Burn The Ration Book Of Love. Peter Alexander Jobson

This is the first of three albums released last week, that all are too good to ignore but of which two would have missed out if I had stuck to three new albums a week. So all three get a shorter review today.

Burn The Ration Book Of Love is Peter Alexander Jobson's debut solo album. Under the name Peter Jobson he was I Am Kloot's bass player for close to two decades until the band folded in 2016. I Am Kloot was one of several bands that rose to fame around 2000 with an acoustic sound, of which some are still around today.

Burn The Ration Book Of Love opens with an acoustic live track in the vein of someone like Tom Lehrer from a long time ago. Funny, unexpected and making the audience laugh. From there Jobson goes into the studio and makes use of all the options a studio, musicians and their instruments offer. With a voice that brings someone like Lee Hazelwood to memory, Jobson sings almost as deep and raspy. The way he talk-sings is certainly convincing.

Expect songs that move forward slowly but with ease, accompanied by that dark-brown voice. Together with co-producer Ben Christophers Peter Alexander Jobson has created a pleasant album that simply sounds very comfortable to him and to the listener. Don't expect any grandstanding, just pleasant music that will put you in a good mood. From purely acoustic to more electronic accompanied songs, you will find it all here.

The surprise of the album is the repeated singing of Guy Garvey in a background capacity. The Elbow frontman is also listed as executive producer. In as far as you need an extra nudge to listen, here it is. I had no clue and was convinced long before I found out.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

2024. Week 11, 10 singles

This week we see three old favourites return to the blog, of which one for the first time, but also some true newcomers and a few acts that debuted within the last year. Once again it's a very diverse set. This is the fun of the approach I take here. The songs all, very little exceptions permitted, are presented in the order they have been presented to me. The only thing you do not know, is which songs I've decided to skip. This week about half is my guess. I do not want to write on songs I do not like (or worse) or think are not memorable enough. I skipped one that I will mention for once, 'Bored' by Waxahatchee. Into the second listen session I still did not hear what I could focus on as a reviewer. So, out it went. The rest is here, so enjoy.

Brown Paper Bag. DIIV

DIIV has been more often on this blog than I remember. The one I forgot is the LP I bought in 2019 'Deceiver'. 'Oshin' in 2012 and 'Is The The Are' from 2016 all came before this single. The music has not changed much from what I remember. DIIV still plays slow and dark, slightly psychedelic rock music. Zachary Cole Smith still sings with a soft voice, hovering above the band. He still takes his time to produce a new album. Four years, three years, five years. I know the sixties and early 70s are long over. This is the new normal. Also five years down the road, I dive into the band's new single with glee. DIIV simply knows how to play this music right and provides Brown Paper Bag with the little notes and slow riffs that make it so much fun to listen to. It's time to pull 'Deceiver' from its shelf, until the new album is released. 'Frog In Boiling Water' is released on 24 May.

Stray. The Mysterines

The Mysterines is a band from the U.K. and active since 2015 but with 'Afraid Of Tomorrows' only releases its second full length album, after 'Reeling' (2022). The name did not ring a bell but it turns out I wrote a favourable review of the single 'Begin Again' late spring last year. It's not surprising I did, as Stray is a delightfully sleazy alternative rock song. The Mysterines do not for one second pretend to be respectable. Singer Lia Metcalfe's voice receives a treatment making her sound a bit mechanical. Just like the guitars get a dirty treatment. Just listen to that little solo and the eruptions. The rhythm is tight keeping the song confined as it were, with the chorus escaping that straightjacket in a gloriously convincing way. Sure, poprock aficionados will recognise enough familiar sounds. Stray is a nice addition to what's already out there.

Hello. Girl And Girl

"Hello, who's that speaking please?", is the opening of my first or second The Kinks single's B-side called 'Party Line', still one of my favourite The Kinks songs. Girl And Girl's first single of its upcoming debut album 'Call A Doctor' (24 May) is also about a phone call and also an up tempo song, somewhere between happiness, the tempo/music, and despair, the lyrics. Hello is a bouncing song, making it easy to mistake for a happy song instead of the darkness that shows in the lyrics about a "private hell". Just listen to how the song begins with two sprightly guitars, the band joins and a third lead guitar comes in. Better described perhaps as the higher of the two guitars playing two different riffs. The Australians, Kai James (singer, guitarist), his Aunty Liss (drums), Jayden Williams (guitar) en Fraser Bell (bass), may be tormented in the lyrics, in the music they push all the right buttons to get a crowd moving. Hello is an excellent introduction, with even a reference to 'The Sound Of Music', if I'm not mistaken.

When I Was Younger. Bonny Light Horseman

Bonny Light Horseman is trio Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman. They signed with Jagjaguwar and to celebrate release the single When I Was Younger. 30 or early 40 somethings looking back on when life was fun. Lighten up, because they certainly can become fun again when the brats get a little older. When I Was Younger's mood is exactly as if the times of being 20 are over forever. They are, but 40 up certainly has its fun moments. The lyrics between Anaïs Mitchell and Eric D. Johnson are divided in the way it probably is between a woman and a man. The former resigned to having children, the latter more desperate, tearing at the leash, far more in pain of the loss. In the "aah" section over the harsh guitar solo in the twine they meet. It all contrasts with the looseness with which the rhythm section and piano play their parts, with a starring roll for Cameron Ralston, the bassist. He's so relaxed and has seemingly encountered the 40 up phase fun.

After The After Party. Gramercy Arms

Gramercy Arms enters this blog for the third time with a single. Once again the band around Dave Derby and producer Ray Ketchum manages to blend glorious pop from the past with a good sense of urgency for the now and then. The band makes music like it was made in the first half of the 90s by bands like The Caulfields and The Loud Family. U.S. pop-rock music with a touch bordering on Beatleslesque. Just listen to the harmonies in After The After Party and the directness of the music. This is 90s indie rock alright. With a nice, almost tough guitar solo over a rhythm section that is definitely rocking. In the approach to making music and musically Gramercy Arms reminds me of the Canadian - U.S. collective The New Pornographers. The pop element in both band's music is always sticking out, while they both know how to rock as well. Late in April the album will be released, 'The Making Of the Making Of'. Based on this single, it something worth waiting for.

Sad Sack. Faulty Cognitions

Another debut band and debut single. Faulty Cognitions is a band from San Antonio in Texas, formed after singer Chris Mason relocated from Portland, Oregon to the Lone Star State. He formed a band there with his long time friend Yole Centeno and others. The result is a melodic alternative rock song, close to punkrock. The upcoming album's title 'Somehow, Here We Are' may tell it all. Against all odds the four have formed a band and are playing like they've not only always done so but also as if they do not have a host of experience in other bands and everything left to prove. The title Sad Sack should be understood in the context of "another sad sack song" that the band hopes you will sing along to anyway. Chances are you will. If you are a fan of the likes of Buffalo Tom there's no escaping even. A faulty cognition is not be applicable to Sad Sack.

