Time will tell. Nancy Dutra

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Nowhere left to fall'.

De Canadese muzikanten zijn in 2013 uitstekend uit de startblokken gekomen. Na de prachtplaten van Rob Lutes en Amelia Curran en een nieuwe plaat van één van mijn muzikale helden Ron Sexsmith op komst, werd ik de afgelopen weken ook nog eens verrast door Time Will Tell, het debuut van de uit Toronto afkomstige Nancy Dutra. Ik was al onder de indruk van het debuut van Nancy Dutra voor ik ook maar één noot van de plaat had gehoord. In de album credits komen immers namen van topmuzikanten als Kevin Welch, Justin Rutledge en de al eerder genoemde Ron Sexsmith voorbij. Je weet dan al dat Time Will Tell nooit een slechte plaat kan zijn, maar het debuut van Nancy Dutra heeft desondanks mijn stoutste verwachtingen overtroffen. Dat is voor een belangrijk deel de verdienste van de geweldige vocalen op de plaat. Nancy Dutra kan zwoel fluisteren als Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) en Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) en soulvol uithalen als Adele, maar bestrijkt ook binnen het rootssegment een breed palet. Dat varieert van ingetogen traditioneel aandoende folk waarin ze wel wat aan Gillian Welch doet denken tot wat minder ingetogen songs die de kant op gaan van Lucinda Williams. Ook in muzikaal opzicht is Time Will Tell een opvallend gevarieerde plaat, die zowel ruimte biedt aan uiterst traditionele bluegrass en folk (met name aan het eind van de plaat) als aan rootsmuziek die nadrukkelijk de grenzen met de radiovriendelijke popmuziek opzoekt (met name de eerste tracks op de plaat). Dat is niet zonder risico’s, maar Nancy Dutra komt er mee weg, wat voor een debuterend muzikante bijzonder knap is. Alleen met bijzonder mooie stem van Nancy Dutra heb je al een goede plaat in handen, maar de opgeroepen hulptroepen zijn uiteraard ook niet voor niets gekomen. Met name het gitaarwerk op Time Will Tell is van grote schoonheid, maar ook de harmony vocalen van Kevin Welch, Justin Rutledge, Ron Sexsmith en de mij onbekende Suzie Vinnick tillen Time Will Tell weer naar een net wat hoger niveau. Ook de fraaie productie van Les Cooper mag tenslotte niet onvermeld blijven. Time Will Tell van Nancy Dutra beschikt over zoveel sterke wapens dat de doorbraak in de rootsscene alleen maar een kwestie van tijd kan zijn. Omdat je er tegenwoordig helaas niet komt op basis van kwaliteit alleen, verdient Nancy Dutra alle steun. Ik geef hierbij het goede voorbeeld door deze verrassend sterke plaat te omarmen. Wie volgt?

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Time will tell hier bestellen

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nancydutra

of hier

The next day. David Bowie

You can listen to 'The stars (are out tonight)' here.

For all I knew David Bowie was retired ever since that fatal concert in Hamburg. On 8 January last he surprised us on his 66th birthday with a new single (read our review here) and the announcement of a new album for March. Since 8 January Bowie was never really out of the news. The marketing strategy really worked. The release of the album again whipped up a storm. And here it is on WoNo Magazine's blog post: The next day.

David Bowie was the first "real" concert I went to in May 1976 in Ahoy, Rotterdam. The first of a total of five gigs between 1976 and 2003. The last album that I truly liked, for over 50%, though was from 1983 'Let's dance'. 2002's 'Heathen'  and 2003's 'Reality' were sort of alright though. A great cover from Jonathan Richman's Pablo Picasso e.g. was great. So Bowie and I go back over 40 years, starting with 'Space oddity'. Let's talk The next day here.

My first impression is that The next day on the whole is good. There is a sense of urgency and thank God no attempt to be modern in any way. (Well, a little in 'If you can see me'). We hear songs with a head and a tail. Bowie is doing what he's good at and is held in check by his producer of old Tony Visconti. The basis of most songs is the guitar, Bowie's rocking out and around that fact the songs are built.

In reviews I saw so far people point out that the songs are a good cross-section of Bowie's career. All periods come by. To me this is fairly irrelevant. If the songs are no good, who cares whether Bowie references his whole career? I don't and if the songs are good, then who cares either? Too many of his albums in the past 30 years had too many fillers on them. All work, no inspiration. Not so The next day. So far the only complaint I have is the hideous cover. Why this ugly rehash of 'Heroes'? The album is not a new 'Heroes', but filled with songs.

The album starts of with several up tempo songs with tight acoustic guitars and loud electric ones. First single 'Where are we now?' falls so incredibly into its place. The quality that was hinted at as a lone single, is revealed in all its beauty on The next day. In 1984 Bowie would have scored a number 1 hit with this song, as with 'This is not America'. Another total gem is 'I'd rather be high'. Bowie meets Oasis and wins with flying colours. His voice here is an aged one, but the melody, the guitar work all suggest a trip of high quality. And when he's high, he can be 17 apparently.

