulate into a two hour period. I am a huge fan and have read the many words written over the years in magazines like Uncut and Mojo, and various tv moments. It’s definitely hard to suggest how could it be any better.

What I Have Been Listening to: CATHEDRALE

One of my joys is discovering new music and as things change, some times there are positives. I would say that my favorite way of discovering music is still what I would call a curated playlist. 

My local public radio station plays a “college radio” style format and that is still # 1 for me. 

Friend recommendations probably are a close second (maybe even first at times now). These are generally more on social media these days than in person, but it really isn’t much different than it was during teenage years.  

There are also of course algorithmic ways to stream music which have their benefits (though I don’t feel like I often “discover” music as much that way), and blog sites and samplers and what not. 

 When comes to CATHEDRALE, I am not 100% sure where I ran into the French post punk band first. A Bandcamp sample for Howlin Banana Records, I believe. 

From half way around the world to my ears. I love the mix of jagged guitars joined to garage, even shoegaze influences. 

 

U2 roundup

 

U2 was my favorite band of my high school years. I can’t help but be fanatical about him. Today I am going to catch up with reviews of their recent activity. 

Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story: Book by Bono

Surrender is surely a bit of a Rorschach Test for what you think of Bono. I am a huge fan, bordering often on obsessed, so of course I loved it. But if you find Bono pompous or arrogant or just plain annoying, this won’t change that. And most people probably fall somewhere in between, and will find this a mixed bag.

The first pages of the book open up with a lot of purple prose but after it settles down to standard bio after 20 pages or so, it isn’t so bad. The end of the book seems similarly appended with two dozen unnecessary pages.  

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but Bono is a good storyteller in that he has generally come off to me as  the most relatable human Everyman musician.

He’s not dramatic like Nick Cave or poetic like Leonard Cohen or angry like John Lydon, for example. Perhaps that is what made U2 so good.

The U2 story has been covered in depth for years, so fans won’t find anything much new. Still, if you find yourself as someone who relates to Bono, you probably won’t mind.

A 45 year career is a lot for one book. Especially as the 20th Century U2 was a music entity and the 21st Century U2 is largely a political entity. Both are interesting and important but it’s a lot to fit in.

I think most people would agree that the book could use some trimming. Maybe Bono doesn’t need to add all 500+ pages of his thoughts. But otherwise, I have no real complaints and while the political stuff won’t interest everyone, it does interest me.

As interesting as the band’s interactions with Presidents Clinton and Obama are, it’s the interaction with the people he generally disagree with like Bushes (and lack of interaction with Trump) that is most interesting.

As an aside, I hate the cover, which i find pretentious and awful and I don’t like the 40 song tie in- which is a reference to the chapters because I don’t think it quite fits. 

Which is a tie in to the 2023 album 

Songs of Surrender by U2

The first “album” from U2 in six years (and I have liked their last two albums more than I hated them) is a reinterpretation of the band’s catalog re-recorded largely without the band’s rhythm section. 

I streamed these songs when they were first released and my wording was  their classic songs redone as an incredibly boring piece of art”.  It consists of four albums of ten tracks picked by each member. 

Lyrics are rewritten- Walk On becomes about Ukraine, Bad becomes a first person narrative. 

Projects like this seem self indulgent (and U2 is the most self indulgent of bands). It is easy to pencil this in as in similar vein of recent Rod Stewart albums. It is at once too long and though there are changes, they don’t feel like enhancements. 

Allmusic user reviews are a fun read to tell you exactly what is wrong with the album as one one-star review after another complains about what feels like an uninspired cash in. 

But as I reflect now a year later, I seem to fit more into my fandom and less as a critic. Is it for anyone but the most diehard U2 fan? No. Is it anywhere meeting the expectations a fan might have?  Not really. 

But in small pieces, there are enjoyable moments. I just can’t find myself hating it completely. It will be forgotten quickly as time goes by but given that it came out to virtual thrown tomatoes, I hate to see it buried completely 

The album is accompanied by a film that streamed on Disney + 

Bono and the Edge- A Sort of Homecoming with David Letterman

The album and the documentary feel like U2 are in their autumn years and that is okay. They are and it has been 30 years since they felt like the most important band on the planet. 