Perfect Day (Piano Komorebi Version). Patrick Watson

Perfect Day was never a single, let alone a hit for Lou Reed. 'Transformer' is one of Reed's best loved albums, given the push by the Bowie-Ronson production, Bowie's voice in 'Satellite Of Love' and the hit 'Walk On The Wild Side'. Through the decades Perfect Day became better and better known and loved for the fantastic ballad it is. Recognition sometimes takes time to receive and Perfect Day has received it. Patrick Watson has released a piano only version of the song. The song is in the style of, what I disrespectfully call, the modern piano tinklers style. Recorded with loads of reverb and echo on the piano, while playing slow notes. It will come as no surprise that Perfect Day remains a beautiful composition. It may even come across more subtly this way than ever before. Watson adds melodic notes to the vocal melody enhancing the power of the melody no little. A perfect rendition this version of Perfect Day is.

Gimme Some Kinda Sign. UB40

I think there are two UB40s today. This is the one with the elder Campbell brother in it and most of the original members. UB40 came into my life with the single 'Food For Thought'. Although I did (and have) not a lot with reggae music, this single resonated with me, as did many other singles that followed through the years. I even have a few albums and saw them live in 1983 as support act for David Bowie. After 'Rat In Me Kitchen' the band sort of drifted from my conscience, into that state where a single comes by on a radio or something here or there. I was surprised to find the announcement of a new single on my digital doorstep. For old times sake, I decided to give it a listen. 44 years after 'Food For Thought' the band sounds like the veterans they are. Nothing much happens but all is played in (very) good taste. UB40 knows how to please its fans and most likely does. Robin Campbell and new singer Matt Doyle come close to Ali's delivery, so the band is alright here as well. They will not get me back as a distanced fan but I will certainly not turn of the radio should Gimme Some Kinda Sign come by.

A Heart Cries. Lovelorn Dolls

Belgian duo Lovelorn Dolls returns to the blog with this huge song called A Heart Cries. The song uses dynamic to the max. The verses softer and the chorus as big as if 'The Final Countdown' is rewritten as an electronic anthem. Kristell Lowagie's voice gets a metallic, slightly ghostly treatment matching the long held synth chords underneath the chorus and intro/interludes. Bernard Daubresse's music shows how he has been influenced by (Nordic) 1990s bands with a love for Teutonic greatness. He knows how to pump up musical muscles till the sinews nearly snap. The music gets a metal feel, yet is far too melodic to be real metal. A trick Rammstein plays to great success, without wanting to compare the two acts. Lovelorn Dolls as Rammstein's opening act is totally imaginable though. A Heart Cries is a big song in several ways.

Get Back To Myself. Slamdinistas

We finish this week with a dose of good old rock and roll from and for the first quarter of the 21st century from California's Slamdinistas. Like Dirty Sweet from San Diego around 20 years ago, this band rocks with a nice raspy edge to the singers voice and a slide guitar to top things off. Get Back To Myself may not be a song that I play in my living room every day but is played by a band that I would love to see live one day. A beer in one hand and the other up in the air, with a mouth that can't decide between the beer and singing along, with my mind telling me softly in the back of my head, you better finish up the beer now before it's all spilled thanks to the enthusiasm around you. Get Back To Myself is that kind of song and Slamdinistas that kind of band. It's all good, honest and full of rock and roll quality.

Wout de Natris

You're Dreaming. The Cactus Blossoms

Laat 100 muziekliefhebbers luisteren naar You’re Dreaming van The Cactus Blossoms en laat ze na afloop één naam noemen. Ik weet bijna zeker dat er minstens 90 met The Everly Brothers op de proppen zullen komen en waarschijnlijk zijn het er 99.
 
Het was ook de naam die bij mij al na enkele noten naar boven kwam en dat is niet zo gek. The Cactus Blossoms laten zich op You’re Dreaming beïnvloeden door rock ’n roll, folk en country uit de late jaren 50 en vroege jaren 60 en vertrouwen voor een belangrijk deel op de prachtig bij elkaar passende stemmen van de broers Jack Torrey en Page Burkum (waarom ze verschillende achternamen hebben weet ik nog steeds niet).
 
Jack Torrey en Page Burkum zijn allebei voorzien van een prachtige stem, maar wanneer de stemmen van de twee samenvloeien in wonderschone harmonieën gebeurt er iets; net zoals er iets gebeurde wanneer Phil en Don Everly samen zongen.
 
Bij een rondje Spotify kom ik meer dan eens uit bij een verzamelaar van The Everly Brothers en verbaas ik me altijd over het feit dat dit soort muziek eigenlijk niet meer gemaakt wordt. Die verwondering kan in het vervolg achterwege blijven, want The Cactus Blossoms doen oude tijden herleven.
 
You’re Dreaming werd geproduceerd door JD McPherson, die samen met de prima muzikanten op de plaat goed is voor een kunststukje. De instrumentatie op You’re Dreaming is sober maar zit vol prachtige details. Het valt niet mee om zo ingetogen te spelen als de muzikanten op de plaat van The Cactus Blossoms, maar de muzikanten op deze plaat beheersen het tot in de perfectie. Het zorgt voor wonderschone intermezzo’s (met name het gitaarwerk is schitterend), waarna de geweldige vocalen het keer op keer af mogen maken.
 
The Everly Brothers zijn ongetwijfeld de belangrijkste inspiratiebron geweest voor de Amerikaanse broers, maar You’re Dreaming laat ook invloeden van onder andere Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash en Buddy Holly horen.
 
Met al deze invloeden en een voorliefde voor stokoude rock 'n roll en country zijn The Cactus Blossoms natuurlijk ver verwijderd van de gemiddelde hedendaagse rootsmuzikant, maar You’re Dreaming blijkt volstrekt tijdloos en door de hoge kwaliteit van de instrumentatie, de productie en de vocalen ook nog eens een waardig alternatief voor al het moois uit het verleden. Ik zet hem nog maar eens op en het is weer genieten.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'You're dreaming' (live):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv1mZgRKjkM

of kopen op Bol.Com

.No's Kairos of September on Concertzender

Another month, another Kairos review. Well, almost. Wo. seems to be lagging a bit, but never mind. Here's his take on the September 2015 Kairos in which he emerges himself in the sometimes esoteric musical choices of his WoNo Magazine partner, .No. Let us step back and give the floor to Wo.

Last month I gave my self over to an experiment by listening to the one hour program without doing anything else and not commenting on the spot on what the music actually was doing to me. My instant effect-response to the music on offer, by writing down the way it moved me or rubbed me, left behind for surrender to the show. That led to interesting insights, but no more of that, this month. Although I will definitely try that once again.

We start with an ambient work of Brian Eno, the balding, long blond haired Roxy Music member of 1972, but not long after. Since Eno made many records, was a successful co-producer and one of the major influences of David Bowie in his Berlin period. 'Long Way Down' is an electronic composition in which Eno talk sings his way over the fleeting sounds beneath him. Not that I care a lot for this sort of music. I've never really been a fan. This is quite listenable, so no complaints here.