'(You will set) the world on fire' sounds as urgent as the title predicts, with a hard riffing guitar. 'You feel so lonely you could die' is very close to 'Five years'. (The drum rhythm at the end, is a too big and obvious give away though.) A beautiful ballad that shows the versatility of this album. 'The stars (are out tonight)', the album's second single, is a slick mid-tempo song, with a prominent synth carpet and an incidental guitar eruption. While 'Dirty boys' is a modern version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins's Í put a spell on you'. Same rhythm stops and starts, but more modern and flowing more freely due to the singing.

As I've pointed out before on this blog, for an artist who is recording close to 50 years, it is extremely hard to compete with his back catalogue. With the first few listens, it is impossible to really reference The next day to 'Hunky dory', let alone 'Ziggy Stardust' or 'Station to station'. Still, The next day is an album that I definitely want to hear again. And that is more than albums like 'Earthling', 'Never let me down' or 'Black tie white noise' ever did for me.

So what is left then to conclude that David Bowie is back in true form. Even if Bowie only rehashed the best songs from different periods of his career, as some claim, he did come up with songs in 2013 that come up trumps and would look good in any time of his career. As far as I'm concerned, taking The next day in I can only say that I have a new favourite Bowie album, while I had no expectations. A good sign.

What is amazing in this day and age, that the production process of this album was about two years and nothing was leaked. The team around the album was fairly large reading the personnel list of The next day, Visconti and Bowie must have put the fear of God in people. Just as well, not much trumps a good surprise.

Wo.

You can order The next day here


or here

Lost sirens. New Order

You can listen to 'I'll stay with you' here.

There is no danger, no sticking out, rusty hook left in the music of New Order, but does this band know how to write a pop song! Lost signals are the remnants of the sessions of 2005's 'Waiting for the sirens' call' album and for some reason or other were left on the shelf for almost a decade instead of releasing them as seems to have been the intention in 2005. Having said that, I can only declare that I'm happy that these songs saw the light of day in 2013.

There's nothing spectacular about the songs on Lost sirens. Not one of them has the impact of 'Blue Monday'/'The beach' had back in 1983, a relentless Cold War beat set in depression. Instead Lost sirens offers pop, even a modern form of disco, but does so not only in a pleasant but pretty much convincing way. New Order in 2013 is there to entertain, like nearly all music is. 99 Years ago we are told was a time of radical art, soon to be swept away by radical diplomacy. There are no such signs today.

New Order is of the same generation as U2 and The Cure. There are some similarities I find in the music, although New Order is much more modest in scope and in its arrangements. Perhaps as a result of the characters that make up the band. Peter Hook has left, touring with Joy Division  songs. Gillian Gilbert returned, so with Phil Cunningham on board the band has two keyboard players. From all appearances front man Bernard Sumner does not enjoy being in the spotlights and this reflects in the music.

How big the influence of a band like New Order is, becomes clear in the first song 'I'll stay with you'. Young Dutch bands like Go Back to the Zoo or Handsome Poets clearly have listened to New Order in the past. With 'I'll stay with you' one of the gems of Lost sirens has been mentioned. A song with loads of hit potential, 30 years ago that is. The production may be better than in 1983, New Order does not try to be 2013, without rehashing 1983. Which is a good thing.

'Sugarcane' causes some mixed emotions. Influences from The Scissor Sisters to Mika seep through, while some typical New Order melodies are there also. So does New Order try to be 2007 here? It seems like it. The power of the song itself saves it in combination with the darker overtones in the background. 'Recoil' is softer and 'Californian grass' pure indie pop, with a harsh sounding guitar eruption. There's also a familiar telephone sound mixed in, if you listen for it you'll find it.

New order is not a band with a huge output. Lost sirens is only the ninth album and one with eight leftovers from 2005 at that. There is not much development since 2001's 'Get ready'. Some songs are a bit slicker, but as a whole if a band produces songs with the quality as those on Lost sirens -and leftovers at that- I should not complain. 'Shake it up' may start nice and gentle, the beat that sets in is not, which makes the song interesting and better. Lost sirens is an album that intrigues. New Order presents a mix that is dangerous. A mix on the verge of boring, uninspired sounding songs and songs that are special because of the way they are presented to us. It may be dependent on the way I woke up on any day which way the balance tips, but for now I just enjoy Lost sirens. A lot.

Wo.


You can order Lost sirens here


or here

I am the man you know I'm not. Ronnie Fauss

Je kunt hier 'A pretty nice night for Houston' beluisteren.