Pairing them with David Letterman only doubles down on nostalgia. That’s ok because it gives the film a sense of importance. There were always Beatles comparisons and they do seem like the 80s/90s version

Adam Clayton is busy acting and Larry Mullen injured, explaining why they are not here and largely missing on the album. 

Still, Bono and the Edge feel intimate- telling their story (again once over shared but it still feels important here)

Letterman walks around Dublin in his usual way. The band plays their Adam and Larry less versions of their songs, but they sound good in this particular live environment. 

The mood stays light throughout which is probably for the best. It’s another postcard for the fans, but Letterman’s involvement help frame it in an interesting way. 

Album Review- NewDad- MADRA

NewDad is one of my favorite bands in recent years. I first heard of the Irish band when Johnny Marr championed them in Uncut magazine. 

That Marr would like the band (and the band would listen to Marr) is pretty obvious. 

I do admit that I was a bit afraid to see if the band would survive that initial excitement. 2021s six song Waves EP was followed by 2022s five song Banshee EP but nothing came out in 2023 except three songs released to streaming. 

Reaction to the new debut album Madra is mixed at best and I am not quite certain why. Perhaps because the novelty is gone three years later (or the hype was too much to overcome). Perhaps the spot-the-influence shoegaze tinged dream pop that pulls from New Order and the Breeders doesn’t exactly turn the critics on. 

Madra may not be a perfect album and one could argue that changing out a few songs from the two EPs would make it a stronger debut, but I can’t imagine anyone who loves this kind of music would find any disappointment at all.

 

Album Review- New Model Army- Unbroken

 I loved New Model Army from my first listen in the 90s. They had already released their masterpiece album (1989s Thunder and Consolation) and a signature song (1986s “51st State”).

Their music was rare to find in American record stores. Their tales legendary. The American Musicians’ Union banned them from touring the US due to “no artistic merit” (though likely to the sentiment of the aforementioned single). Diehard fans attended concerts wooden clog footwear.

They are easy to categorize into the post-Clash political punk movement though stylistically Justin Sullivan’s goth style vocals and the bands anthemic hard rock/ near metal presented a sound that seemed like a commercial breakthrough was possible. (No shock that the people I knew who loved the band were also big fans of Sisters of Mercy). Even to the point that Sony/ Epic Records signed them for 1992s Love of Hopeless Causes record.

It wasn’t to happen (Apparently, the first single “Here Comes the War” came packaged with instructions on how to build a nuclear device). The band (mostly Sullivan and the same supporting cast since 2007) has remained consistently good.

While they remain to exist outside mainstream media, they are much loved by the punk community and their recently finished trilogy of albums- 2013s Between Dog and Wolf 2016s Winter and 2019s From Here are highly venerated in the fans’ and critics’ circles.

The band finished 2023 with Sinfonia- a live album that builds on the bands anthemic hymns by pairing up with the Sinfonia Leipzig Orchestra and a deep dive into the bands catalog - featuring a few of their standards and some unexpected selections.

2024s Unbroken doesn’t change the formula (no one would expect otherwise) but it does double down on some of the bands harder rock and more epic speaker booming sounds. For new fans of the band, it’s probably a better introduction than From Here.

The Production is a little more aggressive. Advancing Age suits Sullivan’s voice as a positive. I haven’t found that takeaway late career song on here as I have throughout - 2000s Orange Tree Roads and Autumn and You Weren’t There (both from 1999) are songs that rank to me with decades now old favorites like “Vagabonds” but they definitely have some in that mood here like “Language”

New stuff from Hutch Harris (The Thermals)- Clear Rivers

One of my favorite bands of the last 20 years is the Thermals. 

I loved them from pretty much the first listen off of their 2003 debut More Parts Per Million. They made 7 studio album through their tenure ending in 2016. The band comparison that probably showed up the most in reviews was the Ramones but I would say more accurately- They are in the lineage of Lo fi heroes Eric’s Trip and peers Mountain Goats and of course, if we must, the Ramones simplicity but with a mix of Buzzcocks Pop punk and Talking Heads art rock. 