Adyen & Elayne are certainly different. Much more organic but also somewhat struggling. Is it a harp I'm hearing? If it is, is it joined by a hurdy gurdy of a violin? I'm almost certain it is the latter. Ah, a voice. That one is easy. Where Eno's music is soft flowing, 'In Between' is everything but. Almost as if the next note is revealed just before it is played and the player hasn't a clue before hand. That does make the music somewhat edgy. At the same time, paradoxically perhaps, it has a soothing effect and prepares for the next contribution.

This album is in my possession since I honestly can't remember. Long. And I knew large parts of it before I owned it. To my shame I have to admit that I do not recognise a single note. It is the sound of the guitar that gives something away though. The influence of David Gilmour is very clear. The famous central motive of 'Tubular Bells' is not in the excerpt, so that makes something of an excuse. Still, beautiful. The church organ sound underneath it all makes it easy to forget that there is no percussion present at all. The short story is that I need to play my old LP soon. The long one irrelevant here. Mike Oldfield never topped his first album, that is for sure.

Bregovic? Goran? The Serbian star musician? (Well a mix of a lot former Yugoslavian, but operating form Serbia.) I can't tell from this description. The sort of music and the language point that way. What I always find listening to this sort of music is how close all the music on the Balkans and further east and Turkey lay together. It sounds eastern, it has a sort of melancholy that we do not know. Even should this song be a happy one, I have no way of telling, it sounds so sad as if somebody died in the family. There is a real divide in music between eastern and western Europe. In the case of 'Bylan Roza' it is extremely beautiful.

Things get more serious with the long held, soft flowing tones of 'Hamningberg'. The mood was dark already, but now also becomes cold. The long held synthesizer tones remind me of the 80s, a time of doom and gloom, the atomic bomb and the end of the world or at least as we knew it. Polar winds scrape the dying land after the nuclear holocaust. People struggling in their remaining rags, all sounds muffled by the wind and snow. A very convincing mood Lindbaek and Farsted present me with.

Next up is a composition by Arvo Pärt called 'Psalom'. The NYYD Quartet plays this silent string work. With lots of silences in between. A perfect spot for the monthly poem. This time about Death, where I associated last month's poem with death. The two fit together as the few notes out of which this composition is built up sound so serious. They are without joy. Without hope and full of despair.  Yet they touch me instantly, although I could live without ever having to hear them again.

Next up is Jean-Pierre Jolicard who plays a composition of Jorge Milchberg called 'Cora se Durmo'. The classical guitar would have fit in with Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' I notice. They have the same lightness that can be found there. The main difference being that there are no other instruments chiming in one after the other. Jolicard's proficiency is so on display here. So many things going on at the same time. Quite impressive. By half as good as Mike Oldfield, but not quite in fame.

Cees Sax's 'Green Flowers' is up next. It reminds me a lot of what Grace Slick was doing in the 60s, 70s and early 80s with either one of the Jefferson incarnations and solo. Something jazzy mixed with some pop and rock. Everyone who has ever listened to 'Triad', although a David Crosby composition, will know what I mean. Sax records himself, but it is time someone started to notice this musician. 'Green Flowers' is the best one I've heard so far though. And then a flute comes in and the comparison becomes even larger. Wow. 'Green Flowers' isn't over when I thought it to be. There is a real mood change in which singer/flutist Marijke Faber really takes off on her flute. Followed by a piano solo. Like a real jazz orchestra each gets a turn. There's a third turn in which we only hear the guitar of Cees Sax, before we return to the original theme.

The fourth section isn't Cees Sax, it's .No doing one of his mixes. This one is somewhat more obvious though. Jason Kolb and Jonas Munk's 'Calumet' is what I'm listening to now. Again a darker composition with long held notes and little shifts and direction. Some long held chords are added or taken away. More soundscapes than music. More mood than anything else. The notes wash over me like the waves on the beach. There's no stopping them, as long as I remain where I am that is. This is what 'Calumet' does to me. I only have two options. Should I stay or should I go? I opt for the first, but only because that is the only way for me to reach the next contribution.

Church music is what we reach. And here is one of .No's perfect mixes. A choir, a wave, the choir. 'Requiem Aeternam' by Herbert Howells is of an eternal beauty. The sort of music that belongs in a centuries old cathedral with all the acoustics it offers. Nothing compares. The sort of music that touches me immediately. I do not own a single note of music like this, never play it. It reaches me when it does and usually by coincidence when a choir is rehearsing in a church I happen to visit. And in Kairos of course. Howells' Requiem is extremely beautiful and the rendition by the Gabrieli Consort directed by Paul McCreesh of a serene, eternal, inner stillness.

The switch to Broeder Dieleman's 'In Excelsis Deo' isn't huge in mood, but a Grand Canyon in expression, yet so close. Of course we have these birds again first, but after that the Sealand accented singing of Tonnie Dieleman sets the tone or ..... I expected it to do so. Instead it is the sadly toned piano that leads the way here. Somehow .No has managed to find the instrumental version. The elementary playing of Doeleman reaches a great effect. There's obviously for all to hear no piano wizard playing here, but all notes fall in the right place, setting a mood that complements the choir just before.

Silmus returns to Kairos with 'Deeply Beloved' from the 'Shelter' album. It can't be long before we have heard all compositions. Again I notice how Silmus manages to integrate new age like music with elements from pop. It is basically the guitars that are guilty of this. Strum the chords played in lose parts in 'Deeply Beloved' and a pop song will come forward that could support a melody. There are enough elements present that take care of the variations a song needs to be more successful. It's all in 'Deeply Beloved', which is a beautiful composition in its own right.

Next up is a piece from the album 'Montauk Variations'. I know the town, the book, but had not heard of the variations. Matthew Bourne plays the piano on 'Infinitude'. A dark sounding, elementary song which makes a lot of use of the innards of the piano. The strings resound for so long. In other words, that is how little notes are played here. Bourne uses the resonance of his instrument to the extreme to great effect.

We end this month with some music from an album that I've been hearing about for years, that was lauded in WoNo Magazine over a decade ago, but that I never listened to. Jazz, bebop, need I say more? But now it's time to listen to Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'. It's the piano that takes over the piano before a blue muted trumpet chimes in and brushes touch the skins of the drums. The sort of music that goes with that famous painting by Edward Hopper, 'Nighthawks at the Diner'. Late, late night and the musicians doing one final round before packing it in. The last dancers keeping each other on their legs. Yes, I totally understand why people think this is beautiful, but I need something else to satisfy my musical cravings. Something that involves at least two guitars, but again, yes, this is beautiful music and totally different from what I expected, I have to add.

There remains one question. What is that metronome doing in the background or is it .No's inner clock transcended into his mix? Once I heard it, it became very distracting from the music. 

Wo.

You can listen to the September Kairos here:

http://www.cocertzennder.nl/programmagids/?date=2015-09-03&month=0&detail=80463

I'm okay. The Shoe

The Shoe is een Amerikaans duo dat bestaat uit singer-songwriter en actrice Jena Malone (die onder andere was te zien in The Hunger Games) en pianist en producer Lem Jay Ignacio.
 