In mijn zoektocht naar minder bekende, maar wel hele goede, muzikanten in het Amerikaanse rootssegment, ben ik deze week terecht gekomen in Dallas, Texas. Dallas is de thuisbasis van ene Ronnie Fauss, die met I Am The Man You Know I’m Not een hele sterke plaat heeft afgeleverd. Volgens de muzikant zelf kwam de belangrijkste inspiratie bij het opnemen van I Am The Man You Know I’m Not voornamelijk van wat oudere platen van Neil Young, Gram Parsons en Steve Earle, die tussen de opnames in Nashville, Tennessee, uit de speakers knalden. Van deze namen hoor ik in eerste instantie vooral Steve Earl terug, maar de twee andere grootheden volgen snel, in gezelschap van onder andere John Prine en Townes van Zandt. Ronnie Fauss maakt op I Am The Man You Know I’m Not vooral lekker in het gehoor liggende up-tempo songs met vooral invloeden uit de folk, (alt-)country en rootsrock, die opvallen door de lekker volle instrumentatie met heel veel snaren (naast elektrische gitaren ook een buitengewoon trefzekere pedal steel) en een enkele strijker en de krachtige stem van Ronnie Fauss, die is voorzien van een mooi rauw randje. I Am The Man You Know I’m Not staat vol met songs die je na een keer horen dierbaar zijn. Deels vanwege het mooie gloedvolle geluid en deels vanwege de mooie stem van Ronnie Fauss, maar zeker ook vanwege de aanstekelijke songs en de teksten die een mooi beeld geven van het (over)leven in het hedendaagse Amerika. Het zijn de up-tempo en licht rockende songs op de plaat die in eerste instantie het makkelijkst overtuigen, maar ook een tot op het bot ontroerende ballad gaat Ronnie Fauss niet uit de weg, wat het best uit de verf komt in zijn werkelijk prachtige vertolking van het van Gram Parsons bekende Sin City, waarin Lilly Hiatt (de dochter van John) op prachtige wijze de oorspronkelijke zanglijnen van Emmylou Harris invult. I Am The Man You Know I’m Not is zoals gezegd een plaat die heel makkelijk weet te overtuigen, maar het is ook een plaat die nog lang weet door te groeien. Bij eerste beluistering vond ik I Am The Man You Know I’m Not vooral een hele aangename plaat, maar inmiddels weet ik niet meer zo goed wat Ronnie Fauss nu precies minder doet dan de allergrootsten in het genre. Ronnie Fauss is dan ook een muzikant om vanaf nu nauwlettend in de gaten te houden. Zijn I Am The Man You Know I’m Not is een plaat om te koesteren, zeker voor een ieder die de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek in het hart heeft gesloten.

Erwin Zijleman


Je kunt I am the man you know I am not hier


of hier bestellen

Blak and blu. Gary Clark Jr.

You can listen to 'Bright lights' here.

At first listen I was like 'the new Jimi Hendrix'? More like the new Robert Cray to me. You may get my drift that one Robert Cray is more than sufficient in my life. But if this guy played with The Rolling Stones without me ever having heard from him, he must be doing something good? So I decided to give Blak and blu, great title of course for a Stones fan, weird spelling though, another shot. This is what I come up with.

Blac and blu shoots off in all directions. The Blues Brothers horns (or Memphis, Stax, Muscle Shoals, etc. of course), Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Sam Cooke, and yes, some wild, over the top Hendrix like guitar playing, but also some horrible, modern, R&B. In other words Gary Clark Jr. has not really found his own voice yet. If that is not of the utmost importance to you, reader, then you may be in for some excitement.

Blak and blu kicks of with a lot of enthusiasm. 'Ain't messin 'round' sparkles and scores points fast. Clark's voice is soft and pleasant, while the horns lay down all the right accents. 'When my train pulls in' is a delightful blues, that could have been played by Jimi, Eric or Stevie Ray anytime in their careers. It's also the point where I start having my first doubts. Clark is showing that he can really play, but the solo sounds somewhat forced as he's looking for notes that have not been played before that way. To the point of making me feeling uncomfortable. And it takes away from the song, that is just great. It doesn't need this extravaganza.

The diversity of Black and blu is the Achilles' heel of the album. In this Gary Clark Jr. is not unlike Lenny Kravitz, one of the most overrated artists I know, but at times like. The contrast between the super bland 'Blak and blu' or 'The life' and the great, rocking 'Glitter and gold (Jumping for nothing)' or loud 'Numb' is so huge, that it makes me wondering whether it is the same artist I'm listening to. For me this takes a lot away from Blak and blu as a whole. (Perhaps it is in the title. The Rolling Stones went all over the place on 'Black and blue' as well, but without a single dip.)

So why not do a Sam Cooke outing as well? 'Please come home' provides just that, including a high voice, strings, harmony vocals and all. As such a pretty nice song to listen to, with a little too loud and brazen guitar solo for such a sugar sweet song. Why this muscle throwing here? By this time I realise that my press fed preconceptions on Gary Clark Jr. have to be ditched. This is not the new-anybody. This is a new black artist, at least as recording artist, who shows all the influences he's sucked up through the years of playing in Austin and beyond. This results in a very varied album. Some songs are to my taste, some less so and some absolutely not. So I decided to enjoy the songs I like, which are basically the harder rocking ones and that is enough for me. I am sure that a lot of people will make opposite choices, perhaps even like both sides to Clark. One thing seems for sure. Gary Clark Jr. is filling in a need. His album is doing quite well in the charts. On the whole however, it is not my need.


Wo.


You could order Blak and blu here


or here