The Portland band spent much of its life as a trio with singer guitarist Hutch Harris and bassist/drummer Kathy Foster as the core of the band with six other people in service of the band (of these, most notably original drummer Jordan Hudson and Westin Glass, their drummer for the last decade). I don’t think any of their albums are bad. 2006s The Body, the Blood and the Machine perhaps their epic work. I was lucky that even though my concert going slowed, I did see the band live. The band took to social media in 2018 to announce their break up- their last album - the well received and appropriately named We Disappear. I haven’t heard from them since. 

At some point, recently I was in a Facebook group and lamenting and celebrating the band, when someone asked me if I was following Hutch’s solo career. Wait, what? I find out not only Harris has a solo career but a pretty prolific one at that. Harris has two solo albums since the Thermals broke up. One is 2018s Only Water- the other a compilation of pre- Thermals songs called Old Lost Days. Additionally, 2015 saw a wide release for Hutch and Kathy - a pre Thermals album recorded by Harris and Foster and more early Harris recordings are available under the band name Urban Legends Foster has also been busy. Spotify lists Roseblood as a project that may be ongoing that has been listed as being primarily her work but only lists a single . She had been playing drums for twee poppers All Girl Summer Fun Band while working concurrently in the Thermals Hurry Up is a trio with Foster and Glass that have a 2022 album. Wiki lists even another Foster project called Butterfly Transformation Service but info is pretty limited to a small comment on Discogs. 

The biggest Post- Thermals project might be Clear Rivers - Harris fronted trio (with Hudson on drums). The band self released their debut self titled album in April of 2023. Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino went viral last December for a TikTok video that spoke to many things but calls out that the media tends towards the new thing and the established thing and hurts veteran performers. For sure, Spotify shows the Thermals have 98,000 listeners a month but all of the other acts I have mentioned seem to top out at around 300. 

To be fair, Clear Rivers is missing Foster’s energy but is still a decent album - a bit closer to the more introspective moments of the late Thermals career. Also I did see that Harris has embraced the post-Cameo world of social media and will perform requested songs on Instagram for $25 (he has done 150 cover songs and counting) 

 

What I have been listening to : Van Morrison - The Bang Collection

 I haven’t written about Van Morrison, so here goes. When I was coming of age, music critics were male and white and usually so were their favorite records. Moondance and Astral Weeks were considered some of the best albums ever, and I have to admit that the moment I listened to them, I had to concur.

Morrison like many of his peers was having a bit of renaissance in the late 80s/early 90s. Rolling Stone and everyone else feted 1988s Irish Heartbeat (his collaboration with the Chieftans) and my local radio station played the heck out of “Real Real Gone” (a # 18 placing on the US Rock Chart) from 1990s Enlightenment.

The 90s were good for his songs. Rod Stewart and John Mellencamp had big US hits with “Have I Told You Lately” ( # 5) and “Wild Night” (# 3)

Morrison’s records have always been events even with the weird misstep of 2021s “Latest Record Project Vol 1” with an “old man yelling at clouds” kind of song titles like “Why Are You on Facebook” and “They Own the Media”

Now when it comes to listening to music, I get my ideas from different places but friends’ references are still near the top. Which is where I first heard of the Bang Collection.

It contains recordings of Morrison that had become Van’s 1967 solo debut Blowin Your Mind- that album contains perhaps the most evergreen of pop songs “Brown Eyed Girl”, and a second disc of outtakes from the same sessions. Now, Van says he didn’t expect these recordings to be released as his solo record and because they did without his knowledge, he felt he couldn't trust producer Bert Berns and Bang Records.

It is the third album of the Bang Collection, though that is the part most people talk about. Morrison recorded an album worth of songs to fulfill his contractual obligation. The songs are mostly fragments pulled off the top of Van’s head and played on an out of tune guitar.

There are songs that only seem to consist of silly noises (Chickie Coo) silly lyrics (Scream and Holler and a half dozen of its variations) and just silly (Blowin Your Nose, You Say France and I Whistle, Want a Danish?, Ring Worm). If Van didn’t want anyone to make money off his record, he was trying his darnedest to make sure of that. (Morrison biographer Ryan Walsh compares the album to the lo-f simple music commonly made by outsider artist Jandek)

And now of course, almost 60 years ago, the audience says “Jokes on you. We are into that”.