Over zingende actrices wordt meestal nogal denigrerend gedaan, maar Jena Malone snoert direct in de openingstrack van het debuut van The Shoe de critici de mond. En hoe.
 
In deze openingstrack laat Jena Malone zich uitsluitend begeleiden door bijzonder subtiele pianoklanken, maar overtuigt ze met speels gemak. In deze openingstrack is ook direct duidelijk dat The Shoe niet gaat voor de makkelijkste weg. Het is geen makkelijk popliedje dat de introductie vormt tot dit Amerikaanse duo, maar dankzij de mooie en veelkleurige stem van Jena Malone was ik direct fan.
 
The Shoe houdt haar muziek niet de hele tijd zo ingetogen en sober als in de openingstrack en titeltrack van I’m Okay, maar heel uitbundig wordt het nooit. De instrumentatie is in het merendeel van de tracks ingetogen en zacht, zodat Jena Malone kan schitteren met haar mooie stem, die ook vaak fluisterzacht is. De instrumentatie is misschien ingetogen en zacht, maar verrast wel keer op keer door wonderschone accenten die uitblinken door subtiliteit en trefzekerheid. De stem van Jena Malone draait zich prachtig om deze instrumentatie heen en heeft een verleidingskracht om bang van te worden.
 
Gezien de samenstelling van The Shoe (actrice/zangeres en een getalenteerd muzikant) ligt de vergelijking met She & Him voor de hand, al is het maar omdat de stem van Jena Malone net zo honingzoet kan zijn als die van Zooey Deschanel, maar uiteindelijk is de muziek van The Shoe toch een stuk minder uitbundig en een stuk avontuurlijker.
 
Het valt niet mee om met slechts een beperkt aantal ingrediënten een plaat te maken die je continu in zijn greep houdt, maar het debuut van The Shoe slaagt daar inmiddels al een tijdje in. Omdat Jena Malone en Lem Jay Ignacio niet kiezen voor makkelijk in het gehoor liggende popliedjes of zelfs perfecte popsongs, blijf je maar nieuwe dingen horen in de muziek van het tweetal. Dit geldt met name voor de vocalen, die heel af en toe ook wel wat doen denken aan die van een jonge Cat Power, maar ook de prachtige instrumentatie en de bijzonder trefzekere productie weten je keer op keer weer te verleiden en te verrassen.
I’m Okay van The Shoe krijgt tot dusver 0,0 aandacht in Nederland en dat is werkelijk doodzonde. I’m Okay maakt immers iedere zondagochtend tot een ultiem moment van ontspanning en maakt iedere zomeravond tot een oase van rust.
 
Gezien het acteerverleden van Jena Malone wordt I’m Okay van The Shoe ook in de Verenigde Staten met de nodige reserves ontvangen. Volkomen onterecht, want er zijn de afgelopen maanden niet veel leukere indie-platen verschenen. Het indie-karakter van de muziek van The Shoe hoor je misschien nog wel het best in de wat voller klinkende songs op de plaat, waarin zowel de instrumentatie als de vocalen zich niet in een keurslijf laten dwingen en I’m Okay steeds meer sprankelt en vermaakt. Heerlijke plaat van een duo dat een plekje vol in de spotlights verdient.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Dead rabbit hopes':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiT1e9krL2g

Ols songd (2). I Am Oak

Eerder dit jaar schreef Wo. een uiterst vriendelijke recensie over Ols songd. Wat vindt Erwin Zijleman van de cd?

De Nederlandse band I Am Oak schaarde zich met On Claws (2010), Oasem (2011) en vooral Nowhere Or Tammensaari (2012) onder de smaakmakers van de Nederlandse popmuziek. Het oorspronkelijke alter ego van en inmiddels de band rond de Utrechtse singer-songwriter Thijs Kuijken imponeerde met uiterst ingetogen en zich langzaam voortslepende popliedjes, die associaties opriepen met de muziek van onder andere Antony & The Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Spain en Red House Painters. De muziek van I Am Oak bleek uiteindelijk lastig in een hokje te duwen of het moest het hokje "folky slowcore met Scandinavische onderkoeling en Nederlandse eigeninnigheid" zijn. Ols Songd is een verzameling oude songs in een nieuw jasje. Dat roept de vraag op of Ols Songd de echte opvolger is van Nowhere Or Tammensaari of een tussendoortje, maar dat is wat mij betreft een vraag die er niet toe doet. De songs op Ols Songd (lastig hoe het brein de verhaspeling steeds automatisch probeert te corrigeren) werden een jaar of zes geleden al eens door Thijs Kuijken op een cdtje gebrand en moeten worden gezien als de geboorte van I Am Oak. Omdat Thijs Kuijken niet twijfelde aan de kwaliteit van de songs, maar wel aan de kwaliteit van de originele opnamen en instrumentatie, werd alles opnieuw opgenomen, waardoor Ols Songd op zijn minst een beetje een nieuwe plaat van I Am Oak is (net als High Hopes een nieuwe Springsteen plaat is). Het is een plaat die in het verlengde van zijn voorgangers of nakomelingen ligt. Ook op Ols Songd maakt I Am Oak langzaam voortkabbelende folky popsongs vol verrassingen. Hier en daar klinkt het net wat voller dan we van I Am Oak gewend zijn, maar de verschillen met de vorige platen zijn zeker niet overdreven groot. Ols Songd bevat de eerste I Am Oak songs en de conclusie is gerechtvaardigd dat deze minstens net zo goed zijn als de songs die op de volgende platen terecht zouden komen. Deze songs krijgen extra glans door de nieuwe instrumentatie, die zoals gezegd sober maar avontuurlijk en heel af en toe net wat uitbundiger is. Ik heb in 2008 geen zelf gebrand cdtje met de eerste songs van I Am Oak mogen ontvangen, maar inmiddels koester ik deze songs, net zoals ik de songs van On Claws, Oasem en Nowhere Or Tammensaari koester. I Am Oak heeft inmiddels een uniek eigen geluid ontwikkeld, dat misschien associaties oproept met de muziek van de hierboven genoemde muzikanten, maar dat het geluid van deze inspiratiebronnen zeker niet kopieert. Ook Ols Songd is weer een plaat die het goed doet op de zondagochtend en op deze zondagochtend niet alleen rust brengt maar ook de fantasie prikkelt. Er zijn weinig muzikanten die weinig middelen een groot effect weten te sorteren, maar I Am Oak slaagt er voor de vierde keer op rij in. De prachtige catalogus van het Nederlandse label Snowstar Records heeft er weer een kroonjuweel bij en ik heb zo het idee dat het hier niet bij gaat blijven. Ik verheug me daarom nu al op al het moois dat het label later dit jaar nog uit gaat brengen en natuurlijk op een serie echt nieuwe songs van I Am Oak. Deze selectie Ols Songd smaakt immers naar veel en veel meer.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar Ols songd en de cd aanschaffen:

http://snowstar.bandcamp.com/album/ols-songd

Hour of the dawn. La Sera

La Sera is het alter ego van de Amerikaanse muzikante Katy Goodman, die een enkeling onder ons zal kennen als de bassiste van de band Vivian Girls.
 