And lest we think that Van was just being contrary, Neil Diamond had the same issues with Berns and as the story goes after Bern’s’ untimely death, the Bang label was ran by mobsters.

But these often bootlegged recordings of Van banging out 32 songs in an hour- are now part of a 2017 official release.

If you want a nice story and sample check out the episode of Bizarre Albums podcast that focuses on the record.

It also explains some of the inside jokes of how Van felt about an album being released (Blowing Your Nose" a riff on "Blowing your Mind") the silly dance songs (reference to Berns hit “Twist and Shout”) and the saga of George who goes to Boston to record (as sang by George Ivan “Van” Morrison)

I am not a huge fan of podcasts, but I often check out the Bizarre Records podcast (the brainchild of Emo band Motion City Soundtrack drummer Tony Thaxton) - it isn't perfect, usually skimming the surface of its topics- but it can’t beat it for the fascinating content and a brief listening time (usually 15-20 minutes an episode)


Anyway, thanks to the friend who turned me onto the album. I have got a real kick out of listening to it.

Album Review- The Beaches- Blame My Ex

As a teen in a rural area, instead of cable, we had satellite television. Because of this, I was often watching MuchMusic- the lower budget higher fun Canadian version of MTV The thing about watching Canadian programming and their content rules was finding some very talented Canadian artists. Equally, it was often puzzling to see a band be huge in their home country and have negligible impact in the US. There are dozens of bands that I loved at this time that fall on the spectrum of breaking big in the States to moderate success to almost no breakthrough. 

I can list off a whole string: Barenaked Ladies, Cowboy Junkies, TPOH, Moist, Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Grapes of Wrath, Moxie Fruvous, Northern Pikes and many others. My stock in trade is alt-rock but it extends to Canadian only jewels from pop rapper Maestro Fresh Wes to glam metal bands like Haywire and Slik Toxik to blues rocker Colin James to legendary Canadian icons like Kim Mitchell and Stompin Tom Conners. 

Fast forward to the 21st Century and I am discussing Sirius Satellite Radio with a friend and he says I have to check the Canadian alternative rock station. It’s a Canadian heavy version of Alt Nation called the Verge. And I am taken aback. Again, some very talented bands dominate, they are radio friendly and yet, unknown here in the States. I have three favorites- Black Pistol Fire- alt rock a la Black Keys or Queens of the Stone Age, quirky songwriter Dan Mangan and female Toronto based four piece the Beaches. The Beaches (like Black Pistol Fire) are definitely trying as they seem to be consistently touring in the US and grabbing spots on big name musical Festivals. 

The Beaches played Lollapalooza last year and while at Applebee's ( don’t judge) I heard “Blame Brett” on an alt station in a batch of songs on a playlist with the new U2 single. I have to acknowledge that the Beaches are probably the last band in the world that I think I would like. 

I totally hate pop-punk (in the post-90s definition of the term) and that seems to be their stock in trade. It’s a “TikTok” record. Its a breakup record (Brett is Emmons of another one of those Verge bands Glorious Sons) Yet maybe I am miscategorizing them which is why reviews tend to mention 90s buzz bands like Veruca Salt and Hole instead of say, Paramore or Fall Out Boy (or they instead reference 80s New Wave or the early 00s NYC scene)- y'know, the stuff that I like Anyway, they are infectious and I can’t believe they have not blown up in the US. Even with an earworm like the (near) title track of second album Blame My Ex (or equally catchy 2019 hit “Want What You Got”), I think you need to listen to the records to see how talented they really are.