La Sera debuteerde al weer drie jaar geleden met een hele aardige titelloze plaat, die een jaar later een vervolg kreeg met het al even aardige Sees The Light (beide platen zijn overigens volkomen ten onrechte niet door mij besproken.)

Katy Goodman kan zich na het uiteenvallen van Vivian Girls eerder dit jaar volledig richten op La Sera en doet dat direct met een ambitieuze derde plaat.
 
Ook Hour Of The Dawn krijgt tot dusver niet al teveel aandacht in Nederland en dat is jammer. Heel jammer zelfs. La Sera heeft immers een plaat gemaakt waarvan je alleen maar heel vrolijk kunt worden.
 
La Sera maakt op haar derde plaat muziek die bestaat uit gelijke delen powerpop, 60s girlpop, shoegaze en dreampop en brengt deze opwindende cocktail vervolgens op smaak met een vleugje lo-fi. Kortom, licht gruizige popmuziek met onweerstaanbare refreinen maar ook voldoende eigenzinnigheid. Het is popmuziek die de zon onmiddellijk laat schijnen en die nadrukkelijk uitnodigt tot meezingen, meefluiten of een gewenste andere vorm van interactie.
 
La Sera maakt muziek zoals de Dum Dum Girls dat een paar jaar geleden nog deden, of muziek zoals het Ierse Dott dat eerder dit jaar nog zo overtuigend deed. En zo kan ik nog heel wat namen noemen, maar laat ik me beperken tot recent op deze BLOG bejubelde namen als Bleached, Cults, Veronica Falls, Tennis, Best Coast, al hoor ik op één of andere manier ook wel wat van de eerste twee platen van The Pretenders. Katy Goodman noemt zelf weer hele andere namen: “I wanted the new La Sera record to sound like Lesley Gore fronting Black Flag” schrijft ze in het persbericht bij haar nieuwe plaat. Ook een mooie omschrijving, maar ik vind de zelf verzonnen namen eerlijk gezegd treffender.
 
De muziek van La Sera is op het eerste gehoor misschien eenvoudige muziek zonder al te veel pretenties, maar ondertussen zit het zo verrekte goed in elkaar dat je na één keer horen zwaar verslaafd bent aan Hour Of The Dawn.
 
Vergeleken met de vorige platen van La Sera klinkt het allemaal net wat rauwer en energieker. Kate Goodman heeft kennelijk iets van de muzikale erfenis van Vivian Girls meegenomen naar haar solocarrière en dat is een wijs besluit; een suikerspin is immers maar heel even lekker.
 
Hour Of The Dawn bevindt zich in muzikaal opzicht in een de laatste jaren flink uitgedijd gezelschap, maar weet zich op een aantal manieren te onderscheiden. Zo beschikt Katy Goodman over een bijzonder aangenaam stemgeluid, voorziet ze haar zoete en zachte popliedjes gelukkig van een voldoende bitter en scherp randje en is het gitaarwerk op de plaat bijna onweerstaanbaar lekker. Nog belangrijker is het feit dat Hour Of The Dawn eigenlijk geen slecht popliedje bevat. Hour Of The Dawn bevat tien tracks en het is tien keer raak.
 
Tegelijkertijd is het tien keer anders. De ene keer wat meer ingetogen, de volgende keer juist net wat gruiziger. De ene keer Phil Spector, de volgende keer bijna Beatlesque of juist opgeschoven richting My Bloody Valentine of de eigentijdse soortgenoten.
 
Hour Of The Dawn heeft uiteindelijk hetzelfde effect als de spreekwoordelijke roze bril. Met deze plaat uit de speakers is de wereld opeens een stuk mooier en aangenamer en maken donkere wolken plaats voor een stralende zon. Heerlijk.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier naar 'Fall in place' luisteren.

Bookends. Simon & Garfunkel

In the past months we have started posting on albums from 1968 and 1969. This time it's Simon & Garfunkel's turn to be reviewed. In 1968 they scored a Top 40 hit with 'Mrs. Robinson', in 1969 with 'The boxer'. Bookends is preceded by albums of  e.g. Chicago, Spooky Tooth and Blue Cheer.

Looking back, Simon & Garfunkel were only a successful duo for six years. Its first hit was in 1965, the last one in 1970. At the top of their fame Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel decided that they had enough of each other and went their own way. Paul to go on and release many a successful album and Art decided to act and release solo albums as well. All that was in the future when they released Bookends in 1968, only 10 weeks after the soundtrack album 'The graduate'. Bookends was the duo's best selling album until then.

To me Simon & Garfunkel has always been a hitsong duo. The only album I had ever listened to was 'Bridge over troubled water' and by then we are in the mid 1980s. It did not invite me to go on and explore the older albums. I stuck with my, albeit very badly pressed copy of 'Greatest hits' and "Concert in Central Park'. And was in De Kuip in the spring of 1982 for a great concert.

It is hard for me to recollect whether I knew 'Mrs. Robinson' in 1968. I am fairly sure I did. 'The boxer' in 1969 I'm 100% sure of. But let's stick with 'Mrs. Robinson', this great pop single that became the duo's first hit in NL since their 1965 and 1966 hitsingles, among which is their most beautiful song, imho, 'The sound of silence'.

Having never heard Bookends before, I'm surprised from the very first notes. If I set the two 'Bookends' intro and outro apart that start and end side one on the original LP, 'Save the life of my child' is anything but what I expected from a Simon & Garfunkel song. Psychedelic is a good description. Estranging elements are an important part of this song. It starts with a fuzzed electric guitar. With some very modern sounding effects in the singing and rhythm. Where the psychedelia sounds very much late 1967/early 1968, making this song extremely interesting to listen to. The darker voiced, totally unS&G,saying "blah blah blah" is even extremely funny.

'America' is a song I had on a cassette tape in a Yes version from a radio show in the mid-70s. This is the first time I'm hearing the original. This beautiful, dreamy song is not only an example of the craftsmanship of Paul Simon as a composer, but also a peak of experimentation. Again a song that I would never have associated with S&G. Except for a small part, it's even not sung in a Simon & Garfunkel way. These trinkling notes, by different instruments as well, going in all sorts of directions, only faintly belonging to the main melody of the song and still they completely fit, making 'America' amazing, exceptional and beautiful all in one. Playful fantasy I'd call it. 'Overs' is the sort of song that Paul Simon has forever been making since. Jazzy, far away from a pop song. A sort of song he no longer needed Art Garfunkel for, I guess. He has a solo part, but not in what the two were extremely good at: harmonising. Taking it all in, Bookends could have been Paul Simon's first solo album.

'Voices of old people' are just that. Why would anyone want to have this on an album? And it's on an album of one of folk's best duos ever! A duo that with Bookends moved way beyond folk. There's some pop, but definitely also rock elements and jazzy stuff, as already mentioned. 'Hazy shade of winter' is another song I knew as a cover. By The Bangles. I'm surprised how hard S&G rock here. It's not a distorted riff that is played here, but the main riffs is a real rock riff no matter how it's played.

Side one ('Hazy shade of winter' is on side two) ends with 'Old friends'. A beautiful small song that gets a 'She's leaving home' kind of treatment. Loads of violins. It ends the sequence of life from boyhood to old age. I'm impressed to be honest and certainly what is on offer was not what I had expected.

Side 2 opens with a prelude to 'Cecilia', but this one is much more psychedelic. The organ is as delicious as is the singing. Handclaps lay down some great accents. 'Fakin' it' starts out as a Donovan influenced song, but listening closer 'Fakin' it' ought to be covered by The Kik soon. They can make a beautiful Dutch language beat rocker out of this song. 'Fakin it' grows bigger and smaller, but has a surprisingly strong rock riff at its heart. I look forward hearing The Kik at play with this riff. 'Fakin' it' may not be a typical S&G song, but I'm really liking it. 'Punky's dilemma', the next song, is as relaxed as a song with a punk reference in its name could ever be. (Remember the band America? Then listen to this song. It's quite telling.)

The hit is 'Mrs. Robinson'. One of the best Simon & Garfunkel songs. Period. From the lyricless beginning, dee dee, doo doo, to the beautiful guitar parts and the harmonies of S&G. Everything works in this song. The song suggests a stroll through the park on a beautiful sunny day, while nothing is in it's place for Mrs. Robinson any more. Another rock riff on an acoustic guitar by the way. Simon & Garfunkel have never come closer to being a rock act. as The Lemonheads proved on one of its albums. A bit strange song about animals 'At the zoo' ends it all. (A later version on cd has another strong tune on it 'You don't know where your interest lies'. A strong and powerful song and loud by S&G standards.)

The funny thing is that I've added this album to the 1968-1969 list as a sort of afterthought, with 'The boxer' in mind, until I realised 'The boxer' is on 'Bridge over troubled water', which is from 1970. Am I glad that I've done so. It seems like I'm falling for a 46 year old album fast. Simon & Garfunkel have surprised me beyond imagination. Bookends is an extremely strong and good album. Well made, influences were let in during the over a year long studio sessions, that both could not have imagined when Simon & Garfunkel started work on the album in the second half of 1966. Influences that have enriched the music of Simon & Garfunkel tremendously.

Wo.

You can listen to 'Fakin' it' here.

The soul of all natural things. Linda Perhacs

And now for something completely different, to quote the catch phrase of some up start British comedians in the late 60s, that will be doing something the completely the same quite soon in London. The quote is appropriate as Linda Perhacs released her previous, and only, album till now in the heyday of Monty Python's Flying Circus and in 2014 has come up with a new album. It is also appropriate as I do not often review albums that come from a new age sort of musical background. Still I am writing right now, so something must be good.

Listening to the album I would have given Linda Perhacs an English background, but I found out she is from the U.S. The pastoral atmosphere had me completely fooled. A soundtrack to France's queen Marie Antoinette playing the little shepherdess with her courtesans in the back garden of Versailles The soul of all natural things could have been. Instead  The soul of all natural things is a new release on the Asthematic Kitty Records label of which some releases have featured before on this blog.

Linda Perhacs released her first, and as said, only, album in 1970. It was called 'Parallelograms' in 1970. According to Wikipedia it has to be put into the corner of the psychedelic folk. I haven't heard the album yet, but will before I publish this post. The album was hardly noticed in 1970, but gained fame under collectors and was re-released twice in the 00s. In the second half of the previous decade this led to Perhacs singing on a few songs of modern psychfolk acts like Devandra Banhardt. This information makes the release of a new album not so strange as it may at first look. Also the fact that another collector's favorite Vashti Bunyan traveled the same route before can be taken into account. The album was recorded in 2012 and 2013 under two producers, Fernando Perdomo and Chris Price.

All this does not say anything about the quality of The soul of all natural things, although some hints have been given. The album has nothing to do with the whole psychedelic movement active today. Linda Perhacs has been given the chance to shine in an environment that is a temple of unhasting. The comment I made on new age is not so far beside the point. Putting on The soul of all natural things allows for several moments of total relaxation. It may even be possible to meditate on most songs. 'Prisms of glass' is this intricate song of languorous sounds and Perhacs' voice that intertwines with itself singing different lines through and around themselves, with Gregorian like chants behind them, creating an intricate game of lyrics and singing. The mood comes close to what Enya did in the 80s on a song like 'Orinoco flow'.

Other songs come a little closer to Suzanne Vega. 'Immunity' e.g. is more rhythm based and one of the wilder songs on The soul of all natural things. Wilder only by comparison that is. Strangely enough in some songs I hear the influence of Steely Dan as well. A completely stripped down version of Steely Dan, but the influence is there in the way a song like 'Daybreak' is approached. Jazzy and meticulously played and arranged, but with a minimum of effects. Most of the album is produced in a way that makes the music sound full with a minimum of instruments. Chanting voices and atmospheric sounds are broadly allocated in the mix, with notes of an acoustic guitar and some voices come into the foreground. 'Freely'  is another winner on this album. A song in which everything seems to fall into its right place.

For those who want to give the album a chance, the opening and title track is all you have to try. If this speaks to you it is worthwhile to proceed. If it doesn't there is hardly any need to listen to other songs. 'The soul of all natural things' is a beautiful track that tells all about what is coming next. It has several elements of Enya Celtic folk, new age instrumentation and a pastoral quietness that has all but disappeared in modern society. The soothing voice of Linda Perhacs, that despite that she must be 60 something, has something of a young woman in it. The sort of song to close my eyes on and dream away. That is the effect The soul of all natural things has on me. Not an album for all moments, but certainly the album for that sort of moments. Linda Perhacs has produced an album that is more than welcome at those moments.

Also beware. Someone decided that we need preaching to also towards the end of the album. By that time I'm in the forgiving mood. What needs to be heard, needs to be heard in the final minutes.

Wo.

You can listen to 'The soul of all natural things' here.

Croz. David Crosby

A new album by David Crosby was not exactly what I had expected to review. A dinosaur from the past, who not too long ago made a nice rock, jazzy album with CPR, but not something I looked forward to in any way. I decided to give Croz a try anyway and was surprised and soon after mesmerised. David Crosby has found material for a great new record within himself and unleashed it on the world in 2014. Croz is not a cruise down memory lane, as a friend suggested to me after I told him of my discovery. David Crosby is simply not among my favourite artists from way back. As a member of The Byrds, yes, as part of CSNY, yes, even as part of CPR, but never as a solo or even duo artist with Graham Nash. That's why Croz surprised me so much. I always loved the harmony singing David Crosby was involved in. That quality of not seeming to be there and at the same time making the harmonies perfect.