Book Review- Mississippi Nights: A History of The Music Club in St. Louis

This is my book review for Mississippi Nights: A History of The Music Club in St. Louis by Garrett and Stacey Enloe (The musical selection is from They Might Be Giants compilation Venue Songs which is pretty much what the title says- and appropriately enough, TMBG was the penultimate concert I saw at Mississippi Nights) Mississippi Nights was a nightclub in St Louis that closed this month 17 years ago. Because it’s the nightclub I most associate with youth as well as probably the one where I saw the most bands, it is my ideal layout for seeing live music. Having been to many venues now, though I still stand by that Then perhaps it just was, it entertained every genre of music and was both intimate and big enough for most national bands. Its parking lot the only place I can think of where I got into a fistfight as an adult. I was shocked when the place was closed down to make room for a riverfront Casino space. I mean I understand, and even now, I am a bit shocked and disappointed all these years later. The Enloes’ book is the tribute the club needed. A colorful coffee table book filled with anecdotes and ticket stubs. It is near perfect in that its main issue is that it could just go on forever with stories. As it stands, it’s probably the perfect size. The story of the St Louis music scene is woven throughout in a fair amount of detail. Author Garrett Enloe has a very vanilla taste of FM Rock bands, but is smart enough to fill in some of the other genres with guest contributors You will find unique stories throughout about Michael Stipe, Nirvana, Melissa Ethridge, Public Enemy, the Police and others. It is the nostalgia rush I needed. There’s also a reference of bands who played (I am pedantic so I noticed a couple of misses but it’s still nice to have). I saw a wide variety of bands there - Cramps, Ramones, Gwar, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Type O Negative and it was nice to see some of those names referenced. My prime concert going years were 1993 to 2002 but the club ran from 1976 to 2007. The scope of a book like this is it likely won’t appeal outside of the St Louis area (I know there is probably a small secondary audience of people who just love musical venue history) but the club surely had the kind of impact that if you lived in the region and went there, this book will be meaningful And if you do fine the club meaningful then this book nails that memory. I would love to see a sequel though it would be pointless (this is the book to own) though there’s still probably enough St Louis history, the Enloes could find other routes to explore

My 20 Favorite Albums of 2023

 Best is subjective so how about we call this the list of my favorite albums of 2023 - check them out

The Baseball Project- Grand Salami Time (Omnivore). Come for the Buck/Mills/Easter reunion, stay for the songs about Mark Fidrych, Jim Bouton and Sadaharu Oh 

The Bomboras-Songs From Beyond (MuSick) Rob Zombie championed horror surf band returns after 25 year hiatus 

Zach Bryan - self-titled (Belting Bronco/Warner) Hot buzz country artist makes album worthy of the buzz

Bug Club- Green Dream in F# (Bingo/We are Busy Bodies)  if you want to argue this is a 2022 release (it got its larger label and Bandcamp releases in April of 2023) then substitute it for one of the other two releases of theirs that came out this past year

Maher Cissoko - Kora World (Ajabu!) The prolific master of the 21 string West African instrument draws from history for this meditative work. 

Crocodiles - Upside Down In Heaven (Lollipop) Rejuvenated by their 2021 cover EP project, the band finds the melodic side of their Jesus and Mary Chain style noise rock. 

The Damned- Darkadelic (Edel/EARmusic) Building on the promising 2018 reunion Evil Spirits, with Paul Gray added as a cowriter for four tracks, the band hits its nearly 50 year career potential 

Galen and Paul - Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day (Sony) - Sea Shantys,Ye-ye Pop and romantic ballads hardly seem to be the expected from The Clash’s Paul Simonon and prog royalty Galen Ayers but this one is hard not to like 

The Gaslight Anthem - History Books (Rich Mahogany/Thirty Tigers) - Rejuvenated by a near decade hiatus, the band returns to Springsteen inspired Heartland Rock with actual Springsteen included. 

Gorillaz- Cracker Island (Parlophone/Warner) Now an eight album institution, more simple than ambitious, their best album in awhile.  

HD Harmsen -Glaciers (Strawberry Jam Jams) Veteran of the glory years of the Ames/Des Moines scene (2012-13), Harmsen returns with a quirky Shimmy Disc style pop record. 

Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo - Phantasmagoria in Blue (Mute) - Australian goth country icon Harvey teams with actress Acevedo for an album of more perfect goth country. 

Inna De Yard- Family Affair (Wagram) - Third album from Jamaican collective that mixes reggae legends (this time Keith and Tex) with new talent. 

Jim Bob- Thanks for Reaching Out (Cherry Red) - Clever social commentary on third album of former Carter USM main man’s trilogy that started with 2020s Pop Up Jim Bob

Don Letts- Outta Sync (Cigale/Cooking Vinyl) - Filmmaker/Clash colleague/Big Audio Dynamite cofounder releases his debut which is a fun producer party record.  