David Crosby is a senior citizen by now. Born in 1941. There is still a hint of the old hippie and activist in there, but also reflection on old age. 'If she called', just an acoustic guitar and the voice of an older man, looking at the life of an old lady, all alone, drifting passed present life and memories of days gone by. (Reading up on Croz, it turns out the song is about young prostitutes somewhere in Belgium. There I go with interpreting lyrics.)

The songs on Croz are hard to define. They are David Crosby songs, without a doubt, like he makes them for over forty years now. It isn't rock, it isn't pop. it's not jazz nor west coast rock. It is a mix of all these genres, blended into David Crosby music. That is the only correct description I can give. David Crosby songs are at best mid tempo. Intricately played, not your every day chords (changes) or so it seems. If they are, that would make it even more brilliant. Small eruptions by some instrument underscore an emotion in the lyrics. Together it creates Croz, a warm, involved, treasure of an album. Musically it is as suave as Leonard Cohen's band in his live triumphs of the past years.

Adding this all up nothing new is happening on Croz. David Crosby probably hasn't changed musically since the 70s, the digital drums in 'Dangerous night' not withstanding. If any artist can write and play an album like Croz after being in the business for roughly 50 years, that comment about evolving, becomes mute. This is a show piece of quality on parade. Together with his son James Raymond, the R in CPR, Croz was created. It could have been a new CPR album. Next to elements of Steely Dan. 'Find a heart' could have been on a Steely Dan/Donald Fagen album. The style of piano playing gives the influence away. Croz has a star role for Mark Knopfler in 'What's broken'. His intricate playing, without ever really taking the centre stage, really brings the track very much alive. But no matter what is going on, it is the harmonies that I like most. Crosby sings with himself and does it extremely well.

To be honest, Croz is one of the most unexpected surprises I've heard in years. Although the show by CPR I saw on tv years ago, should have come as a warning, it didn't. Croz is an album very much worth listening to.

Wo.

Foreverly. Billie & Norah

Billie Joe & Norah; het is op voorhand een opvallende combinatie, want wat moet de geweldige zangeres Norah Jones met de wat schreeuwerige voorman van punkband Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong)? Nu heb ik Green Day persoonlijk hoog zitten, al is het maar omdat de band een aantal keren heeft laten horen dat het veel meer kan dan het normaal gesproken laat horen (American Idiot uit 2004 is in meerdere opzichten een briljante plaat). Desondanks was ook ik op voorhand zeker niet overtuigd van de slagingskans van deze bijzondere samenwerking. Deze wordt nog bijzonderder wanneer je het verhaal achter deze plaat kent. Billie Joe Armstrong liep al enkele jaren rond met het idee om zijn favoriete plaat aller tijden integraal te coveren. En nee, dit is niet het debuut van The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones of The Buzzcocks, maar het uit 1958 (!) stammende Songs Our Daddy Taught Us van The Everly Brothers. Nu stonden The Everly Brothers, (die ik zelf pas sinds een jaar of wat op de juiste waarde weet te schatten) met een aantal van hun platen aan de basis van de rock ’n roll, maar dat gold zeker niet voor Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, waarop het illustere tweetal kiest voor bijzondere sobere vertolkingen van met name traditionals. De versie van de plaat die Billie Joe Armstrong en Norah Jones hebben gemaakt luistert naar de titel Foreverly (mooi gevonden) en heeft mijn stoutste verwachtingen overtroffen. Foreverly blijft zowel in muzikaal als in vocaal opzicht betrekkelijk dicht bij het inmiddels 55 jaar oude origineel. De instrumentatie is sober maar bijzonder smaakvol en geeft de stemmen van Norah Jones en Billie Joe Armstrong alle ruimte om te schitteren. En dat doet het tweetal. Nu moeten de stemmen van Don en Phil Everly wat mij betreft worden gerekend tot de mooiste stemmen uit de popmuziek, zeker wanneer het gaat om harmonieën. Billie Joe en Norah hebben de lat dus wel erg hoog gelegd voor zichzelf, maar ze blijven op knappe wijze overeind. Het tweetal slaagt hierin omdat niet wordt geprobeerd om Don en Phil naar de kroon te steken; op voorhand een kansloze missie. Foreverly is wars van vocale krachtpatserij  en eert op prachtige wijze de originelen van The Everly Brothers, waarbij het opvalt dat Billie Joe en Norah ook de harmonieen uitstekend beheersen. De instrumentatie stelt zich zoals gezegd volledig in dienst van de vocalen op, maar heeft wel degelijk een meerwaarde. De basis van de instrumentatie is sober, stemmig maar bijzonder smaakvol, wat nog eens wordt versterkt door de buitengewoon fraaie accenten (die met name van gitaren komen, maar het kan net zo goed een piano, viool of mondharmonica zijn). Foreverly is alleen door de instrumentatie al een heerlijke plaat voor bij de openhaard, maar in combinatie met de prachtige zang en de klassieke songs is het een onweerstaanbare plaat voor bij de open haard. Op voorhand is het misschien even gniffelen wanneer je leest over deze bijzondere combinatie en het nog bijzonderdere concept, maar Billie Joe en Norah snoeren bij beluistering iedere criticus de mond. Een van de verrassingen van 2013 en ook nog eens een mooi opstapje naar het unieke oeuvre van Don en Phil Everly.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier naar 'Long time gone' luisteren

en hier naar The Everly Brothers' versie.

Tales of us. Goldfrapp

Mijn haat-liefde verhouding met de muziek van Allison Goldfrapp duurt inmiddels 13 jaar. Precies 13 jaar geleden verscheen haar debuut Felt Mountain; een plaat die ik direct omarmde en nog altijd schaar onder de allerbeste debuten in mijn platenkast. Op Felt Mountain ging Allison Goldfrapp op indrukwekkende wijze aan de haal met invloeden uit een aantal decennia popmuziek en voorzag ze deze samen met multi-instrumentalist Will Gregory van beeldende klanken die meer dan eens deden denken aan filmmuziek. Mijn liefde voor de muziek van Goldfrapp verdween als sneeuw voor de zon na de release van Black Cherry in 2003. Hoewel de ordinaire elektropop op de plaat uiteindelijk wel iets meer diepte bevatte dan bij eerste beluistering het geval leek en Goldfrapp Lady Gaga natuurlijk jaren voor was, kon en kan ik niets met de plaat; iets wat ook geldt voor het in 2006 verschenen Supernature dat op dezelfde leest was geschoeid en misschien nog wel wat platter en eenvormiger was. Het folky The Seventh Tree uit 2008 was opeens weer heel mooi en liet een prachtig ingetogen Allison Goldfrapp horen, waarna het in 2010 uitgebrachte Head First met goedkope synthpop en 70s disco weer zwaar teleurstelde. Op basis van de logische reeks uit het verleden had ik van Tales Of Us op voorhand geen hoge verwachtingen, maar Allison Goldfrapp heeft me voor de zoveelste keer op het verkeerde been gezet. Tales Of Us is een hele ingetogen plaat. De instrumentatie bestaat vooral uit akoestische gitaar of piano en bijzonder fraai gearrangeerde strijkers. De eenvoudige maar bijzonder fraaie instrumentatie wordt vervolgens door Allison Goldfrapp voorzien van intense en over het algemeen wonderschone vocalen. De schreeuwerige elektropop van de meeste van haar vorige platen heeft plaats gemaakt voor fluisterzachte popmuziek, die vaak wat Frans aan doet en hier en daar ook herinnert aan de filmische klanken van Felt Mountain. De instrumentatie doet hier en daar nog wel denken aan het beste werk van Goldfrapp, maar ik heb Allison Goldfrapp nog niet eerder zo mooi en intens horen zingen. Het geeft de plaat een bijzondere lading en een unieke sfeer. Tales Of Us is bij vlagen een plaat die ook door Kate Bush gemaakt had kunnen worden, maar Allison Goldfrapp verrast ook met prachtige breekbare liedjes die vol gevoel worden vertolkt. Na heel veel teleurstellende platen is dit er eindelijk weer eens een die de belofte van Felt Mountain waar maakt. Meer dan waar maakt durf ik zelfs wel te zeggen. Een prachtige plaat die doet uitzien naar de herfst, waarin Tales Of Us waarschijnlijk nog mooier, intenser en veelkleuriger is.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Annabel'.

From here to now to you. Jack Johnson

It must be close to 10 years now that I came home with Jack Johnson's debut album, with these songs that were a perfect mix between relaxed aloofness and melancholy seriousness. Jack Johnson the surfer dude from Hawaii made an impression straight away. Since then Johnson went in and out of favour of the larger audience, especially through his hitsingle, 'Sitting, waiting, wishing'. What followed was an album for kids and a few albums that were somewhat more serious of tone, as if clouds had found Hawaii or Johnson. Perhaps both. In 2013 comes a new album, his sixth regular studio album, his tenth not counting live albums but do count filmscores.

From here to now to you is vintage Jack Johnson. The album has all the ingredients that made me listen to him in the first place. The relaxed mood, the clear sound, the percussive from of playing the rhythm and his fine voice, that's including the harmonies. I knew enough just by listening to album opener 'I got you'. This is going to be just fine. The song is slow, sort of dragging behind the beat and the harmonies are in all the right places. The more up tempo 'Washing dishes' gives the listener not only variation straight away but also a great song. Johnson wrote another very smooth going song, that sort of always seems to have been there.

No, there is not one single new point of view or clear development in sight on From here to now to you. As long as the songs are as pleasant as the twelve songs on From here ... who cares? I rather have twelve songs that are very pleasant additions to Jack Johnson's oeuvre then twelve forced tries at doing something different or radically new in an unsuccessful way. This would only be different if the current songs on display would be weak or totally uninteresting. The collection on From here to now to you is all but that.

Something that also does not change is the accompaniment of Jack Johnson's band. Adam Topol is on bass and Merlo Podlewski is on drums. "New" addition Zach Gill is there delivering everything with keys and harmony vocals. His part to the sound of From here ... is a bit more modest as the album is somewhat bare, but as always very clearly produced. Every guitar note is prominently heard, as is Jack Johnson's voice. All else is background and supplemental to Jack Johnson. At the same time there is this balance that makes all Jack Johnson does shine just a bit brighter. The accents going on in the background from his rhythm section may be soft and subtle, they are where they should be.

Another great song is 'As I was saying'. It is a song that has that Jack Johnson dichotomy in optima forma. The song is clear sounding, suggesting happiness and tranquillity. The melody and singing suggest concern and doubt. 'As I was saying' is so subtle. The steel stringed acoustic guitar that has a few playful, extra strokes here and there. The sparse, single piano or melodica notes of Zach Gill. The rolling drum fills. Together it makes a beautiful song. When all this happens again on 'Ones and zeroes', the album only grows and grows.

From here to now to you is a return to form is my opinion. Not that I disliked 'Sleep through the static' or 'To the sea', I just did not think the albums special enough to truly like them. From here to now to you does have that quality. It's always nice when one of the artist I like delivers. Jack Johnson does just that here.

Wo.

You can listen to 'I got you' here.

Aventine. Agnes Obel

Three years ago Agnes Obel appeared on the musical stage with her debut album 'Philharmonics', an album that stood out in a hectic world. The sound was laid back, subdued and far from the madding crowd. Aventine takes off where 'Philharmonics' left off. Agnes Obel takes us down a road of isolated beauty and stillness, a road to sit down, relax, put on a headset and just listen.

The sleeve of Aventine is completely in sync with the Roman title. The Aventine being one of the seven hills of ancient (and present) Rome. She is viewed in profile, like a Roman of old, with light coming from behind. Still, stern, solemn, mouth slightly open. Like the music is also.

Aventine is all atmosphere. Opening with the piano instrumental 'Chord left'. Nothing more than a few chords and a modest, extremely serious melody. Small is the correct word, but anyone who cares to listen will recognize beauty instantly. 'Fuel to fire' takes this mood and builds on it. Agnes' voice is added and a cello weaves itself behind and through the piano notes. The voice is a mix of sweetness and a husky smokiness. My take is that Agnes Obel's voice is not very much different from the older Kate Bush, while her music has the same sort of mysticism. Her advantage is that she does not have a backcatalogue to compete with. Her take on music a more modest one, with less instruments around her. She's very confident about her music, as she dares to present her voice near bare. Another name that pops up is Enya, like in 'Orinoco flow'. Several songs on Aventine have the same direct, yet mystical, quality.

Aventine is an album that can escape me when I put it on and do not pay attention. It is so quiet and still, that it is over before I know it. Giving me the impression that it is only 15 or 20 minutes long. When I do listen, I'm drawn in by a few single cello notes played by Anne Mueller or picked violin notes by Mika Posen. Aventine does not take more to please me. It is in these small and subtle details that Aventine scores big. The accompaniment is of such subtlety that sometimes I need to strain to pick it up. Any noise seeping through, things that happen in a family situation, ruin the listening experience immediately. That makes Aventine a late night album, lights subdued and eyes closed for maximum effect.

Aventine holds a hint of classical piano sonatas, dreampop, triphop without a single hint at beats or scratching, a faint trace of pop. It sails on the edge of easy listening, is Celtic without any Celtic instruments and sounds. Aventine holds singer-songwriter qualities without a notable guitar in sight. Above all it holds Agnes Obel, an artist that knows where she is going and what she stands for. Above all it holds 'The curse' the song in which all of Aventine comes together. A song of intense beauty and boldness. A song rivaling the songs on Morgan MeCaskey's EP 'Righteous kind'. And that is a real feat, as I have not heard many albums this year that were better.

There is just not much more to write on Aventine. Go and undergo what Agnes Obel offers. It will speak to you or it won't. When it does you are in for a treat. So go for it, is the advice of

Wo.

You can listen to 'The curse' here.