Lydia Loveless - Nothing’s Going to Stand in my Way Again (Bloodshot) Loveless continues to be one of the best songwriters on the planet. 

Metal Marty- Greatest Hits (Acetate) A de facto Supersuckers album from the band’s guitarist brings the old fashioned rock n roll

Theory of Ghosts-EPs 1 and 2 (Theory of Ghosts) - Ex Piano Magic main man Glen Johnson delights with a mix of slowcore and Bunnymen style alternative rock

The Ventures- New Space (Hi-Tide). Essentially a Ship of Theseus band led by producer/long time member Bob Spalding that captures a modern version of the Ventures sound as close as could be possible 

WITCH- Zango (Desert Daze) Jagari Chanda has relaunched the 70s Zamrock legends with a sound that equally recalls their classic songs and a modern sound. 

And one bonus pick

Gentlem3n- Mochyn Dall (Kinder Gentler) I can’t have an impartial opinion about my friend Jesse’s love letter to 90s Champaign scene

Album Review- Vince Clarke- Songs of Silence

 Do we all agree that Vince Clarke is probably the icon when it comes to synth pop. You likely know the story - cofounder of Depeche Mode, two incredible albums with Alison Moyet as Yazoo, detours with the Assembly and VCMG, bunch of remixes and probably most notably, the other half to Andy Bell for nearly 40 years now in Erasure.

Songs of Silence is a 2023 solo album (as far as I know, solo debut)by Vince Clarke with Clarke paying all the instruments. It is a Covid album of you want to call it that - recorded during that period with the pandemic a major influence explicit in the sound.

It’s not a dance record or synth pop in the terms you most recognize that term.

It is an ambient work for lack of a better description and it is very good.

No doubt Clarke is a bit of a musical genius, and the album being practically wordless makes it a normally tough sell for me. But like some recent solo works by other synth trailblazers - Martin Rev, Chris Carter, even JG Thirlwell- it is not a throwaway. (Like every other review, I can’t help but add the quote from Clarke that it was even a bit too drone-y for his cat, who departed the sessions)

Blackleg is a particularly strong moment. The Guardian describes it as so: an emotional hinge to this largely wordless album, setting a scab-bashing miners’ song from 19th-century Northumberland to a pitch-dark chasm of drones. “Take yer tools and yer duds as well, and hoy them down to the pit of hell,” sings our uncredited union man, “down you go, and fare ye well, you dirty blackleg miner.”

Album Review- Madness- Theater of the Absurd Presents: C'Est La Vie

Madness are a bunch of things. In the US, a one hit wonder with one massive evergreen song. For ska bands, an influence. But in many ways, maybe best known for their Britishness. This particular style that somehow doesn’t translate to America- like the Kinks, the Fall, Roxy Music, the Jam, and Blur, to name a few. Like nearly every band of their era, they now have two segments of their career. By the time I had became a fan, it was the mid 80s and the band was making unremarkable albums for Geffen. 

If you are an American like me, you likely picked up 83s self titled album which was if not quite a greatest hits (92s Divine Madness would do a better job of that), then definitely a premier sampler of their music. Regardless, the band had a great set of singles. 22 songs charted in the UK Top 20. The band reunited in 1999 with the Wonderful album and added five more studio albums since. The band is often ambitious and nearly all of their work has been critically acclaimed. My favorite of these is probably the least acclaimed but I love their 2005 covers album The Dangerman Sessions Vol 1. Uncut gave it a devastating 1.5 stars out of 5, though the accompanying review seems to suggest it’s a worthy album. 

After a soundtrack celebrating the bands career- 2022s Get Up- November 2023s Theater of the Absurd Presents: C’est La Vie is their most ambitious album in years- a concept album of sorts about England and about the band that lines up with that Kinks influence. And like the Kinks, an albums “concept” doesn’t really matter if the songs aren’t good. Early Madness records effortlessly captured the Nutty Boys but the Geffen records sounded like a forced formula. 

 C’est La Vie is a fun album that references previous points in their career. It captures that pop sound you hear on their classic singles. I am not sure that any of the songs measure quite up to the classics, but Madness fans should be happy